I waved with one hand, since the second was busy holding bags. It was a Tuesday afternoon and I had just made it for some shopping downtown. The taxi stopped a few feet away from me and I squeezed myself in. What hit me first was a peculiar smell of fruity hair gel mixed with smoke, and a slight odor of sweat.

“Where to?” asked the driver. He was around thirty, with the weirdest hairdo you’ve ever seen on a male taxi driver. His head looked like a pineapple, with short hair on the sides and long locks sticking up on top of his scalp, bouncing frivolously with the slightest move he made.

“Vrilissia,” I responded, making myself… Continue reading →