Holey Moley!

So, this post is a day late…again. I apologize. It’s been a rough couple of days, but I got up early and have enough time to write this so here we go.

            Last week was a very depressing post and I realize that. Not much has changed since the last one, but I want to talk about something completely different this week… the streets!

            Public Transportation is still a big part of our lives right now as we are still waiting on the tax refund to purchase our car. However, public transportation is a world all its own here. We take a variety of methods to get to and from work, the train for sure and a bus if we get out of the house on time or two cars to the train. By my request we take two cars home because the packed buses at the end of the day give me anxiety attacks that the early morning one does not.

            Let’s start with the sardine like method in which passengers are crammed into the vehicles. In a  regular car on a PT route, (we are talking like a beat up Camry or something similar) There are a total of 7 people in the car: the driver, 2 in the passenger seat and 4 in the back. Now, I have seen this done in the states (in the back seat) when carrying kids short distances. However, these are full grown adults and it does not matter how large a person you are, that is the standing rule; 6 passengers in the car or it won’t leave. Now, if a passenger wished to pay for two seats to be “comfortable”, that is an option, but most people won’t, including us. We did on one occasion when we had an abnormal amount of large items we were bringing home, but that was one time out of the however many times we have used PT cars which is a lot. Each ride is 25 pesos which is about $0.50. So, for Jonathan and I to ride home (or to the metro) in cars is 100 pesos or $2.00 approx. The bus takes us straight from our house to the train or from the train to the house for 25 pesos each but there is a whole another issue with the bus.

     The buses are old and beat up with hardly any cushion left in the seats. Neither the cars or the bus are air conditioned and there is a constant race to see how many people can be crammed into the bus so the next one gets fewer passengers and therefore less money. I have been on buses where the passengers are literally hanging onto the windows from the outside with one foot on the running board. Because I am pregnant, I get a seat but that by no means signifies a good ride. The back two or three rows (depending on the bus) have 5 people sitting across (enough seats for 4) then there are 1 or 2 seats on each side with the isle packed 2 or 3 people deep. There is no such thing as a personal bubble in the DR, particularly on public transportation. The passengers are constantly jostled around due to the roads (we will get to that in a minute) and accidentally hitting someone is so normal that apologies are not even offered. When riding a bus I aim for a window seat as much as possible. I have crowd anxiety and being trapped in a hot bus packed full and hardly moving triggers an attack for me. However, if I can be near a window, I can calm myself a lot faster. Usually this does not work out and by my request we take the cars home rather than the bus. We leave so early in the morning that the bus is rarely packed and we are some of the first passengers so a window seat is no issue. I can handle the bus in the morning.

            Now, onto the actual point of the post: the roads. The sardine like PT would be one thing if the roads were more suitable to this kind of transportation. Being packed in but having a smooth ride would be slightly more bearable, but there is not a single street in Santo Domingo (or the DR as a whole) that is smooth. I am pretty sure “smooth” isn’t even understood here. The main offenses to the smooth ride are potholes the size of a Buick, street drainage that is at least 3 inches deep (no exaggeration) and speed bumps called “policeman laying down”. The streets are in terrible disrepair and although attempts at repair have been made, they are soon destroyed again and left alone for years. The PT drivers know the spots where these horrendous potholes are, but some will hit them anyway. The majority of drivers will try to avoid them or at least slow down, but at rush hour, it’s every driver for themselves so if they finally get moving and there is a hole ahead, oh well! The ones standing on the bus get the least shock of anyone when these are hit but the ones sitting in the stiff seats get quite a ride. I sometimes wonder if that is what a tossed salad feels like when experiencing such events.

            Riding home we come to the horrible section called “Los Mameyes” (ma-meh-jes) which, regardless of transportation method chosen, is a section that must be taken (a few times with a full car a driver has taken a different route but not often). This section of road shall live in infamy in my mind forever. The only part of the road intact is a slice in the middle maybe big enough for one vehicle. All of the drivers push their way to drive on that as much as possible moving only when forced so a driver from the opposite way can also pass. Parked cars on either side of the street in some sections of Los Mameyes complicate things as well making the ride here feel like riding a 4-wheeler through backwoods and swamps. Sometimes the ride is so rough I actual get nauseated and hope our son is hanging on. I can just see him bouncing around in the womb as the car shakes and feels like it will disintegrate under my feet as we rattle down the road. I am still surprised that I have not seen any bits of the car fall off the few times we get up to speed and the driver chooses to not slow down for a bump!

            So, you have been warned!!! Expect a bumpy ride if you come to Santo Domingo! The streets are full of holes and you just have to make the best of it. Hurry for liking off-roading…Yee-haw!