When I went with my friend Marisol to her house in the little town of Las Minas we had to take a bus from the city of Chaletanango to her house. The bus ride was a little bit crazy.
We got to the bus about 25 minutes before it left, but it was already pretty full. We went in the back door of the bus, had to step onto some large bags of fertilizer on the floor. There were some seats with only one person but it appeared that these seats were being saved for other people. So, we stood in the aisle of the bus. We managed to shove all our stuff into the overhead racks. It was HOT on that bus. Every once in a while there would be the smallest little breeze that came through the open windows. While we stood in the aisle of the bus, vendors came through selling just about everything. The vendors squeezed by us with their wares. At first the things they were selling seemed “normal”- candy, snacks, water and other cool drinks. But as we waited for the bus to leave, just about everything that you might ever need came onto the bus. The vendors called out whatever they were selling.
“Here come tomatoes!”
“Cold water!”
There was fresh fruits and vegetables, flashlights, screwdrivers, underwear, bras, hot sandwiches, bowls of french fries with the ketchup already on them. We had just gone to the grocery store and had lunch but we could have just come and sat on the bus and got just about everything we needed.
The vendors had such a hard job. They had to deal with the heat on and off the bus. They had to carry all the stuff they were selling. They had to try to convince people to buy stuff while squeezing their way down the aisle of the bus. They probably had to pay the bus driver to let them come on the bus in the first place.
After what seemed like forever, we finally got to leave. The vendors that were still on the bus did all they could to get off quickly with all their wares. A lady let me share her seat, which was quite nice after standing for so long. We finally had a nice breeze coming in through the windows. The ride to Marisol’s house wasn’t too long- less time than we had waited, thankfully.
The experience of waiting for the bus to leave was a bit overwhelming to me- it was a new experience, it was hot, and it was crowded. But for many of the Salvadorans on the bus it was probably a daily experience, something normal.
