One thing that Brazil as a whole is lacking, and the city of Ilhéus in particular, is safe, affordable and reliable transport.  City buses are few and far between, expensive and can never be counted on.  I take the UESC professor bus in the mornings to get to work, but some of my classes end at awkward times between school-sponsored buses home.  This means that I have to tackle the daily challenge of getting home as if I were a student: hitchhike or wait for a bus that might never come.

At first, I was completely against hitchiking for all of the same reasons why it's illegal in the U.S.  Howevever, I quickly realized that it's a huge and common part of the culture here.  Most students hitchike to and from UESC not only to save money but also because it's faster (and quite possibly safer - more on that in a later post) and way more comfortable.


The phrase "to hitchhike" in Portuguese is "pedir corona" and is handled in the traditional way; students stand along the side of the road and hold their thumbs out.  Because the university is on the only main road between the two cities of Itabuna and Ilhéus, the hopeful students have a lot of chances.  Most get picked up in a matter of minutes.

I have hitchhiked quite a few times already but I only ever go with a group of other students; nobody ever hitches alone.  It has always been interesting to talk with the drivers; most of them are commuters who always pick up students needing a ride.  The safest bet is to hitch with a professor from UESC, most of whom are very sympathetic to the transport struggles of the students.  Depending on the time and personality of the driver I've been dropped off in the center of Ilhéus in which I still have to take one more bus to get home but I've also been dropped off at my doorstep.

Though I wasn't a big fan of hitchhiking at first, after waiting hours for too many nonexistent buses and watching crowds of students beat me home, I've joined the ranks of those sticking out thumbs.  When in Rome . . .

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