The adventures of getting to church

Getting to church in the States is not a big deal. You leave your house, hop in your car, and appear minutes later at the door of your church, ready to walk in and worship. It's not quite the same for me here in Peru...Maybe you should just come along with me and you'll see what I mean. Ready? Let's go!
It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I'm standing outside my front door. One hand grabs my violin and over the opposite shoulder, I carry a small tote bag containing all the stuff I'll need to stay overnight and go to church the next day. I usually stay overnight in Huacarpay because often there's something going on on Saturday night and it's just easier (and more practical) for me to stay overnight with my pastor's family than go out, come home and go out again. So here we are outside my house on a Saturday afternoon, waiting for the bus that will take us to Huacarpay. This bus goes on an approximately hour-and-a-half long route between Cusco and Urcos, another city located about half an hour past Huacarpay. Thankfully, because of where I live now, the bus is usually about as full as it's going to get when I get on, so I can stand pretty close to the door. So we stand outside and wait for about 10 minutes till the bus comes. Oh wait, there it is! We stick our hands out and wave them determinedly to let them know we seriously want them to stop. They saw us and they're stopping. It's always easier to get them to stop when, like today, they're not coming behind a line of combis and taxis and they know it's them we're signaling to.
We get on and, as usual, there are no seats. The bus is made to hold about 35 people, but it's holding approximately 45 now. We're not shoved smack up against anyone else, but it's a little full. Are you still okay? The upside to the full bus is that you won't get cold! We climb up the stairs and find a space to grab hold of the handrail attached to the bus roof. The bus is already going again and if we don't hold on, we'll probably lose our balance. Once we get out of the city on to the long, straight road, the bus likes to pass any other vehicles it can. Many times, the driver will start passing someone and then see another car coming toward him so he brakes to get back in his place. Or he passes one car but doesn't have time to pass two, so he brakes to slip into the space in front of the car he just passed. If he brakes hard, we really have to grab on tight to keep from falling as the person behind us tries to keep falling on us. It becomes a giant domino effect pretty quickly. My violin is on the floor in front of me, standing up. It is at these moments when I am glad for two things. First of all, my violin case is HARD. So I don't have to worry about it getting squished. Second of all, I can't smell. I can't imagine that these buses smell very appealing, but, since I can't smell, it doesn't bother me! There are some advantages to this defect. :)
So now we're in for about a 20-minute ride. If your arm gets tired from holding on to the handrail, switch hands. There's not much to do. Just look out the window at the beautiful mountain scenery or try to make some random baby in front of you smile (that's fun!). On the other hand, if there is a spoiled rotten kid in front of you, that makes the trip not so fun. It's also fun to watch people sleeping on the bus. Lots of people take advantage of the long trip to catch a little shut-eye. We pass Peaje, where several of my friends live, the old abandoned hacienda, and, at long last, bump over the railroad tracks into Saylla. Saylla is known for its chicharrones. Chicharrones are pork that is first boiled, then fried to a slight crisp. Not exactly the healthiest food known to man, but yummy nonetheless. Chicharron restaurants line the road on both sides. Sometimes, you can see big swaths of pig fat hanging up to dry on clotheslines, in order to be turned into tocto, fried pork rinds. We pass Saylla and head on toward Tipon. In between, however, the bus turns into the gas station along the side of the road. The driver and the fare collector jump out and, leaving the engine RUNNING with 45 people inside, fill up the tank (this doesn't always happen, but it is always a bit disconcerting for me when it does and I'm always glad when it's done and we're safely on our way again). Tipon is known for its guinea pig (cuy) and, lining both sides of the road are restaurants with big round adobe ovens in which the cuy is baked. Here, more people want to get on the bus, so the door is opened and we all shove a little farther back so they can get on. We're now about a third of the way back the bus and I begin to wonder what it's going to be like to get off. 7 more passengers were added in Tipon and we're on our way again. The fare collector begins his collecting, squeezing his way past women in big skirts and hats, people's bundles, men with backpacks, kids, and me with my violin. The fare for this trip for us is 1 sol, approximately $.28. For those going the entire route it's 2 soles. He somehow makes his way back to the back of the bus by the time we get to Oropesa. And then someone else wants to get on. And someone else wants to buy the chuta bread that Oropesa is famous for. So they lean out the window and one of the vendors lined up along the street by the bus stop hurries to hand them a bag. Since the fare collector is at the back of the bus now and his route to the door is blocked by 15 people standing in the aisle, he asks the person nearest the door to open the door so the new passenger can get on. This completed, we all shove a little farther back in the bus. The next town is Huacarpay, coming up in about 3 minutes. The fare collector comes back through and then we begin our journey to the front of the bus. It involves a lot of "Excuse mes" and "I'm sorrys", squeezing between people and trying not to step on anyone's toes with either our feet or my violin. In the meantime, the fare collector calls out "Huacarpay!", to which we respond "Baja" (getting off). At last, the mountains level off to a small plain and the brown adobe village of Huacarpay gets closer and closer. We're behind someone else now who also is planning on getting off in Huacarpay. The bus stops, the door opens, two people get off the bus so those getting off in Huacarpay can get off, we squeeze past more people and then we're free! We've made it!
Thanks for coming along with me as I headed out to Huacarpay. I hope you enjoyed the trip. I do (about 90% of the time). Now it's time for youth group or kids club in Huayllar, another nearby town, or worship team practice. Ready?