Bus 714: Montevideo-Pinar

According to Eduardo Galeano, famous Uruguayan writer and journalist, "Uruguay is a bank with a beach." He is kind of right; though I think it would also be right to call it "a big farm on the beach."

If you ever visit, you will see it for yourself but as the story teller, it is my job to tell you a little more about life in this beautiful farm.

Lately I have been spending two hours a day commuting to and/or from Canelones department, to the east of Montevideo, where Javier lives. An hour bus ride from my house (which is in the Center of Montevideo) and I am there, among the pine trees and white sand beaches, single-family homes scattered through out the area, unpaved roads, mom and pop stores, total tranquility.

I will describe --in the near future-- the beautiful Costa de Oro (the part of Canelones by the water) and its neighborhoods, I would like to talk about the hour-long trip and its essential elements, the view from the bus, and important characters.

Us Turks are used to these people. In Istanbul they frequent the boats and trains, selling anything from safety pins to chocolate, to protein bars to socks, whatever they get their hands on. Well, in Uruguay, they hang at the city's only public transportation: buses.

Usually they sell chocolate or similar junk food, but sometimes I see bandaids, or plastic ID covers; they all have different jingles memorized and repeated so many times. After my 7th trip I started to see the same guys, selling different things with the same words, sometimes without even looking at the passengers.

Then there are those who leave a super kitch piece of postcard with a cheesy poem (or prayer) on your lap, give you a sob story to follow up and expect you to buy the piece of paper for whatever you see fit.

One time I saw a full blown stand up act, a guy dressed like a Joker with a puppet acted out a spanish middle age style one-man show. He was awesome.

At the traffic lights one can see jugglers and other kind of circus acts all along the Avenida Italia (becomes Avenida Ginnaitascio---or something like that--in Canelones), which connects Montevideo to the beaches of Canelones.

Than there is the urban myth seller guy Javier told me about. Well it is not a myth because he saw him acting. This particular performance was a man, who appeared two years ago, dressed as a pirate. He would step into the bus and would ask people to give him their money as he takes over the bus! Then would make a stand-up show about politics or economy, actual stuff, and would get down the next stop (I would love to see him, sounds like a quite performance).