The Guaguas and MORE

I have to spend a minute explaining about the guaguas here, which is my favorite way to take public transportation so far. Of course, we’re about to learn how to ride on the back of a motorcycle tomorrow for the times we‘re in the middle of the country with no other transportation options, so my opinions may change soon. My helmet is pretty slick, all beautiful shiny blue with a couple white stripes. I’ll have time this weekend to put up a picture of it :) The guaguas here are like the regular big busses, but instead of being big and stopping at designated spots, they go on their routes and stop for anyone that is waiting anywhere or for any passenger that wants to get off. They’re like really very long vans, and have usually 4 or 5 seats across, including the one that folds down in the aisle, and around 14 rows. Anyway, they fill up to the brim, and the whole time the cobrador (the guy that hangs out the side calling out the route to the people waiting) keeps track of where every single passenger is going, who still needs to pay and how much, and where everyone is supposed to be sitting depending on their destination. One of the favorite places I’ve ridden is squashed into the front seat with a few others, because you can see exactly where you’re going (and how many near-accidents every car on the road comes close to having!). It’s fairly inexpensive, with the main guaguas going pretty far for 10 to 13 pesos, which is about 30 or 40 cents in US dollars. A few rides ago, there was a group of around 6 of us on one guagua, and every time we approached people waiting, his cries included “Las Americas!” We thought he was advertising the fact that a bunch of Americans were riding this guagua, since we get quite a bit of attention anywhere we go or any guagua we get on, and were pretty amused to be the freak show of the day. When we asked around later, though, it turns out the route we were on continues onto a hospital that’s called the hospital of the americas, which the cobradores shorten. . . so really we weren’t quite special enough to deserve the strange attention we thought we were attracting! Enough about guaguas: we had the wildest experience this weekend that was completely unexpected. As planned, I headed to Boca Chica beach this Saturday with a couple girls and a host family of one of them: the little girls were so excited to go. It was a nice beach, but the best part was the beautiful Caribbean water and just being at the beach in February! While we were at the beach, we made some new friends who we chatted with a good part of the day. They eventually invited us to go with them to celebrate Carnaval on a tour bus sort of thing on Sunday, and we decided to take them up on the offer since it only comes once a year. The tour left at 8:30 the next morning, and took us to La Vega a couple hours away. Carnaval was madness! Most people on the bus had the loudest plastic horns I’ve ever heard, and so they played those nonstop. Even the rest stop on the way was a huge party, with big drums appearing out of nowhere and a huge dance party forming in the parking lot and inside by the pizza and sandwich sellers. When we actually got there, we danced at different sort of amphitheater places and eventually headed to the main parade. There was music coming from everywhere, and it was so loud that my ears are still ringing three days later! The costumes were amazing, but what we didn’t know is that in these parades, instead of giving out candy like in the US, the people dressed up give out spankings. With what I found out is a pig’s bladder covered in cloth that’s tied to a stick. They strike without warning, and if you try to escape, good luck! It’s actually very painful, and I think I will be bruised on my behind for a while. . . Monday was Independence Day here, and so nobody had school or work. I went with my host parents to the market in a nearby barrio, and we got all sorts of good fruits and veggies. My least favorite stall was the butcher’s where the huge carcasses hang in the back of the little stall until the customer tells what part they want. The butchers are the same ones who carve the animals up as well as take the money and give change, even with their hands still covered in blood. I’m glad I don’t eat meat, with all the flies hanging around the dead stuff. We also went to the regular grocery store, where there was actually one whole side of an aisle dedicated to canned meat like tuna and sardines. People here also love to eat salami, especially if it’s fried on top of mashed platanos: I think all the non-vegetarians in our training group eat some form of salami at least once a day! Later in the day my host parents took me and their 4 year old grandson down to the Malecon (sea walk) to see the end of the military parade and just hang out. We drove by a beautiful park in the city that alone made me change my mind about the level of beauty in the city. The cousin Brian has an endless supply of energy and danced I think almost the entire couple hours we hung out! On the way home, it was only 9:30, so we stopped by Carrefour, which is sort of like a Super Walmart. I had been in Prague, but everyone here seems to be obsessed with it, and my host family really wanted me to see it. Stay tuned for an update from Mao/La Cruce de Esperanza, where I’m headed on Thursday to visit a current volunteer there!