Trains and Rebirth

On Tuesday, our meetings ended late in the afternoon. I really wanted to go running, and knew that if I walked, I would probably not make it back in time. My fight against running in the dark is becoming more and more difficult as the days shorten. At least tomorrow is the shortest day of the year, so I will slowly earn back the minutes that have been taken so cruelly from me. With several of the other volunteers, we ventured off to the train station thinking that it would be like any of our other train rides, a few people scattered all over the train, with plenty of space to sit. As we approached the train station, we noticed that the platform was crowded with people. This is not too unfamiliar of a sight right before the train arrives. I ran to buy my ticket thinking that the train was seconds away from arriving. My rush to purchase my ticket was in vain because we ended up waiting 10 minutes before the train arrived. The train was packed with people. There was still space for me to get on, and then pack in comfortably as a sardine in a sea of people. I lost my balance, but fortunately the bed of people cushioned me, preventing my untimely falling.
As the train pulled out of the station, I thought, this is what those pictures of trains in the townships looked like during apartheid- now I get to experience the life of a typical African commuter. Each station we passed, more people piled into the overfilled vessels. Many hung from the doors preventing them from closing. This was frightening since the train moves at high speeds and jerks and juts all over the track. I think I would fall off- but I am reminded that the people here have incredible control over their bodies. They can carry full baskets of laundry or newspapers or whatever you can imagine on their heads with no problems. The klutziness factor that I have inherited seems to elude these people.
Getting out the train was like being born. My innards were squeezed as I pushed my body through the mass of people. I had to exert all of my power to exit the train as more people were piling on the train in the opposite direction. The process was painful and exhilarating. I didn't know if it was physically possible for me to make it through the impossibly small gap in people. The train began going down the track again as I finally pulled free from the mass of people. I stood on the platform relieved to have made it off of the train. People attached to the train like barnacles hit me as they passed, frightening me slightly. There was absolutely no space for me to push into the mass of people on the platform. I escaped the train station and made it in time for my run, although in a compressed form. I feel like I have a better understanding of some of the struggles the typical South African faces in going to and from to work- one of which is a faulty public transportation system- never on time, and without enough space for all of the commuters, yet I am grateful that there is something available for those who can't afford cars, taxis, and other forms of transport.