Cab ride of linguistic nostalgia

This morning I was running late to work so I grabbed a cab. The driver was African and as soon as I got in he took a call. I couldn't help but overhear, and realized that I recognized the language he was speaking. After he hung up I casually said "Tigrinya?" He started saying yeah, he was just saying Merry Christmas to the people back home, and... and then he did a complete double-take. It was sweet; he said he'd never had a non-Eritrean in his cab who knew the language and country, and we had a nostalgic chat on the way over to the VA Hospital.