La Guagua by Juan Luis Guerra

¡Hola otra vez! ¡Volví!

I was thinking it would be interesting this time to discuss transportation. Transportation in Latin America and Spain. This is a topic students know very little about, because in the USA if you are not in a big city you don't experience public transportation.

I always begin by showing my students pictures of people using the subway (El metro), buses, or taxis. People of all ages, people going to school, or to work.

 I tell them how in cities, small and big, buses are taking people to places all day, every day. There is no schedule in many countries you don't have to wait until a certain time, just get out of your house, walk to the nearest avenue or bus stop and hold your arm out to signal you want to get on board the specific oncoming bus, or taxi you need.

That is the way millions of people all over the world move around every day. Young people going to school, old people going to the market, people going to the movies, the airport, etc. Millions of people in these countries don't have cars, they don't need them.

"El metro" is a very useful way of transportation in big cities, one of the oldest is the Madrid metro. "El metro de Madrid". It is the sixth longest metro in the world with more than 300 stations. It was opened in 1919. Many of the 12 million madrileños depend on el metro to move in the city's greater area. 

Lots of tourists travel the city using el metro. It is fun, secure, clean, dependable, and a very important part of Madrid's culture. I had the opportunity to use it when I was in Madrid. I loved it!  

In the rural areas or very small towns it is a little different. People move using bikes, motorcycles, horses, or walking. People in Latin America and Spain walk a lot. Sometimes the buses don't service small cities but rather connect them to other cities or the capital of the state.

Some of these rural buses are very peculiar. People take things they sell in other towns with them in the buses. Big boxes with fruits, vegetables, food items of all sorts, milk, huge sacks of coffee, beans, corn, etc. Bananas, chickens, you will see it all.

In Colombia we have the traditional "Chiva" a door-less bus that has been a permanent staple of rural areas of Colombia allowing people to go from their farms to the town, or from town to town to sell their products.

All of these forms of transportation are vital to the functioning of those areas and are very important to the people. The people of the town have great appreciation for their buses, they use them every day. They also reveal elements of their culture. Some of them are colorful, simple, practical. Sometimes they are very decorated, play loud music, etc. 

In Madrid el metro is very helpful, and organized, color-coded, accessible. In some other cases the transportation is not that advanced. There are some cases in which there are very old buses in not so wealthy cities in many Latin American areas. But nevertheless public transportation is a very important part of Hispanic life.

To illustrate more the topic, I chose Juan Luis Guerra's La guagua that with lots of images, and much sabor shows the importance of the bus for many Latin Americans.

El maestro Juan Luis Guerra is one of my favorite artists, and the rhythms of Dominican Republic in particular and the Hispanic Caribbean in general are at the heart of this style.
In this song he chose guaracha. A traditionally Cuban rhythm that is very catchy and popular among Latinos of all ages.

La guagua Lyrics

La guagua Video

Espero que la disfruten.

Hasta luego.