The Liberal Driving Elsewhere in the World

Hello again.

You may have thought that we dropped off the face of the earth for a couple of weeks, or maybe you just don't read the blogsite (shame on you). I am again priveleged to update you on the sensational events of the last couple of weeks.

Last update, you found out that we were in Foz do Iguaçu, a town near the border of Brasil, Argentina, and Paraguay. There are also towns across the border in the other cities...blah blah blah. You don't think this story sounds exciting? It's not knocking you off your seat, yet? Or are you just wondering why there is a little tail on my "c" in "Iguaçu?" OK, for those of you who want to have a quick rundown of the area with some pictures, see the almighty Wikipedia:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Igua%C3%A7u_Falls

Now we can move onto more interesting things - mainly the story that goes with the headline.

Before embarking on this adventure to South America, I was warned by my Master's adviser, Dr. Weldon Lodwick, that the driving in Brasil would be crazy. In this way, my expectations were set rather high. I thought I'd get to see cars on the sidewalks and motorcycles driving up over the tops of cars, but so far nothing has satiated my thirst for crazy driving (probably created by hours in front of a Playstation playing Need For Speed or Road Rash or some other racing game) until...I got on the public bus system.

The pickups and dropoffs alone are enough to keep the weak from riding - bus drivers approach a stop at 15-20mph and will only stop if someone runs out to the curb frantically waving their arms. The driver will then reluctantly come to a screeching halt. If you are on the bus, then you must grab onto whatever you can to prevent yourself from being projected into the neighboring country. Alas, I'm only teasing you with the standard behaviors. What would one of these bus drivers do if he (don't think I'm being sexist here - it takes testosterone to drive this way) was really cutting loose? If he woke up that morning and was unconcerned about living another day? If he thought he was Rubens Barrichello or some other Brasilian Formula 1 racer?

We took a (public) bus from Foz do Iguaçu to Puerto Iguazu (read the link above if you get confused) to visit the Argentinan side of the falls. To do this we must pass through a Argentinan border station (remember the mangy dog story?). We approached the station on a two-lane road with a generous shoulder on either side and encountered a long line of cars waiting to get through to Argentina. The bus driver does not hesitate to pull into the shoulder and start driving past the row of cars. Again, this is just SOP; perhaps amusing the first time you see it, but is old hat after that. His plan was thwarted, however, as he was stopped by a brave tree that had grown into the path of the shoulder. Adjacent to the tree is a semi-truck waiting patiently in line. I watch the bus driver shut off the engine, get out of the bus, and run over to talk with the truck driver. "Old pals," I naively think. The bus driver comes jogging back to the bus as the semi-truck begins to pull into the shoulder (past the tree). Our bus then pulls into the space left by the truck. Now, I'm completely prepared for the bus driver to follow the semi down and continue along the shoulder of the road. What I wasn't prepared for, and what actually happened, was the bus driver turns into the lane of oncoming traffic and drives straight over to the shoulder on the other side of the road. We proceed along this shoulder until we get to the front of the line and then cut back through oncoming traffic, bully our way past the cars in the front of the line and pull up to the border station. I guess you just need to think outside of the box to drive like that...or be a user in the drug trade. I congratulated the driver as we got off the bus. He shrugged like it was nothing and I walked into the border station on shaky legs.

We got back to the farm safe and sound to find that the porch project had been extended from the original 5-day completion time to 14-days. So, my work has continued a bit, though we are all finished with concrete work. (Mainly, I've just been painting.) Now I'm a slacker because I took some time to write to you about this little story. I hope it was worth it! I'll let Kristine write the next blog so that you read some actual news.

Kevin