Spotlight on: el ómnibus

I've never lived in a large city for an extended period of time, so I've never had the opportunity to develop a preference for one form of public transportation over another. However, little more than one week has passed since I arrived in Montevideo, and I do believe I'm developing a soft spot for "el ómnibus."

With no subway system to speak of, you're left with two options in Montevideo--taxi or ómnibus. There are several reasons I prefer the latter:

• Cost. A trip on the bus will be between $18-27 (approx. $1-$2 USD), whereas a cab ride starts at around $27 (again in pesos). There is a bus stop about 2 blocks from my house, so the winner here is clear.
• No directions! On the ómnibus, you need only tell them "una hora" "dos horas" o "común" and your work is done. I imagine this will matter less as I become a better Spanish speaker, but giving directions is awful right now. Me with my strong accent, the driver with theirs, and a plexiglass wall between us to muffle the sound--a recipe for pure confusion.
• People-watching. Lower your eyebrows; we all do it. This one is self-explanatory for the most part, I think. People-watching for me also means people-listening. Some might call it eavesdropping, but I think it's qualitatively different when the goal is to get accustomed to the Uruguayan manner of speaking rather than garner information. 
• The music. Hands down the most entertaining part of the ride. Sometimes there are musicians on the bus who will play a song or two before getting off, which is pretty great, but for me the best is the radio. As far as I can tell, the ómnibus playlist consists of mostly 80s classic rock and disco hits, with a few other top 40 hits from the '90s, '00s, and now mixed in. We're talking a whole lot of Bryan Adams (like this, this, and this (but unfortunately none of this (yet))). There may or may not be a series of "Today on Ómnibus" posts coming your way with particularly enjoyable songs.

The list could go on, but this post is long enough already, yeah? Yeah. By the way, I took this picture on Friday (El día internacional del turista). This bus is about to take me, Mary, and Lily (other students in the Middlebury program) to our first tango lesson. Legit. :D