Buses. With chickens. And people. Lots of people

Today's post is brought to you by the vehicle..... camionetta! (I watched Sesame Street as a kid. :)

(I have a great picture of a bus but my internet connection is not good enough to load it. Sorry.)

La camionetta is an old U.S. school bus. AKA the chicken bus. They paint it different colors and use it all over the country. It is the bus system within the city as well as to other towns all over. I have ridden them a LOT! They may not always be the safest (from what I hear) but that is how I get around! 

I use them mostly to get half-way to the clinic (I meet friends and they drive me the rest of the way) or to get to church on Sundays. Those are my most uneventful rides. It is usually pretty empty and it only take about 4 minutes to get there (once I walk the 15 minutes to the bus stop).

To get to San Lucas on clinic days I walk to the market (well, it is a little farther now as they recently changed the bus stops) and it is about a half hour bus ride. It is through the mountains and the roads are very twisty. And it is uphill but these drivers can fly! I would love to know our actual speed sometimes! Well, the first day I went I had a bit of a laugh at myself. I never wear skirts but to the clinic I do. So I had this skirt and it had a second lining underneath (this is relevant later). We start whipping around the corners and either someone had Armor-all'd the seats that day to make them slippery or the extra lining in my skirt was making me a little more mobile! I was sitting next to a guy and trying to stay on my side of the seat and it was literally impossible! I was holding on with all my might! I can't even adequately explain it to you. But I slid into the guy, into the aisle, into the guy, etc for the next 15 min. I was kind of embarrassed. 

Sometimes it is actually better to have more people in your seat. If there are 3 people on each side then everyone just holds each other up. The aisles are so narrow and I have to turn sideways to get up and down them. So people sitting in the aisle seats just lean up against the person next to them. One day that backfired on me. I was the third in the seat (sticking out into the aisle) and a rather large lady got on. She sat down in the next seat and somehow she was sitting on top of my hip. It really hurt! And she kept getting up to let people on so I finally realized if I leaned into the person next to me until she had settled then my hip wouldn't be so squished. But then we left Antigua and she didn't care where she was. I am sorry for this next description. My mother won't think it is very missionary of me. :) One of each of her cheeks was on each seat so she was kind of suspended in the air. When we started the whip she didn't even try to stay in one place. There was no way I could hold both of us off the guy next to me! Very awkward, that is for sure!

The other funny thing is that you look in front of you and when we turn a corner and everyone leans the other way (to counter balance). Sometimes their heads are at a 50-60 degree angle with the ground (that is my highly mathematical equation) and then when we straighten out everyone all at once will lift off their seat and re-settle in their spot. Doesn't sound as fun once I have written it down but it amuses me on my commute. :) 

One day the helper (who takes the money and throws things on top of the bus) was collecting money and he was leaning against the seat behind me (he takes the money while we are driving). I was again the third in the seat and we went around a corner and I couldn't hold on well enough. I fell into his leg/hip and literally had him pinned there! I felt him trying to move away. So embarrassing! Really. I try to especially avoid physical contact with men here but I couldn't help it. 

I went to visit some friends down south in Tecuaco. It requires three buses and takes about 3 1/2 hours. I went with some friends the first time and it was full but fairly uneventful. The next time I went solo. There were so many people on the bus! I had gone a little later in the morning on a Saturday and it was insanely full. I ended up standing the whole first hour long bus ride. I was pushed to the very back where they had taken out the back row of seats to hold more things. Or people. I was back there with 10 other men. This was the only time I have been really uncomfortable. The men tend to me shorter than me and the guy next to me was a bit creepy. We were very squished. I count things. A little weird. But anyway, I counted the people on the bus at one point. There were 82 of us (not counting the driver, helper and all of the children that I KNOW were sitting on their parents laps but I couldn't see). That is a full bus. The helper was literally hanging out of the bus holding on. Then they kept opening the door behind me to put stuff on and take it off. One time a guy jumped on the back of the bus and it started driving and he opened the door to get in but realized there was no room. So he was trying to hold onto the bus and the door. Finally they got it closed. All while driving very quickly down the road. I wish everyone could experience it. It is bizarre.

The next bus ride was equally as squishy but I was able to stay at the front of the bus this time (much better!). At one point there was a lady who had been standing and she moved forward to get off (this is something to watch too. The aisles are so full of people you almost have to jump over people to get out. There are no words for it. Then add a lot of heat, a lot of sweat, and a little bit of deodorant. Oh right, and arms up in the air to hold on. Picture that one with your nose!). As she got to the front I saw her talk to a couple of older ladies who were sitting in the front seat. She leaned over and one of the ladies reached up and handed the mother her baby! The lady had probably offered to hold her baby since she was standing! I loved it. There is a lot of helping and courtesy to be seen on these buses. Especially as you go more remote. Men get up for women, people without children will get up for people (men or women) holding children. Once, the teenager next to me offered to hold a child on her lap for a mom that had about 3 kids so they could squish more people on the bus. That was a sketchy one. I was in the front seat and could see the people. The helper was literally holding the people in the bus door (the bus doors are rarely shut). And yet they always manage to stop for more people! It is amazing. Older people are taken care of. People are willing to help put packages on the racks to help someone. There are so many things I could tell. 

