*Written October 7,2011
In Bolivia a majority of the population get’s from point A to point B using a mode of transportation called a Trufi, which is essentially a 12 passenger van with enough seating crammed in to fit at least 15.
Everyday we would take Trufis from our home an hour outside of the city to our ministry sites inside the city. Through this we reaped some crazy, odd, gross, and terrifying experiences and knowledge, that I would like to share with you.
Trufi in front of the Hospital
First and foremost
1. Trufi drivers come in only two varieties, slow as a sloth or sickeningly fast.
2. If you sit in the back row the driver will hit a speed bump to fast and you will hit your head.
3. Combining the two above, Trufies from Vinto (where we live) only go to Quiacollo, a town still 40 minutes from the city center, so when we get to Quiacollo we have to get off the first Trufi and onto a second. One morning Lindsay and I were on our way to the children’s hospital and we jumped on the first Trufi we saw that was going that direction. We knew the ride was going to be interesting about 5 seconds in as the driver repeatedly revved the engine while we waited for the stoplight. As soon as the light turned green there was no turning back. We were dodging, swerving and flying down the highway at 100mph. At one point Lindsay leaned over and said “If we make it there in one piece I am going to be amazed,” and then we nearly crashed into the back of another trufi, stopped for a red light. We came within inches I tell you. But then a funny thing happened. Just as my fingernails were beginning to leave a permanent impression in the seat-back in front of me the driver got a call on his cell phone and when he hung up his driving slowed down to the “slow as a sloth” variety. We sat in the back hypothesizing about what the call could have been about and we decided that he thought his wife was in labor and he wanted to be there badly, only he had to finish he Trufi runs first, but then he found out it was just a false alarm…
4. 99% of Trufi’s will smell like BO, and I don’t just mean from the armpit. Several times on Trufi rides from Quiacollo back home I would find myself sitting next to an overweight and very smelly Quechua woman.
5. There are no limits on the number of people you can fit into a trufi. While some drivers will speed past people while they still have many free seats others will stop and let everyone in, until before you know it you have two 3 year olds and a bag of live chickens sitting on your lap. Once we counted and there were 35 men, women and children stuffed into our little van, oye!
6. It’s not uncommon for your seat-mate to be a crate full of Cuy (guinea pigs).
7. One day I noticed a stronger than normal breeze inside the Trufi, then I looked down to see a gaping hole in the floor below me. Safe.
But as crazy as the Trufi’s are I will miss them when I leave Bolivia, or even more I will miss the stories they give me!
