bussing it

I have decided that I pay way too much money on taxis going to the same places, so recently I embarked on a quest to figure out the bus system. I use the term "system" lightly, for it is more organized chaos than anything else. But during my quest I have discovered buses going to my two favorite places from my circle: Abdali and the university. I am extremely proud of myself, and would like to share with you out there a little bit about what it takes to take the bus:
I live by 7th circle, about a 15 minute walk from the circle in fact. At the circle and around the circle there are random groups of people that stand around waiting for their bus. The only way to ever find out which bus you need to take is to just stick out your arm and ask the driver where he is going. In doing so, I found out that the Madaba bus goes from past the circle to Abdali. I can then trek up to Webdeh or take a cab/service. Depending on my mood. Usually to get to the university I would take the Madaba bus to Abdali then switch to a Sweileh bus. The entire trip took an hour, but heck, I've got nothing but time and I'd rather spend an hour reading on the bus and only spend half a dinar going where I need to go.
Today, with the help of Emily, I found out that there is a bus that goes directly to the university from my circle! how exciting. However, I have no clue when this bus comes and goes. And since there is really no set schedule, and no set numbers, I just know to look for the yellow bus, it will take some time to figure things out. And there will still never be any way to figure it out except to stand on the corner for multiple days and see what it does. I think I will switch my Fulbright research to figuring out the bus system!
Riding on the buses is in itself an adventure. As the bus passes you by you flag it down, ask where it is going, and then hop on. Before you can sit down they have taken off. They all sound like they are going to break down. It's an adventure every ride. Then when you want to get off (since there are no designated bus stops) you yell at the money collector man that you want to get off. And they stop the bus and off you go.
There is an unspoken rule of bus edequite: men don't sit by women unless there is NO WHERE else to sit. That's right men, stay away from me! You can stand for all I care. And, if a man is sitting by a woman and another woman gets on the bus, he should get up and give the other woman his seat by the first woman. I personally think that should be a rule everywhere, because us women deserve to sit every once in awhile. Sometimes, things get a little out of hand and the buses get too crowded and in an effort to keep the women seperate from the men you have sections form: the men to the back of the bus and the women up front. It is a pretty common occurence that the buses get too crowded and this segregation forms. Amusing to watch.
Today's bus adventure reached a new level of haram
Emily and I were chillin on the bus, sitting behind this woman wearing hijab. And then the bus gets too crowded and a guy gets on and there is no where else to sit, so he sits by the woman in front of us. This guy was quite the slimeball. First he won't stop staring at the woman, but heck, we all have to deal with that. For some reason it seems a bit more ridiculous and haram for a guy to be staring at a woman in hijab than it does for him to leer at me and my scandalous showing of hair. So there he is leering at her and then he decides that he doesn't want to follow the other unspoken law of don't touch a woman if you don't know her. So he's slowly edging closer to her. Then, on the seat in front of each person there is a handle bar (the bus version of an "oh shit" handle). So this guy, to stay balanced I'm sure, grabs hold of the bar in front of the woman instead of the one in front of him. Fine, he's invading her space but not too bad. Slowly he starts inching his arm over into her bubble. And he gets farther and farther and farther. I'm watching the progress from my seat as if it were a sporting event or something, wishing I had popcorn and wondering when the ref was going to throw up the yellow flag. Finally, his arm is completely perpendicular to her chest and right in front of her and he is leaning over onto her, and I'm about to smack him in the face. I know she notices because she keeps glancing at him sideways like "what the fuck is your problem man?" It took her awhile to get up her nerve and by this point he's practically on top of her (or as close as one gets in this country) and she looks over at him, politely but sharply says "low samehit!" (if you please) and kind of pushes his arm away. Then she puts her own arm up to hold on to the handle bar, creating a kind of barrier between the two of them. I wanted to applaud her bravery. It was about freaking time. Seriously, that guy was acting like a pre-pubescent boy.
It was the kind of behavior I expected from the actual pre-pubescent boys that were standing next to me, not the full grown man in front of me. what a joke.
And all I have to say to that is:
HARAM!

Kamleh