homegoods on wheels

i take public transportation every where.

we had a car, a RAV-4,  but after a bad crash, we returned to our roots and do the best we can in the public cars. yes, cars. little ones, stuffed to the brim with people.

i take the same route every day, a straight shot from my house to work and then back again. boring, right?

the city is under construction - seriously, there are men digging everywhere, so my car is detoured.

i saw this gem the other day - a household supplies store on wheels.

we were stopped at a corner when i saw it. the driver laughed at me when i snapped the photo. it looks like they are selling hampers, pillows, sheets, brooms. if you look close, the salesman is stuffed in there on the back.

i'm a little piece of tin. - part two

it's already been a rough 2010.

remember that accident i had the other day? literally just like two weeks ago? you know, the one i had to pay $20,000 pesos for to fix the Rav-4? well. that was nothing.

on sunday, amalio and my brother-in-law, Isaias were driving with three cousins to a funeral in their hometown. their hometown three hours away. and while they were driving to this funeral, something happened to the car. nobody is really sure. of course there are the ideas of what maybe happened, but it's all conjecture.

what we do know is that the steering column went dead and amalio lost control. from there, people on the street saw the car go. maybe he'd get it in control. maybe he'd be able to steer it back. but he couldn't the control was gone. and the steering wheel just kept turning. then the front wheel came off (which leads people to believe the axle snapped) and the car hit a coconut tree, flipped over and was stopped by another coconut tree.

in the process, luckily, some windows were broken and the boys were able to climb out. luckily, because the doors wouldn't open.

nobody will show me pictures of the car. i saw one on a cell phone, but i don't want to see anymore. and i don't know, from the little itty bitty grainy photo i saw how anyone walked out of that accident alive, let alone virtually unscathed.

the air bags beat the mess out of amalio and isaias. and isaias is still having problems with his elbow, but both boys went back to work this morning. thank god that they are all right, that eventhough the car was wrecked all five passengers are safe and alive!

i'm a little piece of tin.

driving in the dominican republic is NOTHING like driving in the states. there are pot holes. there are dirt roads. there are traffic lights you obey, and traffic lights that turn off during the habitual brown-outs. there are motor bikes, scooters and bikers. there are men pedaling their wares - literally, pedaling on a bike, pushing a cart. there are buses, there are horses, donkeys, sometimes cows.

and there are these mean little things called "concho cars." "publicos". it's the dominican version of public transit. the ugliest, grossest, most beat up hoopty you can find. they slap on a route sticker and ta-da. transportation for the masses. income for the drivers.

and because they are the ghetto-est cars you can find, they defy all of the very few traffic laws that actually exist here. they turn right from the left lane and left from the right lane. they scream through red lights and slam on their breaks right in front of you to pick up passengers.

and the passengers.
four in the backseat, three in the front. and sometimes, sometimes if it's raining and the driver feels for you standing on the road, four in the front seat.

i've been scared of these cars since i started driving here. i give them the right of way even when they don't deserve it. because they don't care if you hit them. their shit is already messed up!

and let me say. i ran the stop sign. i admit it.

i ran that stop sign and ran right into the damn concho. because even though i was going 15 miles per hour and could stop. he couldn't. because in a commercial/residential area in the center of the city, he was going 50 miles per hour.

i called amalio, pulled up, checked on the kids and waited. the guy was nice enough. but i should have known there was something shady when they kept suggesting we just "settle this between ourselves and not involve the cops".

you know, because when we finally decided to go to the police station buddy had no insurance and no drivers liscence. a public transportation DRIVER people. welcome to the dominican republic. completely illegal. i can only imagine what would have happened if anyone was hurt in our little accident.

no worries. i don't have to pay for the damage i did to his car. and he'll be off the road for as long as it takes for him to get some insurance and a liscence. how do i know?

they impounded his car before we left!