Frogger

For some reason, walking through town and crossing streets this morning made me think of the different traffic conditions I've seen throughout this trip.

Egypt was by far the most insane. No question. They actually don't even paint lanes on the street because it would be that useless. There is no order; they just cut through where ever possible and make a new lane. I don't know how to describe to you the utter chaos except to tell you to picture the worst you have ever seen and double it. You think I'm kidding, but I've been to Bangkok where I had to shut my eyes through taxi rides so I wouldn't panic. Bangkok has nothing on Cairo.

The most terrifying street crossing experience was definitely in Cairo. I had to cross this major street. There are obviously no pedestrian crossing zones, and because it's a turnabout, there are no lights and cars never stop. Unfortunately it was high traffic time, but I had to cross. It was one of the few times during this trip I thought I might actually die. The old game "Frogger" came to mind as I held my breath and literally ran, stop, ran, stop, ran across the street.

But that was at the beginning of the trip. My greatest street crossing achievement was in Syria. My timing skills had improved so much by that point that I actually crossed an 8 lane road hardly having to pause between cars. I was proud of myself, but this was nothing compared to the local who went in front of me and did it without ever looking up from his cell phone.

It's funny because now in Croatia, I actually have to make myself stop and wait for the crossing light to change. If you go when it's not your "turn" everyone looks at you like you're crazy. It's strange feeling when you get so used to chaos that order catches you off guard.