Taxi! Taxi!

Taxis here are an interesting story.  They're not bad in our smaller towns, but they can be dangerous in bigger cities, including the capital, Managua.  So, Peace Corps Nicaragua (being so awesome) came up with a taxi system where we can call the office and they call taxis to come pick us up.  These are considered "safe" taxis, either approved by the U.S. Embassy or Peace Corps specifically, all are interviewed, background checks are done, etc.  Anyway, it's a great system, but it does come with its faults.  Today as I was waiting for a taxi (as it sometimes takes awhile for one to arrive), I walked outside of a bus terminal in Managua where I was surrounded by taxi drivers offering me rides, trying to persuade me to take their cab, when all of a sudden a taxi pulls up, parks, and a guy gets out and says (in Spanish), "No, no, no.  All the North Americans have their own taxis," pushing the others away.  Then they started to argue whether I was North American or Canadian--last time I checked Canada was part of North America...  Anyway, it was pretty funny to watch that all go down and then the guy tried making small talk with me, confirming that I did in fact have a taxi already on its way to swoop in and save me from the lurking vultures.