Even the crazy Micros are starting to grow on me. Who needs a cup of coffee in the morning when you can get a jolt of energy flying around a curve way too fast on the way to work! At first, the whole system was quite confusing as there is very little information on how things work. For example, there are so many Micros that it is very hard to tell which is going where. They are all different colors, have numbers and are labeled with signs to locations I've never heard of. I have slowly been figuring this out by asking people but I occasionally end up flying off in the wrong direction. Last weekend, I accidentally took a Micro into the hills and it turned out to be a fantastic adventure. The bus went all the way around the edge of Valparaíso but up in the hills so I could see a view of the city while flying through the beautiful, colorful neighborhoods.
Valparaíso residents are very proud of their transportation systems and it is very much a part of what makes the city so vibrant. Every day, people move about from areas ranging from neighborhoods to farming communities way up in the hills. These varied forms of transportation mean that people don't need cars. In the U.S. I would often go shopping at a large supermarket and load up on all kinds of food for weeks. Here I go to the big open street market every day and take a little bit of food home for the evening. This way, I have fresh vegetables and meat constantly! This is a much more Chilean way of doing things. Many Chileans don't really use refrigerators as they just buy enough food for the day.
