Com(b/v)is and "Danger"

It has been brought to my attention that although I mentioned comvis in my last blog, I have yet to explain what a comvi is. Here we go.....

This is what a comvi looks like. It´s a VW van that has been converted into the cheapest form of public transportation available. Think of it like a mix between a taxi and bus, with a lot more people packed in.

The combis each have specific routes, and all of the places they intend to go are painted on the side with really bright neon colors. Sometimes they also paint soccer teams, or alluring messages like "THIS DRIVER LOVE JESUS". Inside, it´s like they made a circle with benches along the windows, with an open space in the middle. Generally that space is used as a passage for you know, getting off the thing, but if there is an excess of bodies, some people will do a sort of stand-squat in the middle. It´s not especially pleasant when we really get packed in there, but a combi driver will never turn down another six pesos.

They don´t have planned stops, so to get on one of these things, you scour the windows to see if they´re going where you are and then both wave and yell intensely until they pull over. To get off you scream "BAJA" over the noise and hope he hears you. Like I said before, a comvi driver will NEVER say "no" to another passenger because they are too full. However, he only stops for about 5 seconds, you have to jump on (or off) really fast. I learned this the hard way on my first trip when the driver started moving again and I only had one foot on the ground. 

They´re also not super comfortable. Yesterday a large man who was forced into the "squat-stand" actually (and hopefully accidentally) sat on me when we hit a big "tope" (speed-bump). I was zoning out a little, but after that incident I am pretty attentive.

Despite the discomforts (and social implications), comvi is my preferred means of transportation. For one thing, it´s cheap. I like to use things that are cheap. I mean, if I can use a 6 peso combi instead of a 30 peso taxi for the same trip, I´ll take the risk of being sat on. It´s also a great opportunity for people watching. Yesterday on my way home from school I found myself sharing a bench with an elderly grandmother and her pre-school-aged grandson, a construction worker, two kids my age from a public school, a couple chatty middle-aged women, and one crabby looking old guy. And me of course, the unexpected gringa. What´s not to love? I also enjoy the hectic speed comvis travel at. It gets you there really fast-ducking in and out of traffic lanes with plenty of horn usuage- and (from my experience) in one peice.

Among the wealthy community-read: Rotarians- comvis have this reputation of being dangerous and unsanitary. I always listen to what the Rotarians tell me, but lately I´ve realized that "dangerous" is a synonmyn for "it personally makes me uncomfortable" or "I´m wealthy and don´t have to use it any more" or "It involves being around the ´low class´and´poorly educated´ people". Many of my favorite things have been labeled dangerous, from running outside to eating street food to shopping at the open air market. And any person wearing a pair of dirty flip-flops is instantly considered untrustworthy. This is an attitude I am just not capable of adopting. I realize that there´s a difference between being adventurous and being just plain stupid, but there is also a difference between being careful and discrimation.

I don´t feel like comvis are "so dangerous". Sure, they´re a little dirty. They can be uncomfortable. And (still WORSE) they put me in contact with the people in this community who don´t have name brand footwear, but I´m not about to let that stop me from using them. No one has ever tried to kidnap me or sell me drugs or touch me innapropriately. And as long as there are Mexican abuelas who think it´s a safe enough place to read their grandkids board books, I´ll be paying my six pesos to go from Sabina to La Deportiva to El Mercado de la Sierra.

Coming to you from the Cyber-Web.....

Time has been going very quickly as of late. I honestly could not believe that a month has passed. But, apparently it´s been a month since I last wrote. Here are some of the things that have happened:

-I started school again. As in, me being a student. I had kind of forgotten what it was like to do this. I´m back in my itchy uniform, sitting in the same class with all the same kids. It´s easy to feel like it´s still August. I guess the big difference is that I understand everything now. It doesn´t really make school that much more productive, but it is satisfying to see that I´ve obviously learned some things over break. So….Yay?

-Valentine´s Day! I now am only teaching English classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (since Rotary makes me go to school. I would love to teach every day.) And thankfully this Tuesday I got to experience the excitement that is “Día de Amor y Amistad” for those primary school kids. The first thing I noticed was that they were allowed to come in whatever clothing they wanted to (in place of the usual grey uniforms). The fifth and sixth grade girls looked like princesses and the boys looked like their mothers made them wear dress shirts and forcibly combed their hair. Some things are they same everywhere….:)

The next difference was the “gift exchange”.  Where I come from “Valentines” are shiny paper notes you buy at Walgreens (scotch-taped chocolate optional). We gave them to everyone in the class and collected them in the brown paper bags we had decorated the day before. We always enjoyed it a lot. This, however, pales in comparison to the way the families prepare for Valentine´s Day here. Rather than something little for everyone, it´s normal to give some pretty nice to a couple of good friends.  The kids actually bought flowers and balloons and chocolates for each other, some gave stuffed animals. Thankfully there wasn´t anyone who didn´t get anything and it really was sweet.

They also give presents to the teachers. I got balloons, a little pillow that makes kissing noises, a lot of spicy paletas, and this really good homemade chocolate thing.

The mothers made food, from Flan (a caramel flavored pudding with the consistency of jello) to empanadas to hot dogs and had the kids carry in big plates. They put on loud music with speakers someone brought, passed out all the food and then just spent the rest of the morning dancing and eating and having fun. I had to leave to go to school about halfway through the morning, but it was a slow process as I kept getting handed more food. By the time I finally “escaped” and started walking home, I´m sure I was pretty comical looking: Toting a guitar, a bowl of flan, various types of meat, a disorganized pile of English papers, and a pillow that kept shouting “I Lobe You” as I hobbled my way down the street. I certainly felt loved.

-I´ve started French class. Parlez-vous francais? Not really, but I´ll get there.

-It´s not super common to have internet in your house here, so there are a lot of places to go use the internet and pay hourly. These places have a hilarious tendency to use English “techy-sounding” words in ways that don´t really make sense. Like “Cyber-Net-Home” “The Inter-Web here!” and my personal favorite: “Net Web”. Something I get a kick out of on my bus ride.

-I have become a public transportation connoisseur. I know all of the bus routes, can successful  get on a comvi without being scared and think that taxi´s are for the weak. I guess this is one of the blessings of my host family´s insane work schedule. The down side is that they are practically never home, and often can´t drive me places. The upside is that I´ve learned how to get where I need to go for cheap! Independence is fun.

-I have a ticketed return date: July 1^st, 2012.

-Today is my little sister Elyssa´s twelfth birthday! Happy Birthday Elyssa! I miss Elyssa, And Emma and Erica, SO much. This is actually the second birthday in two years that I´ve been absent. They are very good sports with my gallivanting.

So, this post wasn´t exactly cohesive, but I´m trying to fill you in on the times I´ve missed blogging (frequently). I will see you all in a little more than four months!