Transport: Serveece and Vans

Traffic
Originally uploaded by Jane Rubio.

Beirut has a system of shared cabs called service. You stand on the street; the guys slow down; and you tell him the place where you want to go. Half the time, he makes a tsk noise, tilts his head back, and drives off. It seems kind of rude if you're an American, until you learn that this is how Lebanese people say no. If they're heading there, they tilt their head sort of down and towards the door. Sometimes they'll say "Serveecein" which means you pay 2,000 Lebanese Lira, instead of 1,000, which is what service also means. LL 1,000 = U.S. $.67.

So it's a cool idea, and obviously way cheap. But there are a couple problems. It usually takes forever. Not only is traffic in Beirut horrendous, but these guys are always looking for customers, so they slow down whenever they see anyone, and since there can be up to four people in the car, you are often taking detours along the way.

And then half of these guys are major jerks. Like once you're sitting in the car, they'll start renogiating the terms. You looked at him straight in the face and said "Service?" and he nodded down, which means L.L. 1,000, but then he'll start saying that where I want to go is farther or something. Or sometimes they just tell you a different price when you get there. One time a guy drove me literally one minute down a couple side streets, just because I didn't know where the place was, and he charged me 5,000. What the . . .??? I was like No Way, Jose. He was getting aggressive, so I just took out the 1000, dropped it on the seat next to me, and opened the door. But at this point he was grabbing my leg and yelling at me in Arabic. One woman I know was followed out of the car by the chouffer, who then spit on her. So I decided to just give him the 5,000.

But then, of course, they can be nice too. Yesterday a guy took me to a nearby street so that I could take a servicein to Solidaire. He wouldn't take the 1,000 when I gave it to him.

Now the vans are the other way of getting around. I have to take them a lot since I live in Aley. Roller derby is an understatement for the way they drive. I risk my life everytime I get into one, especially since it's on the super windy Damascas highway, going up the mountain. People get concerned for me because they're filled with Syrian workers. (The Syrians are to Lebanese what Mexicans are to U.S. Americans, but the culture here isn't so P.C.) But I've never had a problem, and usually they play good Lebanese pop music. It's just that the driving is way, way crazy. But these are things you get used to when you're not in the U.S.