One of my favorite parts about my semester in Ecuador was the bus rides.
Everyone there rode the bus: teenagers, old people, pregnant women,
business people, farmers, families, shoppers, schoolkids, everyone. The
buses were crowded and busy, and the
drivers weren’t afraid of anything. They played the radio loud on the
overhead speakers, and they sped around corners and swerved in and out
of lanes, honking all the time. There was no such thing as a maximum
capacity- people just stood in the aisles once the seats were full.
Vendors got on at all the stops, selling empanadas,
water, candy and CDs. People got on to ask for money- sometimes little
kids, sometimes blind men, sometimes men
who pretended to be blind- and then got off at the next stop. There was
so much going on. Riding the bus was a perfect glimpse into the daily
life of the country.
-Phoebe Tollefson