mini bus

Friday I took my first mini-bus (public transport). Rhona has a friend who is working at a hospital in Blantyre so we went to visit. She got a ride into town early that morning to do her visa extension and join the medical council. I taught and then caught the bus in to meet her by 4:30 for the express bus to blantyre. the minibus—vans with 4 bench seats that can carry more people than you can imagine (think clown car). there is no set timetable, they leave when they are full…so as I went down at 1:30 (keep in mind Lilongwe is an hour away) and was the only one on a bus for Lilongwe we waited for over an hour. I was given the front seat. We moved from the market up to the hospital which I took for a good sign, but then the driver did a U-turn and went back “to pick up someone in the market” where we sit for another 15 min…back to the hospital and finally we’re off. There are also no set stops for the bus, they will stop to pick up or drop off anywhere along the route so we were continually slowing to see if there was interest in someone coming aboard. To save gas he turned the car off to slow down or anytime he was going to stop to pick someone up. The third time the motor didn’t turn over—just clicks. Oh dear. There is a guy who tries to rustle up business for the bus and takes the money once it is moving and he had to move the passengers around to get to the battery behind the driver, wiggle some wires, and magic! It started. Down the road a bit farther and repeat the experience. Down the road even a bit farther and that was the end of my ride in that bus. It was not going to start again. What to do what to do. The driver took care of me and put me on another mini-bus. Thanks. I get bundled on and as soon as we get started I feel a scratching on my shirt and hear my name!? the preschool teacher from my school was on going to Lilongwe! And a good thing—when we got to Lilongwe, the end of the line was the bus station—I have no idea where that is with regards to where I needed to be. It is now 4:20. Pauline takes me to the next bus I need to get to Shoprite which is where I’ll know where I am and how to get to the next bus (leaving at 4:30). Get to Shoprite and have 5 blocks to go…I have to run…which is not done here. No one is on time or in a hurry, except for this bus company who prides themselves on punctuality, service,…get many laughs and comments (“you must be tardy”) as I try to run around the corner and up the street…there is not enough air…a car pulls up and offers a ride the last 2 blocks and I make it only because Rhona has been standing in front of the bus that is still inching forward demanding that they wait for me. 7 minutes late. (not bad when it was advertised that the bus to Blantyre would take 4 hours and yet it took about 5 and a half—how’s that for punctuality)