Daily commute

For me, getting to work involves travelling on the minibuses which take the school children to St Dominic’s, the school where we work. If I am up and at the “bus stop” before 7.15am I have a straight 10-15 minute journey to school. If I go after 7.15 am I miss the school Kombis, and I have to take a Kombi into the town center, and then walk 40 minutes up the hill to the school.

The school Kombis are very entertaining, all Kombis require 4 people to sit to a 3 person bench seats, and play music at full volume as you travel. But school Kombis inevitably try and squeeze as many children into the Kombi as possible, meaning they stand up in the space between seats, sit on knees and otherwise fill every available space! There are also often school projects being carried by very brave children, as there is always the risk that a stray elbow will demolish carefully constructed papier mache!

On any Kombi you travel in, it can be tricky to squeeze your way off the bus at the right time, but luckily there are big windows which you can pass your baby/parcel through to anyone who is passing while you try and negotiate off the bus. One morning last week while I was travelling on the school Kombi a couple of primary school children were squeezed in the back and needed to get off. As everyone was trying to make space for them to get off, the conductor identified a better option, and lifted the two children out the rear window!

The journey home is a little more tricky, as the school Kombis leave at 3.30pm, when school ends, and we don’t finish work until 4.30! So I have to walk 30-40 minutes down the hills, and then get the Kombi. The tricky part of getting the Kombi home is that it drops people wherever they ask, and so the route can be a bit convoluted. It is difficult to know if you are getting in a Kombi which will take me directly home in 10 minutes, or one which will take 20-25 minutes as it tours the town. If I am unlucky the Kombi going home will just have left when I get to the Kombi stop, and so I will have to wait until the next one fills up, which takes anything from 10 minutes to 45!

The novelty hasn’t quite worn off yet, so the Kombi rides still provide me with a lot of entertainment. Once the schools break up for holidays on 6^th August, it may be less fun as I have to walk up the hill every day!