September 8, 2005

Strike Days

Tuesday afternoon as we were cleaning up our classroom after our students left, we realized that not all of our students had gone home. Some of their buses had been blocked from getting to their neighborhoods because the taxi and bus drivers went on strike to protest the high gas prices. Many major intersections (including one a block from our house) were blocked by semi trucks, taxis, buses, rocks, and burning tires. School was cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday. The bus and taxi drivers wanted to charge more because of higher gas prices, but the government wouldn't let them. As far as we can figure out, gas prices have gone down a little bit, but it's still around $4.00 a gallon. We don't know if buses and taxis are more expensive. Today (Thursday) the buses and taxis are back to normal, but we still don't have school. Hopefully we will be back tomorrow. We have taken many walks to watch the protests going on. Bascially, it's just trucks and cars blocking the road and everyone walking. It has been very peaceful in our neighborhood and we have always felt safe.

SPB

1 comment:

Chris & Becca said...

Something similar to this happened recently in Mexico City. One of my co-workers there lives 1.5 hours from the office which is not normally a problem, but when there is no public transportation, this is a big problem. Glad this is blowing over quickly. Can you guys walk to school?