Riding with Strangers

Every child growing up in America, has heard 8 simple words repeated, echoed, and etched into their minds from the time of consciousness and all through elementary school:

“Do not get in the car with strangers.”

I moved to Paris right as the blockbuster hit “Taken” came out – about a girl and her friend who hitch a ride with some nice guy from Charles De Gaule to their place of stay in Paris. Only later to be kidnapped, drugged, and sold into prostitution. Then came the influx of advice, “Katie- don’t take rides from strangers- especially in a foreign country!” “Are you safe? I saw this movie, ‘Taken,’ don’t get a ride from someone you don’t know.” “Be careful who you ride with, just because you think someone is nice. You can never really know, and you might be, ‘Taken.’”

After a week of sitting in conference rooms all day, on Saturday we were given a half day break- to get out of the hotel, and breathe some fresh air. A group of us decided to take the bus into town, and see what there was to offer. The bus is scheduled to run every 30 minutes. After waiting 45 minutes and having no bus come by- we decide the bus is probably not going to come- and we were wasting our precious limited free time.

As we are discussing what to do next, my friend Jeni puts out her hand, and a car pulling out of the hotel stops. She asks for a ride into town, he shakes his head yes and a group piles into the car- me being one of them. We did ensure that one boy accompanied us- but the whole time I am amazed that with ease and without questions we all jumped into this “nice guys” car. My first hitch hiking experience. I Never thought I would put that one on my list of things I have done.

Literally as our car was pulling away- the bus pulled up, loading the rest of the group whom we assumed we would bump into down town. After pulling back onto the road – our new driver puts on a Middle Eastern Techno as our loud background music- and he and the token boy begin rattling off Russian to one another. I am so out of my norm.

Stranger- Check

Driving on the opposite side of the road- Check

Car full of people speaking in Russian- Check

No cell phone- Check

No idea where I am going- Check

No Money on hand- Check

Middle Easter Techno Music- Check

Can my life become any stranger at this moment?

Nope!

While driving I turn to Jeni who is acting as if all is normal on a regular day and laugh saying,

Giddy Hitch Hiker: “I can’t believe we just did this.”

(Jeni is quite confused by my amusement of it all.)

Calm and Collected Hitch Hiker: “Why??? Because of the Loud Music???”

Giddy Hitch Hiker: “No! We just got in the car with a Stranger. My mom would flip if
she knew about this.” (sorry mom!)

Calm and Collected Hitch Hiker: “Ooooooooooooh… (Laughing) I get it now! You have
never done this before. See in Kazakhstan, we do this all the time. We stop cars as if they are taxi’s and take a ride.”

Giddy Hitch Hiker: “YOU DO?!?!” That’s crazy!”

Calm and Collected Hitch Hiker: “Yah, it’s perfectly normal to stop any car and ask for a ride.”

Giddy Hitch Hiker: “Ahhhh! Now I understand why you were so okay with it all. I was just so confused, because all my life I have been told not to get in the car with strangers, especially in a foreign country, and here, you just did it without a flinch.”

After 15 minutes our driver dropped us off exactly where we wanted to be- we asked how much we needed to pay him (apparently another standard when asking strangers for rides) and he dismissed us from the vehicle saying “We owed him nothing- it was free but to get out quickly because we were holding up traffic.” We promptly scrambled out of the car- and just like that, faster than he came, he was gone.

While I don’t think hitching a ride from strangers will become my new normal. I was given a small adventure in this foreign land, and reminded that my abnormal, in another country and culture can always be someone else’s normal .