Bumbling Buses

     I would like to take a moment in time to describe the bus system of Santiago to you, since it's so near and dear to my heart. As a serious commuter here, I take different buses to each and every one of my classes. The buses are fairly large, generally cleaner than in America, and have tons of poles, manillos- handles, and pasamanos- railings to grab onto (you know, for when the bus driver instead of slowing down, randomly stomps the brakes six times to get to the red light). The Santiago bus system is VERY comprehensive and when aided by Google maps, it's actually really easy to find how to get where you want to go. My friend Chelsie showed me even more invaluable information, on the website transantiago.cl. From here, I can find the names of all the bus stops and therefore figure out when mine is coming up.
     The bus drivers are much less consistent than the actual system. Sometimes they're super nice, especially if they realize you're a gringo. Other times, they are really nasty and won't even respond to you. Once, the disgruntled driver didn't respond when I asked him to let me know when my stop was, so I was counting the stops when suddenly he yelled out, La gringa! ven acá! (American girl, come here!) He then proceeded to grumble to me that my stop was the next one, which I had already pressed the stop button for. I thanked him and got off at my street. However, they ALL will allow at least one person to get on the bus without paying the fare. We use electronic "BIP" cards here, and all you have to do is swipe them in front of a machine in order to pay your way. They give off a loud beep and turn green when you're good to go, but when you don't have enough credit left, they beep differently and turn red. If they discover they don't have enough left on the BIP card, most of the Chileans just say permiso or discupla (both mean some form of Excuse me) and keep on walking. The bus driver usually lets them go without a word. I think it's a very trusting system that hopes that people will be honest enough not to do this every single day on different buses. I haven't had to do this yet, but I pray that I will get the nice bus driver that day! The bus drivers also allow performers on the buses for free.
    This "entertainment" may include singers, musicians, poets, and the occasional political clown. The other day I had two clowns in full makeup on my bus, joking about different political parties and problems here in Chile. They were talking extremely fast so I had a hard time understanding them, but they got the most tips I've ever seen a performer collect on a bus in the whole time I've travelled here. My favorite performance is when someone tries to sing an American or English song and they mess up the words and no one notices but me :)
     Next, I have to bring up rush hour. The worst words in a commuter's vocabulary. Well aside from, The bus is gone, or I lost my ticket, or something like that. Rush hour in Santiago is INSANE. Here's what it looks like on the metro:
And here's what it can look like on the bus:
     The buses are only slightly better, because I am usually early enough onto the bus that I can get a spot near a door and there is wind when the bus moves, keeping most, um, smells, at bay. Rush hour can start at any time; I've been on a bus one day at 6pm and it's fine, but the next day at 6 it moves half as fast and there are twice as many people. On top of that, Chileans have no qualms about encroaching on personal space. If there is a spot behind you, they will squeeze themselves in there and not mind that they're breathing onto your neck, or sneezing on your shoulder, or pulling you with them because they're getting off and there's nowhere else for you to go. I find that the best way to deal with what could be such stressful commuting is to laugh. I get stressed out very easily, but I realized the only way to deal with someone sitting on your leg or grabbing your arm instead of the railing after a particularly hard jolt is to laugh and move on. You'll get off eventually; and if you miss your stop, the next one is coming and hey, you got a little extra exercise haha.
   To end on a light note, I have to explain the bonus that the buses give. If you are travelling on the metro before the bus, you can ride two consecutive buses(different buses, with different route numbers) for free within two hours of getting on the metro. The same goes for, I believe, three buses; you only pay for the first one and if you can catch two within 2 hours, you don't have to pay. You still swipe your card but the machine tells you 0 pesos have been charged. This is particularly enjoyable when you have a class for only an hour. If you can time it right, you can get on 45 minutes before class, get to class, teach, and run to the next bus stop to get back on by the time 2 hours is up. Though it doesn't always work out because maybe a bus is running late and doesn't make it in your time frame, it's a nice surprise when it all works out. I asked someone once why you have to take different buses each time, and they told me because the bonus is not meant to get you somewhere and back, it's meant to help people who have to go so far in one direction that they HAVE to take 3 separate buses, or the metro and two more buses. Good job, Chile, this is an awesome program I wish we had back in Manhattan haha.