It’s six-o’clock in the evening in the Old City: an Indian summer has hit Montevideo in the middle of the fall, and it’s almost ninety degrees. I stroll through the artisans who line Sarandí, the newly restored pedestrian street which stretches from the port to Plaza Independenzia, where I catch the 105 bus which will take me the twelve miles east to my home. The bus looks as though it dates from the seventies, with rickety plastic seats, but spotlessly clean. My ticket costs me sixteen pesos, which is equivalent to sixty cents.

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The hour-long trip is never boring: musicians, poets, and hawkers, selling a range of goods from sweets to lottery tickets, come on at seemingly carefully planned intervals to entertain the passengers. The program is different every day: “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. Look at these plasters I have here: not only are they 100% adhesive, but they are also waterproof, scented, and fit easily into your wallet. You are under no obligation to buy, but at only ten pesos, they’re a bargain.” The young man, polite and cheerful, walks down the aisle handing out the plasters, then comes back to the front again, collecting the unsold ones, and if he’s lucky, a few pesos.

He gets off the bus, and a middle-aged man replaces him. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I used to take crack cocaine, and I’m not ashamed to come onto this bus to talk to you about my experiences, because we all have to fight together to protect our children and rid this country of this terrible scourge…’

The third performer this evening is a teenage rapper, accompanied by a ghetto blaster:

“Jus’ say no, little mama,
jus’ say no pretty lady,
you no wanna get caught in bad thing,
jus’ tell ‘em you gettin’ better…”

This young girl is talented, and the passengers applaud enthusiastically as she finishes. “I’m not looking for payment,” she says, “but the batteries on my machine here are getting pretty low, and it would be great if you could pool together and help me buy some new ones…”

I could drive my car – but why would I miss out on this free daily show? A show which reminds me that I am living in a democratic, tolerant, unpretentious society, which not only allows differences, but hails them.