The Wheels on the Mattato

I am not drive anymore, but in the last two years I sure have taken a lot of buses.

While living in Toliara there was nowhere to drive to.  No one really had cars and it was easy enough to take a pouspous (taxi bike) from house to house.  When I wasn't on a pous I often walked.  But whenever I needed to go from town to town it was always on a bus.  In Mada they call these Bruse.  With 4-5 in a row, I learned to pack a pillow, a sack of food and settle in.  I found that I loved watching the scenery as I listened to a book on tape.  It wasn't a big deal that I wasn't driving.

Here in Kenya, I hardly ever go anywhere off campus by myself.  As staff, if we leave campus it's a big deal and, we often do it together.  On these occasions-you guessed it-we take a bus.  It's kinda funny to be an adult on a school bus whenever we leave campus to go shopping.  Can you imagining taking 6 other people with you on a bus every time you go to the store?  There are times when I miss the independence of driving myself to the store, but when it's 1.5 hours into town its nice to have a group.    

As I continue to consider life here I'll keep you posted, but I hope it get's you thinking as you imagine driving in a bus to the grocery store.  


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