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| public transportation gone global 10.10.02 |
| One thing that I really benefitted from during my stint in SF was that I learned to get around on public transportation. There were quite a few mishaps in the beginning, but by the end of my 5-year stay, I had become a pro. I knew which bus to take where, I knew the shortcuts, I even knew which end of the platform to wait at where there would be less people. I was a MUNI Master. When T. and I visited Boston and D.C., we took public transportation around as well, and marveled at how similar it was to riding the bus in SF. I think once you get to know how to use one system, learning another city's system comes with ease. Now that I am taking the bus around Sao Paulo, I am getting those same experiences again...learning the routes, learning from your mistakes, taking forever to get where you want to go, being scrunched among crowds. But the same old instincts are also coming back. For example, when you are riding the bus, don't use all your fingers to hold on to those poles. It's not a matter of "I'm better than these people and don't to touch what they touch." I base that rule on T's observation of a guy picking his nose and wiping his boogers on a pole in the bus. He could have been a bum, he could have been a businessman. In any case, his boogers were on the pole that other riders put their hands on. So when I get on a bus and have to hold on, I wrap one or two fingers around the pole and hang on for my dear life. Doing this frees my other clean fingers for emergencies, such as scratching my face or brushing stray hairs away from my face...just anything that requires me to touch anything else. This way, I have booger-free fingers. As soon as I get to my destination, I wash my hands. SP also has these mini-van things called "Lota��o" where you just hop in to this car that holds about 10-15 people, depending on how many people they can cram in. There is a driver and then another employee who hangs out the window calling out the destinations. I rode one of these for the first time last night and it was strange. I didn't get a seat so I was just leaning against one of the walls by the door. It's like an airport shuttle but smaller...and it's like carpooling...but with different strangers each time. It's...strange. Another interesting thing about buses here is that when you are waiting at a bus stop, you have to flag down the bus that you want. So if they don't stop for someone else, you can't ask them if they are going to your destination. It's like hailing a cab...stick your hand out and hopefully the bus stops. The bus stops are also really far from each other, so if you miss your stop, you end up walking like 10 minutes or more back to your desired stop. Taking public transportation is not my first choice of getting around, but in cities with bad traffic and confusing roads, I would rather leave the driving to someone else. In SF, it takes like 30 minutes to an hour to park in North Beach on a Saturday night, so why not just take the bus there? I also like taking buses because I can just sit there and read or doze off and not worry about having to drive. Plus, it makes me feel like a local, going through what they have to go through and being in the heart of the everyday experience. |
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