10 SOUNDS FROM A BUS DRIVER + DICTIONARY

1) tss-tsssst (the sound you make when you’re trying to get a stray, dirty cat away from your legs, semi-aggressive, seemingly offensive until you realize this is how the bus co-pilot gets EVERYONE’S attention) – get your money out and shuffle down to cram this bus to a sardine-capacity

2) whhoooooorrh (long, continuos, medium-ptich whistle) – get on the bus, we’re leaving

3) wheerh wheerh weerh (short, bursting, high-pitched whistle, accompanying name of destination) – hurry, hurry, now we’re actually going to leave this stop

4) honk hoooonnnnnkk (short bursting honk, then long honk) – bus communicating “hello, I’m on the road” with other drivers and pedestrians

5) Maga Maga Maga!!! – perhaps we are headed to the market

6) Kissing sound, repeated 3 times – get your money out to pay the co-pilot/conductor guy (usually younger than driver—working his way up to driver status?) your 5 rupees, or move from your seat

7) Nht nht nht neht neht nht (melodic in tone, high to low, clicking sound, as if you are calling a squirrel over to you)— I’m going to get you some change for your bus fare, just wait a moment

8) Psst pss psss pss – whispers between bus driver and co-pilot, often accompanied by short and low giggles

9) Midamah Midamah Midamah Midamah (low, monotone, emphasis on the “ah”) – possible end location is Miramar Beach, near our home – could also be Mapusa – 30 minutes away in the opposite direction, we’ll figure it out after the first stop, depending on which way the bus pulls out of the station

10) Hhhhaaaghh ptoooy (big loogy hawking, launched about 12 feet from the bus, a heroic loogie -- landing inches from the heads of lady's strolling) – I’m a manly driver, I can near-miss pedestrians, fly through speed bumps and defy cliffs with the best of ‘em)

*We are still learning new sounds/whistles/peculiar noises and their meanings! Dave and I started to keep a little note pad dedicated solely to our bus travel experiences here -- It's difficult to write, amidst bumps, sardine-style people and our looking at each other and laughing . . . But there are more bus observations to come (hint -- I saw a neon green bus with huge red lettering, it read BRENDA.)