By Andrea Tauta Hurtado
(undergraduate FIGRI student)
One of the few things that
remain global these days (at least aside from the internet) is the public
transportation system. It’s something so common to all of us that sometimes we
ignore all those tiny little things that make our own cities unique. In Bogotá,
the public transportation system is one of those things that I believe are
incredibly remarkable and particular to this city.
We have all gotten on a bus
before and we can all agree we know the drill almost by instinct, I dare say.
You wave your hand as it passes by and when it stops you get on and pay the
fare and grab a seat if one is available. In most places, that is as much
action as you are going to get for the rest of your journey but here in Bogotá it
is when all the interesting stuff starts to happen.
The bus stops abruptly,
making a clinking noise combined with the wheezing of the hydraulic break, that
almost makes you think that the bus is trying to catch its own breath. A man in
raggedy clothes jumps over the counter and speaks loudly “god bless you sir”;
he looks at all the passengers briefly and continues his speech (they all sound
almost the same). I’ll indulge you with a rough translation “ladies and
gentlemen first and foremost let me bid all a safe and pleasurable trip, let me
also apologize if I am making you uncomfortable or if I’m bothering you, it
really is not my intention.” Right after these words is where the speech varies
from person to person. The man will continue on to tell you how he can’t get a
job and he needs to collect money so that he may pay for a room for him and his
family for the night. Whether the story is true or not I’m going to go ahead
and say chances are fifty-fifty.
Here is where the business
end of the activities begins. Some will sell you jewelry, others potato chips
or similar packaged foods, toothbrushes or little sculptures; the price is
almost always the same, take one for five hundred or three for a thousand. The
bus becomes something else entirely; if I were to try and compare it to
anything, I would say the closest thing there is to such a place would be a
town plaza, where all the merchants gather to sell their goods to the town’s
folk.
You see, it’s not all about
the purchasing of miscellaneous items; there are also live acts, guitar
players, rappers, clowns, story tellers, the list goes on and the creativity of
these “characters” and entertainers is as vast as the daily war for the buck; the
stage is set and mobile, the audience is captive and in a way forced to be
engaged with the performers and this bus you got onto has been transformed into
an improvised and unexpected circus tent. So next time you get on a bus in this
dear city of mine, remember you might not just be paying for a ride home, you
might also be paying for a surprise show whether you are willing to give up a
coin or not.
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