By Mark Kendall

 

Up and moving by 4:30AM and it felt like we were back on the road with Mingo. There will be a lot of ground to cover today and we'll have to keep up.

We get to Geronimo's shortly after six and Oscar and Federico are there, too. The new owner pulls up and steps out of his old, red Toyota pickup truck. I recognized his face but had never met him directly – he's hung out around Geronimo's junkyard every now and then and helped unload the big shipment of parts the other day.

 

His name is Ermalindo, he's twenty-nine years old and he recently traded in an old bus of his to help pay for this “new” one. Ermalindo is always smiling, but I'm not sure yet if it's because he is happy or because he is uncomfortable. For now, I'm glad he's already familiar with what we're doing and is happy to be a part of it.

 

Geronimo took the wheel and drove the bus to Ciudad Vieja like a maniac. I hit my head on the ceiling three times while shooting. I really hope he didn't teach Ermalindo how to drive.

 

We arrived at the conversion workshop and were greeted by a host of new faces, working at an amazing speed and amongst an overwhelming chorus of loud noises. Geronimo, Ermalindo, Oscar and Federico all walk slowly through the shop, checking out the goods, and land in the corner next to a bus that's been freshly-painted. Again the colors were white, turquoise and purple.

 

“DIOS ES AMOR” (“GOD IS LOVE”) it says across the front windshield in large, stylized letters. I watch Ermalindo's eyes as he gazes at it, trying to read from his glance if he'll follow suit. I know it's not totally his choice – he has to follow suit with whatever colors his line uses. But I hope they're something like this.

 

While Ermalindo and Geronimo are talking with each other and one of the shop owners, Rico and Oscar hang out with us. For the second day in a row, there is surprising news that seems to have already had some time on the shelf away from our ears. They tell us that they heard through the grapevine that Ermalindo wants to have his bus ready and driving by TOMORROW!

 

What could they possibly do to it in one day? There's no way there will be time for paint, and I'm a bit annoyed that we haven't heard about this earlier.

 

We also find out that our bus is going to drive for the Rutas Quetzal line, which goes from Ciudad Quetzal to Guatemala City and crosses through Mixco, one of the most dangerous parts of the area surrounding the capital. I don't know the capital city well at all, but I recognize Mixco from all the sensationalized news stories about bus drivers being killed by the MS-13. I feel slapped in the face by a huge reality-check. Damn.

 

I had thought a nice way to end the film would be to see the bus' first day on its new route – the new driver, the new roads, the people it carries, etc. But there's no way we'll be traveling through there with the camera gear. Not sure what we'll do, but the gears are turning. We're sticking with the fate of the bus we've ridden down here, so I'm going to have to come up with another way to include certain elements of the story that I had wished (and, in some cases, assumed) were part of our bus' destiny.

 

To slow things down, I put my bags down and spend a few minutes introducing myself to a few of the guys that will be working on the bus and then take a nap in the back seat of an old Japanese bus in the corner of the shop that looks like it's been gathering dust for months.

 

When I woke up I was at a crossroads – do I stay here at the workshop and cover the bus as it's being fixed up? Or do I go and track down Ermalindo and talk to him about what's going to happen to the bus before it actually happens? I can't do both, and after a while I felt like the shots I was getting were becoming repetitive, so we left.

 

I call Ermalindo and we agree to meet at Geronimo's yard at 5PM. It's 3:30PM now and if we leave immediately we'll barely make it, so we hustle and arrive just in time to set up in quiet place before daylight falls.

 

We're set up and ready to roll when Ermalindo calls and changes the time to 6:15PM. By that time it will be too dark, so, not wanting to get a half-interview, we break down and pack up. He arrived at 6:45PM, 15 minutes before the last bus leaves Chimaltenango for Antigua.

 

We didn't sweat it because we're really just getting to know him and interact with him more regularly. So we talked for a bit about what we're hoping to talk about and left it up to him to decide when would be a convenient, uninterrupted time to sit and talk for an hour or so.

 

The cab ride home tonight did wonders for the stresses of the day.

 

I really hope there will be a way to merge my vision with the reality of what's happening to our particular bus.

 

I don't yet know how, but I'm sure there will be a way.