February 9

Oh my. The last two days, my friend and I have taken a taxi home because I've been too scared to walk and she has a cold. But let me just say, that taxis here in Madagascar are certainly not the same as they are back home in the wonderful city of Washington DC. Yesterday, when I was terrified and just wanted to get home, of course, our cab ran out of gas. All of the sudden we were sitting in the middle of the road, with traffic on both sides, and our taxi driver tells us to wait a second, gets out of the car and pops the hood, as my friend and I just stare at each other. Of course my cab on a day like that, would run out of gas. Looking back on it now, I can't help but laugh. Our driver luckily had a water bottle filled with gas, so it was a quick fix, and we were on our way again.

Then today, my friend and I were going to take the bus, but they are so difficult to figure out in this country, so we ended up taking a taxi. He opened the door for us and was telling us to get in because there was a lot of traffic, but it's different here than in the US because you have to negotiate a price before getting in the taxi, or you'll end up getting in and you won't have any bargaining power and you'll end up having to pay twice as much or more. So I kept saying in Malagasy, "how much is it?" and I could tell he didn't want to respond, and he just kept gesturing us in. Eventually, he gave us a price, and even though it was a little bit high, I wasn't in the mood for negotiating, so I said okay and we got in. Then after a few minutes we got stuck in a traffic jam, and our driver left the car running, got out of the car, and walked down the street, and disappeared into some store with a THB sign outside (Three Horses Beer). So then I was afraid that he had just left us in the car so he could go have a drink, and then I was worried that some stranger would just get in the drivers seat and take off with us in the car, which probably wasn't a valid concern, but I can't figure out what's normal here, so who knows. Then traffic started moving, and we're just sitting there, without a driver for a few seconds, then all of the sudden, he comes running down the sidewalk to the car with a handful of his money and a handful of cigarettes. I was cracking up, and he was acting like that was normal. Oh boy. He then proceeded to ask if he could smoke in the car, but we said no, and he seemed irritated. But then my friend tried to explain in Malagasy that she was sorry but she had a sore throat. He seemed to think that was funny or something, or perhaps he was just laughing at our lack of Malagasy skills. Then we started having a conversation with him and he said a few things in English, which was cool. He said he speaks a very small amount of English, which I said was perfect because I only speak a very small amount of Malagasy. He talked to us about he wants to visit America one day, but that he doesn't think he'll be able to because he doesn't have enough money. He asked us how we liked Madagascar, and I told him that I like it, but I explained how I had my stuff stolen yesterday and he seemed to be very sympathetic and said that there are a bunch of pickpockets here and you really have to pay attention. He also was nice enough to teach me how to say watch in Malagasy. He asked us what time it was, and I responded that I didn't know because I didn't have a watch, but I said "Tsy haiko. Tsy manana une montre," which means "I don't know, I don't have a watch," but I didn't know the word for watch in Malagasy, so he told me what it was. I'm pretty sure it's one of the longest words in the history of human languages. It's "famantaranandro." Talk about a mouthful.....Then when he dropped us off, he gave us his phone number and said to call him if we ever need a cab. He definitely ended up being a nice guy even though at first I felt like he was a little bit rude. And the fact that he left us to go buy cigarettes cracks me up. Things like that just don't happen back home. And the fact that he left the car running is hilarious too, because often times here, cab drivers actually turn the car off when they're in a traffic jam, or when they're going downhill, and they just coast along for as long as possible. So I definitely haven't figured out when it's appropriate to turn the car on and off, if they leave it on when they're not driving, and turn it off when they are driving. Cabs are definitely something I'll have to learn to get used to here.

And, a little bragging, even though I've been pretty scared today whenever I've had to go outside, I got back up on the horse and walked home from my friends house today after the cab dropped us off. All by myself. :) Even though I was scared, I'm glad I forced myself to do it. I don't want to live in fear just because I had my purse stolen. I just need to be more careful and just not carry anything with me. If I don't have anything for them to take, then I'm safe! :)