Robyn.Bowles.es

Ah, the city life. The other day I had a fleeting moment of panic as I found myself in a bottleneck of people trying to shove their way on to a bus. It was my first trip to a new teaching assignment outside the city. The director was going with me to show me the way and to introduce me to the students. He went to the front of the bus because he had to buy a ticket, and encouraged me to enter through the middle door since I had the frequent rider pass (called “abono”), and was already becoming snugly situated among the others readying themselves for the desperate fight that was about to ensue.

I could feel my body getting crushed, and I think that my feet actually left the ground as the people who were ascending up the stairs carried me with them.

I got on. The director did not. He called me on my cell phone to let me know he’d grab a taxi – and what landmarks to look for. Along with the throngs of people that packed every inch of that bus, our body heat caused the windows to fog. Fortunately, most of the people cleared out before I had to get off, so I was finally able to go up to the driver and ask where the bus stop was.

The bus ride home was fairly uneventful, though long and winding. I had slight nausea by the time we hit the city and got off at the first Metro stop I saw. I have got to find a better way – hopefully one that does not include waking up at 5:00 (instead of 5:45 a.m. when I did get up)!

Later, as I recalled the bus episode, I realized that I cannot go through that every day! So I spent hours pouring over maps, train schedules, and online bus routes trying to find an alternate route using the train, which stops ten minutes from my home. I was ecstatic when I found that the same bus that stops at the office, also stops at the train station just 2.5 km north of it. The next day I did a trial run, minus the bus ride, so I knew exactly where the bus stop was.

We later had dinner with our Spanish friends. I told them about my bus experience and my stake out of the alternate route by train. They made me nervous though when they told me that there are people who work for the train company whose job it is to push people onto the train; and that it’s not the mode of transportation that makes it bad – it’s the time of day. I’m praying that they are wrong.

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