I will never get over the fact that I don’t have a car.
Having said that, I’m terrified at the thought of driving in Managua. So I find myself in a bit of a double-bind here. But let me just tell you WHY I so desperately wish I had a car and that I didn’t become paralyzed with fear at the thought of driving it. On Mondays I must somehow transport myself and my things from the Quaker House in Las Brisas to the farthest point away (that is technically still in Managua), aka Las Colinas, aka the rich ass neighborhood which is home to about a zillion embassies as well as at least two posh private schools, of which el Curie is one. Following my afternoon social studies class at the Curie, I must get myself to the American school, in “nearby” neighborhood las Lomas de Montserrat. To get to either of these schools you might take a bus that drops you off somewhere in the general vicinity, but you will still have a good ways to walk under the scorching sun and if you ever feel the need to bring your laptop with you, you better forget about it. From the American school, every evening at 8 p.m. I must then make the trip allllll the way back to las Brisas. The following day, I make a different combination of trips to the same places at different times. Wednesday and Thursday, I am lucky enough to only have to get myself to the American school, which makes things considerably less complicated. So. I don’t have a car. How do I do it? Oh well, a combination of buses, public taxis, and private taxis.
Some say it is lucky that both my “suegro” (father-in-law) and “tio” (uncle) are taxi drivers, because much of the time I can rely on them to help me to get to where I’m going. And certainly at first I felt quite lucky to have them around as well. The hilarious thing is that just in this moment I received a phone call telling me that what was an already complicated afternoon will be an equally complicated evening. But we will get to that in just a minute. Returning to the subject. After a time, I realized that while it is quite nice to know the taxi drivers I am with and not to fear that they will rip me off or worse, it is not so nice when they are not reliable. That is to say that from time to time I must wait for 15 minutes to an hour to be picked up from my destination. I have on more than one occasion been called just before I was expecting them to arrive to tell me that they will not be coming. On one occasion as it became later and later I had to call the uncle’s house to ask where he was (as he was not answering his cell phone) only to discover that he was in a meeting and would not be coming at all.
Sometimes this is just an inconvenience and I just have to walk out to the street to find another taxi. Other times it costs me an extra 80 cords (which is a lot for poor me) to not be late. Other times it is a matter of frantically asking parents whether they will take me to the “primera entrada” so I can even find a taxi to take me to my destination (because in Las Colinas one cannot find a taxi outside of the school at all). And this evening I was just told that there would be no one to pick me up from the American School to take me home. In this case, I have almost no options. Because I cannot walk to the main street as the chances of me being robbed or worse are extremely high and then the chances of me getting into a sketchy taxi equally high. Therefore, I would be stuck at this school until some kind soul decided to come get me. Or else I would sleep on a bench until a security guard kicked me to the curb.
What happened today? Better to start from last night, whence Donal the suegro told me that Alberto the uncle’s car was fixed and he was going to call me about picking me up for class on Monday. He didn’t. I called this morning. He couldn’t take me today, but said he could take me tomorrow. I get huffy and leave 30 minutes early so I can take the bus half way and then a taxi. Only about 5 large blocks before my stop, the bus breaks down in the middle of a highly trafficked street. Everyone lines up to get off the bus as the bus driver (surprisingly) returns 2.5 cords to each passenger. I walk two blocks so as not to get charged too much extra and find a nice old man to take me to my school. I still do not know who will be picking me up that afternoon to take me to school #2. Minutes before entering the classroom I call Donald for about the 6th time and he finally answers and affirms that he can be at the school at 3 to take me to my other school. Great. Problem solved. 3:05, no sign of Donald, so I call. So sorry yerna, I can’t make it, you’ll have to find another way. Oh, no problem whatsoever, there are no taxis that come by here, but I’m sure I’ll find a way. Lucky for me, one of my students walked passed me just at that moment to step into his car and hustle away, so I ask if his mom could drop me at the first entrance to take a taxi. Half way to the entrance she decides she should just run some errands while she’s out, so she kindly offers to drop me off at my school. Thank the lord. Double problem solved.
6:30 p.m., I shouldn’t even be on my computer, should be teaching my class when I receive a frantic message from Luis saying his father can’t get me from class. Quick! Call Alberto. Lucky AGAIN he happens to be passing through the area and will pick me up at 8. So I make it home alive. The amount of luck and juggling with transportation blows the mind.
This would never ever have happened to me in Vermont. Then again, if I were living in Vermont right now I would be freezing my ass off. So there you have it. For the love of all things good, I just wish for a car, or good/reliable public transportation + a reasonable measure of security. Too bad that’s not likely to happen here in my lifetime. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
This turned into a super pessimistic entry. Promise to smile and paint rainbows in the next one.
