Guagua Guau Guau Guau

Déjame aquí. If you plan on riding in a carro public or a guagua at any time while in the Dominican Republic, these words will be your saving grace in getting off at your desired stop (not an official stop, hence the importance of yelling with confidence LEAVE ME HERE).

You may now have a slew of questions: What is a carro público? How do you pronounce guagua? What is a bola? First off, I must say that public transportation is both widespread and affordable in the Dominican Republic and is used by hundreds of thousands of people everyday. It is useful to have a few phrases handy in Spanish, and to have a general idea of the cost of fares so as not to pay extra pesos than necessary. I should also include that the city of Santo Domingo does have formal public transportation such as the city bus system and the metro, though other forms of less “formal” transportation such as the carro public and the guagua have more extensive ranges and much more regular availability. So continuing with the question of a carro público, it is a “public taxi,” almost always the size of a small passenger car. The cars can be seen driving down most main roads in all different states of being: without windows, missing handles, and potentially misread dashboard with the gas gauge stuck perpetually on Empty and the car speed stuck on 0mph despite flying through the streets. The car fits six passengers plus a driver, two in the front seat next to the driver, and four in the back, with all manners of squishing coming into play, and costs roughly 30 pesos. Personal space is non-existent. Which quickly leads to our next form of transportation (not a drink), the guagua, additionally a roughly 30 peso ride. The guagua is more of a large van/small bus that varies in size, color, and capacity. Capacity is also largely dictated by the ability of the cobrador, or fare collector, that hangs out of the open van door yelling to passersby on foot, to get passengers to make more space. For both these rides you must yell out when you want to be let off, which you either know by site and familiarity or by asking riders around you the location of a familiar/nearby land mark. You are almost always guaranteed to listen to some bumping music and will potentially be offered part of someone’s snack (compartiendo at its truest). Lastly, the "bola" is one of the best examples of Dominican hospitality. Essentially a hitchhike ride, one often finds that the driver is the third cousin once removed of your neighbor two streets away in site. It's not unheard of for drivers to compartir sodas or stop at a colmado for snacks or at a stand for an empanada. 

In addition to these smaller forms of transportation, there are also widespread networks of buses that travel throughout the country, not to mention Uber that is widespread in the big cities such as Santo Domingo and Santiago. But regarding the buses, there is a roughly five hour bus ride from the capital to my site, though the buses are outfitted with air conditioning and the occasional Wi-Fi, and it’s a great opportunity to catch up with friends if traveling with other PCVs or meet some new people that may actually live in the same pueblo as you. 

Now that I sound like a spokeswoman for Caribe Tours, here are some of the funniest transportation situations I’ve seen or been in:

- Carro público in Santo Domingo that was missing the floor boards and was using a wrench for the door handle in the back seat

- Guagua, also in the capital, that had two roller blading teens holding onto the back of the bus while it was heading down a main and incredibly busy road (I’ve also seen this in site, but with kids holding onto the back of the ever-present motorcycles)

- Caribe Tours bus, lurching stops and starts with an average speed of 6 miles per hour for an hour and a half, eventually waited on the side of the road for another guagua only to find that some unfortunate passenger had fallen quite ill (motion sickness) in the center of the (only) aisle, not to mention that two days later the return guagua also broke down by emitting smoke fumes and required a police escort into a nearby city

- Bola, getting a ride out of a fairly remote site with two friends, the wind is causing our hair to go in all directions, and the driver stopped at a colmado to buy each of us a bottle of Coca Cola (not Kola Real - this was the REAL DEAL OF SODA)

The one and only Caribe Tours - additionally, apologies for the lack of photos, but can't be risking the phone for a guagua pic!