the 3rd, 5th, and 7th lanes

Imagine: A street jam packed with thirty year old Peugeots and Hyundais, painted black and white, masquerading as our commonly-recognized "taxi". The sight of one of these taxis is quite jarring. They're nothing like the familiar New York City yellow cabs, or the Blue (call-when-you're-too-drunk-to-walk-home) City cabs. For starters, they are in a much more significant state of disrepair - often with dented sides, windows stuck half down, and fenders that have seen their fair share of benders. (The vast majority of other cars on the street share this aged, beat-up quality.) Sometimes at night, if you're lucky, you can catch a bumpin cab with some sweet LEDs. Aside from their rustically different appearance, driving in one of these things is like driving in another dimension. All elements of time and space are suspended. Back in the states, we drive huge, hulking SUVs, etc, and keep the exteriors of our cars pristine. Here, since the appearance of the cars is not such a concern, neither is space.

Forget everything you know about driving, it doesn't apply. Speed limits, at least posted ones, are nowhere to be found, or observed. Horns are employed regularly, as a means of flagging down passengers, plowing a path, simply saying hi to another cabby, or as a musical addition to the radio. (This happened. It was pretty amusing, but also one of the scarier taxi rides I've been on.) And those little dotted lines that separate "lanes"... fuck that. Contrary to popular belief, those lines actually indicate another driving lane altogether. Two lanes become three, three lanes become five, and before you know it, you're speeding down a seven-lane highway. I'd like to consider myself a pretty good driver (laugh if you will) but I could never do what these guys do. Constantly weaving in and out of five to seven unofficial lanes of traffic, these dudes have NO fear.

What's even more impressive, are the scooters/mopeds. Virtually everything in this town can be delivered, and it's done by means of boxes strapped to the back of scooters. Those third, fifth, and seventh lanes I was talking about multiply yet again for these crazy little scooter men. There is absolutely no such thing as a "lane" to them. They drive between everyone, cross sidewalk meridians, and go faster than everyone. Talk about a high-risk job. I hope those delivery guys get a raise every time they make it back alive.

Now imagine trying to cross the street here.