Driving in Beirut
I was waiting to cross the street to go to the Language Center today and waited for a taxi to try to pick someone up. All the cars behind him were honking. Then this truck (looked more like a covered wagon) full of Lebanese soldiers pulled up and a very angry man yelled something in Arabic at the taxi driver who then sped off in extreme fear and the truck followed him.
This inspired me to write a post dedicated to the process of getting around in Beirut... So in most big cities there are taxis with a meter and you just get in and tell the driver where you are going and hope that he doesn't drive around and waste your time and money. Not in Beirut. We have this awesome thing called "service" (pronounced ser-vees) that you share with people. For 1000 lebanese lira (67 cents) you can get anywhere in Beirut... if you play the game. Otherwise, you end up with a taxi that is 5000 lira.
So let's say you want to go downtown. Simply walk to a main street and wait two seconds. A taxi/service will pull up/slowdown. You lean down and scream into the car where you want to go. If he speeds off, you wait. But if he tilts his head to the side, you say "service?". If no one else is already in the car, he will say "la, taxi", to which you have to say "la, service." Then he will either cock his head to the side again or say "tayyib" (ok). Then you're good. So he takes you where you are going stopping for more people the whole way there. When you get to your destination, you shove a 1000 lira bill at him, say "yislamu" and get out. I'd say this is exactly how it works 99% of the time.
Also, taxi drivers here don't know where anything is, but they will pretend that they do so that they get your money and then ask people the whole way there. And they hit on you (if you're a female). "Where are you from? Are you a student? Why are you so beautiful? Beirut dangerous. Politics... (shakes head). You careful." If they don't speak English, they say the same thing in Arabic.
Which brings me to my next point, navigating the streets. There are 2 traffic lights in all of Beirut. As far as I can tell the color of the light makes absolutely no difference, everyone drives through red lights without slowing down. There are also no lane lines or speed limits. All of this makes it nearly impossible to cross the street when on foot. Cars will actually slow down to check you out and then speed up so you can't cross.
So there it is. Sorry if it's too detailed. Just so you know, this will most likely be the format of my next couple posts. Any requests?
This inspired me to write a post dedicated to the process of getting around in Beirut... So in most big cities there are taxis with a meter and you just get in and tell the driver where you are going and hope that he doesn't drive around and waste your time and money. Not in Beirut. We have this awesome thing called "service" (pronounced ser-vees) that you share with people. For 1000 lebanese lira (67 cents) you can get anywhere in Beirut... if you play the game. Otherwise, you end up with a taxi that is 5000 lira.
So let's say you want to go downtown. Simply walk to a main street and wait two seconds. A taxi/service will pull up/slowdown. You lean down and scream into the car where you want to go. If he speeds off, you wait. But if he tilts his head to the side, you say "service?". If no one else is already in the car, he will say "la, taxi", to which you have to say "la, service." Then he will either cock his head to the side again or say "tayyib" (ok). Then you're good. So he takes you where you are going stopping for more people the whole way there. When you get to your destination, you shove a 1000 lira bill at him, say "yislamu" and get out. I'd say this is exactly how it works 99% of the time.
Also, taxi drivers here don't know where anything is, but they will pretend that they do so that they get your money and then ask people the whole way there. And they hit on you (if you're a female). "Where are you from? Are you a student? Why are you so beautiful? Beirut dangerous. Politics... (shakes head). You careful." If they don't speak English, they say the same thing in Arabic.
Which brings me to my next point, navigating the streets. There are 2 traffic lights in all of Beirut. As far as I can tell the color of the light makes absolutely no difference, everyone drives through red lights without slowing down. There are also no lane lines or speed limits. All of this makes it nearly impossible to cross the street when on foot. Cars will actually slow down to check you out and then speed up so you can't cross.
So there it is. Sorry if it's too detailed. Just so you know, this will most likely be the format of my next couple posts. Any requests?