Somali Driver's Ed

I haven't even left Charlotte yet, but things are already off to quite a start. I finished packing around 2PM, and my cab came to pick me up at 3PM. The driver seemed innocent enough when we set off, but it turns out he may have been a little too innocent.

The ride to the airport took twice as long as it should have, and I was having considerable difficulty determining which route he was trying to take to get there. He passed my usual route down West Blvd and headed down Tryon instead. I thought he was going to take I-277 to Wilkinson Blvd, but he passed that as well. Turned out he just wanted to drive around uptown looking for a sign for the airport - I opted to give him directions instead. Even with my directions, however, the language barrier cost us a few extra miles due to missed turns. While I was trying to direct him, he opted to make a few phone calls instead, chatting away in Somali. I figured the language was either Amharic or Somali, so I took a guess based on facial features and asked if he was from Somalia. He became very excited and started to share his life story.

Amidst the explanations of how he left Somalia because of all the unrest, moved to Saudi Arabia for 5 months, spent 3 months trying to get into a university in Italy and then finally fulfilled his dream of moving to America, he also added that he has only been driving for 2 months. "You've only been a taxi driver for 2 months?" I asked.

"No, got my driver's license 2 months ago, been driving taxi for one week. Soon I will learn my way to the airport with help from people like you."

We were pulling onto the entrance road to the airport as he was wrapping up that last sentence. That's when he tried to merge directly into an oncoming red toyota. There was some swerving, honking and a quiet "sorry," but we survived without impact.

The airport was packed, and traffic was at a stand-still, but I opted to get out and walk to the Lufthansa counter rather than sit in the taxi any longer and risk death so early in my trip. Once inside, the staff at Lufthansa took care of me as usual, and I made it through security quickly, despite the long line. I'll be boarding my flight to Munich in the next 20 minutes, and I'm looking forward to a long pleasant flight and a day of relaxation in Munich before things really get started.