Riding the bus here can be quite an experience. The buses are like the old yellow school buses you see in movies. There is hardly any space between the seats for your legs, theres no suspension so watch out for those potholes and there is often standing room only, oh yeah and their is NO air-conditioning. You dont pay when you get on the bus like you do in NZ, but you wait until the "conductor" comes around and takes the money from you. As you drive along the road there are people standing by the roadside waiting for the bus. You dont need to be at a station or even a stop, you just have to look like you need a ride and the bus will stop for you. If you need to get off the bus, you tell the conductor when you pay him where you would like to get off ie just past the burnt down house past the factory and he remembers and tells the driver to stop. So far he hasnt forgotten once where someone has needed to stop! These guys have amazing memories as they can tell which are the new people on the bus that need to pay and which ones have already paid. He remembers exactly where everyone wants to get off no problem at all. Its quite interesting to watch.
Our first bus trip was a blast as we had no idea what to expect, now we are old hands and just act like the locals. Sometimes there are people singing their hearts out, children crying, people chatting and the odd chicken here and there (thats not too common). You have to have your wits about you so that you still have bags when you get off but apart from that its quite safe. Our first ride was on an extremely hot day and as there is no air con everyone was melting. The seats are vinyl and you stick to them, that trip was 3 and a half hours long.
One brother was telling us the other day out witnessing that he was sitting next to this lady and her little baby one day. Suddenly he felt this warm wet sensation on the side of his butt. He looks over to see that the kid and peed itself all over the seat and it just so happened to roll his way! He didnt know what to do. The lady didnt even notice, so he stands up looking like he just wet is pants and now what does he do, stay standing and risk losing his seat? He could hardly sit back down, the seat was covered in pee. He just laughed and chalked it up to another Belizian bus trip.
We often meet the group in the morning at 8:30 and if there are no brothers with trucks out, we have to walk down to the bus terminal and take a bus out to the territory. This can be an adventure if you have your witnessing bag, your umbrella, your lunch bag and its raining cats and dogs. We witness to everyone at the bus station while we wait for the bus.
As part of our schedule we have a day we spend out in the Pamona/Newsite village. This is about a 15-20min bus ride for $2bze. We spend all day doing bible studies out there. There are so many studies in this village there needs to be meetings out there really. We love that day, but it can be tricky if its rainy. Everything is done on foot this day. There is often driving rain and wind and there's no car to sit in and sometimes theres no point in using an umbrella as it will blow away too. Mud and running water are everywhere on the ground and sometimes you have to jump new streams of water that block the way to your studies homes. This is stuff you read in the yearbook. Despite the inclement weather, we still have fun and you just have to laugh at yourself. The locals love that regardless of the weather you keep coming. We also find that it shows the students how important the message we have is and that they should take it just as seriously. It really does have an impact on them.
All in all we love our little bus trips and although it might be hot and sticky our message is refreshing! LOVIN IT!!!!
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