Bus Ride

Yesterday I returned from a trip to the Isthmus. It is about a four hour drive from my house in the city of Oaxaca to the city of Tehuantepec where I was scheduled to be at a meeting with a Covenant pastor and some volunteers for Semillas de Salud (Seeds of Health). Semillas de Salud is a Covenant organization that I work with when health related mission teams come to Oaxaca. Because of car problems with both mission vehicles, I had no car to drive to the isthmus. So I hopped on board an ADO bus for the trip to Tehauntepec.

The bus (pictured above) seems luxurious and indeed would be IF everything was working. However about two hours into the trip the passengers realized that the on-board bathroom was locked and the driver didn't have the key. So that necessitated several stops along the way. Then the air conditioning stopped working and the isthmus is HOT! About three hours into the trip, we saw flashing lights ahead of us. A huge Pepsi Cola trailer had overturned and there were Pepsi bottles everywhere. It took some time to get through this mess.


A few minutes later the driver stopped at a small roadside stand. As we looked out the window, we saw the driver buying two huge plastic jugs full of mezcal. I hoped that he didn't intend on drinking any of it during the trip. The curvy winding roads are bad enough without a bus driver drinking while driving!

By this time I realized that the trip was going to take a lot longer than if I had driven it myself in my own van. We then stopped for 45 minutes so that the driver could eat lunch. Of course, I did find a new restaurant for future reference.
When I drive to Tehuantepec, there is little opportunity to enjoy the spectacular view as we drove through the mountains. Being a bus passenger enabled me to really see the beauty and ruggedness that God created.

We passed through a military check point but were not stopped. However a few miles further along the road we were flagged down by three men in a white van wearing uniforms. That is when I realized that we were being stopped by Immigration. I thanked God that I had my visa and passport safely in my purse. However I didn't need them. The Immigration officials were looking for illegal immigrants from El Salvador or Honduras not for someone with pale skin and freckles.

After over six hours on the road, we finally pulled into the bus station in Tehuantepec--just in time for my scheduled meeting.