Chilean Transportation

I have been waiting for the topic of transportation because it is simply insane in Santiago! Every day I walk twenty minutes to the metro, take the metro for about 30 minutes, then hop on a bus to school. This would be fine if I didn’t spend the entire time smooshed against the doors and being pushed in all directions. During rush hour you have to push your way onto the bus/metro until the doors will barely shut and often you have to wait for two or three buses to pass by before you can fit on one. During my first day I made the mistake of going home at the same time most people get out of work here. I was stuck in a group of hundreds of people for more than ten minutes before I could even see the train! However, once you get on the metro system is extremely easy to follow and it is difficult to get lost on it. I can’t say the same for the buses though. Although I seem to have more trouble with them than anyone else in my group. There are bus stops everywhere, so finding the bus you need is easy but I have trouble figuring out where to get off. There is no intercom or signs on the bus to tell you what stop you are approaching, and if you are stuck in the aisle surrounded by people (and too short to see over everyone) there is no way to see out the window. Most of the time, I choose to walk to the metro rather than risk the bus but the metro stations are normally about a twenty or thirty-minute walk apart from one another. The transportation system isn’t all bad though! It is fairly cheap, about one dollar per ride. And sometimes I enjoy the game of “will I actually fit on this bus”? It can be entertaining to push into a crowd of people and try to find a tiny area to smoosh into on a crowded bus. I was completely shocked during my first experience with public transportation here but I’m finally getting used to it and am actually starting to enjoy it.