Today Ann an dI both left the house together to go to work. I ran, she took the bus. And I got there first. Well, I won by about 10 meters. she was just getting of the bus a couple doors down from the office when I ran by. That should tell you a little something about commuting in Bolivia's largest and most congested city. With the results of our race/experiment in, I could probably beat Ann to work 4 out of 5 days since she miraculously got onto the first number 2 bus that went by and most mornings it usually takes 2 or 3 that pass by before we are let on. One rainy night 11 full busses passed us up before we were able to squeeze onto the 12th. Actually that day was our first commute living in our new place and we immediately began to wonder if we had made a mistake.
Getting on and off the bus during rush hour is another thing. I am convinced that I have discovered how Bolivians do it: osmosis. Seriously, how can a bus so full that there are random human limbs sticking out of windows and the door stop and 3 more people disappear into the mass of humanity? They must be absorbed. Some mornings we have to get a running start and just dive in and grab ahold of anything that will keep you from falling out. Getting out is the same. There are days going to work where my body is so twisted and crammed that I am only supporting myself by hanging on to the overhead bar. Then the bus stops and 4 or 5 people will get off. I'm not sure how many because I can't even turn my head to look, but you can feel the bus rock gently as each body spills out onto the pavement. But for some reason after all this mass is discharged from the bus, there is no extra room for me to stand up straight and the people keep crushing me on all sides. How can this be?
But no worries, because it isn't so bad since we only have about a 20 minute ride to work. Fifteen minutes when there is no traffic. Many people in this city travel hours across town, sometimes changing busses in the middle somewhere. So we have it pretty good. I think I'll start running to work more often though.