Rock-a-by Bus In The Rain Drops

So, Jen and I took a good trip to El Salvador last week to hook up with my aunt and uncle's medical mission team. It was fun and we got to see some stuff that we hadn't been able to before. There were a couple characters in this group, let me tell you. First, we have John. I'd say he's in his 60's, but you'd never know it from the way he acts. If you are familiar with my Dad's father at all, you know that he's a fan of the jokes. Well, John is certainly no different. And he is also quite the talker. I have seriously never heard so many stories in my life... even from a teenage girl. But, the fact that he remembers so many different stories so well is very impressive. He's not senile and just repeating the same story over and over again... which is nice. But, he's also a very wise man who's been working in Honduras for about 20 years. He and Jen had quite a number of talks during our stay in El Salvador, and I think that she benefited greatly from it.

Now, our next friend was someone very... unique. Ted quite the guy. He is a 70 something year old man who is engaged... THAT'S RIGHT! No, this isn't his first marriage, but there's no way that you could tell that when he was on the phone with her in the mornings. Good heavens, you should see how giddy this old guy would get. It was cute and very humorous at the same time. But, he was also not a quite man about it by any means. At one point in the trip, there was a competition established to take place when the team got back to San Antonio. The two married couples in our van were going to have a kissing competition against Ted and his fiance. And since one of the couples was from El Salvador, it was an international competition. So, we deemed it the World Cup of Kissing 2006. There was still a need for more nations to join when we left. Oh, but did I mention that Ted also was basically deaf without his hearing aids? Yeah, and the batteries had died on him by the time that we got there. So, we maaaaybe had a couple of moments of humor at his expense because he couldn't hear anything we tried to tell him unless we yelled at him. But, he was quite the joyful man. Just don't say anything about the wedding, or you might hear something about the honeymoon, no joke. haha.

Now, after we had the pleasure of going on this adventure, we had a memorable experience of the bus trip back to Teguc. Now, let me preface this with the delightful experience that we had on the way in. If you are not aware of what charter buses in Honduras are like, then you have really missed out. I would basically compare it to first class seating on a plane. It's all leather seating with only two rows on seats on each side of the bus. And these seats recline all the way back, not just a few inches, and the padding... OH the padding. It is just flat out comfortable. They even have this little 3 foot piece of padded wood that is attached to the seat in front of you that leans against your seat and allows your legs to rest on it instead of just hanging off the seat. Yeah... it's nice. Oh, and they also bring you food, drinks, and have a movies for you to watch during the trip. So, I think I've described it pretty well. The way down was great with a nice, relaxing ride... which was good because we had to get up at 4AM to go to Teguc to get on the bus anyway. So, it was very convenient. Now, let's discuss the trip back, shall we?

It was a dark and dreary night... ok, well, we actually left at like 2 in the afternoon and it was quite sunny, but the fun didn't really begin until the night. One of the things that we noticed about El Salvador is that it is quite a bit cleaner looking than Honduras is. Oh, and there roads are normal... not littered with holes that eat tires (see previous post). So, the first few hours of the trip back to Teguc was about what we experienced on the way down to El Salvador. So, we came to expect the same kind of trip into Teguc right? WRONG! It seemed like the instant that we entered Honduras, it all went downhill. Well, I shouldn't say everything did.. we actually had a very nice customs lady when we got to the border. She was very pleasant and cheerful. It was nice to see. Little did we know that she would be the last smiling face that would be on that bus for the remainder of the trip! As night was about to fall upon the sky, the light was engulfed by a storm. So, not only was it dark, but it was also very rainy. About this time, we noticed some... oddities in the way the bus driver chose to take turns... or just even drive in a straight line. We came to the conclusion that either our driver was drunk or had a hot date back in Teguc because he was not braking for anyone or anything. Oh, and I should definitely point out that this bus is a double-decker bus with us sitting on the top level. Ever been on a boat before? You know how it rocks back and forth in the waves? Did you know that buses on land can do that too?! Me neither. But boy was I educated. I can remember one time in particular the man was trying to dodge potholes in the road. Now, in a car, this isn't a bad idea because you have small tires and you could easily bust one hitting these things. But we're in a huge honkin bus and this guy's acting like he's driving a Pinto! And if you haven't thought of it yet, yes, these buses are VERY top heavy! During one of these pansy moves, I seriously thought that the man was going to tip the bus over, no lie. I really thought that we were about to take a trip that we didn't pay for... out the window or a side-ways bus ride. It was seriously so bad that I had a planned out strategy as to what I was going to do in case I felt the bus tip to one side or the other. It was THAT bad. Now, how do most people take turns when driving? You turn with the road, right? WRONG AGAIN! This guy decides that he's not all about that "conventional driving style" and turns the bus sharply left BEFORE we get to the turn, then jerks the wheel right to stay on the road, and then yanks it back to the left again to take the turn. The whole bus noticed that one. In fact, the woman in front of me let out a cry in terror. At this point, Jen and I were WIDE awake and just counting down the kilometers to Teguc. As we passed the turn toward Santa Ana, all I wanted to do was jump off the bus and walk to Casa. And the fun thing about Santa Ana is... fog. So, now we've got darkness, rain, and fog. As I was writing out my eulogy and Jen was talking to Karen telling her that we loved her in case we didn't make it, the driver continued to pass and swerve like the road was his. Finally... FINALLY, we made it back to Teguc. The Lord let us live another day.

You would think after that, Jen wouldn't be so critical of my driving. But, you hydroplane just a little one night on a wet road, and all of a sudden you're the worst driver on earth. I mean, it's not like I have a bad driving record or anything.... uhhhhhh... lately. Sort of. But even so, if you've driven with Jen down here, you know that she has no ground to say that someone else is a bad driver. Let me say really fast that a "certain someone" drive us over the cement median yesterday in town to do a U-turn to get out of traffic. And my parents were worried about us before. haha.