Last week, I did one of the seemingly most common mistakes of exchange students. My host sister has been ill and my host mother had to go to work, so it was up to me to get to school on my own.
Now, buses in Russia are very different from the buses I've rode from Monmouth to Salem. There are usually only about 10 people on my ride to Salem, and I've only had to stand on the bus twice. But in Russia, everyone takes the bus. In the morning, I happen to ride 54 which may be the busiest bus ever. Every morning I am a couple minutes late because I have to wait for 54 to come to the stop twice before there is enough room to squeeze onto the bus. And by squeeze, I mean I can barely fit between the door and the other people.
So wanted to try to avoid the crowded bus by taking a different bus to school. A bus I take home often, 46, also goes to my stop. So it made sense, in my head, that the bus that often takes me home would take me to school. However, as you can probably guess by now, it didn't. I failed to remember that I only take 46 home from my Russian lessons, not home from school.
This mistake caused me to ride the bus to the end of the route, where the woman who collects the bus fare told me to get off (I think. She said something I can't spell, but translates to "of course".) So I donned my backpack and stepped off the bus. My first thought was to check the bus stop and see if I knew a bus there. I saw a sign saying T1. I knew my host sister and I have taken bus 1 home before so I figured I could take the bus home, sleep off my embarrassment and go to school an hour later. It wasn't until the bus arrived, after nearly half an hour in the cold, that I remembered the T meant троллибус 1 and we rode автобус 1. So I narrowly avoided getting more lost and set off on my journey. If I'm completely honest, I expected to panic. I panic over tiny things, like cantering on horses or getting a B in biology. Rationally, being lost in a foreign country where I am not yet able to adequately speak the language, would cause me to panic. But I just walked. The sky was white with snow filled clouds, which seem just as full as rain clouds without the moody grey color. While the snow in the roads was mostly cleared, there was some black slush, but the sidewalks had been so heavily trod upon the snow was packed into ice. I listened to the same two albums I bought, along with a few of the U2 songs I didn't as I walked the empty streets. I didn't say much, a single <<доброе утро>> to an old man. I'll also admit to muttering to myself and repeatedly saying my host-sisters' favorite word блин. I also love this word because the direct translation is pancake, however people often use it as "damn."
So there I was humming Paramore songs and muttering "pancake" over and over until I came across another bus stop. I didn't recognise any of the buses on the side of the street I was on so I crossed to the other side to check the stop there. Still no buses I knew. Then I remembered my sister who was home sick. After a call and a few texts and many "pancakes" later, it was decided I would need to look for another stop. Then, as if it were meant to be, bus 54 drove past the corner. Looking back on it, I should have just kept walking straight and turned left to the stop that bus 54 had just been at, but no! I crossed the street once more and proceeded to walk what turned out to be a little over a mile to the stop 54 was on. I also realized there was again a stop on the other side of the street. Unsure of which direction would take me to home or school, I called my sister. She was confused by what I was asking and bus 54 came and went. Literally when the doors closed, my sister said I was at the right stop, and bus 54 would take me home. Bus 53 would take me to school. At this point I figured I would only have 2 more lessons, so I might as well go home and sleep. I checked the board and saw it would be 8 more minutes before the bus returned. But thanks to traffic, I sat there for half an hour playing Kirby and the Magic Mirror, waiting for the bus.(I am proud I am at 51% complete but the stupid cannon/spike level in one of the castles is so hard!)
When the bus finally arrived, I heard church bells. And I'm not being dramatic, a church was chiming 10 o'clock. With a huge sigh of relief I got onto the crowded, but blissfully less crowded than usual bus. I watched the unfamiliar stops fade as I began to recognise the stops.. Getting closer to school. I could taste my sweet lollipop turn sour, as if my mood made the lemon flavor suddenly over power the sugary goodness. The bus chimed and a woman's voice said улица труда and I got off the bus before I could convince myself to "accidentally miss" it and go home. But I arrived at school and had a good day and an amazing soup for lunch with my friends. All in all, my third unplanned adventure wasn't all that bad. I may write about the second someday, if I ever figure out how to properly capture the feeling of a microwave food diner. The first is sorta traumatic and involves airports. That story will come soon too.
I hope you enjoyed my story, and as always
Пока пока
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