Frogger Versus MarioKart

Most of the readers of this travel blog have spent at least a little time in Tijuana and know the craziness of the driving there. It is child's play compared with the driving in Peru.

MarioKart is a nintendo game in which Mario and his friends race each other on go-carts in different levels. I'm pretty sure all of the taxi drivers have trained on and mastered the game.

The horn is a work of art here. It says, "Here I come!" "Do you want to ride in my taxi?" "As I approach this intersection with no traffic signs, I expect you to yield to me because I honked first!" "I'm going really fast down this narrow street with cars parked on both sides so you better not try to open your door right now!" and, as in America, "Watch out, dummy!"

There is a lot of weaving in and out of lanes...it's a game of sorts. You wouldn't let another car in front of you, on the contrary, you should speed up. My favorite "rule of the road" is: If the front of my car is in front of yours, even by an inch, I have the right away to come into your lane.

Frogger is an old Atari game in which you try to navigate a frog across a busy street with lots of traffic. It requires moves in four directions: forwards, backwards, left and right...much like crossing the street in Cusco.

I took a field trip with my teacher to the bank yesterday (she´s lived in Cusco her whole life) and she walked me out into a busy street into oncoming traffic while taxis and combis (small buses, more like a van) came within inches of my front and backside. I told her (in perfect Spanish, by the way) that I was sure I was going to die in the streets of Cusco. She laughed and said the drivers never hit pedestrians in this area of town where all of the tourists are...in the outskirts of the city, maybe.

Over the past couple of days I've taken heart though. I've noticed that all taxi and bus drivers have something hanging on the rearview mirror or taped to the dashboard: El Patron de los Chiffes (The chauffer's saint).