With all the risky things I've had to eat, obviously illness isn't a huge threat to my time here. I haven't yet felt threatened by other people (although the only time I was out at night was with a guy), I'm not going to go crazy because of poor living conditions, overall I feel safe and comfortable. Except when I need to cross the street. I was not expecting such intense transportation here!
People don't obey the lights here, if it's still red but the other lights are yellow, they go. Or if they're just in a hurry. And the honking....I cannot figure it out. I've just sat and watched the streets trying to figure out what everyone is honking at and I honestly think people just honk when they're bored. They honk when going through an intersection (because no one stops at stop signs), they honk at stopped buses, they honk at everything. It took me a while to figure this one out, but taxis also honk at me when I'm walking telling me that they are empty. Crossing the street is really scary, and there aren't always crosswalks. At first I would try and find a mother with her young child to follow across the street, if their going it must be safe, but they have been far to risky for my taste! Today I was waiting to cross near a mom and her three year old, who was sticking her foot out in the road about a foot away from the zooming cars. Sometimes she'd pull her foot in at the last second and giggle but most times she'd just leave it there and same something like "didn't get me!" (I think).
Generally, I take this bus type thing. It is a bus, but it has its own lane in the road and little stations for stops. I think it's a good way to do public transportation, the stops are faster and more frequent than is plausible for subway type things. Only problem is how crazy crazy packed they are. When the bus pulls up to the station, the doors literally are busting open with people's bodies squished in the door. Each day I am amazed at home many people can fit into such a small space, and each day I experience just how close you have to be to strangers to fit that many people in. I did get to sit down once...but otherwise I stand there with about 6 people somehow touching me. At first, I held onto the handles to maintain my stability...that's what you're supposed to do, right? I soon learned this was a very bad idea. These handles aren't firmly attached in one place, and so I had a good three feet to slide around with the handle...not good. Now I just hold the bars that the handles are attached to, like everyone else.
I generally scream tourist by wearing my backpack backwards on my chest in the bus. Most people do it so that it doesn't get stolen, but I do it because otherwise my lunch gets all mushed. (The most important thing I keep in my backpack is my map, which is generally clutched in my hands anyway). Some of the locals do this too, but it seems like a bad idea to me, its just advertising that you have something important in there. Anyone with more experience than I have any input? I had hardly ever taken public transportation before this, and I've never lived in a city where walking on busy streets is so common.
Taxi's are so cheap here! Minimum fare is $1, and I'm not really sure how things are calculated after that, but it's cheap. I took a taxi on Thursday to practice before I actually needed to. I was in the car for about 20 minutes and it cost me $2.52. I'm sure a lot of it is that gas is cheaper here, I saw $1.46 a gallon earlier today. There are also typical buses but they scare me quite a lot. I see people jumping out of them all the time when the bus is moving twice as fast as I'm walking. And I think you have to flag them down, which is intimidating. I saw the cutest little girl today, about 7, flag one down, run towards it, and hop on before it was fully stopped. Such a different life!
Okay, this post feels a little sloppy to me but my back is hurting from this crappy chair in an internet cafe and I want to see more of the beautiful sun. I'm glad I found this cafe though, its much faster than the one I was at yesterday, 20 cents cheaper an hour, and its running Windows 8 (!!) as opposed to Vista! If you didn't see my Facebook status, I would love suggestions for games like tic tac toe to teach my new 17 year old friend. I don't think he can really read though. He loves the dot/square game, and I loved that he was finally interacting with me! I want to teach him something new, that he's never played before. Thanks for reading friends! I don't have any plans for the weekend yet, so maybe you'll hear more from me. Mon-Wed is harder though with my Spanish classes.
I generally scream tourist by wearing my backpack backwards on my chest in the bus. Most people do it so that it doesn't get stolen, but I do it because otherwise my lunch gets all mushed. (The most important thing I keep in my backpack is my map, which is generally clutched in my hands anyway). Some of the locals do this too, but it seems like a bad idea to me, its just advertising that you have something important in there. Anyone with more experience than I have any input? I had hardly ever taken public transportation before this, and I've never lived in a city where walking on busy streets is so common.
Taxi's are so cheap here! Minimum fare is $1, and I'm not really sure how things are calculated after that, but it's cheap. I took a taxi on Thursday to practice before I actually needed to. I was in the car for about 20 minutes and it cost me $2.52. I'm sure a lot of it is that gas is cheaper here, I saw $1.46 a gallon earlier today. There are also typical buses but they scare me quite a lot. I see people jumping out of them all the time when the bus is moving twice as fast as I'm walking. And I think you have to flag them down, which is intimidating. I saw the cutest little girl today, about 7, flag one down, run towards it, and hop on before it was fully stopped. Such a different life!
Okay, this post feels a little sloppy to me but my back is hurting from this crappy chair in an internet cafe and I want to see more of the beautiful sun. I'm glad I found this cafe though, its much faster than the one I was at yesterday, 20 cents cheaper an hour, and its running Windows 8 (!!) as opposed to Vista! If you didn't see my Facebook status, I would love suggestions for games like tic tac toe to teach my new 17 year old friend. I don't think he can really read though. He loves the dot/square game, and I loved that he was finally interacting with me! I want to teach him something new, that he's never played before. Thanks for reading friends! I don't have any plans for the weekend yet, so maybe you'll hear more from me. Mon-Wed is harder though with my Spanish classes.
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