I must continue with my moment by moment mentality, and tell
you about our journey back to Muyenzi on Monday. Our alarms went off at 3:30am,
since we were told to be at the bus stand by 4am. We pack up, avoid looking in
the mirror, wonder why on earth we do this to ourselves and try to sneak out
quietly. That was silly of us though, since the front gate was bolted multiple
times, and no one was around to let us out. Current mood: It’s way to early for
this nonsense… AH! Finally, we wake up a woman inside who calls the security
guard to unlock the gate for us. At this point, we all hate our lives. Marisa
and I head across the street to the bus stand, and try to search out our bus in
the dark. Now, I’ll be frank here, but bus stands are one of my least favorite
places because it is the prime place to be hassled by people. And at 4am, the
last thing I want to be doing is fending off strangers that what to talk with
us. Current mood: annoyed. Also, our bus was no where to be seen, so the
possibility that we were stiffed the day before on our tickets was plausible.
Thankfully, the bus did arrive, albeit late, and we were able to board, take
our seats, and fit all of our bags in the space overhead. Current mood: relief.
I will mention that while the bus appeared normal size from the outside, it had
the world’s smallest seats. My knees touched the seat in front of me, and I was
on top of Marisa and in the aisle at the same time. There was very little air
circulation, and the smell was too much to take. Current mood: This is going to
be the longest 9 hours of my life; I just want to be back in Muyenzi! We rolled
out at 5:30, (we so could have slept in!), and began the long trip home. Most
of the ride was tolerable, but there were some definite low points. 1. A woman
with a baby standing in the aisle next to me (standing is common when there
aren’t enough seats), stomps on my foot when we hit a bump. Painful. 2. Same
woman is able to sit down in the aisle next to me, which should be fine, until
she gets sick…I will spare you the details, and while my skirt came into minor
contact, it could have been worse. 3. This woman was able to take the seat
behind me when a man got off, but we very soon picked up at least 20 people at
this point, all without seats, all smashed in the aisle. Approximately 4 men
were standing over me for at least a few hours, bumping me in the head and
infringing on my personal space bubble. 4. All of the men get off. Phew! And a
new boy comes and sits down across the aisle from me. Within 10 minutes, I felt
something wet fall on my foot, so I look down only to notice that he was also
sick. Current mood: I actually hate my life. I think I simply blocked the rest
of this ride from my mind, because next thing I remember is finally being back
at Muyenzi 12 hours after our adventure started. I’ve never been more thankful,
grateful, and happy to be home!
Moment by moment...........
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