Taking the bus to and from work daily ensures at least one good bus story a week, sometimes more. Usually they have to do with buses that didn't stop to pick us up, or ultra crowded "colectivos" that were standing-room only. Here are some of MY (Stacy's) stories from the past few weeks using Asuncion's public transportation system.
As I've shared before, the bus line that is closest to our house (route 18) is also the most inconsistent. So my routine is to walk up to it's route, then walk along the road (towards school) towards another main street that has more frequent - and more crowded - buses. The only story here is that Murphy's Law holds true south of the equator, too. The days I'm running late, I end up walking the 15+ blocks to catch bus #2. The days I'm on time...the preferred bus is there within a few minutes. But God was faithful on a handful of rainy mornings that we had; I was able to catch the bus without walking too far, and without getting too wet.
One day, I rode the bus with only my toes actually ON the bus. There were so many people on the bus that I literally couldn't get my whole foot on the bottom step. My bag was slung over my shoulder and I was holding onto two handlebars on the outside of the doorway. Thankfully I only had to hold that position for a few minutes as the bus started to clear out and I realized that there were several open seats on the bus! I didn't see any glaring reasons why I shouldn't sit down next to the man in the other seat - it looked like he bathed regularly and held down a decent job. Who knows why everyone else wanted to stand instead. Overrated! (P.S. Brandon already yelled at me for even getting on the bus in the first place. I've been instructed to wait for the next bus if I ever come across one as crowded as that again.)
A few days later, I never actually made it onto the bus. But I felt completely safe. You see, there was a man on the second step with me, whose laptop/briefcase bag was pressed up against my hip, holding me in place. AND there were TWO grown men on the first step below us who would have been first to go if we hit an unexpectedly large pot-hole. This bus never quite cleared out, so when it got close to school, I leaned over to the driver and said "aqui, por favor!" and he stopped the bus.
The drivers on the bus are fairly consistent and one in particular who learned my stop quickly, at least for one day. It had to have only been the third time on his bus, and I was standing near the front door of the bus while we putzed through town. As we neared the school and I began to shift my weight to move towards the door, he craned his neck and asked, "aca, verdad?" (here, right?) Yep, tried not to freak out about the bus driver/stalker that morning.
One of the highlights of the trip to school is the grandma/granddaughter duo that boards the bus a few blocks before I get off. She might actually be the mother, but she's considerable older and a bit unstable on her feet, so I prefer to think of her as the abuela. The girl is always dressed in her school uniform - bright red - with black shoes and Dora the Explorer backpack. What cracks me up about these two is how "helpful" the grandma tries to be as they board the bus. She clutches the girls hand, guiding her down the aisle toward an open seat, all the while struggling to keep her own balance. I can't help but think that the little girl would be better off without the "help". Oh well.
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