We said good-bye to Jacob tonight. A couple of hours ago we saw him off at the bus station in a city close to Razgrad called Shuman. After being in Peace Corps Jordan for two years and three months, Jacob is starting a *long* journey back to his home in Portland.
We spent the day relaxing at Shaun's. Jacob packed. I slept. Around midday we headed out for the 50 minute bus ride to Shuman and were cheated out of some leva (the Bulgarian currency) from the bus driver. This is a common practice. He claimed to have heard us say we were going to a city called Varna. Shuman? Varna? Well, they do sound similar.
After a some beers, orange juice, fried mashed potatoes, pizza and coffee in Shuman, it was time for us to take Jacob back to the bus station. He was, understandably very nervous about getting to his flight in Sofia, a city that is a seven hour bus ride away. We were about to send him on his own to negotiate a taxi in Sofia in Bulgarian in a corrupt system armed with a piece of paper that said "How much to the airport?"
It made me nervous, too.
As we stood outside of the bus, Jacob ready to board, Shaun saw a Bulgarian man who he works with sometimes. The man was traveling to the Sofia airport to go to London and offered to travel with Jacob from the bus station to the airport.
"Sometimes," Jacob said with relief, "I believe in god."
There were not as many tears as I expected. This, I do believe, is a good thing.
We said our goodbyes, waved him off, and then Shaun and I headed for a taxi to take us to the interstate towards Razgrad. And then we asked him to leave us there.
We stood on the side of the road, thumbs out, hopeful. There were no more busses to Razgrad. The taxi would have cost us 35 Leva. Our taxi driver had been dour about our chances but we chalked it up to him wanting to score a few bucks.
"It's 7:30," I told Shaun. "I'll time it to see how long it takes."
We were stared at by people with full cars, people with empty cars, and a couple truck drivers. One waved his hand as if to say "I'm sorry." I cooed to Shaun that someone was apologetic. Then the apologetic truck driver pulled over and Shaun and I ran our asses over to his cab.
We had waited a whole half a minute and got back to Razgrad faster than any bus we have taken. Including a one kilometer walk.
Thank you, tired, caffeinated, nicotined Truck Driver. I hope you get some sleep soon.
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2 comments:
ah... i remember the days of getting ripped off by cab drivers. i wish i was there with you.
i actually think that this guy's fee was reasonable. it's been bus drivers and train ticket checkers that have been a problem. what with their "taxes" and all.
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