Mochilla Rosada and 5 Norte

I usually take the bus to school when I'm running late. (literally, running after the bus). There's several different buses that go almost the same route, but I know that one of them is always at the bus stop at 9:15. And sometimes, I'm not at the bus stop at 9:15. Buses will usually stop for you if you hail them, no matter where you are. Last week, I was almost at the bus stop, and saw the bus coming, but he didn't stop for me when I hailed him. He stopped at the bus stop, and I took off down the street after him. I made it to the stop and when I stepped on, he recognized me. I mean, how many blue eyed blonde hair girls get on chase after that bus everyday? He takes one look at me, I hand him my money and he says "Gracias, mochilla rosada." Pink bookbag.

The next day, I was running even later, (this seems to be a trend I developed in this country--I'm usually never late) and I was running to the bus stop, but before I got there, the bus stopped for me without me hailing it. The driver has maybe 5 teeth, and he was grinning and says, "Get on, mochilla rosada!" I love the bus driver, he makes sure I get to school on time and he makes fun of my pink bookbag.

Moving on...

The streets here are very logical. It's 1 Norte (North), 2 Norte, 3 Norte, etc. It's a grid system, and I love it. Yesterday, when I was going to meet Aften to go to the beach, I we decided to meet in front of Casey's house because it's the half way point between her bus stop and my house. Casey's house is on 4 Norte, and I've been there probably 3 times by myself, with no problem. Yesterday, I walked FOREVER, and I didn't see her house. I did the, "well maybe I just don't remember seeing this stuff before, but her house is coming up soon" thing. I got almost to the beach, and I knew I had passed it. I finally asked someone for directions (in Spanish), and he replied (in English), "You're on the wrong street. You need to go over 1 block and go back about 12 blocks." Yeah, I was on 5 Norte the whole time. Sigh.