Taxi Drivers

Over the past week that I have been in Armenia, I have taken quite a few different taxi rides. I found these taxi rides to be a very good opportunity to interact with local people, get into random discussions and a way to get some information on the thoughts of the locals. But then again you have to know how to approach a taxi driver and how to open up a discussion. Taxi drivers in Yerevan come in three categories (in my opinion), ones that are really nice, friendly and are willing to have a good discussion, ones that just want to get work done as soon as they can, and my personal favorite the ones that try to rip you off! Throughout my past experiences I have learned how to minimize the chance of renting a taxi that is with a driver that is trying to rip you off. First thing I do is try to make sure I don't look like a tourist (basically just putting my camera in my pocket). Next thing, I do is speak only Armenian in the car, I also try to use some slang words and some Russian words here and there so they wont think Im a tourist. One last thing I do is try to tell the driver the name of the streets as they were before (as most people know them). For example instead of saying Mashtots street I say Prospect.
But the reason for this blog isn't to give tips on how to avoid getting ripped off in Yerevan (that's another topic in itself), the reason for this is to try to interact with the local people. I have found that the most interesting discussions, come with local taxi drivers. Yesterday night I got into a political discussion with the taxi driver on the way home. The driver was a man that looked like he was in his mid 40s and he told me how he was working his job overtime to make some extra money to send his kids to a good university overseas. He told me this not to make me feel sympathetic towards him and leave a good tip. He said that the universities and the schools during the Soviet times were so much better since they were mostly free of charge and that kids were getting a better education back then they are right now. I got in a slight debate, a friendly one, with him. I argued that Armenia is still a developing country and that everything is still progressing, including the government and the schools. The driver agreed with me and then the conversation shifter into a more political debate.
The driver started talking about current politics in Armenia. He started talking about the elections of 2008 and didn't mention who he was supporting to win, but mentioned that the level of corruption was just unbearable. I didn't want to interrupt him with any questions because the level of information he was giving me was just great.
Then the driver started talking about the local people trying to rip off tourists. He was laughing when he said this because for him it was humorous how local Armenians can try to rip of other Armenians. He said "we are all Armenians... Armenians should help each other rather than ripping each other off." He went on by saying this way of treating the tourists is bad for Armenia's tourism in the long run. Tourists get mad when they find out they get ripped off and they don't want to come back to Yerevan. At the end of the ride the taxi driver didn't even want to charge me for the ride since he said he enjoyed the discussion at well. Obviously I wasn't going to let him do that so I paid for my ride and gave a nice tip as well. I stepped out of the ride and as the driver left he numerously said thank you and have a good night.
The entire time I was in this taxi, I felt like a student in a classroom listening to my professor give a lecture. But it was a very interesting lecture, not one of those lectures you nod your head to even-though you don't understand anything said. This simple cab ride made me want to interact with the local people more, whether this be with taxi drivers, colleagues at work or even some random people sitting next to you at a cafe or a bar.