Crazy Drivers

I was in Davíd walking towards the buses to Changuinola and was looking for some M&Ms. You know, the yellow packet peanut ones. Anyway, a bus is just pulling out and the ayudante is yelling at me, ¨¿Chaguinola? ¡Venga acá, Pronto! ¡Ven, ven!¨ I didn't really want to get on that bus cuz it was full and I had my mind on M&Ms. But I found myself picking up my step and I jumped on the moving bus as it was pulling out.

The only seat was the foldout one directly behind the hump for the engine and immediately I regretted my decision. I should've bought some M&Ms and hopped on the next one. Now I'm cramped, there is no room for my feet, and I have a fear of sitting in the front of a no seat-belted bus. The driver was flirting with the girl sitting shotgun and he would randomly play air guitar to the music always looking over at her to see if she noticed his excellent skills. He was changing the CDs with one had, seemingly after every song, and tooting the air horn at every passerby with the other. I didn't like him and had a bad feeling about this upcoming 4 hour trip.

Two hours later it's pouring rain, the radio is blasting, and we are passing the mountain range. Swerving, weaving, ignoring the median, windshield wipers shreeching, going way to fast. I see a car that crashed into a rail on the opposite side, it's back to tires suspended in the air. We crossed over a mudslide and a broken aqueduct spraying the road.

We stop at the 3/4 mark at Chiriqui Grande. I buy M&Ms (you know, the yellow packet peanut ones) and I'm promoted to the shotgun seat. The driver motioned that I should open the window, I please him one inch. Then the guy behind me opens it 4¨ more and I close it and swear it's my decision whether I should open my window or not.

We drive 10 more mins or so, and as we are climbing a hill to the left, a Jeep Prado comes barrelling down his lane, fish-tailing on the wet pavement. A split-second passes before he crashes into our back/left quarter, flipping us on our two right wheels, then our left, then our right, swerving in the road. We finally come to a stop, babies crying, bus driver cussing - I'm pushing my heart back down into my chest. We were all fine, no injures, and the driver of the other was fine as well. It would have been really bad if we flipped.

I started walking for Silico Creek knowing it was only 5kms further and eventually hitch-hiked the last 4km. I spent the night with a fellow volunteer, calming my nerves. Crazy Panamanian Drivers! I should´ve bought that pack of M&Ms and waited for the next bus. (On a side note, I refused to pay. But I´m not sure the protocol on this matter. If you hop on a bus and it gets into an accident, do you still have to pay?)