The Wheels on the Bus

I ride the bus.  I really do.  I did it in Arizona during college, and I recently started doing it here, once the weather got nice enough to stand both being outside and being stared at like I'm the last woman on earth. 

That's right, I get stared at.... A LOT.  Like, so much so, if it happened in the US I would NOT be riding the bus.  But penalties for harassment are pretty stiff (stiff, dead, get it?), so I don't worry about it, but let them.  I don't have a "back off" face like the bitches of Abudhabiwoman say you need to cultivate.  I always have that little inscrutable Mona Lisa smile that new people misinterpret as me surreptitiously laughing at them (bonus points for the SAT words in that sentence!) 

Hint: I'm not laughing at you; I just find humor or irony in most situations and my face is an open book.  

I also cry at movies.

OK, back to the bus.   The bus stop is just a sign post at the edge of the parking lot.  Not the edge of the parking lot you think it would be on, but one the other side of the mall, the place no one goes.

That's it.  Just wait here.  Somehow, a bus will pick you up.

There's no schedule beyond "Buses run every 30 minutes between 6am and 10pm." So be sure and mark the time you get there so you know if you're running late or not.  The bus won't help you.  The cost is 2 dirham (about 50 cents) and I can ride it all the way downtown to the Wadha Bus Station where a short walk will take me to my GP or a short cab to my neurologist. 

Can't miss it, it's a giant, pea green concrete patio

All buses also lead to the Carrefour (C4 to those in the know) by the liquor store, but not having a license to buy, I've been too nervous to go there.  This may be my last post about riding the bus because now I have a driver's license and can take the car just about whenever I want.  Whenever I want means, "Whenever I'm out of beer" or "Whenever bacon would make this dinner more delicious". 

Necessary!

More Necessary!

 Riding the bus would seem like it's for everyone.  But I live near the labor camps.  The labor camps are LARGE dormitories where the lowest class of laborers live.  They all use the same bus stop as I do, and a voluptuous white girl with uncovered hair and shoulders is probably the most exciting thing they'll see all week.  It's also strange enough in my area that women on the bus will unabashedly take my photo without shame and without asking.  Note to the Indian woman last time:  I would have smiled and posed for you had you asked.

So, along with all the baggage that comes from riding from the labor camps to downtown, the bus is kind of a crap shoot.  I got on a bus labelled "120 Abu Dhabi" the other day.  Just what I wanted.  When I got on the sign inside said "180 Al Raha Beach", not what I wanted.  So I spent the ride (going the right direction) in a state of anxiety wondering if I'd get where I needed to go.  I didn't.  I ended up getting off 2 kilometres beyond where I wanted and taking a cab back to be on time for my doctor's appointment, and all hope of fish and chips for lunch were crushed beneath the weight of the unknown.   Now that I think about it, how did I get home? 

Was probably still too distracted by a fish and chips craving to remember

There's also the nice, safe way they put the stops.  Instead of putting stops somewhere near a crosswalk or in a parking lot, they put them right on the opposite side of the road from where the corresponding stop (going the opposite direction) is.  That means a rousing game of Abu Dhabi Frogger as you try and get home/the mall/park/etc. 

Looks like this...

...feels like this

So I ride the bus.  Sometimes.  It's not fun, but it's cheap and means that until the weather gets unbearable I can make my own way into town.  Once it breaks 100, who knows what I'll do.  Oh wait, I know, I'll steal Dan's car.