Hello Everyone,
While in a city such as Chicago one may find himself playing guessing games initiated by the taxi driver (and being cheated in it), trying to figure out his nationality by his accent (and wondering about his immigration status), in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, you're most likely to encounter drivers with university degrees who chat you up in a friendly manner about the good old [Soviet] days. In Tbilisi, conversations about politics are frequent during taxi rides and it is not unusual to get lectured on one topic or another by the driver.
While some taxi drivers are quite friendly, informative, and even interesting, other encounters can range from amusing (if one is in a good mood) to impossible (if one just wants to get to the f***ing destination!). An alternative example of an encounter with a taxi driver in Tbilisi is one with the driver who has only recently moved to Tbilisi from some village (and probably has passed his driving exam only a month ago, if at all), who doesn't know any of the streets you mention, even if they're in the central neighbourhood, and you have to guide them the entire way. No, you might even be possessed by the desire to ask them to switch places with you temporarily and let you drive (and I don't even know how to drive) just to make the process more efficient or simply come out alive from the car.
Whatever the outcome of the ride, upon reaching the desired destination, I can never resist sharing my recent taxi experience with those around me. In this blog I hope to share with you some of my experiences in taxis in Tbilisi in order to hopefully amuse you and perhaps even impress you with the kind of people you may encounter in taxis at times. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I think it's worth a shot :)
Cheers,
~Ana
