Last week, after visiting the town where I had first lived here in Morocco, I spent a day in Fes. I took a grand taxi to the city. When I arrived in Fes at the grand taxi stand, I caught a petit taxi into the center of the city.
When I got a petit taxi there in Fes, I followed the advice of my friend and fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), Jack, whom I had visited the previous week near Marrakech. He had told me that when he approaches a petit taxi driver in Marrakech, he asks the driver if the meter is working. If the driver says that the meter isn't working, my friend takes a different petit taxi. Last week after my friend had shared this advice with me, I asked him how much he usually pays for petit taxi rides in Marrakech. I acknowledged that one will pay varying amounts on different petit taxi rides, because the final amount you pay depends on the length of the trip, and every trip is of a different length. But I also noted that he and I probably often travel between the same places. He said that he usually pays about 10 to 12 dirhams per petit taxi ride in Marrakech. I noted to him that I'd been paying 15 dirhams per ride, such that I'd probably been overpaying, but not by a lot.
Nevertheless, I don't want to be paying more than I have to be paying, especially on a relatively meager budget. Thus, I was sure not only to remember his advice, but also to put it into practice. When I got a cab in Fes last week, I asked the driver if the meter was working. He said it was working, which I confirmed, and we were off on our way further into the city.
I must admit that I felt a little silly upon considering that I hadn't been making sure that the meters were working when I had been taking petit taxis in Marrakech. A little later, however, I considered how I often visit Ouarzazate. In that city, the petit taxis always charge 4 dirhams per ride during the day, and 6 dirhams per ride at night. Thus I'd gotten used to not making sure that the meter was working and on.
Still, I thought about how I'd used the MP3 files of recorded language lessons which the Peace Corps provided to me and to others once we'd accepted invitations to serve as PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) here in Morocco. I'd started using the MP3 files before arriving here in Morocco, so that once I arrived here, I'd had some exposure to basic Darija, that is, Moroccan Arabic, including numbers and subject pronouns. Once I had started living here, I continued using the MP3 files, since the more advanced ones cover some very common, and thus very helpful, conversational phrases. Among them are "Wesh l-kuntur xdam?" meaning "Is the meter on?" and "Xdam l-kuntur, Eafak," meaning "Turn on the meter, please."
I've devoted some thought to my experiences with petit taxis here, and how I'd forgotten those phrases from the language lessons. I came to such a basic and elementary conclusion: I've considered that I have to remember what I've learned.
When I got a petit taxi there in Fes, I followed the advice of my friend and fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), Jack, whom I had visited the previous week near Marrakech. He had told me that when he approaches a petit taxi driver in Marrakech, he asks the driver if the meter is working. If the driver says that the meter isn't working, my friend takes a different petit taxi. Last week after my friend had shared this advice with me, I asked him how much he usually pays for petit taxi rides in Marrakech. I acknowledged that one will pay varying amounts on different petit taxi rides, because the final amount you pay depends on the length of the trip, and every trip is of a different length. But I also noted that he and I probably often travel between the same places. He said that he usually pays about 10 to 12 dirhams per petit taxi ride in Marrakech. I noted to him that I'd been paying 15 dirhams per ride, such that I'd probably been overpaying, but not by a lot.
Nevertheless, I don't want to be paying more than I have to be paying, especially on a relatively meager budget. Thus, I was sure not only to remember his advice, but also to put it into practice. When I got a cab in Fes last week, I asked the driver if the meter was working. He said it was working, which I confirmed, and we were off on our way further into the city.
I must admit that I felt a little silly upon considering that I hadn't been making sure that the meters were working when I had been taking petit taxis in Marrakech. A little later, however, I considered how I often visit Ouarzazate. In that city, the petit taxis always charge 4 dirhams per ride during the day, and 6 dirhams per ride at night. Thus I'd gotten used to not making sure that the meter was working and on.
Still, I thought about how I'd used the MP3 files of recorded language lessons which the Peace Corps provided to me and to others once we'd accepted invitations to serve as PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) here in Morocco. I'd started using the MP3 files before arriving here in Morocco, so that once I arrived here, I'd had some exposure to basic Darija, that is, Moroccan Arabic, including numbers and subject pronouns. Once I had started living here, I continued using the MP3 files, since the more advanced ones cover some very common, and thus very helpful, conversational phrases. Among them are "Wesh l-kuntur xdam?" meaning "Is the meter on?" and "Xdam l-kuntur, Eafak," meaning "Turn on the meter, please."
I've devoted some thought to my experiences with petit taxis here, and how I'd forgotten those phrases from the language lessons. I came to such a basic and elementary conclusion: I've considered that I have to remember what I've learned.
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