Bamatick

The bus system in Paramaribo was amazing. There were stops, just like normal. That was it. You knew the bus was coming because you could hear the music blaring over crappy speakers. Then, you saw it. It was about the size of a VW van. It was painted all over with graffiti, usually naked women. There were about 4 guys sitting with the driver. One of them would take your money, which apparently was exact change only, because I never got any change back. It bothered me at first, but then I did the math. The whole ride cost 25 Sf. I would give them 30 Sf, expecting 5 Sf change. 25 Sf was 6.25 cents. I was worried about one fifth of that, a little over a penny. I stopped worrying and got on the bus. The seats were like normal, except they added a seat into the aisle. Then, they stacked people on top of other people. Amazing.

The best was the time my friends and I had to sit on each other’s laps. I made a joke about my friend not being too naughty (in Saramaccan), which made several people laugh. Some guy made a mean comment, so I joked about him too, which made everyone laugh.