Wisdom from a taxi driver

While travelling through South America, I've spent a lot of time in taxis. Some have been good taxi rides, others have been terrifying. You never know, when you get in a taxi, which one it's going to be.

One of my favourite taxi rides was in Colombia. My sister and I went to a free rock concert in Bogota, held about thirty minutes away from the centre of town. At the end of the concert we jumped into a taxi for the ride back.

"Hello, beautiful girls", the taxi driver greets us. He flicks the light on and turns around to get a better look. "Yes, very beautiful", he nods. "Beautiful girls are trouble though. Do you know why?" We shake our heads.

"They're expensive", he says, rubbing his fingers together. "They want the Mercedes, the nice house, pretty clothes. You give them money, money, money. Muy costoso".

We nod. He looks at us. "Mercedes are expensive here", he says. He adds this as though Mercedes might be cheap in other places.

The taxi driver then tells us a bit about himself as we drive along. He asks us where we're from. We go through the requisite question-and-answers, which usually go like this:

"Where are you from?"

"New Zealand"

"Ah, New Zealand! It's a beautiful country"

"Thank you "

"So you speak Dutch?"

"No, English"

(Pause) "But New Zealand is in Europe?"

"It's in Oceania"

"Oceania! How far away is it on a plane?"

"About twenty-four hours"

"That's very far away!"

"Yes, it's very far away."

"Do you have husbands? Boyfriends?"

"No"

"Don't worry. You can get Colombian boyfriends"

This is said reassuringly, as if we're worried. He glances back at us.

"My girlfriend is black", he says. ("Mi novia es negrita"). He pauses. "But I like her".

At first I think, how nice, he used the diminutive to refer to his girlfriend - "My novia es negrita", rather than just negra. Later I think he may actually have meant "My girlfriend is a little bit black".

Nicola