Run of the Buses

November 7th, 2006 Piura, Peru

Counterpart Day

Today we had Counterpart Day in the capital city of Piura. Each volunteer brought their counterpart from their town and there were conferences on the purpose of Peace Corps and other sessions which allowed the counterpart and the volunteer to have a better understanding of each other´s roles. It wasn´t too shabby. I do by far have the best counterpart. We joked around all day, and I might be the only one who can call my counterpart a legitimate friend as well. For this I am lucky.

We also got to meet all the new volunteers from Peru 8 that will be living in the department of Piura. They all seem pretty cool. They are only 3 months behind us, so our services should be pretty similar.

Run of the Buses

About every fifteen minutes there are buses that run from Chulucanas to Piura. I needed one early this morning to get to Piura in time for Counterpart Day. Therefore, I was promptly waiting at 6:30 am to catch a 45 minute bus and definitely be in Piura by 8:30am. The line is about 35 people on. I´ll probably get on the first bus. Except today there were no buses.

No one knew why there were no buses. They could only seem to explain to me how frustrated they were. A lot of these people have to be to work by 8. People are starting to get anxious. Real anxious when the first bus pulls up at 7:45am. But wait, this bus is for Lima. Everyone is real agitated now.

At 8:05 a bus backs in. This one is going to Piura. Since the Lima bus is in the way, everyone is about two blocks back from the bus door. Instead of cordially walking the line two blocks up to the corner where the bus door is, the bus company worker simply announces, “Next corner for a bus to Piura.” Suddenly, everyone starts sprinting to said corner. I in boots and professional clothes, grab bag and join the races passing people left and right to arrive in 10th place. But many people didn´t fare so well. Several people who lost numerous spots in line begin to argue about how unfair it is. It is. But this is “survival of the fittest.” One lady slaps a guy because he told her if she was a little less gordita “fat”, she might have been able to catch the first bus.

I really would like to visit the Amazonian jungle during my service in Peru. Perhaps, I won´t need to.