Taxis ... Marshrutkas ... ????

Sometimes I wonder about living here. I am an American through and through and I confess, I don’t want to be anything else. I am what I am. I am who I am. I pray that I can learn, I can change, I can grow. I pray that I am not stuck in a rut, that I do not think I am always right just because I am American.

A couple of things have been bothering me recently. I’m not sure how much of it is self-justification, how much of it is just plain common sense.

I am an American. I have more money available to me than most of my Ukrainian friends do. However, I do not know all the ins and outs of living here cheaply – how to get the best bargains at the market, how to talk a taxi driver into lowering his fare, and so forth. But I do know that I live here and I manage, for the most part, quite well. I have no desire to become a rich Ukrainian, I have no desire to become a poor Ukrainian. I have no desire to live like a rich Ukrainian with fancy clothes, expensive cars, huge houses and so forth. Nor do I have any desire to live like a poor Ukrainian, eating poorer food choices, taking unimaginably crowded marshrutkas rather than taxis, and so forth.

I just want to live an average life – an American living in Ukraine. Neither poor nor rich.

Taxis are a sore subject among some of our team. By some they are considered expensive, especially when you can ride a marshrutka or a trolleybus for much less. I have been told that our Ukrainian friends cannot afford to ride in a taxi, so why should we? But I have a different view point on taxis. There are a lot of taxis out on the street. I see taxis being driven all over town with passengers inside. Therefore – Ukrainians must be riding in taxis. Rich Ukrainians have their own cars, and so do many not so rich Ukrainians – they don’t ride in taxis. So, who is riding in taxis? Americans? Other foreigners? Yes. BUT Ukrainians are also riding in taxis, a lot of Ukrainians. If they were not, there would not be so many taxis running around all over town day and night. Supply and demand (although I realize the supply does exceed the demand most of the time).

As Americans, my husband and I have been asked many times why we don’t buy a car. It is expected of us to buy a car because we have the financial means to do so. But we chose not to do so because of repairs, police issues, etc. And, let’s face it, paying a taxi fare two or three times a week is a lot cheaper than paying for a car, buying gas, car repairs, and other fees involved. Taxis for us are cheaper than what is expected of us to use.

Taxi drivers are people. People who need a job. People who need an income to feed themselves, to feed their families. Gas is expensive here. There are many expenses to owning a car. The price we pay for a ride across town averages out to less than $1.50, except on very rare occasions. The driver is making a couple pennies on each fare – he is not getting rich. On the other hand, marshrutkas have drivers also have to eat, to feed their families. But marshrutka drivers do not own their mini-vans/mini-buses – a very rich person does – and over the course of the day, that rich person makes a LOT of money off the fees people pay to ride in his vehicle. And the driver makes pennies a day.

Taxis are not always comfortable – in fact, the ride is sometimes downright scary. Taxi drivers have a view of life and of their ability to drive that is way out of proportion to the truth. But I can chose who I ride with. I can chose how many other passengers are riding with me. In a marshrutka, I get the driver who happens to arrive. I have no choice on who I ride with, nor how many people I ride with. If the marshrutka driver wants to pick up twice the number of people who should be in the vehicle, he does. Either vehicle can be very dangerous – but I am a lot less likely to lose my wallet in a taxi, or to be felt up, or to have someone sneeze or cough on me.

When I hire a taxi to take me some place, I am not taking a Ukrainians place inside that taxi. But when I get on a crowded marshrutka, I am taking up a seat or standing area (or two) that a Ukrainian could be using. I am a guest in this country and my goal is to help, not hinder. If a Ukrainian cannot ride, or has to ride in much more crowded conditions because I am on the marshrutka – is this helping him/her? I could call a taxi – I can afford it, but that person cannot afford it. I am putting that person out because I am trying to save money, or I am trying to “be Ukrainian.”

Taxis are fast. My time is valuable to me – after all I am an American, and Americans highly value wise time management! Marshrutkas are slow and take up my valuable time, time in which I could be doing something else. Taxis can be very hot. Marshrutkas are traveling ovens. Do I want to arrive at my destination wrung out from heat and overcrowded conditions – or do I want to arrive in a fresher state of mind and body, better able to do what I am going some place to do?

So, I write out all of these things and I wonder – is my attitude realistic, or am I trying to justify my open willingness to spend $3 or $4 more each week on taxis, than on marshrutkas? In my own opinion there is no question – it will be a taxi over a marshrutka every time, if possible. There is no comparison.

Maybe I am not willing to “suffer for Jesus” enough, maybe I am too concerned for my own comfort, not willing enough to endure unpleasantness just because I can endure it. Or maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t really matter in the end. I choose to ride in a taxi – another person chooses to ride in a marshrutka. Either way, we both end up getting where we want to go.