Chicken bus

Hola mis amigos a fuera en el mundo grande!
Hace unos dias el nuevo presidente de los estados unidos electo. !Felicidades!
Unfortunately the Oval Office will be left in a mess. Obama gets the task of tackling some serious issues: an economic crisis, an unwinnable war, a broken health care system, and global climate change, to name the ugliest. Handing over the presidency will be like handing one man a roll of paper towels and putting him in charge of cleaning every exhibit of a dirty, depressing zoo. All of you, please cross your fingers that Obama is skilled enough to solve at least one of these tasks!
Today is Monday and I am expected to visit the Spanish school from 8 am to 1 pm, but yesterday I caught a little sunstroke on top of the volcano Santa Maria (elevation: 3772 m, 1st picture), so I decided to cure my headache with the whispering noise of a small fountain, the smell of beautiful flowers, the sound of groovy, smoothly jazz music, and ten cups of strong and tasty premium blend coffee in a fancy coffee house called Baviera (4th picture). This spot is an oasis of calm and peace amid the fast-paced life of Xela (better known as Quetzaltenango), located in the mountains of south-west Guatemala.
In this coffee house one cup of the premium blend costs 8 Quetzales (= $ 1,10). Why is it so expensive? Expensive? No joke, it really is expensive for the Guatemaltecan people. Why so? First you must know, the coffee has to be re-imported from the US, second, the average salary in Guatemala is Q 1500 (= $ 200) per month. This is really not much, isn't it? Third let me tell you that 40% of the people earn $ 30 p.m. or even less and that less then 10 rich families own 90 % of the national budget. Now you will easily understand why this country has to deal with severe problems like criminality, corruption, pollution and a lack of health care, just to name the most important. The economy of Guatemala depends very much on the US, and most of the people here hope that «el nuevo presidente« will better take care of them unlike the Bush administration did before. Have you still got a second hand to cross your fingers with?
Let me leave the field of policy now and focus on the adventurously part of our stay in Guatemala. Yesterday afternoon I returned with a group of school mates from our hiking excursion to the peak of Santa Maria. Like a couple of times before we took the chicken bus to get back to Xela. The chicken bus earns his name to the circumstance that people are usually squeezed in its small interior like chicken in a laying battery. I do not know why I was able to overlook him before, but this time I became aware of a special person aboard the bus who is outfitted with extraordinary skills. The one I am talking about is the «ayudante«. Derived from the Spanish verb «ayudar« - to help, the ayudante assists travelers, and so much more. The following might give you an impression:
Even before entering the bus, listen for that striking voice that hollers the bus's destination 27 times in 2 minutes out of the never closing front door.
Then observe as that same gentleman grabs you and practically shoves you in the bus.
Once abroad, monitor this Indiana Jones of Guatemalan transport as he risks his life to scale up the moving vehicle.
Imagine life-threatening moments when the ayudante keeps his cool, no matter that the bus is going 87 mph, overtaking other cars around blind corners, in the dark, on a dirt road a few inches beside the abyss, standing next to the open door and balancing without any hold.
This guy is damn smart. At a bus stop, say 13 people get on, 6 get off and 8.5 (0.5 = baby on back) switch seats, all simultaneously. An ayudante is not confused by this. He can instantly recall who paid, who did not pay, and who still needs change for their Q 100 bill.
If there is anybody in Guatemala you can confide your life to, you know now who it is, don't you?