Backwards: A Taxi Mishap

So now that all of our visitors are gone, we have returned to a semi-normal Costa Rican lifestyle. Although this lack of adventure makes it much harder to come up with good blog posts, it is in fact what we came for...to live the Tico life. So for now on my blog will mostly be devoted to our lifestyle down here and all the "backwards" stuff that happens in Costa Rica. The "backwards" was a direct quote from our bishop at church describing Costa Rica after he moved here with his family from the states 5 years ago on a whim.

I was going to start with a tour of our apartment or pics of the kids at their school, but instead I think I will share with you one of the "backwards" experiences I had a couple days ago.

It all started Saturday evening... we were all in our tiny apartment, and the kids were going crazy, and I was feeling ancy to do something. Taylor on the other hand had downloaded a new computer game, and had made it clear that his goal was to sit and not move from his chair all night. (A formula bound for problems.) At about 6 o'clock I decided that was it....I was going to take the kids to the mall to play in the play area.

Since we don't have a car we have to call a taxi anytime we go anywhere out of walking distance. The mall is actually in walking distance for an adult, but it is a bit far for 2 kids alone with one adult, and it being dusk I figured making the trek was probably not a good idea. Thus, I called a taxi and decided I would deal with the drivers dissatisfaction frown that comes when you call them out for a short ride.

Now one thing you also need to know about the taxis here is that sometimes they show up in 2 seconds, sometimes 10 minutes, and sometimes not at all after you call them. Its a roll of the dice. Well, this particular night I decided I would go downstairs and wait outside with the kids to avoid the crazy rush that we do to get everyone downstairs when the taxi arrives. If you do not rush, they may just leave and then you will have to call and start the whole process again. As soon as the three of us stepped out the downstairs door of our condo building, a brand new shiny red taxi arrives to rescue us from our cabin fever. Relieved for this I jumped in, and told the driver to take us to the not-so-far mall. And to my surprise....no frown, sigh, or anything. Great! I thought. This was a good decision.

At the mall we had a great time. The kids played for over an hour, we ate some ice cream, overall we felt better. When it was time to return, I easily hailed a new cab, and we all decided how excited we were to return home and see Taylor. The perfect trip.

When we walk through the door Taylor is still on the couch but with a disgruntled frown similar to the one that I expected from our taxi driver. This was the conversation that followed.

Sheri - "What's wrong?"
Taylor- "Did you call a taxi and then walk to the mall?,"
Sheri- "Well, I called a taxi... but we took it. Why?"
Taylor- "Because about an hour ago we had a really mad taxi driver here who wanted to fight me."
Sheri- "What are you talking about?"
Taylor- "Yeah, so after you left I was nicely playing my game when our intercom starts ringing over and over again. The guy on it was really mad saying that he has been waiting forever for you and you haven't come. I went downstairs and told him that you left already which made him even more mad. I told him we would pay the fare, but he wouldn't listen, and wanted much more than a mall fair. Oh, and he wanted to fight me."
Sheri-"Ummm.... What! Umm.... Im sorry, but I thought that other guy was our taxi so I hopped in."
Taylor- "Well, you are going to have to make sure and check next time because it could have been bad. Finally I was able to pay him a good sum, and he left, avoiding the fight. Oh, and by the way we have been taxi blackballed."
Sheri- "What do you mean?"
Taylor- "I mean the taxi driver said that he is telling the company in Escazu not to come pick us up anymore. They will no longer come to our place to get us."
Sheri- "What? Oh Geez. I am so sorry."

So, where does that leave us you ask? How are we getting around? Well, I am becoming friends with the black taxi's or the "pirates" who run a taxi service from their own car. Sounds dangerous I know, but its not, people use them all the time here. The only problem is that they are slighlty illegal---and dont have the immense taxi training the red taxi drivers have. I figure in a few weeks I will call the red legal taxi company back and give a different alias---maybe Shelly perhaps.

And in conclusion, I would like to give a public thank you to my parents for visiting us. Thank you for all the good times, laughs, and adventures. Here is to awesome hotel breakfasts, the multiplaza, and blankets and pillows. We love you!