I have been adjusting to city life a little bit more every day. I would have to adjust to city life in America, so it’s even more difficult in a different culture. Some days I feel very comfortable here and other days I just want to stay in the quiet of our home. One thing that I have to get used the different public modes of transportation. They include the following:
- · Rickshaw - This includes a little man peddling a bicycle and the passenger sitting in a cart/carriage type thing. Rickshaws cannot travel very far, but they are cheaper than autos and pretty convenient when you are running late. It is probably the one I use the most. Price about 10-20 rupees depending how far you’re going.
- · Autos - These are kind of like taxi's, except not. They hold 3 plus the driver legally. You have to be tough with these guys or they will try to charge you more than the fair price. Depending on where you are going it will cost 50-150 rupees.
- · Bus- I have not taken the bus very often. They are very crowded and there is not really a system in place as far as where you are going so you have to be familiar with the area. Men just hang off the doors of the bus and shout out where the bus is going. It is the cheapest mode of transportation 5-7 rupees.
Last Sunday I went with two of our teammates, Ash and Shay, to work on a drama for youth day with some youth we know. We were fortunate enough to be able to access all three modes of transportation and had quite an eventful day.
We hailed an auto driver to take us to the neighborhood where we were having the practice. It's quite a ways away from our house 150 rupees worth, but the auto driver said he knew where we were going, but he lied. He dropped us off in the middle of fancy bazaar, which is your stereotypical bazaar you would see in movies or in the amazing race. We are helplessly lost but we have to get out of the auto because we cannot give him directions to get us to our destination because we don't even know where we are at and we are almost out of rupees. We called our friend up and she told us we were probably close enough to get a rickshaw driver if we could find one that knew where the place was. We found one and we all piled into the tiniest rickshaw cart I have ever seen, it was not exactly comfortable. Ash and I were sitting on the seat and Shay was on top of me holding on to the rickshaw for dear life yelling "I love this city" at the top of her lungs every time we hit a speed bump. I'm sure we looked hilarious.
Once we got there practice went really well and we enjoyed the time with our new friends. We went out to lunch afterwards and after we filled our stomachs we were feeling brave enough to try the bus...
Our first problem was we were standing on the wrong side of intersection to catch a bus back toward the way we wanted. It was inconvenient to stand on the side of the road we were supposed to be on though because the buses only have doors on one side, and the men hanging out of the doors say where the bus is headed, and we were no longer facing the doors. Finally one bus slowed down enough Ash was able to go around and ask. A little man poked his head out the window of the bus and told my other teammate and I that the bus was going to our destination. As we started to walk around the side of the bus another bus pulled up and we took a step back to avoid being hit, but unfortunately at the same time we took a step back the first bus, the bus we wanted to get on pulled forward. We were expecting to see Ash on the other side when the bus pulled away, but she was not there. ..SHE HAD GOTTEN ON THE BUS! Shay and I just about died laughing on the side of the road; it was just a hilarious situation. We found another bus that was going that way and we were able to meet up with her at the store we had planned on going to. Ash told us that it was even funnier on the bus because as it was pulling away all the national people on the bus turned and looked at her with looks of horror and concern on their faces. Their expressions were like "Oh no! What are you going to do? Your white friends are still on the side of the road and now you’re all alone" I still laugh when I think about it.
After we did our shopping we were going to meet a friend for supper and falling in the pattern of the day our auto on the way there ran out of fuel, but he hailed us another one and didn't charge us which was really nice of him.
It was one of those days that nothing really went the way we expected and it could've been a horrible day, but we chose to enjoy the experiences and it was one of the best days here. Besides I learned a lot of valuable lessons on city travel that day.
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| Rickshaw |
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| Auto |
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