Monday, December 18, 2006

Buses and Chickens




During our MCC orientation, someone said to us, "You haven´t ridden a bus if you´ve never shared it with animals!" I don´t think this is true, as we´ve had plenty of interesting bus rides (both here and in the US) without animals. But today, we had our first experience sharing a bus row with a chicken. It´s unlikely that the chicken will survive the week, as many Nicaraguans prepare a special chicken dish for Christmas. But the chicken didn´t know that and was well-behaved, and so were we.

Managua has a well-developed bus system, serviced primarily by handed-down buses from US school districts (our first week here we saw a bus with `Harrisburg City Schools´ painted on the side). Some buses, like the one in the picture, are in good condition. Others are bone-jarring buckets of bolts that make riding quite an adventure.

The chicken on our bus is not pictured. However, the two roosters in the photo are from our neighborhood, perhaps some of the ones who announce the day around 4:30 every morning.

--Alan

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Beth (and Alan too)- Saw your folks last night and they told us about your adventure. Do you have regular email? I couldn't find a link on your blog. I would love to write and tell you more about our adventure to the Balkans. www.almellinger.com is our blog and our email is almellinger@yahoo.com.

Al & Diane Mellinger

Anonymous said...

I'm enjoying reading your blogs! They're very informative. I look forward to reading more and seeing more pictures of your adventures over the next 3 years! Keep in touch and may God bless you :)
Chris Hipsher