Riding the bus in Guadalajara

First of all, I don't know which is more popular, riding the bus or driving, because the buses are nearly always stuffed with people, but so are the roads. When you are waiting at the bus stop, you have to keep a careful watch for the bus you want because they don't stop unless you flag them down. Sometimes even when you wave your hand like crazy, they pass on by. I haven't figured out if they do this because they are full or because they just don't want to stop. If your bus stop is near a stop light and the bus stops at it, you have to run down to get on it before the light turns green because it won't stop directly in front of the bus stop.

When you pay, the driver can make change for you, which is something the American drivers would never do. When you board, you have to get on quickly and hold on because the driver will take off as soon as you are on the first step. You stand there and give him your money and he gives you a ticket. If a lot of people got on, you pass the change back to them from hand to hand, and surprisingly, nobody pockets it. It only costs 40 cents per ride, but since I'm a student, I get tickets for only 20 cents each.

I've only been able to get a seat a couple times since I've been here and I take the bus almost every day to school. Usually I stand in the aisle with the rest of the people and hang on to the overhead bar for dear life. The way they drive reminds me of a game of "Red light, green light." When the light turns green they hurry as fast as they can until the next red light, where they stop abruptly. I kind of like the challenge of staying upright and not flying forward, especially when going around huge roundabouts.

When you want to get off, you have to make your way toward one of the doors and push a button that makes a loud beep. We were warned that if you don't get off pronto, the bus might take off and your backpack will get stuck in the doors. This hasn't happened to me yet, thankfully!

Lots of the bus drivers like to personalize their buses, so there are crucifixes hanging in the windows and stickers with the names of their "women." Some have the radio blasting and others are completely silent.

Something I love is when there are musicians on board. I've seen anything from one guy with a guitar to a whole band with accordian and everything. They entertain the riders and then go around asking for change. It's great.

Riding the bus is definitely an experience not to be missed when in Mexico!