RARE BUSES * Haiti - Why Bus Owners Spend So Much On Murals
Port au Prince,Haiti -NPR, by Adam Davidson -March 30, 2010: -- Some buses in Haiti are painted with giant figures — portraits of Jesus, rapper Tupac Shakur, a naked woman in ecstasy. Others depict American Airlines planes (the fastest way from Haiti to Miami) or Voodoo imagery... If you stand on any corner in Port-au-Prince and watch the buses go by, you feel like you can get direct access to the Haitian subconscious... But there's an economic puzzle buried in all the artistry... At bus stops, painted buses arrive, fill up with passengers in a few quick minutes and take off. Meanwhile, a handful of plain, unpainted buses sit there, waiting for passengers who never show up... Fresh painting sends potential passengers a signal: Whoever owns this bus spends a lot of money taking care of it, at least on the outside. That suggests he's taking care of the hidden stuff — the brakes, the transmission, that sort of thing... There aren't bus inspectors in Haiti. So passengers have to decide on their own which bus is likely to get them where they're going. The safest bet: Get on the one with all the fancy paintings... (Photo: A wildly painted bus in Haiti - NOT the one from the airport)Labels: rare buses
posted by Unknown @ 3:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home