Taxis make me happy.

The slightly cool mountain breeze zips through the open windows and tousles my hair. We zoom past mountains and palm trees into the center of town, where men juggle in front of the windshield and women yell about how sweet the grapes they are selling are. We get stalled by a traffic jam and Warren mutters under his breath. The driver makes some sharp turns and honks and yells at the traffic, and suddenly we are free. Flowing with adrenaline after the recent jam, he drives faster and faster as we zip around curves and up and down hills, at least until we almost hit a motorcycle. Then he slows down, mutters something under his breath, and deposits us at our building. It's exhilarating.

There's something so fundamentally cosmopolitan about taking a taxi that it makes me feel like I'm living Sex and the City all the time. You see, I grew up in the suburbs and went to college in what could barely be called a city, but half the television shows anyone watches are set in NYC (of course!), and taxis just seem so New York, and New York just seems so cosmopolitan, city-girl cool that I just can't help but love them.

My first real taxi ride was probably the day I landed in Denmark. Taking taxis in Europe was something I did after a night on the town when the bus stopped running or when I was traveling. I have very good memories of taking a taxi in Prague and Italy on my first backpacking trips in Europe. I also have very fond memories of a very pricey taxi ride that my family took from Florence to the Cinque Terre because of a train strike. (Thanks again, Mom. I hope you still think those hundreds of Euros were worth it!) The point is, taxis for me have always been a bit of a luxury and almost glamorous.

In Colombia, taxis are a standard form of transportation. Of course there are buses, and lots of them, and really I should just suck it up and take the bus... but taxis here are very cheap, and I can't help it--I just love them.

The standard rate for a taxi in Pereira starts at 3,700 pesos. That's roughly $1.75. We rarely go over that because we normally don't take taxis very far, but I don't think I've ever paid more than 15,000 pesos for a taxi anywhere in Colombia. The rate goes up at night and on Sundays, holidays, and for trips to places like the airport. However, it's still just dang cheap. It's cheaper than taking the MetroLink in St. Louis--especially because you can get 3 people in 1 taxi!

Some of my favorite experiences have been in taxis, too. The taxi drivers tend to be friendly, and if we ever take a ride with one we've had before, he gets really excited. (I'm not trying to be sexist, I've just never seen a female taxi driver here.) I've had a few real conversations with them and so has Warren. One of my favorite drivers of all time heard us speaking English and put in a CD of old '80s and '90s American music once. He barely said a thing, but we appreciated his gesture a lot. At the end of our ride, he said thank you and gave us his card. It just makes me feel like someone actually wants us to be in Colombia. In fact--a few of them have asked how long we've been here, and they always say "Welcome to Colombia" when we tell them.

Although some of the little yellow cars are super old and falling apart, a lot of them are fairly new. My favorite ones have these cool blue lights in the back and good music. It's just plain fun. Just ask Elaine Benes or Carrie Bradshaw. Those ladies know what a good taxi ride is all about.