Life has been going pretty good here but the past couple of days have been a bit frustrating in the area of transportation. Last night I was at a friend’s house and I left early so that I would be able to catch a trolley-bus. I waited about fifteen minutes and then one came. Fifteen minutes is not really that long. The bus went three stops and then the driver got out and we sat there for at least ten minutes while he took a break. We finally got moving and a few stops later I got off. I walked to the tram line to go the rest of the way by tram. It is only a fifteen minute walk from this point but it was dark and I didn’t have my flashlight and I would have to go through unlit woods. I decided it would be smarter to wait for the tram. Normally, for a tram, I never wait more than five minutes. Twenty minutes later the tram came. After an hour and a half I was home from a 25 minute trip.
Then today on my way to school I had another difficult time. I used to take the tram to school and then part way there I would transfer to a trolley-bus. About a month ago I decided to walk to a trolley-bus stop and take that the entire way to school. This morning as I was walking to the stop I saw two of my trolley’s in a row pass me. That was not a good sign. The road was gridlocked. I walked to the stop anyway, hoping for a mashrootka. A mashrootka is a van that is similar to a bus. It goes quicker. Every single van that I needed decided it didn’t want to stop. The traffic was horrible. After a half hour of standing in the cold I walked to the tram line. I got on a tram to do my old route. Less than a mile down the road were the two trolleys’ that had passed me on my way to the stop. In a half an hour they had gone less than a mile! When I got to my transfer point there were no trolley buses. Finally I was able to get a mashrootka and I even made it to school on time!
Life here takes so much more energy. I day out in the city and riding on public transportation is draining. You never know what you are going to encounter and it seems like you have to be ready for anything.
1 comment:
Hi, Sarah. You don't know me, but I am a friend of Lisa Smith's. I just returned to the States after living in Russia for three years (in Irkutsk). I can relate very well to what you're saying here. If you're interested in checking out my blog (linked to my name), you can read about my life in Russia by going to the 'Russia' category referenced about halfway down on the left-hand side. Perhaps some entries will make you laugh, and others may help you to not feel alone in your experience. :)
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