Oh, the Things you will see! {Ecuadorian Buses}

As anyone who's been to Latin Ameica knows, buses are always an adventure down here. In the U.S., we know that we'll get yelled at if we cross the yellow line by the driver, we know that there's a schedule (whether the bus is running late or not), and we know that the driver probably isn't terribly crazy.

In Latin America, all bets are off. The great thing is that there are buses going everywhere because so many people use public transportation ($0.25 anywhere in Quito), and it certainly makes traveling cheap ($1/hour on all inter-provincial trips--$6 to the Amazon, for goodness sake!).

The bad thing? Bus drivers don't have fixed salaries here, so they try and cram as many people as humanly possible on every bus. The drivers are nuts, competing with one another to get more passengers. There are people hanging out the back door and the front door, even! It's absolutely nuts. Personal space? Don't even think about it. Yesterday I had a guy leaning on me for a while until he realized it was a human and not a bar.

There are also no schedules. The good thing, however, is that you can pretty much count on a bus at any time. If you're a lady, you're in luck--they'll stop for you no matter how full the bus is. If you're a guy without any women nearby waiting as well, if the bus does stop for you, consider yourself lucky that it will even slow down enough for you to grab the handle and jump on.

My favorite bus times are probably when the typical salsa or bachata is replaced with great hits like "Mr. Roboto" and whatnot.

You do get to see some funny stuff as well. Rural buses I'd say are my favorite, mainly because of the nice variety of things you see. For instance, I've had a live chicken (in a bag, I should add) placed in my lap once. Yesterday in Quito the woman sitting next to me had a canary in a box. Oh, Ecuador.

You also see a lot of poverty. Desperate parents will board with their children, trying to sell candy or asking for help to pay their medical bills. The same guy gets on every morning trying to sell these menthol candies wearing the same clothes. Blind men and women board the trolley and sing to raise money to get by. Children will board buses and beg. I may not be living in a region where 96% have their basic needs unmet anymore, but poverty is not absent here in Quito--it's different and still very heartbreaking.

But you learn a lot on the buses--patience, balance, how to breathe through your mouth so you can't smell whatever it is that person just brought on the bus, and how life really is for some people. As annoying as buses can be here sometimes, they are certainly a part of my experience and I will miss them.

{title credit to my dad :)}