Notes on Transportation

So you might know by now, from my previous letters from abroad, how utterly fascinated I am by transportation: how people move themselves from one place to another.

Here´s a sampling from Nicaragua:

On my first bus ride, on my very first day in this country, the bus broke down.

The long distance buses are all school buses from North America, the ones manufactured by the Blue Bird Corporation. Yep, those familiar big yellow school buses (with the black stripes) which we all rode to elementary school. Many of them still have the school district name painted on the side. I´ve got my eyes peeled for the ¨Chappaqua Central School District.¨ Gotta represent.

(And if you want to read more about the history of these school buses (i.e. I am a huge nerd), click here. You will learn things like the fact that the color is officially called "National Glossy School Bus Yellow.¨)

Within in the city, the school buses are too big to maneuver in the narrow streets. So the public transportation system is based on the collectivos. These are essentially trucks, with a flat wooden bed on the back. The platform has benches along both sides, a gated entrance at the rear, and a tarp covering the sides and top. The conductor stands on the step at the entrance, calling out the stops, collecting money, and hauling people in and out of the truck. Naturally, one must board while the truck is moving and jump out while it´s still in motion.

There´s something in León that my friends and I refer to as ¨the party bus.¨It´s a traditional school bus from the States with the top cut off, and the sides painted vivid colors. On weekend evenings it rides around the city, blasting Reggaeton music and serving drinks. A string of festive lights hangs about the contented passengers. People queue up at the corner of the parque central to go for a loop of the city. It looks like SO MUCH fun.

Women are walking down the street with their notebooks and folders. The sun is strong here though, and so when they walk into the light they all use their notebooks to shield the sun. Natural, intellegent idea. But it looks quite peculiar when literally everyone is walking down the street doing the same thing.

There are lots of cars in León, some motorbikes, and the occasional horse-drawn carriage carting good from one place to another, but the majority of people get around on bicycle. Obviously, I am a fan. This is really a perfect city for cycling. And most of these bikes are just cheap steel-framed bikes from made in Taiwan (Interestingly, Nicaragua is one of only a handful of countries that officially recognizes Taiwan and not China).

Here are some bicycle observations:

• It is quite common to see a passenger riding on the crossbar of the bike. This is usually the novia of the cyclist.

• Friends ride on the bicycle in an astonishing number of positions and configurations. One of the most inventive ones is for a young man to attach an elongated piece of metal onto the center of the rear wheels, jutting outwards perpendicularly. His friend will then stand on the spokes and balance himself on the rider´s shoulders.

• León is a city of one way streets. This means that you must sometimes cycle 4 blocks to go just 1 block over. Nice.

• There is a shortage of adult-sized bicycles in this country. Thus it is common to see a grown man riding around on a child´s bike.

• It´s about as common to see two people on a bicycle as one. Seeing three on one bike is a nice treat. But the exacta is four people on a single bicycle. Because of the physical limitations of a bicycle and those of the human body, there is really only one way this can happen: The father of the family is riding. His wife sits on the crossbar. She holds the young baby (age 2-4, ideally) in her arms. And the older sibling (age 5-8, ideally) stands upright on the rear spokes and balances on papá´s shoulders. Seeing this is something special, like getting a TETRIS.

• The other day I saw a man cycling by with an infant balanced on his knee. The baby went up and down, up and down, rhythmically as he pedalled.

• It´s also common to see a toddler standing on the crossbar while his father pedals, the young tot balancing his hands on his father´s shoulders.
  

• It´s also possible to see young men riding from place to place with a live chicken tucked neatly under one arm like a running back tucks a football.

• And, then, my personal favorite, I saw a dude carrying a birthday cake, fresh frosting glistening in the sun, in his right hand, face up, like a waiter carries a plate above his shoulder in a restaurant. Most impressive.

My first two experiences hitch-hiking in Nicaragua was with a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers I met on a day trip out to the beach out in Chinendega. We just pile into the back of a pick-up truck as it drives by. I figure I´ve hitched about 70 rides in my life, so naturally I will try to break my record in this most-hitchable country.