Each morning we head out for Munoces in an ancient (1978, I think)Toyota pick-up Warren has named "La Tortuga". We leave from a corner of the square about 6:45 AM and are dropped off a little less than an hour later for the 20/25 minute walk to Munoces school. Joaquin, the owner and driver, is a teacher at another community on down the road. 
Yanira and another woman who teaches with Joaquin ride in the cab and Ricardo, Warren, and I climb up into the back.
It's not a pretty picture! We put our backpacks in plastic bags to protect them a little from all the dust and I tie a bandana over my head in an attempt to stay just a little clean....in doesn't work.
We are always joined by other folks along the way. Our record so far is 15 plus 3 large sacks of beans or something. We prefer to ride standing up but most of the passengers just perch on the side. How they keep from falling out as we bump along is a miracle. There's a 90 year old man that joins us sometimes and a dog that trots along after the truck for miles when his owner is riding. Joaquin put in a plank seat so we could sit but it's too hard on my bottom to sit. Most pick-ups that haul people around here have railings all around to hang on to but not Tortuga! You just get in and hang on to whatever you can! Saturday we rode in the back of the Casa Pastoral's pick-up and discovered how much shock absorbers can help. We suspect La Tortuga has no shock absorbers at all! I know she has no gauges because I rode in the cab one day and there's nothing but holes where the speedometer, gas guage, etc. should be....plenty of holes in the floor, too. The ladies that ride in the cab have to cover up for dust just like us in the back...it comes in through the floor!
Lots of things can stir up the dust along the road...other trucks, most much larger than ours, and herds of cattle moved along by cowboys are the most common source of dust squalls.
Sometime on every trip we have to stop to give Tortuga water and we carry several large jugs to quench her thirst. Ricardo often glugs down some of Tortuga's water when we meet her at the end of a long, dusty walk back to the truck at the end of the day. One time we had to stop to tighten the lug nuts!
Yanira and another woman who teaches with Joaquin ride in the cab and Ricardo, Warren, and I climb up into the back.
It's not a pretty picture! We put our backpacks in plastic bags to protect them a little from all the dust and I tie a bandana over my head in an attempt to stay just a little clean....in doesn't work.
We are always joined by other folks along the way. Our record so far is 15 plus 3 large sacks of beans or something. We prefer to ride standing up but most of the passengers just perch on the side. How they keep from falling out as we bump along is a miracle. There's a 90 year old man that joins us sometimes and a dog that trots along after the truck for miles when his owner is riding. Joaquin put in a plank seat so we could sit but it's too hard on my bottom to sit. Most pick-ups that haul people around here have railings all around to hang on to but not Tortuga! You just get in and hang on to whatever you can! Saturday we rode in the back of the Casa Pastoral's pick-up and discovered how much shock absorbers can help. We suspect La Tortuga has no shock absorbers at all! I know she has no gauges because I rode in the cab one day and there's nothing but holes where the speedometer, gas guage, etc. should be....plenty of holes in the floor, too. The ladies that ride in the cab have to cover up for dust just like us in the back...it comes in through the floor!
Lots of things can stir up the dust along the road...other trucks, most much larger than ours, and herds of cattle moved along by cowboys are the most common source of dust squalls.
Sometime on every trip we have to stop to give Tortuga water and we carry several large jugs to quench her thirst. Ricardo often glugs down some of Tortuga's water when we meet her at the end of a long, dusty walk back to the truck at the end of the day. One time we had to stop to tighten the lug nuts!La Tortuga may be the oldest truck in this area of nothing but old trucks but she's been reliable and we've grown most fond of her.
Linda, you are painting a terrific picture, point by point. People enjoy your reports; keep 'em coming.
ReplyDeleteHola, fellow readers.