Scared for the 1st Time

I've only been in Mexico for 4 weeks, but I take public transportation every single day in DF and I've already been able to travel outside of the city twice. I have never felt unsafe. Until Sunday.
 I simply haven't felt like anybody was interested in stealing my iPhone or my cash or that anyone thought I would be worth particularly more in ransom money than any other person on the street.Still, yesterday when Sarah and I got into the taxi to take us home after our trip to Puebla, I realized that I couldn't just pretend like everything I've ever heard about danger here is a lie. The #1 tip EVERYONE says is key to remaining safe in Mexico City is taking safe taxis. They're referred to as sitio taxis or taxis seguros.


In  2008, Mexico City's government re-licensed all taxi cabs in the capital as part of a safety and quality campaign after the the number of "pirate taxis" taking people on "express kidnappings" skyrocketed at an alarming rate. Everything I've ever read about safety in Mexico City lists taxis as a huge precaution to take and lists the following as good advice:

• Dress and Act Sensibly
• The city government began issuing new plates that each have a chip in them for tracking the taxi. The number on the plate begins with a large letter ‘A’ followed by 5 numbers. All legitimate taxis, whether taken from the street, a taxi stand or a radio dispatcher, should have these plates. Also look for the 
carta de identificación (also called the tarjetón), a postcard-sized ID which should be displayed visibly inside the cab, and ensure that the driver matches the photo. If the cab you’ve hailed does not pass these tests, get another.



The typical taxi in DF. Sometimes sitio  taxis are completely unmarked cars that only responds to house calls. 

 As you can imagine, sitio taxis costs two or three times as much, but the extra cost adds an immeasurable degree of security. For that reason, I've yet to hail a cab off the streets.

On Sunday, our biggest mistake was probably yapping loudly in English as we made our way to the taxi and completely disobeying the "act sensibly" rule. We were exhausted and yapping loudly in Spanish seemed a bit out of the question. It's no excuse but it's an explanation.

 We should've known this guy was sketch when he kept looking at us as we walked to the taxi but sometimes men in this city act like they've never seen a woman before so it wasn't TOO out of the ordinary.  When Sarah asked why this man carrying our luggage wasn't taking us to the sitio for taxis and he mumbled something about it being the "terminal", we also should've known. The final clue that we decided to ignore was that even though he initially seemed to be the "bag boy" that usually helps you to the cab before your driver takes off, he turned out to be the driver after looking around suspiciously and hopping into the driver's seat.

Once we were in the car, Sarah asked the question that is always up for discussion in these situations:

¿Cuanto nos cobra?

How much are you charging us?

 He whipped out this laminated price card (something I've not seen before here) and said that we were heading towards Zone 3 for $260 pesos. 260 PESOS?! Absolutely ridiculous. I have been in quite a few taxis here (which are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the States) and I've yet to pay more than $80 pesos to get home from any point in the city.  I don't know if it was because we were tired or if we were just sick of getting ripped off by people who think we're stupid Americans that won't fight back, but we both cruised right on in to sass mode. MAJOR sass mode. We were like 1.5 steps from snapping our fingers and doing the "oh no you didnt" neck roll. We stopped when Sarah finally said,

 "LISTEN, we don't even HAVE the money to pay you that much".

The man stopped the car and sped back towards the bus terminal. He took a wrong turn, then put the car into reverse and zoomed backwards for a few too many seconds for comfort.

I turned to Sarah and said, "We probably shouldn't do that ever again". We both nodded silently and then when the car finally stopped, we kind of apologized and ran off like 2 little girls who had just been schooled on the dangers of real life. What were we thinking talking to some random guy who knew we were Americans and was driving our car with such attitude? What if he was carrying a weapon or if we hadn't stopped sassing him when we did? Scary times. 

We went back to the sitio, grabbed a taxi that was still overpriced (apparently these taxi drivers implemented night fees over the weekend) and got home safely.

The next day, I dropped my MetroBus card walking to work. It had $200 pesos on it (a good month's worth of trips to work) and some nice man chased me down to give it back.

It restored my trust in people here.