bus riding

One of the things that I love about Ecuador and one of the things I prefer in Ecuador over the US is the public transportation system. You literally can find a bus that goes to every single hole in the whole town of 200 people in the middle of nowhere everyday because of the fact that only people with money have cars (and that means a large percentage of the population rides in a bus) and two…Ecuador is a very small country (the size of Nevada or Colorado). For this reason, you can get from one part of the country (say the coast) to the other side of the country (the amazon jungle) in one day by riding the bus…and that is with going over the andes mountains. So being a peace corps volunteer and not being allowed to drive a car, I frequently take the bus if I need to go somewhere…and I really enjoy it, here is why:
1. Bus drivers and their crew: Ecuadorian bus drivers can be a dicey proposition sometimes but I can safely say that I haven´t been in an accident while riding in a bus. Most of the highways here are two laners and the bus drivers love to play chicken with oncoming traffic, I am thinking they get bored with the endless driving they have to do and can´t afford speed pills so playing games with oncoming traffic helps keep the edge. A bus driver always has an ayudante (a helper) that comes around and collects the passenger´s fares. These guys need to know all the prices from every imaginable stop because the bus makes a lot of stops…I mean a lot of them. They all yell out the major destinations while hanging out of the bus. For example, if I am going to Guayaquil from Quito…he´d probably be yelling ¨Ambato! Riobamba! Guayaquil!¨ or something like that. Usually the ayudante is a younger guy…I always thought this would be a pretty cool summer job if I was in high school. Plus, when the ayudante has nothing to do, he usually hits on the hottest looking female in the bus, which isn´t bad either.
2. Venders: This is one of the first things you´ll notice while travelling on the bus, people will try to sell you anything. Bus rides here don´t have layovers in large cities where you can stop and have a bit to eat. So usually, the food comes to you. Any type of food is sold, from candy to potato chips to secos de pollo (chicken and rice) to banana bread to drinks. But it´s not just food they try to sell you…movies, music, herbal remedies, Colombian cocaine(kidding)…you name it, you can buy it on a bus here. Sometimes people will randomly get on the bus, make a 5 or 10 minute speech about their product (and how their relative is terminally ill or they are) and try to get the sympathy buy. Usually it works on me…but the ginseng tea is tremendous!
3. The People in General: This is the favorite part of riding the bus for me personally. People seem to be a little more open and friendly in this country and it´s not uncommon to have a long conversation with a stranger on the bus. It probably helps that I´m a gringo and people are interested in what the hell I´m doing in their country. People don´t pop in their ipods and tune out the world (although some people do this). Sometimes I´ll sit next to a drunk who wants to try out their English skills on me. Usually the standard conversation is:

Drunk: Hey! TEACH ME ENGLISH!

Me: Sir, please calm down, yes I can teach you a few words

Drunk: HELLO! GOOD MORNING!

Me: very good

Drunk: How do you say ¨I want to have sex with you¨ in English?

Other times I will sit next to an indigenous person who speaks kichwa and likes to look at me, then say something to their friends, look at me, and then laugh. I feel out of the loop in this conversation. Now I know how the people in my community feel when I speak English around them.

Riding the bus isn´t always fun, especially for a gringo. When i find a seat, I usually can´t stretch out my gigantic legs unless there is no one sitting next to me. And if I don´t find a seat, a lot of times i can´t stand up straight because the bus is not big enough for my height (this is usually a problem taking the bus back to san lorenzo). But then again...I am really going to miss this interactions when I go back to the states and am stuck in traffic for two or three hours a day…