Boobs on a bus...

If you remember from a previous post, a combi is the main mode of transport, they are minivans and in the States you would fit 10, here you fit as many as possible (minimum is 16, and that’s sitting). So I’m sitting in a seat on the aisle. If you’re in an aisle seat you can be assured your personal space will be flagrantly and unpleasantly violated. My head is about 5 inches from the roof of the combi as well, so there really isn’t much room. My legs don’t fit into the seat either, so one is angled awkwardly and the other is jutting in the aisle.

Today, I get on and the seats all fill up quickly, a mother with a baby strapped on her back gets in…so do a bunch of people, forcing her to get closer than either would probably prefer. The mother with the baby is standing right next to me. The picture is an example of how they carry their kids around. Anyhow, what you need to know is the mom is practically leaning over me…but we are not touching…yet.

The baby starts crying and you hear many women on the combi saying, “awww…pobrecito”, which means, “awww…little poor one”. Apparently ‘aww’ is universal, like a smile or farting in someone’s face. Well, the baby is crying, it must be hungry and this place and position is as good as any I suppose, so the mom pulls the baby around to her front, pulls up her shirt and quiets the baby. Knowing how bumpy the ride is and drivers’ tendency for jerky-ness, I just start laughing because I know how things are going to end and there is little I can do.

About 2 minutes into the suckling, the combi driver hits the breaks then the gas. This causes anyone standing to sway, first towards the front of the combi then immediately to the back. Now is the moment you’ve been waiting for, I get a face-full of baby and boobs. One is covered, the other is bare. She doesn’t say anything to me, no “excuse me” or “sorry” or “hey, you thirsty too?”…nothing.