One of the harsh realities of foreign service living is that most capital cities aren’t very nice. I’m getting ready to move back to DC en route to my next assignment, and thinking back, driving has been the most annoying part of an otherwise phenomenal tour here. Here’s why…
- The constant honking of horns
- Having three flat tires in two weeks due to poor road conditions
- Getting cut off by a guy who wants to go really slow
- The mysterious third lane that drivers create on two lane roads
- The mysterious fourth lane
- The uber-mysterious fifth lane
- The constant honking of horns
- Pothole, after pothole, after pothole
- The high percentage of German automobiles bought on the backs of the poor
- Buses, how I hate buses
- Cars with plastic wrap windows
- The constant honking of horns
- Cars that stop for no reason in the middle of a busy road
- Traffic cops that only make things worse
- Rows of cars parked in front of “No Parking” signs
- That dislike of driving has turned me into a hermit on weekday evenings
- The constant honking of horns
- Cars made by communist-era eastern european automakers
- Being stuck behind a taxi
- Two lane roads turned into one tiny lane by cars illegally parked on both sides
- Non-functioning traffic lights
- Poor exhaust standards
- Dealing with heavy construction traffic right before elections
- Listening to developing world radio while I’m stuck in traffic
- Did I mention people constantly honking their horns? I mean, horns clearly aren’t solving the problem, nor are they making the wait we’re all sharing more pleasant. Why do people do that?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What about taxi drivers? What is the worst country for taxi drivers? I vote Costa Rica.
I agree entirely. I just returned from Thailand and you have all the above items in Bangkok.
One thing to note is within the U.S. you are starting to find these issues in cities that have large immigrant populations such as Chicago. It is funny to find it here in the USA as well….
were you in Armenia? haha just painted such a vivid picture.
Although I’m sure most of the former bloc fits that description.
Uhh, I was actually imagining Port-au-Prince! Amazing how many similarities there are and I don’t even know where you were. Great list!
I thought for sure you were talking about Milan. Had I needed to drive while I was there, I surely would have perished in a firey explosion or killed one of the maniacal, obviously death-obsessed scooterists. I also love 5- or 6-point intersections with no lights or other visible means of traffic control. How does anyone know what to do?
Will,
that’s too funny, Milan was my second guess. I actually did drive in Milan out of necessity. In a rental car. with a 950 euro deductible. i’ve never been so scared and angry in my life. i’ve also never been that close to punching a smartcar driver or a scooterist out of my window while at a red light. and the street signs are etched into buildings. aesthetically pleasing. but terrible. very very terrible.
as for the horn, i’ve noticed that overseas drivers use it to communicate both bad and good things such as
-Hello!
- Please let me merge in front of you.
-you’re a @%#$ for cutting me off!
-We went to high school together!
How often do FSOs need to use a vehicle to get to work? I have a license, but have mainly used public transportation my entire adult life. It seems like a hassle to either ship cars or have to figure out where/how to buy one locally every time you move.
It is a major hassle to ship cars. It can take months, and then you may have to wait to get your car registered.
My limited exposure to embassies has been in the developing world where the public transit options are not good (and the RSO usually says don’t use public transit). But in Prague, not only was there good public transit, but there was also practically no parking at the embassy.
So it depends where you go.
Mamuka:
Were you stationed at Prague? I have actually been there and visited the embassy. I was 40 at my 1st visit and had never been on any public bus trans in the US or anywhere until Prague. It was great, buses, trams, subways and the national trains were nice too. I hope to get there again someday…..
An aspiring FSO.. test in Oct.
Mike
Some of this would be true in Houston, Texas. (You should see what on-street parking does to streets accessing my neighborhood.)
I laughed so hard at the article and the comments (Clueless killed me). Great points, reminded me of my childhood abroad…that mysterious third lane always amazed me.