Yesterday I stopped at a corner traffic light waiting for it to turn green. Standing next to a family of three, I noticed that the father and teenage son were waiving their hands in the air, discouraged each time an empty cab drove by.

“Why won’t any of them stop?” the mom wondered aloud. “Don’t they want a fare?”

I took it upon myself to save them from any more anxiety and wasted time. “American, right?”

“Yes,” the father said.

“They don’t hail cabs here.” The arms of the two men immediately fell to their sides. “While you may luck out and get someone to pick you up, generally that is not the norm. Unless you call them for a pickup you have to walk to a taxi stand.”

When you are in someone else’s backyard, don’t expect the rules to be the same. Here are a few more difference.