Chicken Bus and the Driver’s Assistant
Guate, Guate, Guate… vamos vaciooossss!
That is what you hear the chicken bus driver’s helper yell out as the omnibus makes its way back into Guatemala City. But there are all kinds of yellings: Antigua, Antigua llega llega… dale, Chimal, Chimal, Chichi, Chichi, Xela, Xela and so on.
Guate, Guate, Guate… vamos vaciooossss! Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala, we are empty is what the driver’s ayudante (helper) would yell out if they are full, like this.
Instead of writing all the possible things the driver’s assistant of a chicken bus can yell out I leave you with Zacatenango; an electronic-genre song with samplings of many different call outs from chicken buses and sounds of Guatemala. Zacatenango is the third song in an awesome anthology by the name of Democracia Sonora (Sonic Democracy) which is a compilation of electronic songs made by Guatemalan DJs with the common thread of samples of street sounds of Guatemala and its public transit system. You can download Democracia Sonora from Electronik.net; a site dedicated to the work of Guatemalan DJs and their electronic creations.
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July 30th, 2007
Thanks, Rudy. And people should know that sometimes “vacio” doesn’t really mean it’s empty. They’ll yell it out to get you in the bus, you get in, only to find out it’s standing room only. Such is life on the chicken buses.
July 30th, 2007
Yes, that sounds like the tempo of Guatemala, although I think it might be missing a few horns honking. (LOL) Where do the buses get their feminine names?
July 31st, 2007
Awesome song, thanks for sharing…
July 31st, 2007
As soon as I saw your picture, I could hear the sound of ‘Guate!, Guate!, Guate!’ in my head, before I even read your description. Brings backs memories of my (very short) holiday in Guatemala. My other favourite yell was ‘WayWay! Way!Way!’ for Huehuetenango.
July 31st, 2007
that bus has a nice paint job. how much is the cost to ride the bus, is it set by mile?
July 31st, 2007
The “technical” name is “cholojo”. (sorry that I couldn’t catch up with you, next time with more time. You know how it’s is.)
November 26th, 2007
[...] well, what we have here… what’s up with that, why are Guatemalans so enchanted with the infamous chicken bus. I mean what makes Guatemalans take on the crappy junk and retired school buses from up north and [...]
May 15th, 2008
[...] to abbreviate or simply chop names. That’s how Guatemala City becomes simply Guate or “Uate” if you listen carefully to the chicken bus helper (cholojo is the technical name for the helper); Chichicastenango becomes Chichi (be careful with [...]