El Transporte.

Today I am going to show you how to get around Quito in the form of my daily commute. Get ready, because it's a bit long. ;)

First, I need to walk to the bus stop. As I'm walking, this is what I see:

Then I come to "the hill". I have to walk up this guy after field every day, and possibly more times if I have to go anywhere else. Everything is down the hill, and it's pretty steep. But that's okay, because it's the workout I need.

Once I get to the bottom of the hill, I'm pretty close to the bus stop. Here's what it looks like:

I would post a picture of my stop, but it's probably not a good idea to do that on a public blog. So, I'll try to get you a picture of a more random bus stop later. I ride the bus for about 15 minutes or so, and then I come to the transfer station. Here I get on my second bus, which takes me to where I need to go.

I like the bus a LOT better than the trole. If I'm standing up (which almost always happens on my first bus in the morning) I always have an eye on my belongings. However, it's usually not quite as crowded so it's safer and less stressful. If I'm sitting, which is usually the case, I can read and pay less attention. There's usually salsa music playing, and usually there are kids hopping on and off trying to sell candy. Adults will sell things too, and often a blind man will get on with loud music blaring and sing for whatever money he can get. The vendors have a special sing-song way of selling their wares. Needless to say, there's a lot going on. I ride this bus for probably half an hour.

Once I get to my stop, I push the stop button or make my way to the front and hop off really fast. When I catch the bus going home, I check to make sure it's the one I want, flag it down, and then hop on, sometimes while it's still moving. It's not a smooth ride! If there's ever a time when I don't understand Ecuador, it's on public transit. For instance, why is it necessary to yell "Suba! Suba! Suba!" (Get on!) to the man helping an old lady get on the bus? She's not going any faster! Or why do I hear "Siga!" (Go!) when the bus is still moving and the doors are still closed? It's a mystery.

Anyway, I hop off and walk the rest of the way to field. The bus can take two different routes, so how far I walk depends on where it goes. This is what it looks like as I'm walking (not where I have field though, it's farther).

So yep, that's my commute! The whole thing takes about an hour and fifteen minutes, sometimes longer to get back due to traffic going back into the city. It costs me 40 cents one way, so 80 cents per day. Not bad, when you consider the L costs $2.25!