Last weekend was a holiday here. We were invited to spend it with some local friends in their hometown. We accepted their invitation, got up early Saturday morning and took a 2 hour bus ride to meet them, then another hour ride with them out to their hometown. We had a great time with them and their family all weekend. We shared meals, talked, sat around with the neighbors, the boys went searching for snakes and frogs (which Hudson loved), and we ate fruit that I could never tell you what it was nor describe it to you.
We discovered that there was one bus that went directly from our friend's hometown directly to our city in less than 3 hours, without changing buses. So we decided to see if it would get us home quicker then the normal 3-4 hour trip. All of our fun, however, ended as we boarded the bus to come home.
Things seemed fine as we found our seats about 3/4 of the way back. Then the bus started moving. 15 minutes into the trip and I realized we had made a big mistake. The bus driver was driving at record speeds on small roads with lots of curves and potholes. Up and down, around and over. And we were sitting towards the back.
One of the interesting things about living here is you discover that most people are not used to long car travel. They walk everywhere. Maybe they will take a 10 minute bike ride somewhere or a quick taxi ride, but very very seldom do they take long car/bus rides. It is hard for us to imagine what it might be like, since as my teacher says, "Americans are practically born in cars aren't they?" I have met so many people who just can't leave their city becasue it is too uncomfortable for them to ride anywhere for any amount of time. The motion is too great.
So, back to my story. 15 minutes into the ride I start hearing the rumbling of plastic bags. I look down and see that every seat has 2 barf bags. Not a good sign. There was a poor girl sitting behind me that had her head in the bag the whole 3 hours. Then the poor young couple with a newborn who kept passing her back and forth so the other could....well, use the barf bag. Friends, I couldn't turn my ipod up loud enough or stop breathing long enough to avoid the array of smells that were infiltrating my space. On top of this, I, myself have been known to need to "sit where I can see the road ahead" as to avoid sickness. I was fighting to keep myself from being sick just trying to stare straight ahead and listen to my music VERY loudly.
About an hour and a half into the trip, more and more people were being allowed to get on the bus as we passed them on the road, filling up the aisle of the charter bus with people sitting on little plastic stools......themsleves getting sick and causing the temperature on the bus to rise. About that time the man behind Rob let loose of all he had been keeping in and at that moment I hit my low point. Between gags, I felt the tears coming. Tears of denial, laughter, and lunacy. Rob was truly concerned, saying we would get off at the next town and flag down another ride home. He was very compassionate. I pulled it together, and could do nothing but laugh at the situation.
We discovered that there was one bus that went directly from our friend's hometown directly to our city in less than 3 hours, without changing buses. So we decided to see if it would get us home quicker then the normal 3-4 hour trip. All of our fun, however, ended as we boarded the bus to come home.
Things seemed fine as we found our seats about 3/4 of the way back. Then the bus started moving. 15 minutes into the trip and I realized we had made a big mistake. The bus driver was driving at record speeds on small roads with lots of curves and potholes. Up and down, around and over. And we were sitting towards the back.
One of the interesting things about living here is you discover that most people are not used to long car travel. They walk everywhere. Maybe they will take a 10 minute bike ride somewhere or a quick taxi ride, but very very seldom do they take long car/bus rides. It is hard for us to imagine what it might be like, since as my teacher says, "Americans are practically born in cars aren't they?" I have met so many people who just can't leave their city becasue it is too uncomfortable for them to ride anywhere for any amount of time. The motion is too great.
So, back to my story. 15 minutes into the ride I start hearing the rumbling of plastic bags. I look down and see that every seat has 2 barf bags. Not a good sign. There was a poor girl sitting behind me that had her head in the bag the whole 3 hours. Then the poor young couple with a newborn who kept passing her back and forth so the other could....well, use the barf bag. Friends, I couldn't turn my ipod up loud enough or stop breathing long enough to avoid the array of smells that were infiltrating my space. On top of this, I, myself have been known to need to "sit where I can see the road ahead" as to avoid sickness. I was fighting to keep myself from being sick just trying to stare straight ahead and listen to my music VERY loudly.
About an hour and a half into the trip, more and more people were being allowed to get on the bus as we passed them on the road, filling up the aisle of the charter bus with people sitting on little plastic stools......themsleves getting sick and causing the temperature on the bus to rise. About that time the man behind Rob let loose of all he had been keeping in and at that moment I hit my low point. Between gags, I felt the tears coming. Tears of denial, laughter, and lunacy. Rob was truly concerned, saying we would get off at the next town and flag down another ride home. He was very compassionate. I pulled it together, and could do nothing but laugh at the situation.
This is the view from Rob's seat. Please notice the guy in front of him, he was practically leaned in Rob's lap as his seat was broken in the "fully reclined" position. Needless to say we exceeded the number of seat that were actually on the bus.
Thankfully we made it home just under 3 hours. The best part was watching everyone file off the bus with their barf bags all tied up ready to deposit in the trash can. Rob said next time we could ride in the front of the bus. NEXT TIME??? I am taking the 3-4 hour bus that uses the nice, new, paved highway!
3 comments:
Ugh, oh!!! K. said you told him about ths story but he had NOT relayed it to me! So sorry about this bus ride. I can almost smell it, hear it, just imagine it. Why must everyone barf with even the slightest bit of jostling? Oh, this one sounds like it was a doozy. I vote for paved highway, too!!
i feel like gagin' just from reading this. hmm, didn't the driver have a waste basket by him. seems like a good place to drop those bags if you ask me! might give him a better hint about his driving.
Oh my Word! I'm so sorry you had to endure that bus ride!
Post a Comment