August 13, 2010

By Mark Kendall

Mile: 8025 

Ciudad Vieja, Sacatapequez  – We arrive to the shop at 8:00AM. All the transformation is going to take place today, but it seems like everyone knows what to do without having to discuss much. Rafael, Jose, Luis, Vinicio, Julio, Ludwig and Juan all seem to have developed their own niche by now. It was hard to believe how fast they worked – the luggage rack inside the bus was assembled and installed within one hour.

Usually while filming, a heightened sense of sight and sound through a viewfinder and a pair of headphones enhance your ability to be fully present in the moment – a feeling that usually has a magnetic pull that keeps me coming back. But the combination of paint fumes, loud saws, and the intense light flashes of the soldering gun striking metal made me less thankful than usual for the power the camera and headphones bring.

The bus was ready to go by 5:00PM and, after catching a few shots of the bus starting up and pulling out, we let the bus drive away. There’s no saying exactly when, but it’ll be a while still before all the paperwork is ready for the bus to start working on the streets. Finally, a chance to rest a bit.

I cannot put into words how relieved I felt to let the bus drive off into the night.