Bus Riding

An international crew of bus riders!

One thing I'm doing in Tucson is interning at International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees settle in the United States. My main task is to teach them how to ride the bus. Here is today's bus riding group (except Mohammad, who is taking the picture.) You'll notice refugees don't tend to smile for pictures, but they are all having a great time. What could be more fun than waiting for a bus in 97 degree heat with a bunch of people you can hardly communicate with?  Seriously, they're loving this.

On the left there is mother (Monica) and son (Ata) from Afghanistan. The woman on the bench (Isabel) and the man on the right are from Cuba, and he (Juan) is just great. He asks all the other folks where they're from, if they think it's hot here, where they live, all kind of things, but mostly in Spanish, so the conversations are very short. I also love his hat, sunglasses, and bag, he looks just like a happy fatherly/touristy guy visiting his daughter at college or something. It's been great using my Spanish again with those folks to explain how the bus works. The rest of the guys on the bench are all Sudanese, two are named Mohammad (not including the Mohammad taking the picture) and the other one is Ahmed.

We get a new group every two weeks, so these guys will graduate and be expert bus riders in no time, and I'll be showing a whole new group how to take the bus!