Taxis = Stories

I took two quite "interesting" little jaunts in a taxi today. Where I used to think this was just my luck at always getting into the cursed taxis, I'm now beginning to feel that the true joke lies not on who DOES get into the fateful taxi, but rather the person who manages to NOT get in one. Chances are far greater for the latter!

The first ride began with a simple wish to go to the temple. (Violins playing in the background please). The problem with the temple directions is the inconvenient name of the street on which it is located...Independence Avenue. Fine on its own, right? Right...but when there is a very large and well known Independence Square located about 1 or 2 miles away from Independence Avenue, we inevitably get taken to the Square every time. Much confusion always ensues as we try to clearly explain "THE L...D...S TEMPLE. Latter-Day Saints? Big grey building with gold statue?" Confusion. Every time without fail we end up pulling over to ask random people if they know Independence Avenue. To the untrained ear it sounds a bit like "ahds;dlkjd;ld fljflk f;lfj dkja;ldkfjalf l INDEPENDENCE AVENUE........jsekdja;lj f jkdjfa;ljf kjfaoifja;ldfj a;lj INDEPENDENCE AVENUE???" But to me it sounds more like "as;dlkjasoije;wfiodjoija;jfaj INDEPENDENCE AVENUE.......asofijwoeipaopo;aowiejapoijf;aiojfaoiwje INDEPENDENCE AVENUE???" Oh wait~

Now please be kind and realize I am SO not looking my best in this little clip because make up and showers are sometimes a no-go, but the point is to get the feel of our ride. I actually look quite comical because I am so dang tired and lacking vital nutrients!! haha. We did end up finding it after our third stop. Beautiful time in the temple.

On our way home from the temple, a second adventure began. This time I was in the taxi with Lynley so I was fine with whatever happened. There's security when she's there cus she can act like our mom and figure stuff out for us! Yes. So we hop in a taxi figuring our ride will be normal. But we soon hit traffic. That's fine, until the policeman standing in the road had our taxi pull over. We had four of us squished in the back and I was thinking "no way, we're getting in trouble in Ghana for having too many passengers? Have you SEEN the other drivers on the road?!" The policeman comes to the window and asks for the driver's license. Clearly, this man did not have what the police wanted because he began arguing frantically and gesturing wildly. The policeman eventually leans in the window and points to Desiree in the front seat and says "You will need to get out of the car. Your driver is being arrested and the car impounded." Nice. I was out of there so fast it's like I was never even there. It was after this ride that I made up my mind that MOST of my taxi rides would probably be entertaining. We either make awesome friends with the men, like we did with Ali tonight, or we make too nice of friends, like we did with Emmanuel a few nights ago, who came-a-callin' for us at the hostel a few days later. He was ready to take us to some quote un-quote "reception". The men here are, how do you say, "friendly." Sometimes the only thing that makes an experience OK is the thought "Man, this is ganna make a good story/memory!"