I have heard the stories of robberies, earrings ripped out of ears, kidnappings, car/bus accidents, and how in general the buses are not safe. I know these things happen but there are always a few bad people that will make a people or a culture look bad. For all the pushing and apparent selfishness I have seen, there are good people out there. There is a very pervasive fear here. My teachers and other Guatemalan friends are always telling me to be careful and give me advice. Yesterday my host mother told me that Lucia, her daughter who lives here (22 years old), was robbed at gunpoint on Wed. morning. It happens to a lot of people. And one day will probably happen to me. 

So I keep my eyes open and I don't do really stupid things (although once my bag was out of my sight for a while and I did a LOT of praying that is would still be there when I got off. Thank you God that is was) I know that God has brought me here and is in control. This does not give me a free pass to ultimate security. But He is still with me wherever I am and I chose to be safe in Him. Someone could break into my house so I can't stop it. So I can't live my life in fear down here. Wow, this was supposed to be a funny post about buses. I have digressed.

Often people get on the buses for a few minutes to sell things. Jello in a cup, candies, gum, newspapers, pen's, nuts, pencils, stencil things, chips, drinks, etc. They got on and go up and down the row selling things then get off at the next stop. The Jello looks good to me but I don't think I will ever actually buy and consume one. No bathrooms on the buses. :)

To get the bus to stop at a certain place you need to go up to the front of the bus and let him know you are getting off. Once, I was in a seat with another lady and I waned to get out and she didn't move. Usually they will get up or move their legs out of the way at least. She didn't so I had to literally climb over her. Then my sandal fell off. So she kindly grabbed it for me. Then I dropped it on the floor and it rolled under the seat so I had to get it out and put it on (oh, I forgot that my backpack got caught on the window as I started the climb as well), and by then we had passed the stop. And the next stop was the market so I had to sit down in the front seat and wait. I felt really stupid! Everyone saw my spectacle and then I had to sit and get off with everyone else anyway! Wow. 

One more story. This has already gotten long. When does it ever not??!! :)

I was taking the chicken bus up to Santa Maria where I was tutoring at the school for special needs kids. It was the most infuriating thing! There seemed to be no schedule (I would get on the bus at the market and usually wait about 45 minutes before they left. If I got there at the time we had left the day before I still had to wait 45 minutes. It is crazy!), they would come out at a different street at different times, they wouldn't always yell out the bus their destination (and if the sign on the bus is wrong-which it often is- then I wouldn't know to get on), and I would always end up getting there so late. So the teachers told me about the micro-buses. They are the length and width of mini-vans but with about 15 seats. Narrow seats. So one day I went to the market and there was one right behind the bus. Lucky me! I got on and they left 5 minutes later. They leave every 20 minutes. I was amazed! I got there at an appropriate time! Not just arriving barely before recess! 

So the next day I go behind the bus to wait again. It is a bit sketchy behind the market. Not my favorite place to wait. So after a while I went and asked the driver when he was leaving. 45 minutes. The magic number. So I told him I would wait for the micro-bus. But they don't come through the market that day because it is a Monday. AHHHH! I had already asked another guy prior to that and he said that yes they would come. I went to the corner (a road where most of the buses leave to get out of the city. You just wait until yours comes by) to wait and saw a micro-bus just leaving. I have to tell you, I was so frustrated I just went home. It wasn't worth it! And the other thing is, the vans (micro-buses) don't have destinations and they don't always yell it out. You just have to know somehow. And they do! People will go get on when I haven't heard a word! Maybe one day I will really understand the bus system here.

The next time I was waiting (and it wasn't a Monday) and finally asked the bus driver again (I think he was leaving in 30 minutes that time). So I asked about the micro-bus again. He pointed me in the general direction and this man came up to be helpful. I thought he was drunk. Blood shot eyes, a little dirty, weavy walk, etc. So he (to be helpful) held up 8 and a half fingers to tell me the bus left at 8:30. I got a kick out of that. Anyway, then he offered to take me over to the bus. Not my first choice but I didn't know where I was going so I followed him. At the insistence of the bus driver as well. He actually did take me to the right place and was a  fairly nice guy. I was so very happy that I had finally figured out the most time-efficient way to get up there! I didn't have to wait at the corner and hope I wouldn't miss it and I knew they left regularly every 20 minutes. And it only costs 50 centavos more than the other bus. About 46 cents Canadian total.

Coming back down the hill we fit in a few people. Then a few more. Until I counted 26 people (and only 2 of those were children) in this van with seats that probably wouldn't fit 15 North Americans. The advantage of this was that we were so tightly squeezed in and I figured if we had an accident I would be very safe as I was NOT going to move anywhere. :) Seat belts are not worn here. I wear them if I am in the front seat on the highway though. 

So that is a small glimpse into my commuting life. You would have to ride them and see them to fully understand. 

So if you want to add an extra prayer of safety for me while riding the buses I won't ask you not to! Come to think of it, I hope my mom doesn't read the unsafe bit. :)

And there really are chickens on the buses. But I have only seen 2. One tucked up in the luggage rack, and the other tucked under the arm of a girl standing next to me on the bus.