Do you know where that is? because I don’t..
Every now and then, when I get into a Taxi, and ask them to head to Marj Al-Hamam (7km outside Amman, where I live) I get a “Do you know how to reach it, because I don’t”.. now I am used to being asked that every now and then.. But today, for the first time, when I got into the Taxi from Marj Al-Hamam, and asked him to head to Second Circle, I got a “So you know how to reach it, because I don’t”..
For those who do not know Amman, part of the core of West/Mid Amman, is Zahran Street, which have 8 circles in it, and it is as if Western parts of Amman are built around them.. Now it seems it was the driver’s first day, and he is from Naur (which is 10 km away from Amman) and have no experience in Amman’s roads. But what was he doing in a Amman Taxi?
I read once (had been looking for it in the internet, without luck) that Taxi drivers in london take a long course (2 years?) to learn the streets of the city. Now I am not asking for magic here, I do not expect to be able reach home by telling a driver to go to “16 Qatar 3 st. Marj Al-Hamam” (at least not in the next 30 years) .. but when I say “second circle” I shouldn’t get a “where is that?” from a Taxi driver.
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March 19th, 2006 at 11:13 am
not in million years, it works in kuwait now thu!
March 19th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
a taxi driver in Dubai had to make a 10 minuts phone call with another fellow driver to ask him (WHERE IS THE AIRPORT?) ,,, it was 7-minuts away, with the traffic, thank god i didnt miss the plane, easy dude
March 20th, 2006 at 10:52 pm
Ya zalameh!! Inta kaman Marj al 7amami ? Raheeb! I live near dowwar il tayyara bi iskan 3alya. The number of times I have to explain to people where that is!
March 22nd, 2006 at 11:14 pm
My parents live in Amman, so I totally understand the situation with the circles. I find it amazing that a taxi driver wouldn’t know about them and/or where a certain circle is!
To explain to those who have never been to Amman: The ‘circles’ are roundabouts every mile or so along a main road in Amman, going in a similar direction. It’s an excellent system where you just ask to go to a certain circle and the taxi driver *should* know where to go hehe ;-)
The biggest problem I found with taxi drivers, even when asking for a place like Khalda, was the seemingly ever so slight mis-pronunciation of the ‘Kh’ sound. If I said ‘Kalda’ the taxi driver would be confused, whereas if I said ‘Halda’.. he’d be straight on his way.
Luckily my little sister has been learning Arabic for just over half a year now. She sounds amazing when speaking Arabic. With her in the taxi, I’d just ask her: “Can you tell the taxi driver where mum and dad live?” and she’d be able to pronounce it perfectly. Often the taxi driver would say something back in Arabic and my sister would laugh because she understood it :D
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:57 am
London cab drivers must learn “The Knowledge” in order to become licensed:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/knowledge.shtml
When I visited Amman, we took a bus tour, so I am probably as lost as your cab driver.
April 17th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Isam , Ithink you are deeply right.
my uncle lives in germany and he told me once that the taxi drivers there know every street in the city they work in and they always have a map.
that day i asked a taxi driver to take me from tla3 al3ali to hayat amman hotel, he asked me the same question :”you know how to reach it?”