Riding the Bus

Earlier this week, we made our first day trip to Roadtown, the main city on the island.  It’s about ten to twelve miles away and you can walk…(too long and too hot)…spend $40 and take a taxi (at $10 per person each way - a bit much)…rent a car (at $50 a day that’s a bit much more)…or take the public bus.  We chose the bus.

Each ride is $2.  The system was put in place several years ago because the workers complained that the $5 taxi rides to and from work (total $10) was taking too much out of their paychecks.  So, the government instituted the bus system.  The buses are 30-passenger, or mini-vans privately owned.  They all have those gear grinding clutch transmissions.  They have open windows instead of air-conditioning.  On the ones we’ve ridden, the door stays open (am guessing the salt air has seized the hinges).  There’s Caribbean music playing all the time. 

The drivers are simply amazing.  They drive these buses through the fastest downhill curves, the narrowest of streets.  While there is a main east-west route, the buses take side trips to the hillside communities.  They back down or turn around at angles where a goat would have trouble keeping its footing.   I’d put our drivers up against the best New York taxi drivers any day.

So, just getting to town is a significant cultural experience. 

Monday’s trip included the bus ride there, three quick stops at stores in the downtown, a one-mile walk heading home and then two more stops including the largest grocery store on the island.  Finally, the bus ride home.  Six hours. 

I’m not complaining.  I am noticing how slow life moves here.  How the heat of the day drains the energy out of you (few places are air conditioned).  How the walking can feel sluggish and how much water you drink just to keep moving.  How a trip to town and back can be the major accomplishment and “enough” for the day. 

And with this slowing down comes the time – to nap, get quiet, look and listen, observe, think, reflect, and do what old men do – dream dreams (thank you, Joel).

I am crediting God for this slowing down time.   And feeling satisfied with the “enough” that we accomplish each day.   Later today, my chore will be to spend time in two engine rooms, cleaning and de-greasing them a bit…and that, along with writing, will be enough for this day.

At the end of the week, we’re taking a break and taking the ferry to St. Thomas to meet our children and grands and bring them back for Thanksgiving.  Think we’ll start the trip with a bus ride!

Dave

PS.  It's hard to believe that God could improve on such a great liturgical writer as Marney.  One year ago, she celebrated the BIG 6-5 and now see her today!  (Happy Birthday, love)