First Day Thoughts - Stephanie Guzik

Until today we experienced a situation “only in movies”. After visiting the Pearl Market and realizing how much money we are going to spend buying pearls, we decided to call it a night and get some din din. Using his best MBA (newly acquired) skills Ozzie tries to be fiscally sound and get the best quote from the taxi drivers. It’s always a good idea to negotiate safety… Finally we settle on $5 for all three of us (Barb, Phil, Ozzie and Me) from a surly Chinese man. We get in the taxi… squished like sardines and we are off! Suddenly we are swerving through traffic, near missing accidents and collisions with other vehicles. Just when we thought it was safe to look up, he takes a turn down the narrowest alley dodging his unsuspecting fellow Chinamen and their cars. We came to a grinding holt because someone needed to get out of a parking space. Instead of getting out of the way, our taxi ride from hell veers to the right and rides over the curb as we imagined the sparks that were emitted under the car as it drug on the concrete. We cross the street and magically appear at our hotel. We all yelled out it joy and relief that we had arrived in one piece. At that moment, we thought he was superman and not stupid!