bus adventures
the russian government has just donated a fleet of large, rectangular white buses that are circulating the streets of managua. they run much cleaner than the old yellow US school buses (with indicators of their origins like "Albequerque Unified School District" written on the side), which churn out clouds of black soot as they rumble their way over the many "rutas" (routes) that traverse the city. taking a "ruta" costs 2.50 córdobas, or about 10 cents, and so it's much more affordable than taking one of the thousands of taxis circulating city streets, which cost between 20-50 córdobas, depending on the length of the trip. (taxi adventures, and horror stories of robberies, assaults, and sexual aggressions, are the topic of another blog!). yesterday leaving an interview in barrio alta gracia around 5pm (it gets dark here shortly after 5), i got on a ruta in one of these new white russian buses, it was raining, and the bus was packed full, and so quickly converted into a mobile sauna of sorts, with steamy windows and we passengers dripping with sweat despite the cool afternoon and pouring rain. i was standing, holding on to the padded grey seat in front of me, and trying to discern through the clouded window where we were going, soon realizing i was definitely on the wrong ruta, weaving its way up above the residential area where i live, into the popular barrios of san judas and camilo ortega and their mud streets and wood slatted homes. and after asking if we would ever weave our way back down to carreterra sur and having a concerned woman tell me that we wouldn't and that i'd better get off quick and make my way back, i jumped off at the next stop with a group of other passengers sheltering their heads with backpacks and plastic bags as they ran home in the rain, and walked several blocks through flooded streets before deciding to just pay the 20 córdobas and take a taxi to a central intersection, and from there i walked the remaining few blocks home. just when i got inside and dried off, a huge rain and electrical storm hit (but tropical storms also need to be the subject of another blog!)...
1 comentario
Rebekah -