As I walk down the streets of this foreign country I'm taken in by smells and sites that are unlike anything we have at home. Sometimes I'll recognize something, a quick whiff of something that could be from a restaurant, or someone wearing a shirt I recognize from home, but mostly the smells, sights and sounds are new. Since this isn't a vacation, and we live in this new land, some of these foreign sites, sounds and smells will take on new meanings to me. They'll become common and some will even be the points of nostalgia that I'll think about when we eventually do leave. I'll miss some of this place, but I know the one thing that I won't. I won't because it's the thing that I've encountered in almost every single place we've lived, it's the sounds of a taxi cab honking and I hate it.
When you move to certain places you know that you don't fit in. As time goes by you try to fit in a little bit, and maybe you do a bit. To some of the locals you become a regular sight, so they don't stare anymore, they wave hello. In some ways you walk with more confidence, so the cars might actually stop for you at the crosswalk. The thing is, to a cab driver, you'll always be a foreigner, and they will always honk.
A taxi cab honk can mean one of three things, and I'm going to go over each with you right now.
Probably the most familiar reason a cab will honk at you for westerners is because it's about to hit you. This is the most legitimate reason any car should honk at you. I do get a little upset when this honk is done because this cab driver wants me to cross a street faster or because I happen to be blocking a walking path that they for some reason have decided that is an okay place to drive. This honk comes out of anger or fear but it kind of makes sense.
The second honk is one that happens in parts of Asia and has become such a problem that some countries have banned it. Unfortunately the country I'm in now does not ban this so I hear it fairly often. That's the honk of acknowledgement. This is using your horn to just acknowledge that the cab or any car is there. It can mean hello, I'm over here, or even thank you. This is probably the most positive type of honking, but when every single car in a road is doing it, it can be a little loud and overwhelming. That's why some countries ban this kind of honking.
The third is the worst kind of honking for me, it's the honk that says: "hey look, a foreigner. I bet he's lost because he's in a country that he is obviously not from. I bet he's rich, and I bet I can make a lot of money from him.". This is the honk that only people who look different than locals get pretty regularly every time we walk outside. I've been walking down a street, minding my own business, having lived in a place for more than a couple of years, only to have a cab driver pull up next to me, drive slow, and honk receptively at me. It's often followed by a few words in English being yelled out.
When I look over they yell, "taxi?" Sometimes if I ignore them they'll follow slowly, honk and yell for a long time. Then they eventually get mad that I don't acknowledge them. I've had this happen walking through parks enjoying the scenery, I've had it happen walking out of buildings that have a taxi stand that they're nowhere near. It feels like these cabs assume I'm a perpetually lost idiot looking for their help. I used to think this was a cultural thing, but they I started walking down streets with local friends, and they're amazed at how often we get harassed by taxies, and how aggressive the drivers get. So this means it doesn't happen to them, which means they choose to harass me because of what I look like.
I love living abroad, and the good outweighs the bad, but when a cab driver is following me in a park on a quiet Sunday afternoon yelling at me to get in so he can take me where I want to go, I really wish I was anywhere else.