The Chicken Bus

In an earlier blog I mentioned the notorious chicken buses that are the Guatemalan public transportation system. Here’s your explanation…

One of the first things a person will notice on arrival to the airport in Guatemala City is the fleet of insanely colored school buses streaming down the roads. These are chicken buses. The buses start out their lives transporting small American children to and from school in the US (some of the buses still have “such and such county” written on the side! I’m just waiting to see one that says Belknap County). The story goes that once the American transportation authority deems a bus un-roadworthy it is sold to Mexico for use in public transport. Then, once Mexico also deems the bus un-roadworthy they continue their journey south to Guatemala, where one can only guess they come to die (or be driven into the ground)!

While chicken buses make up the national transportation system, they are privately owned and therefore the upkeep is the responsibility of the owner. For the most part it seems that the owners take pride in their buses; I think there must be some sort of chicken bus one-upping contest because the way people adorn these things is incredible! All of them are painted in stripes and swatches of bright primary colors which huge phrases like “Dios Bendiga” or “Jessica mi amor.” Most of the buses are also bedazzled with various stickers- my favorite so far was one that read “please don’t put your children in the luggage racks.” Lastly, and the crowing glory of the chicken bus, is the music. To the irritation of my training mate Dan (who literally looks like he might actually hurt someone when we get on a bus with especially loud music), each bus blasts whatever kind of music the owner fancies on that given day, usually some sort of local marimba beat.

When you’re a kid riding on a school bus you’re scolded for trying to cram more than 2 people into a seat. Not here. If you have only 3 people in a seat, you’re lucky. More than likely you’ll be sitting 4 to a seat with several people standing in the aisle, leaning over you. This creates many awkward and hilarious moments. The chicken bus moment that wins the award so far was on a ride from Guatemala City. This mom and her 3 kids got on the bus and there was no room left to sit so she stood right next to me. The littlest of the kids looked about 4 and apparently hadn’t had his nap because about a minute into the journey he fell asleep right on my shoulder. I think in his sleepiness he forgot that I wasn’t his mom and snuggled right into me.