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.