All aboard!

When we lived in New York City, we were close to not one, but THREE subway stations.  I always took the same line to work in the morning, but coming home I would "mix it up".  Whenever I hear of someone moving to NYC, I always ask how far away the subway station is.  So, when Ken found our house here in Coyoacan, one of my first questions was how long it would take me to walk to the metro.

He told me that the walk to the "Viveros" station was not too bad.  He said there was a second station, "Coyoacan", but it was about half an hour away.  Most days, I am on the metro.  When I am fresh and filled with energy in the morning, walking to the station is a snap.  But...on my way home, every joint in my legs is aching.  I have usually spent the day walking block after block on cobblestones or hard sidewalks and I have generally also visited a museum or two.   When I climb up the stairs to the street, the walk to our house seems almost impossible to me.

At every one of the 163 metro stations in Mexico City, however,  another 

form of transportation is available.  These are the "peseros", green and white buses of various sizes and age that were given their name because it once cost only one peso for a ride.  Currently, a metro  ticket costs 3 pesos ( or around a quarter) and most peseros cost 4 pesos.

It took me well over a month to learn to get a pesero from the metro to my house.  Every time I got off the metro at the "Viveros" station, I would see all the peseros waiting to take the metro passengers the rest of the way home.  But when I asked for the pesero to Coyoacan, I was told to cross the street, which would have had me going in the absolute wrong direction.  It took me another few times to understand that when I asked for "Coyoacan" the drivers naturally thought I meant the "Coyocan" metro station.  So I decided to get off the metro at the Coyocan station.  One night I saw a pesero waiting...and asked the right question,"do you go to CENTRAL Coyocan?"  Yes, this pesero did!  It was a very easy route number to remember:  #1.  I have since learned that #1 peseros go all over Mexico City and I have boarded them confidently only to find myself a mile or more away from my home....walking yet again.

Then, I found magical #52.  This pesero appears right across the street from my local supermarket, the Mega.  I hop on, pay my 4 pesos, and it goes right down my street!  Another big city problem solved by the pesero!

Peseros used to be old VW buses, and some still are.  I rode one today, with two heavy bags of groceries, and there wasn't much room in the back.   I smiled at my fellow passengers and most smiled back, but one guy looked annoyed...which is so unusual here that I got a little nervous.  Nothing happened except that annoyed man's girlfriend helped me when I had to climb down with my groceries.

The most amazing thing is watching the pesero driver do absolutely everything.  He stops for anyone who holds out a hand. He immediately pulls back into traffic, which, in Mexico City, is no easy task.  However, while he is doing this, he is taking money from the person who just boarded, making the correct change, answering everyone's questions and trying to weave in and out of traffic and go as fast as possible.  Naturally, as soon as the driver attains a little speed, someone asks him to stop and he does, always without complaint.

Some peseros are "pimped out"with decorations and loud music.  Others barely run.  The one I took to get to the Basilica de Guadalupe didn't have a gear beyond second...the driver hugged the sidewalk as everyone passed...even people walking.  Others go so fast that passengers who are standing (which is typical, as there are a limited number of seats) go careening into each other and may fall into the laps of fellow riders.

The pesero is not meant for long distances.  They provide a great alternative to taxis, especially for a woman on her own, like me.  I am sure many pesero drivers inwardly groan when an American women with next to no ability in Spanish starts to climb aboard....but....each peso earned here is important.  And Mexicans just aren't cut out to be grumpy.