Bus Rides

Bus rides are always an adventure.

This weekend, a friend and I got on a bus, paid for tickets to a city and told one of the bus workers that we needed to stop at a village before the next bigger city. A couple of hours later, we had veered away from the main road, circumventing the stop we needed, and arrived in the big city--not our destination.

Through communication with my friend, she arranged for a friend of hers to meet us and ride a different bus with us to her village. That bus arrived soon after the local high school ended for the day, so students and everyone else packed into the bus, filling every available space.

Finally, we arrived at my friend's village, where she met us as we stepped off the bus. We ate in her home and talked with her family. My friend mostly talked as I tried to understand a word or two. An hour and a half later, we returned to the city by an hour and a half bus ride because my friend needed to be home to teach some children she helps with their schoolwork. That time, we found seats.

Again, today, I rode the bus with some good friends to the village for the day, and on the way back, the bus got very crowded at one point, but the rest of the time, we had seats.
 

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings