Death, combi-style

A combi...if you look close, you can see it´s stuffed with people

So, today is my fourth day of Spanish classes and so far immersion has been really tough. I struggled with the oral communication part of French in high school and tried to avoid talking as much as possible. Now with Spanish, I have no choice. Very few people here speak more than a smattering of English, and it is impossible to communicate with my host family, my teachers, or taxi drivers/waiters/venders/EVERYONE without Spanish. I thought my teachers would humor me and clarify words in English with me when I had no idea what they were saying...turns out they can´t do that because because they have no idea what I am saying. Therefore, one of us has to learn the other´s language and since I´m paying for Spanish lessons, they expect it to be me. Which is fine, except for when my brain gets tired. When my brain gets tired, I get cranky/less receptive/have a harder time continuing the conversation. And then my random neurons in my brain start firing and I want to speak French. I haven´t taken French in 6 years and I only took 3 years in high school, but somehow it stuck in my brain enough to come back and haunt me. If I had a sol for every time I almost said "beaucoup" instead of "mucho" I could pay for soooooo many cab rides.

Don´t get me wrong though, the classes are very helpful/fun most of the time. Monday morning, Amy and I woke up at 7, had breakfast, and were met by my grammer teacher, Mariluz (don´t know if I spelled that right), who picked us up at the homestay. She walked us into town and showed us how to catch a bus, or "combi." Or rather, she chattered at me in Spanish and I smiled a lot. Amy knows more Spanish than me so she was actually able to converse with Mariluz, whereas at that point, I knew a grand total of 5 words so I just nodded like a bobblehead and tried to convey that I was terrified of getting on the combi because I thought I would probably throw up. These combis are not real buses; they are Peruvian death traps. Each "bus" is actually an old giant van (like the kind Sierra College uses for their field trips) that has been gutted and had 3-4 short rows of seats put inside. If you are lucky enough to grab one of these seats, you can look out the window and observe the combi nearly running into everything within ten feet of it (I think there´s some law of magnitism at work here that is fairly inclusive...we´re talking about cars/people/other combis/dogs here...they care as much about pedestrians as Bush cares about the environment). Usually the combi gets within a foot of whatever it is about to hit so that you wince and latch on to something "sturdy" because you are certain that you will be hearing the sound of crunching metal in about half a second. And then that sickening sound never comes and you are so happy to be alive...until it all happens again 5 seconds later. This is if you´re fortunate enough to be sitting. If you are one of the unlucky 20 people standing (yes, 20 in one van, it´s packed tighter than the freaking New York subway) then you are clinging to a handrail bolted to the top of the van, swinging into the people surrounding you (if you´re lucky enough to have enough room to swing rather than nudge) and wondering why the hell there are so many car horns honking outside and why the driver stopped so suddenly. There is also the matter of the side sliding door which allows people to enter/exit and is monitored by a Peruvian man or woman yelling "Baja baja baja!" whenever the bus pulls up to a stop. This Peruvian then opens the door to let even more people in and often doesn´t shut it again until the van is in motion, meaning that if you have just gotten in to a crowded combi and have to stand near the door, you must be careful not to fall out of it. So, in short, this is why I was afraid of vomitting, as Amy kindly explained to Mariluz.

Anyhoo, somehow I managed not to throw up or die! Mariluz, Amy, and I arrived at the Fairplay school safe and sound and I had my first gramatica lesson. Unfortunately I don´t have enough time to write about it because I´m leaving for Machu Piccu today! I´ll be back Sunday, unless I have died from happiness.

written by

kfox on June 10, 2010 from Cusco, Peru

from the travel blog: Peru Adventure!

Send a Compliment

I've been almost 40k Miles without a drop spilled - I wonder what the combi driver's record is? Hey, next time we're in a death-trap for a Field trip together, and someone complains about me yelling, "Seat belts!" before each and every departure, you can tell this Story! Espero que te diviertas!

written by Dawn on June 11, 2010

My amusement in immeasurable. Glad you are alive.

written by Mel on June 12, 2010

comment on this...