Day five in Viña del Mar and I have already broken the law.
Law 92. Don’t distract the bus driver.
Yes, this is actually a law, posted inside all of the "micros" (buses), most likely intended to dissuade unusual disturbances, and perhaps a few extra-chatty Catalina's.
If you know me at all, you will know that even after I realized I was on the wrong bus to get back to my hospedaje, and even as I watched the bus exit onto some type of highway, and even as we proceeded to weave manically through the traffic on this said highway moving farther and farther from my part of town, I still hesitated to “distract” the bus driver.
What can I say, I’m a hopeless rule-follower... but my daylight was waning.
“Permiso!” I said, not loud enough. “Uhh permiso!” I said louder, waving my hand awkwardly and looking about as lost as I do pale. Sometimes it's good to stand out.
“Vas a Agua Santa y Alvarez?” (Are you going to Agua Santa and Alveraz?)
“Noooo,” he said shaking his head as if to say, “You are WAY off!” then he added a few more “No, no, no’s,” for emphasis.
For a second, I thought that was going to be the extent of his response. I began to think that those “No, no, no’s” would have been a little more useful about fifteen minutes ago when I got on the bus and said, “I’m going to Agua Santa.” But then he became very helpful.
So helpful I wondered if he remembered he was still driving a bus, as he turned almost completely around to face me. Other cars wondered right along with me and honked in concern. Life flashing before eyes...
Breaking the law has consequences.
It also can be very informative, and after a 30+ minute bus ride I hopped off the bus with a new friend and a new understanding of the bus routes (sort of...he talked fast). As I got up to leave, the driver waved away my offer to pay the extra fare for riding the entire route and said—“Que te vaya bien!” (Hope all goes well!)
In general, this has been typical of my reception in Chile. Senora Mirta, the owner of the hospedaje where I live, has all but thrown fruit at me every morning if I don’t appear to have eaten enough and is already planning my birthday party in October (she throws a few every couple of months for the birthdays of all the students staying with her).
At church on Sunday, there were many besos and smiles as I got to meet some of the people involved in both ministries for the first time, and John and Cathy Rug, the missionaries here, though not Chilenos by birth, have absolutely received me with open arms, helped me settle in, and already showed me some sights, beaches and foods known to Chile! (MUCHAS gracias!)
Still many rocks to overturn and much left to discover about the ministry and my niche of service, but here’s to getting lost, making new friends, and a discovering more and more of this new path God has me on, one micro ride at a time.
