Public Transportation

Last night, I had my first night class, Didactica de las Matematics (a class on math pedagogy for elementary education). It ends at 7:45, but since it gets dark here around 6:00, Andrea suggested that I take a taxi home. Taxis are very abundant here. They are all over. They are tiny little cars and they zoom all around. There are constantly taxis at the university for students to use, and they are associated with the university, so they are safe. Not all taxis are safe to use.

I successfully told the taxi driver where I live, and I got in the car, and we zoomed off. Now, driving down the streets of Arequipa reminds me of cross country races. When you're running a cross country race and there are a lot of runners, you have to swerve in and out and look for where there are little gaps where you can squeeze in without slowing down. That's what the cars do here. At any point on the short trip home, I could have unrolled my window and stuck out my arm and touched at least four different cars.

But taxis are not the only mode of public transportation that there is in Arequipa. There are also combis. Combis are either large vans or small busses (they vary in size), and they drive around the city. There is a side door, and there is a person inside the combi by the side door screaming out where the combi is going. If you want to go somewhere, find a combi that is going where you want to go! There is no maximum amount of people that can fit in a combi. People pack into combis like sardines. If you are stuck in the back of a combi and need to get out, you have to yell and squeeze your way to the door. I have not yet been on a combi, but some of my classmates have to take combis to class everyday because they live farther away from the university.

I would say that combis and taxis combined make up at least 80% of the vehicles on the road. Most people use combis or taxis to get around the city, or they walk. People walk EVERYWHERE! In order to help the pedestrians cross the crazy combi-and-taxi filled streets, police officers are present at a lot of corners to stop traffic. I would NOT want to be a police officer here. They are very brave! The streets are very very congested, but the police officers just walk out in the traffic and blow their whistles, and let us cross the street. I am very grateful for them.

Arequipa has grown a lot in the past few decades. It was not designed to be a big city--the streets are narrow and curvy and they are not made for such volume. But somehow, it works! I'm glad I don't have to drive here--I don't think that would end up very well--but I haven't actually seen any accidents at all yet!