Summer is knocking

Freedom of Mobility......Challenged 

It is so frustrating living here, very frustrating.

I live in a spot where females are not permitted to drive. I will state few of the implications on me as a female as a result:

1- I have to use taxis

2- I can't take taxi by standing on street, otherwise, I will be sexually harassed by all sorts of cars stopping, men whistling, verbal flirting, phone numbers on papers thrown at me. I learned this the hard way, in my country I used to that but when I did it here few times and consulted with locals about what I face, they looked at me with dropped jaws saying " in here, "decent" females don't wait for a taxi on street, they have door to door car, so if you stand like that, it only means you are asking for ....pick up" Thank you for the cultural orientation. well noted.

3- This also means I have to wait on street for average of 5-10 minutes in a country where summer temperature reaches 43C

5- The other alternative is using Cars Apps, and this is another torture

6- Careem app: clean cars, accurate and know how to use maps.However, they cost double the tariffs of any other car. For example, one way errand same distance costs 50 and in other Taxi costs 20. If I need a monthly package, I pay average of 2000. Imagine!!! 2000 for a rented taxi, do you know how much it costs to fill fuel for a man driving a whole month? average of 100. I can't find a comparative percentage for these 100 to 2000 cost.

7-Easy taxi: the lousy service ever, I book the taxi, I get a call from the driver confirming I want a taxi, verifying my location ( which shows on his map while booking), asking me for more direction details and land marks, asks where my destination is, negotiating the cost. Yes, they negotiate the cost and if I refuse, I cancel the ride and start over again

8- Negotiating the rate: so easy taxi should work with meters, but drivers here have the option to close the meter and negotiate with passenger, and usually it is extra fees. So I sit in the taxi, I ask him to turn the meter on, he recommends agreeing on fees, I refuse, he tries to convince me, I refuse. So I either get off the taxi and wait on street ( revise point 1), or agree and pay at least 50% more than the distance worth on meter.

9- Meters: I don't know how but the same distance and taking same routes cost one fee this day and double the fees another day, Fraud ?? playing with meter system? I tend to believe so.

10- Language: drivers here are mostly Bangladesh, Indian or Pakistanis, so they don't speak Arabic, they don't speak English and I have to figure out a medium for communication on all the above issues whether address, destination, fees etc.

11-: Directions and personal safety:Being new to the country, I don't know routes or streets, I daily gamble my own personal safety by taking taxis driven by men who speak unknown language and take me to where ever seem to be my destination from where ever they claim to be short cuts. Kidnapping and rape cases by drivers is common in this country and elsewhere. Drivers speak over the phone All THE TIME with their language, they don't pay careful attention to street and driving on one hand and I can't tell if they are speaking with a crime partner about me on the other hand. In my country, I can figure out from the tone, looks and of course the conversation if my ride is being risky and I need to get off. Here is it a matter of pure luck

12: Cancel the ride: Yes, after I book the car and it is few seconds to arrival, the driver cancels. and I have to book and re book again. and I say good bye to important appointments that I miss such as doctors appointments or work start time. getting late and excusing this for driver problem is kind of immortal fashion here.... thanks they understand ..so far

13- No multiple errands: so if  a man wants to got o work, then gym, then friends, then shopping, he can stuff his car with work lap top, papers, jacket, gym outfits and shoes, etc etc and he can drive his car to multiple points on the same day no problem, For a female, first, I can't carry all these things and move everywhere with them getting on and off taxis like that. Second, imagine how tragic it is to do the above rituals multiple times a day. These rituals are enough to put off any attempt for multi errands day and lead females to do one thing at a day if any.

14- No ad-hocs, no spontaneous no emergency: Given all the above preps and planning, there is no space for emergency errand, or ad-hoc request, or spontaneous event. Everything has to be planned ahead and if emergency occurred, call a taxi, call a male figure and wish for your luck.

I can't find a reason for this torture and injustice, I don't see why as a female I have to pay a fortune monthly just to go to errands while a man has his own car and pays fractions for the same right. I can't get why a working woman has to pay 25% of her earnings just to mobile where as a man pays as less as 2% for fueling his car ( which is very affordable here), I don't understand why I have to risk my personal safety day in day out and bear their suspicious looks in the front mirrors, I cant figure out why I can't go on time for my errands.

They say if you are in Rome, do as Romans. I interpret this here as I either take it or leave it. I guess It makes sense. If I don't like the rules here ( like many expats and local females do) and we obviously suffer from it, I guess no need to complain or criticize a place that is not my own and the only action I owe to my self is to leave.