The title says it all 🙂 I am here in Puebla with a group of 8 other students, and for four weeks we had nothing but great luck with taxis. I mean, the occasional driver would shun us and drive away if we tried to bargain too low, but that was the extent of any misfortune. The day we visited Cholula though, the taxi Gods were not on our side.

The ride there was proceeding normally- we flagged the one of three taxi drivers waiting next to the curb, asked him the price, hopped in, and went on our way… until we hit standstill traffic. I was sitting in the front seat admiring the highway view when I noticed a rapid change in the driver’s facial expression from content to extremely distraught. He quickly looked over his shoulder and in the rearview mirror, then down at his wallet. He clicked the door open, and marched outside, swiftly and definitively, waving his arms as if he had just won the lottery, but with furrowed eyebrows that said something much different. We had been hit on the bumper by the car behind us, and the taxi driver was not happy. After three minutes of lecture, he returned to the car and inadvertently taught us some not-so-nice Spanish words (never to be said of course, only understood). The driver’s anger fizzled as we began moving again and we all burst out in laughter. We laughed and joked about the incident the rest of the ride. I’m sure the taxi driver appreciated that dent like he would the flu, but hey, at least it was a conversation starter! 🙂

Cholula was fun! We climbed the famous Great Pyramid, and saw the view from the top where a Church was built a hundred years ago. It was truly magnificent (Mexico is full of amazing views!!) Afterwards, we broke off into smaller groups to sight-see and buy refreshments. Another friend and I went to buy ice cream, and as we were talking, the nightly rain began to fall.

We decided to leave at around 8:30. After a 7 minute long search for a taxi in soggy sweatshirts and jeans, we finally spotted one. Again, we asked the price, hopped in, and went on our way. We told him we needed to go to “9B Sur, 43 Poniente in Puebla,” which he seemed fine with. He called his guide person (which many taxistas do) to ask for directions. My friend and I were chatting away, when we started to notice the time was going by a little too slowly. Looking around, the neon lights of the surrounding night clubs were anything but familiar. I reminded the driver, “Puebla, Se�or” and he replied that we were almost at 9 Sur. My friend and I exchanged knowing looks- we were lost. We told him we needed to go to Puebla and he repeated what he said, we were almost at 9 Sur… 9 Sur in ANOTHER town! We attempted to tell him that this was not the correct route, but he remained confused. Four weeks in Mexico still did not provide us with quite enough vocabulary to communicate our needs clearly. However, after about twenty minutes, our broken Spanish somehow got us to Angelopolis, the mall nearby to our neighborhood. The landmark was a relief and we told him we were close! (emphasis on the exclamation point). As we neared the correct street, our relief turned to shock as he drove straight past it. It took fifteen more minutes for us to process this incorrect direction (we were in shock for a bit), tell him we needed to turn around, and for us to actually arrive at our destination. Neither of us felt unsafe during that ride, but the experience was definitely an eye-opener!

Moral of the story: Taxi rides are good for learning both the map, and the language. Taxi problems, although take some extra time, enhance learning even more. Be open-minded to learning everything you can in your new country, and there will never be “problems,” only experiences and stories to tell!

Location: Puebla, Mexico