i had definitely not planned on writing today. i figured tomorrow, maybe sunday i would send an update. but then, you know, crazy stuff just happens to me and as i am all alone right now, i have no one else to share it with. lucky you.

so i woke up at 330am this morning to catch the 430 bus out of ixtepec. last goodbyes, peace out, all that. so of course i chose the earliest bus possible, mainly to avoid absolutely anyone and to catch the coolest time of day to walk the 1.5kilometers to the bus station with, oh, idont know, 80 pounds or more strapped to my back and in my arms. didnt work. i was soaking wet with sweat after 10meters. lovely.

i arrive at the bus station, if you can remember this far back, this is the exact location where i ate cow head. as you might expect, it is a place that sticks out in my mind. anyone, i arrive 15min early, which is what i wanted, and notice something slightly out of place. there are two regular ADO (just think Greyhound) buses out front, and then a smaller white bus painted with the OCC insignia(another company). if i have not mentioned, ADO buses are awesome. air conditioning to the point where you need a blanket, movies, big seats that recline, bathroom. there are better classes of buses, but there are far fewer in the istmo, so i went with regular first class (again, does not mean the same thing here, but anyway).

right. white bus. old. upon stepping up inside the volvo(most large buses are volvos or mercedes benz), i noticed smaller seats, tiny tv`s, a general crappier feel. anyway, it is 425 in the a.m. so all that just really roles off my back. i wake up 30 minutes later for the first stop in juchitan. goodbye juchitan, which the locals call muxetan(mooshetan) bc muxe means homosexual and the town is like the s.f. of mexico. so i wake up, look around, notice i still have a free seat next to me, and, yup, right back to sleep.

the next disturbance another 40 min later meant i had to move so the girl could take her window seat. whatever, i am in full sleep mode so i crash back out. i wake up a good bit over the next hour bc of the curves and the velocity with which our driver (i mean, buses do not really meet formula 1 racing standards, but try telling mr driver that) takes these turns. then around 745 we stop. strange. no town, no station, so i am thinking the driver was doin his business outside. i look at the girl next to me who has woken up also and ask whats up. she replies that she thinks the driver went for coffee. makes sense.

almost 15 min later we are going again. ok. nappy-nap time. yeah, not so fast.within ten minutes we are stopped again. except this time, the rats are totally fleeing the ship. i notice, too late, a new bus has pulled behind us as we have stopped and mexis are scrambling to get their shit out of one bus and into another.

first, we hear it is engine trouble. i strike up a conversation with a young couple who are criticising the bus comp for buying a crappy bus. one hour later, and after many heated altercations between what i thought was a rather gentle looking woman of about 60 and the driver and another bus arrives. except, we dont get on the bus. instead, a bucket and long rubber hose are produced. after working for antney over the years, i know what is coming next.

we ran out of gas. idiots. happy trails istmo.

45 min later we stop again. this time? la tour de oaxaca. a bike race? indeed. so we went super slow as we were paced by the two leaders as they climbed the huge mountain roads. ridiculous.

a 4hour and 30min trip becomes, what? 9hours. oh. my. god. i was pissed, but then the woman who began bitching before called everyone she knew and in the loudest voice possible (she was 10 feet behind the drivers seat) cussed him. and not just ¨damn him.¨ no, she is mexi, and istmena (a woman from the istmo) on top of it. ¨this stupid mother fucker forgot to gas up. i know, what a dumbass son of a whore. motherfucking ADO is going to hear from me about this. damn right i am complaining, fuck this ignorant bastard¨

of course, imagine a few pauses for her to let the other person on the line concur, and this went on for about, oh, 45 minutes. and when she finally got of the phone, she just cussed him from where she was sitting. dude. this vieja was so mad, i actually felt bad for this jerk driver who forgot to get gas. and i was real mad before this began.

all this before 130pm. i hope the rest of the weekend is less exciting. if not, you will be hearing from me again sooner than i plan.