Just Another Friday Night

Taxis aren't the only form of transportation that make for exciting experiences.

Tonight's microbus was a sight to see. As I entered, I was greeted with a phrase that somewhat resembled "you're going to enjoy the ride." Once the 18 person minivan filled up, we screeched out into the street. The driver really epitomized the idea of a lead foot, and he used that lead foot for the brakes as well as the gas. As we whipped around turns, I felt like I was with a bunch of my friends playing jello, only these people were just random people trying to get to wherever they needed to be at midnight on a Friday.

I'm pretty sure everyone in the microbus enjoyed the ride. The microbus consisted of a family in the first two rows, the couple in the row in front of me, the other Matt, and the two guys next to me. On my right was a well-dressed guy in his thirties and on my left, a sixty-year-old man missing his bottom teeth. The older man started talking to me about cooking chicken. He kept repeating, عيز فراخ المطبخ, directly translated: "Do you want the kitchen's chicken." After a couple repetitions, I finally realized he was asking me if I wanted to play chicken. (He's 60, I'm 20...)

I told him that I had to pass, but I tried to make conversation by remarking on the craziness of the driver. In complete seriousness, the old man explained that the driver wasn't crazy at all; he just wanted to get to our destination faster.

The Microbus

I'm sitting in the back seat of this Microbus (اسمها مشروة بالعربية)

It's an alternative to taking the taxi. The Microbuses only have five rows of seats, but before they take off, they always find a way to squeeze in 19 people including the driver. Two people can sit beside the driver in the front, four people can sit in the very last row, three people can sit in the three middle rows, and the remaining three people sit in the folding chairs along side the three middle rows. 

The ride is only 3/4 pound (about 12 cents). In order to pay, you just pass your money to the person sitting in front of you. 

The upsides: 1. fixed, lower prices 2. carpool with everyone and their mothers and save the environment

The downsides: 1. you have to know their routes 2. you get dropped off 10 minutes away from where you actually want to be.