Transportation

My parents (the real ones.  Hi Tim and Donna!) inquired about how I get around.  So if my (very early!) middle aged CPA parents find something interesting, I can only assume you followers will too (I promise it doesn’t have to do with financial statements.  This time.)!

How do I get around?  Three options: walking, private transportation and public transportation.

Walking: the cheapest option, duh.  I will walk just about everywhere (in hopes of then using that money for more “important” things…)  The last couple of weeks, our language class was at trainee Noelle’s house which is about 1 click away ([that’s kilometers for those of you who aren’t secret agents like me] that’s just over a half a mile for those of you who aren’t so international like me).  So with having to return to my casa for lunch, I would walk the journey 4 times (about 2.5 miles) a day because the Peace Corps did not want to pay me for transport.  So long story short, I walk A LOT, EVERYWHERE.

Private transportation: MOTOS!  I love motos.  In fact, I will go so far as to say they may be the thing I will miss most about training (motos are illegal/impractical everywhere else).  Motos, short for mototaxis, are awesome.  First let’s start with the obvious, foto:

Kelli and I on one of countless moto adventures

As you can see, the driver sits up front and three people can sit (rather uncomfortably) in back.  Of course that’s the “recommendations according to the operating manual”.  We have successfully crammed 8 (including the driver).  Why is this stupid?  Because it’s obviously dangerous?  Hah, incorrect my naïve reader.  Because culture here dictates that you pay by the person.  Friggin’ obnoxious.  So example, if you want to Masatepe, total cost is 10 cords.  But is me and my closest 7 friends want to tag along, the total is now 70 cords for the EXACT same distance!  I’ve tried to explain this to numerous drivers and to my chagrin (or perhaps poor Spanish) refuse to see the errors in their ways.  It pretty much discourages carpooling.  But back to the point, why do I love motos?  Haggling!  Sure there are “generally agreed upon prices” but those are for Nicas.  Us stingy (or unsuspecting tourists) trainees can finagle prices left and right.  Which brings me to why motos are awesome point number two.  THEY’RE EVERYWHERE.  Maybe second only to the disturbingly copious quantity of mangos, there are THOUSANDS of motos for a relatively small number of people.  So if a moto doesn’t agree on you price, there are 452984 more who are willing to take it.  To give you an idea, the most expensive moto ride I’ve ever taken was at night, in the rain (the arbitrary factors that affect pricing) for 6kms was 35 cords (about $1.50).

Public transportation: microbuses and school buses.  Micros are vans that should normally seat around 9 people which are Nica-fied to fit as many as 24 (it was like driving a can of sardines).  Buses are the standard yellow America school buses which now have been decommissioned.  Instead of going to the big highway in the sky, they go south to be pimped out with horrible paint jobs and poorly wired speaker systems.  Both have fixed destinations and prices and go everywhere but will stop every couple of minutes to cram more people in them.  Clearly micros are more expensive than buses because you generally are guaranteed a “seat” (a very fluid concept in this country).

That’s it for now.  Stay tuned for the next tales of my LAST week as a trainee!