This is such a huge part of my life here. Every day, at least two times, I get to enjoy the experience of riding the bus through the city of Lima. The buses here are called combis (sometimes micros, or buses, but combi is the most commonly-used term) and they are unlike anything I have ever experienced in the U.S. I absolutely love them!
First things first: catching a combi. There are designated "paraderos" (bus stops) scattered among the streets, but in many cases they don't actually matter. People wait for the combi in just about any place along the road that they choose, and most times the combi will stop for them. (Although, sadly, I have seen the combi keep going when a black person or darker Peruvian tries to flag them down. That sad fact is an entirely different issue.) There are numbers on the combis, but I usually only figure out which one I need by the words written on the side. They have a number of street/district names scrolled along the side of the bus that indicate where they are headed. In addition, when the combi rolls to a stop the cobrador (fare collector/attention grabber/jack-of-all-trades in the combi business) leans out and starts yelling where the combi is headed, often times with a small wooden sign waving in the air. Once you have spotted your combi and flagged it down, you bustle on quickly before it leaves without you (I almost got run over yesterday when the driver decided it would be fine to start moving while I only had one foot on the bus) You hop on, try to find a seat (often times cannot) and begin the journey. It is crowded, loud, bumpy, sometimes uncomfortable, but altogether amusing and enjoyable. Then, within the next five to ten minutes, the cobrador will walk around jingling coins at passengers, which indicates it is time to pay up. I pay 1 sol (about $.30) for my 45 minute ride to school. However, sometimes they will try to trick you into paying more. This has only happened a couple times to me, and one of those times happened to be yesterday. The driver was collecting the fares (on the very large buses you pay as soon as you get on, like the buses in the states) I gave him my sol, showed him my school ID (because without that it costs 1.20 soles) He just shook his head and wouldn't give me my ticket. I started saying in Spanish that I know it only costs a dollar to get to la catolica with my card, that I take the bus there every single day and it has never cost more than a dollar, but he simply refused. I tried my hardest, and I think it was a pretty valiant effort as I was flustered but still managed to stick up for myself in a foreign language, but...no cigar. The worst part was that he made me pay 1.50 soles! Even without my student discount it should NEVER cost that much! I was PISSED! That was the only time, however, that I have really had trouble.
A number of other things can occur on combi rides. One common occurrence is people (adults or children) coming on and telling their life story in an attempt to get money. Sometimes they will sell you small treats, and sometimes they will just ask for your change. Sometimes they will even sing a song. I am quite used to this and I no longer pay too much attention to it. Last night, however, I had a new experience (Yesterday was an interesting combi-day for me, obviously, which is what prompted this entry). A young boy, probably around 16 years old, came on the combi and proceeded to put on some sort of quasi-stand up comedy show. He was just acting really crazy and screaming and shouting weird stuff in front of the whole huge bus. He also decided to begin his skit by making fun of Colleen and I to everyone. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying but I know he referenced the "white girls" sitting up front and I heard people laughing. Later he made a comment that we are not prettier than him just because he's dark and we're white. It made me very uncomfortable but I didn't really know what to do so we just ignored him. Then he had the audacity to come around with his bag and beg for money from us. Why the hell would I give you money after you just humiliated me in front of a bus full of people? He wouldn't stop bugging us so I told him to "Ándate" (go away) and then he hissed something rude to me, but I couldn't quite make it out. The whole experience was very strange.
The last part off the combi experience is getting off. When you are ready to disembark you have to yell to the cobrador "Baja" and then he will signal to the driver to pull over. The whole system is really quite beautiful in fact. While people are getting on the cobrador just keeps saying "Sube, sube, sube" which really means "Get on, get on, get on", and at first I found that kind of overwhelming and pushy, but then I realized he is just signaling to the driver that people are still getting on the combi and he shouldn't start moving. They have other codes for each other too. When the coast is clear and the combi can start moving again or change lanes (as signaling simply doesn't exist between lanes here) the cobrador taps on the wall of the bus with his wooden sign and the driver knows to go. I often observe the relationship between the cobrador and driver with awe, it's really cool to me how perfectly it functions! As crazy as all the drivers are here, and as insane as the traffic always is, I have yet to see a single accident in Lima. Something must be going right...
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