STOMP!! ... I mean... STOP!!

Judy and I have begun to master the public transit system here on the Lucia. To be fair... we have really only mastered about 5 miles of it, but we find that to be an accomplishment.

The buses here are minibuses... they look like
<-- THIS.

Personally, I love the bus system. They show up all the time, they each have different drivers, so it's a distinct adventure every time you get on. Like today, it wasn't a long ride, but our driver stopped for every passenger that wanted to cross the road. Then we had people get off and on all the way until we got to our stop. Still, we got to the workshop on time. One time, the ride was so... er... um... efficient, that when we stopped I thought I might keep going over the bench in front of me. Which brings me to the purpose of this post: stopping. Now in England, when you want the bus to stop, you press a button. It was polite, highly individualized, and a very quiet atmosphere on the bus. In Chicago, you pull a cord to indicate to the driver that you would like to stop. Sometimes you had to be quick about it. Here in St. Lucia, it's a different system. As you are on a minibus, each bus ride is like a mini-road trip with strangers... and Judy. So to stop, you yell: "BUSSTOP!" One word. Said. Loudly. Not "Bus, Stop!" Not an instruction to the bus. Not "Bus. Stop." Not a declarative statement. You yell "BUSSTOP!!" Like it is the first time you have ever seen a bus stop. Like that bus stop is the last stop before the edge of the earth. Remember that time I told you about where the bus was moving at a pretty quick clip? (of course you do, it was 5 seconds ago), Well... our stop approached so quickly that I yelled, "Stop PLEASE!" And that seemed to work. We stopped. It was a bit sudden. But we stopped. Maybe there will be a video of us riding the bus in the near future... if you are lucky. Busstop: It's not just a location, it's a way of life.