My kids spend A LOT of time on the school bus. These 3 are picked up first at 7:10 to make it to school by 8:00.
Gavin and Teague's school day ends at 3:00, then on regular days they are home at 4:00. When they stay for after-school activities, they don't get home until 5:00.
Hiram's day ends an hour earlier, so he gets home at 3:00 every day. He is the only one on his bus route coming home, so he is "chauffeured" in a mini-van, but he still has all 3 adults with him- the driver, door man, and child-minder. I kind of feel bad that they do all that for one child, but I'm so glad they keep him safe.
Kaleb and Noé catch the bus at 7:30 to be at school by 8:30.
Their school day ends at 3:30 on a regular day, then they're home by 4:30. However, most days they have after-school activities and don't leave until 5:30, so then the earliest they get home is 6:30. When traffic is going to be really bad (holidays and such) the after-school activities are cancelled, so they don't spend the whole night on the bus.
Ali's mode of transportation is her monkey. He goes everywhere she goes, just to keep her safe. Not that she would ever run away or anything, ha! She named her monkey, Eeh Eeh Ah Ah, but lately the name has evolved to Ooh Ooh Ah Ah. Maybe next he'll become Ooh Ooh Eeh Eeh.
I thought I'd take a minute to talk about travel in Mumbai. 8 million people ride the 3,000 trains daily. I have friends that have done it and they say it is not for the faint of heart. On the day we arrived, our driver from the airport told me that 10-17 people die DAILY on the trains in MUMBAI. Um, that's my cue not to give them a go. What braves souls that do this every day!
These buses are everywhere and seem to work well, except I've never seen them stop at bus stops. I have seen people just run along side them though and then jump on. Again, a little too intense for my weak constitution.
We have ridden in taxis like this and the hatch-back version. There are also blue ones that are the "cool cabs" as they have AC. Our preferred mode of transportation is an Uber driver though. We can specially order mini-vans so we all fit (though not in seat belts) and the google maps overrides any language barrier we may have. Most (but not all) of our friends have their own car and driver. We have been very tempted to do this, but it isn't cheap and we mainly need a driver for evenings and weekends, whereas the drivers (like us) prefer working days. We'd end up paying twice as much in over-time for half the service, so for now while Ali is home during the days it just isn't worth it.
The auto-rickshaws are everywhere, except our neighborhood. We live in South Mumbai and for some reason they are prohibited here. My friends that use them, love them! We'll have to try them sometime when we're down town.
This sums up Mumbai, "Horn OK Please!" We have heard that Mumbai drivers are the worst in the world. Leonard and I would disagree and think they are some of the best drivers in the wold. It is sheer chaos with 23 million people all having somewhere to go and places to be and the way the drivers can dart in and out and get there quickly and in one piece is astounding! I for sure couldn't do it. But they drive by echolocation, the horn is used just as much as the steering wheel, brakes, and accelerator! It drove me crazy when we first got here, but now I've learned to tune it out (most days). So who wants to take a road trip to visit us?
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