El Transporte. Where do I even begin? Well, I guess I can begin by telling you that when I'm in the capital I don't even pretend like I know what I'm doing on the buses and honestly, I take cabs most places... I'm sorry, but just boarding a bus in San Sal puts me at a pretty decent risk of being extorted/shot/robbed by a marra and put getting lost into the mix and I just don't think it's worth it. So I take cabs. And I'm not ashamed that I'll probably never learn how to get around San Sal on a bus. Va.
Next. Today, it took me FOREVER to get back from the capital because transportation is SUCH a crap shoot! Here's what happened en route today:
I get on the Especial bus at the terminal and I've got a seat and there's AC! And it's only $3 so I'm feeling pretty good about things. We barely get out of the city and the AC stops working. No biggie. I live in the campo now so I'm pretty used to sweating through my clothes. But of course, because it's an Especial bus, we pull over and are told another bus is coming for us. We're broken down in Soyopango, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in this country, so no way am I waiting. Plus I need to get back to my community so I can get some food shopping done! So me and about 15 other passengers demand our money back because we're going to take another bus, and of course the cobrador (the man who collects your bus fare) is NOT trying to refund our money. But 10 minutes later I've got my refund and I'm on another bus headed my way on the PanAmerican.
So this new bus is packed and I ended up having to stand the 2 hours to my exit on the PanAm for my pueblo, which I'd usually not enjoy, but it gave me a great view of the fist fight that happened between a passenger and the cobrador about half way through the trip. I'm not sure what happened to cause the fight but the passenger threw the first punch and was kicked off the bus.
I finally make it to my pueblo and we're on our way to my community in the back of a big old truck driving through the mountains when a bunch of soldiers pulls us over to check out our cargo. All the men were required to get off the truck and were patted down. And the soldiers took several bags off the truck which were never to be seen again. And let me tell you, having 3 men with machine guns on their shoulders walking around next to me in the back of a truck in the middle of no where was pretty unsettling!!
Moral of the story: transportation here is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get when you climb aboard! But I survived! At least for today!
salud!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You survived huh? Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteMidway through my tour in the PC in West Africa, the country in which I resided had a military coup. You couldn't pee without a guy with a gun asking what you were up to. I recall once going on a little trip and spending (what seemed) to be half the time standing on the side of some dirt path while a moron with a weapon searched the passengers' stuff and waited for "gifts".
You 21st Century PCV's have it "made in the shade"!
And don't get me started on travel delays and unexpected difficulties.
ReplyDeletexoxoxo
OMG. Mother's should be blocked from such blog entries.
ReplyDeleteDamn girl! I was waiting for the next paragraph to describe how you went scalping or something...! That sounds really rough and dangerous and I remember when standing for 15 minutes used to greatly annoy you so 2 hours is the most impressive thing I have ever heard.
ReplyDelete