Summer of 2004, I was trying to keep expenses down. I arrived in Guate (Guatemala City) at 11:30am, and was on a 2pm pullman bus for Xela that arrived at 9pm, in the darkness. It was my first time taking switchback roads by bus, and we passed a shuttle minivan that went over the cliff on the way. I saw chicken buses (school buses painted in wild colors and with all sorts of things like chickens tied on top)stopping and emptying their contents to relieve themselves on the hillside, dropping pantalones and lifting skirts communally, and was sure that I was going to drink sparingly every time I needed to travel.
On the chicken buses I rode after that I was usually in cramped conditions, sometimes having to stand for 5-7 hour bus rides, and usually chattering to the people around me.
This time we have taken a pullman bus each time, so that Michelle doesn't have to stand or the kids be smooshed. I have tried to make everything as comfortable as possible on the front end, so they could acclimate as gradually as is possible in such a different surrounding. The first bus we took to Hue hue (which means place of the little old man) was hot but not crowded, and the kids were oblivious to the views and instead wrestled and read and snacked on strange foods the whole way.
Funniest thing was stopping at the Esso station for gas and finding that, no, they didn't have the normal snacks the kids were used to, but they had wonderful muffins with some sort of vegetable, no telling what, not carrot but maybe squash? From Hue hue tenango (tenango means place in nahuatl, a mayan dialect - though there are 22 different mayan languages), we took a pullman and bought our ticket early so the kids got seats with leg room, and picked from the different baked goods and snacks for the trip. No stops on this one, but we continually picked up other passengers as we climbed steeply, ears popping almost right away.
Finally the bus was so full that one gent sat on Michelle's arm, and she was horrified that she had to share her seat. I would have switched with her, but she would have sat with a stranger (well, Victoria who was from barrillas and would have loved for Michelle to join her). I was so cramped my knees were against Brendan's seat back, at chin level!! I was so worried that my knees would be out of whack when walking around here, but no fears there. The door of the bus was flopping open, and someone was continually trying to put the block back to hold it shut... Michelle was directly across from it, but there were so many people on the bus I felt it safe until the last half hour when they all got off and the kids were so bored they wanted to wrestle. I could just see Michelle falling out of her seat, out the door and down the mountain back to Hue heu, the sides of the hills were so steep. Roads here are in excess of 45 degree angles... I have pictures but I am not sure they do justice...
We had met Beth, the director of our foundation, and she sat behind me, but slept. I was too excited to sleep, drinking in every minute as we climbed through two layers of clouds, arriving, finally, in the midst of a bank of clouds in foggy San Mateo.
We conducted interviews this morning, Brendan was a part of six, Michelle two... must go to finish now... This study, like most, has its challenges. No road maps of the town, and people live in such different places and no street numbers or house numbers so no one can really tell us where they live. We gave them pale blue ribbons to put on their doors, and some have, but no surveys have been done here, so the concept is so new, we shall see.
Later!!! K
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