Death Cab for Cutie

September 2, 2008

Most people know me to be a pretty bold person. They are therefore surprised when they encounter my quirky fears.

I am afraid of birds, most especially pigeons.
I am afraid of walking across bridges where I can see through the slats to the water underneath.
I am terrified of crickets.
I am afraid of/untrusting of any kind of tram/trolley/lift that is held up by wires that could become disconnected quite easily.
I have a healthy respect of heights (also known as fear of heights).
I am scared of being in a car crash.

I think that's most of my fears...listed right there for you. I try not to allow them to limit me from enjoying life to the fullest. I will walk across the Pont des Arts in Paris (a wooden bridge)--albeit rather quickly. I will go up high towers, although I have to confess that I have not gone to the very top of the Eiffel Tower and have ZERO desire to. Really--can the view be that different from the second platform? I don't care to find out. The view was nice enough for me.

Anyway...back to Egypt. One of my fears that some of you may know (Lanola) and some of you may not (H & L) is that I can get very anxious when riding in a car, fearing that whoever is driving is going too fast and won't be able to brake soon enough to avoid hitting the person in front of us...or that the person BEHIND us will hit us into the person in front of us. There are two easy explanations for this fear: I was in a car accident in college where the guy behind me hit me, at 55mph, into the car in front of me, and well...let's just blame all of Portuguese drivers during my two years there for escalating my fear to where it stands now.

Let's just be clear before I start my little story: People outside of America do not drive like Americans.

After the felucca ride, KO, A&A, and I climbed into a taxi to get back to A&A's apartment. I was sandwhiched in the middle of the back seat, much to my comfort. The front seat is too close for my visual comfort, and next to either window in the back seat doesn't allow for any padding should we be hit from the side. I know...I need help.

I'm realizing now that I should have blogged this story that night because it's all kind of foggy in my memory. I remember this crazy taxi cab driver going much faster than his Egyptian 200 year old car could handle, weaving in and out of traffic and therefore scaring me to death. I remember that none of the wheels felt like they were fully attached...and our concerns were confirmed when other cars kept pulling up beside us (if they could keep up with the insane speed and weaving) to point out that there were problems with the wheels. I remember it being bad enough that the other girls were concerned for our safety...and they ride in Egyptian taxis all the time.

But mostly I remember wanting to title my blog post, should I live to write it, "Death Cab for Cutie," and keeping the girls in stitches because of it. I lived to write it...and now I have nothing to say. Egyptian taxi rides are adventerous, if nothing else.