Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Katie Loos, one of the missionaries working with One by One regularly uses the public transportation here is her description of a typical bus experience:
First you have to determine where the bus stop is. Sometimes this is marked by a sign or bench, other times you can tell where it is by the group of people standing around all looking in the same direction every now and then. After that, if you don't already know what route you need, you can ask someone which bus, or combination of buses, will take you to your destination. Then you wait. The bus that I normally take from home to work, the 119, doesn't come by as often as other routes. Sometimes I'll see the 114 route pass by 3-4 times before my bus will come.

When you do see your bus coming you need to flag it down by sticking your arm straight out at shoulder level and waving your hand in a downward motion, because they don't always stop at every bus stop. Sometimes, even when you do try to flag the bus down they'll keep going. Other times, they'll stop and wait for a couple minutes and read the news paper. When you enter the bus you give the driver your 2 cords and 5 centavos (approximately 12 cents), if you don't have exact change you keep your hand out until he's able to make the change and give it to you, then you find your seat, or place to stand depending on how full the bus is.

The majority of the buses are old US school buses, but the bench seats have been replaced by seats and or benches that you might find in a fast food restaurant. Sometimes the floor boards have patches that are secured well, and other times they aren't. Sometimes the chairs are broken and if the bus accelerates or stops too fast you might fall over, or into the lap of the person behind you. There are also times when the window panes are only held in by a couple of screws so they rattle a lot, and other times when they have taken the window out altogether. You never know what kind of condition the inside of the bus will be in until you get on. I've also seen buses with completely bald tires or loose tires, so it's always a risk that something could go wrong.

On top of the possible bad condition of the bus, there is the driving. Driving in Nicaragua is scary in and of itself, but the bus drivers can be some of the most aggressive and scary drivers of all, dodging around cars, horses, people on bikes, carts in the road, or whatever else might be in the way and then diving into a bus stop to pick up or drop off people. Since they have a lot of metal and "weight", they'll push out into traffic or make their own turn lanes, they'll do whatever it takes to get you to your destination in the shortest amount of time possible.

When you're getting close to your stop you need to get up and move towards one of the doors (front or back side door), when the bus driver stops and opens the door you need to get off the bus as quickly and safely as possible so they can keep moving. If the driver doesn't open the back door it's common to bang on the bus, whistle, yell out "door!" or do something else to get the driver's attention.

All that being said, I absolutely love taking the public transportation, although I appreciate any prayers for my continued safety as well! It's cheap, and once you get the hang of it, it's easy as well. I really wanted to have pictures to be able to share with you, but it's not the best idea to wip out my camera in the middle of the bus and take pictures. Maybe I'll be able to covertly get some pictures in the future so all of you who won't be able to experience the public bus system in Managua first-hand might be able to get a better mental picture of what I've tried to describe for you today.