NOT in Kansas anymore....!

Tiana and i THOUGHT we had the local bus system all figured out. Turns out we DIDN`T, and boy did we have to learn the hard way!

So yesterday afternoon, we decide to head downtown - to la ciudad (the city)!! Because this weekend, we`re going to the RAINFOREST, and we needed to buy some shoes, hats, plastic bags, etc.

There are 2 buses that come into our village (what Tiana and I call our "hood"), the E bus and the X10. But the E bus has 2 types, the "Seminario" and "San Pedro". They go in the same area, just different routes. For some wierd reason, we assumed that all 3 of these buses just keep going around in a circle-type route.

So we get on the "Seminario" bus. BUT, instead of leaving our hood, it instead goes deeper and deeper into the village....where there are less and less houses..... the further we go, the less people are left on the bus.... the last 20 min was driving along cobblestone/dirt streets! Good thing neither of us get motion sickness! But we still kept believing that this was a different route to la ciudad! But NO.

The bus comes to a complete stop, after weaving through some cows and sheep here and there. The driver notices us, and by then, we`re feeling pretty silly! Did we think that by following the orange cobblestone road we would get us to the Wonderful Market of Odds?? (that`s the best i could come up with.. hope you get it)

We were able to communicate to him that we are trying to get to la ciudad! And he says that in 7 minutes the bus will start up again and go towards la ciudad. Soooo, the buses DON`T go around in circles, it goes back and forth between two points.

After just sitting in the bus for those 7 minutes, we head back the route we came along. And an hour later, we finally get to la ciudad!! It really should`ve only taken 15 min. See, what we actually needed to do was take the San Pedro. Because once the Semanario reaches the end, it turns around and becomes the San Pedro. Basically, the San Pedro is heading TO town, and the Semanario is coming IN to the hood. See, the reason why we thought they both go downtown is because we only have a map of la ciudad, and San Pedro and Semanario both go through. (becuase one is coming in to town, one heading out of town). Confusing? Yea, reading it, it might be, seeing the map, it shouldn`t be, but it was for us!

But anyways, after an hour, we finally make it to la ciudad, and after about 3 hours of walking around, we managed to get everything we needed. Around 6:30, we decide to hop on the X10 bus, that we thought would take us back to our hood!

See, you`d THINK we`d learn that the buses DON`T go around in a circle, so you`d THINK we`d check which direction this bus is going. But we`d never been on the X10 yet, and we thought it might have magical powers, or it would make exceptions just for us "gringos" (foreigners). But NO.

So the bus leaves la ciudad, and starts going towards the suburbs... absolutely NOTHING looks familiar, and its just getting darker and darker as we drive along. Tiana at one point thinks she sees a bridge that we cross to get to our side of town, but i kindly point out to her that she is hallucinating. We were definately NOT in Kansas anymore.

After about 50 minutes on the bus, we finally come to the conclusion that we should get off this bus, and try to catch the X10 bus going the other, the RIGHT direction that would take us to our hood! But its almost pitch black out, except for the streetside lamps, and we thought we`d get robbed before the X10 comes again, so we stay on a little longer.

Finally we come to a brightly lit gas station, and we jump off. And GOOD THING, because after we got off, we watched as the bus turned onto to a rocky dirt road, and continued on into the MOUNTAINS.... kid you NOT.

By this point, well, actually the whole time, Tiana and I are just cracking each other up. I`m so glad that we are both able to laugh at the situation, and neither of us are PRINCESSES (ohimesama) that would just break down and start crying. This misadventure was definately a blast.

OK, so back to the bus ride. By the time we get off the bus, its about 7:45pm. But, where we got off, it must be some kind of bus stop, cuz there were 2 empty X10 buses, and when we asked, they said one of them is heading towards town in a few minutes!! YAY!

So we get on one of those, and wait. We are running on adrenaline, and are really hyper. So I try on everything i bought that day, including my new floresent pink raincoat! ITs awesome, i`m defiantely bringing that item home.

After a while, the bus starts to move! And we are BACK ON TRACK!

So it takes us another 45 min to get back to town, but once we are in la ciudad, there are so many people, and the bus actually goes right through the most crowded, busiest street downtown, where the market is, so we keep stopping, then moving about 10 feet, then stopping again(like SERIOUSLY stopping, as in turning off the engine).

When we finally get out of la ciudad, everything was smooth sailing from there. And we got home at.... 9:30pm. So to get home, it took us 3 hours!!! It should`ve only taken 15 min....if we`d only got on the RIGHT BUS!

But we DEFINATELY have the bus system figured out now!!!