How to Survive Portuguese Taxi Ride :: Free Expository Process Essays

How to Survive Portuguese Taxi Ride Less than twenty-four hours after arriving in Portugal, I was introduced to my first taxi ride. I was traveling with a native Portuguese girl, Sandra Batista. Sandra called a taxi to take us to our home. I hadn't, yet, experienced a taxi ride in Portugal. I had heard how dreadful these rides can be, especially the first time. "Consider yourself forewarned," a friend had cautioned a few minutes before I boarded the plane. He was, of course, referring to the taxi drivers in Portugal. I laughed. "The taxi drivers can't be that bad," I reasoned with him. He laughed. He had the last laugh. In fact, he still laughs about my ignorance. The taxi pulled up and Sandra and I got in. She took the passenger's seat; I sat in the rear. I felt calm. After the first acceleration, that serenity transformed to sheer panic and nausea. I was praying silently as I held on for dear life. Sandra was nonchalant; she animatedly spoke in Portuguese to the driver. The spoken language was foreign to me; her body language was not. She was completely unaffected. Fifteen minutes later we arrived home. "For cars and motorcycles the speed limits are 60 kilometers per hour (37 m.p.h.) in built up areas (city streets)." (Baedeker 388) Our driver was averaging about 90 kilometers per hour (55 m.p.h.). Sandra thanked and tipped our driver. I lost my lunch in the nearest bush. It was my first "near-death experience," as I like to call it; little did I know, I would endure several more experiences similar to this one in the following year and a half, while residing in Portugal. After several months of fearing, my life, followed by vomiting, I decided to create a method for relaxation in the Portuguese taxi. First, give yourself time to prepare for the event. You will need a good amount of time to think about and prepare for your excursion. Meditation is powerful. In Lamaze classes, for example, you are told to have a calm and peaceful setting to think about when labor pains get climactic and intense; the Portuguese taxi ride qualifies as "intense." Prepare your mind by thinking of a peaceful scene; this scene could be a beach or a forest setting. Pondering a roller coaster ride would not be a good idea. Thinking through an entire calm setting can put your mind into "relax" mode.