Patience is a virtue, right?
If we can control nothing else, at least we can control whether we choose to smile or cry (Liz, Me, Straw, and Anna)
Chris taking the bull by the horns and demonstrating a little of that can-do attitude.
Megan fills the downtime by giving Nicole a last minute trim.
So I thought that the initial bus trip to my new hometown was a fluke and therefore I spared you the details following the departure from the bus station. I am here to tell you that the events that unfolded on that first trip were not an anomaly, but appear to be routine. So kick back in your comfortable desk chair and join me on what will inevitably be one of the more excrutiating aspects of my new life.
4:40: Alarm sounds and I bound out of bed because I now know that this will truly be the last hot shower for at least 3 months until our return to Addis for Inservice Training.
5:15: Enter lobby of the hotel ready to go. This time PC has decided to contract buses for us as the events of the first journey to site were painful not only for us, but for PC staff as well! (contract means that we avoid the bus station and PCVs are the only passengers)
5:30: Buses are present, but nobody seems to be doing anything. We should be departing now, but NOTHING is happening. I'm starting to realize my mistake of being on time.
6:00: PC staff decide that we should grab breakfast while they determine what the delay is.
6:30: I return from breakfast to find all of our stuff sitting exactly where we left it. The drivers stand huddled in groups, apparently content to just watch us as we watch them.
6:50: This is ridiculous. Looks like we made need to light a fire. Chris (PCV friend) climbs onto the roof of the nearest bus and begins to do the loading. This, and the threat of no payment from our fabulous PC training director, seem to be the necessary impetus to get the drivers moving. Slowly our possessions begin to make their way onto the bus for the long journey north.
7:40: Last piece of luggage is loaded as the final round of hugs is completed. For many of us, it will be 3 months before we see each other again! Bus pulls out of the hotel and we are off.
7:53: Bus stops…driver disembarks. We sit, wait, and wonder.
8:00: Back on the road
8:05: Wrong turn. Bus performs a 180-degree turn in the middle of traffic.
8:15: Police Stop #1 –security checkpoint.
8:19: Bus sideswipes a donkey. You can hear fur on metal contact. Donkey appears to be dazed and confused, but still standing.
8:45: Music incident. Driver blares traditional Ethiopian music—it's way too early for this! We use the universal symbol of a thumb pointed downward to kindly indicate that he dial it down a bit. Apparently, the symbol is not so universal--volume increases. Hearing loss ensues.
9:40: Police Stop #2--Bus is pulled over by traffic cop. Apparently "click it or ticket" applies here as well. Money exchanges hands and we are on our way.
9:42: Police Stop #3—Pulled over again. Reason unknown.
10:27: Police Stop #4--Reason unknown
10:58: Police Stop #5 –Reason unknown
11:16: Police Stop #6—I'm not sure if I should be comforted or concerned with regard to the number of police stops that we have encountered. One thing I do know…we are NEVER going to get there!
11:27: Here we are at the Blue Nile Gorge. My favorite part of the journey! Ok…for those of you who can't read my sarcasm in between the lines…this is the most painful part of the journey. The gorge itself is stunningly beautiful. The road through it is not. The Blue Nile Gorge is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon---I'm NOT joking. The difference is that this one has a road through it. The road was built by the Italians and one guidebook that I read uses the phrases "one of the most chilling roads" and "awesome feat of engineering" to describe it. I would concur. It is 30km of bone jarring, jaw dropping, stomach heaving road. I do not relish the thought of passing this way again anytime soon!
11:49: Violent bump results in a friend's bloody nose as her head smacks the seat in front of her. Fortunately we are prepared with our "Burdett in a Bag" (Burdett is our fabulous medial officer) and she is able to staunch the flow of blood before the onset of anemia.
12:24: We finally reach the base of the gorge. On the previous journey I asked an Ethiopian passenger why a new bridge was being built. His response, "the one we must travel across is cracking." Too much information! This is when I believe that ignorance is bliss. We wait while the bus in front of us crosses---only one at a time, because…it's cracking! I hope that our bus is not the "tipping point"!
13:10: Bus tips violently in unstable gravel. A tingle of fear hits the base of my spine. I pray. Wheels finally find purchase on stable ground and my heart begins beating once again…just a bit faster this time.
13:20: We are finally out of the gorge! 18 miles in 2 hours!! Not a land record, but we have survived without too much physical or mental trauma.
13:50: We arrive in the next small town and stop for a break. We grab a bite to eat, use the shint beyt (bathroom) and drop off our first PCV. Bye Eden!
14:40: Back on the road.
14:45: Police Stop #7
15:26: Police Stop #8. This time there's a twist…the officers board the bus and ride with us.
15:36: Police Stop #9. Our officers leave us.
16:00: Home at last! I don't plan on leaving town for a good long while for no other reason then I can't endure this bus trip until my memory of the journey fades and feeling returns to my bum.
I have finally arrived….11 Hours and 20 minutes since my day began, and 8 hours after boarding the bus. Anyone interested in coming to visit???? I'll leave the light on…or perhaps the candle burning for you!
