Taxi! Taxi!

Rather than write the last paragraph of the paper I have due tomorrow, I will tell you about hailing a cab in Athens, because it's absolutely fascinating and says a lot about the general mood of this city.

First of all, cabs do not stop when you stick your arm out. You have to find a corner where cabs will even consider stopping, and it has to be in the direction you are going. When a cab finally pulls up to you, the driver will roll down the window and glare. You say where you want to go - "Kolonaki?" I ask. The usual response is for the cab driver to mutter "Oxi" ("no"), give you a dirty look, and pull away. That's right, cab drivers will turn you down. Often. We've asked a few Athenians about this, and they've all said that Greeks don't like to feel as though they are controlled by their job. This means that if a cab driver doesn't feel like going to your neighborhood, they'll give up a fare.

When we're desperate, we pull the "I'm an American and don't know the rules" and just get in the cab before saying where we want to go. But this just really pisses off the cab driver, and he usually takes the long route to increase the fare. The only upside of this whole process is that cabs are insanely cheap here. But when you need to get somewhere in a rush, taking a cab is among the more frustrating experiences.