Transportation

As a PCV I am not allowed to drive a vehicle or ride on a motorcycle.
Therefore I travel like everyone else . . . on kombis.
You may ask, what is a kombi?
Before I arrived here I read Disgrace by Coetzee and was intrigued by this idea of travel. So here’s the deal:
-16 passenger van
-Windows are always closed, regardless of heat because women (& men) don’t want to mess their hairstyles
-Music is generally ridiculously loud
-You are expected to hold other peoples bags, buckets, and even children
-If you sit next to the driver you are responsible for making change and holding money throughout the duration of your trip
*my brother is over my shoulder and said I have to balance good things and bad- so the good:
- they are efficient ways to travel in mass
- they will get you from A to B. . . eventually. . .
- drivers are protective of passengers
- taxi cue marshalls are helpful and will never overcharge you

So my first time traveling alone on the kombi I was told to sit in the front seat- next to the driver. One foot near the driver (on the right side!) and one foot near my extra close neighbor and one shifting gear in between. I later determined this seat was also given to me so that I could be seen by each person we passed on the dirt road. The trouble with this seat is that I was the fare collector. I managed somehow; I laughed a lot, I spoke Sepeish (Sepedi-English), I dropped money on the floor, I lost some money on the floor, I laughed some more. I made it. This trip took 2 hours when I drove in my principal’s car. When taking the kombi system it took 5 hours and 4 different kombis.
This story was told to me by some friends. So it’s early Saturday morning and they want to travel to town. They flag down a kombi and pile in. Just as they are pulling away the driver pops open a Castle Lite and drives away from the direction of town. He then pulls into a yard, exits the vehicle, and goes inside the house. Meanwhile the PCVs are left with deafening music. One says “Why don’t you turn it down?” the other says “We would like to live.” 5 minutes later the driver returns and states that it’s national hangover day. They drive away towards town and then suddenly stop and the driver begins backing up in the middle of the road some 50 yards to a woman who’s holding an umbrella and carrying a baby on her back. He says “I think she wants to go to Marapyane.” (Note: she did not flag him down.) So the woman hands LaTosha (PCV who is in the front row) her baby and then she climbs to the back row (4th row). Ten minutes later they arrive at their destination, LaTosha still with baby in hand.