Adventures in Public Transportation (aka learning to chill)

Today I got home from work in 40 minutes, record time! This was a major feat considering just last week it took me two long hours in the grueling heat to get home. So far, catching the bus in Rome is like finding a $5 bill in your winter jacket; you always find it when you don't need it, and it's never there when you do. Three times last week I waited for my bus for just short of an hour. When I complain about the buses being late or entirely absent to my students, co-workers, or friends that have lived here for awhile, their response is always "that's Italy." Everyone is always late, in fact 15 minutes is not considered late, rather it is right on time.

Last week after a particularly tough day of work I saw my bus leaving the stop right as I was approaching. Since I didn't want to wait an hour for the next one I did what any normal person would do; I chased it with all I had in me. I caught up with it long enough to bang on its side a few times and when it still didn't stop I proceeded to trail it waving my arms wildly over my head. Finally, it seemed to take pity on me and stopped. Thank goodness the bus was empty so that no one saw my shameless attempt to catch the bus. The bus driver, however, saw it all and continued to sit with the bus in park laughing at me and reenacting what I looked like chasing the bus for longer than I'd like to remember. He was making the motions and everything (hand slapping bus, arms flailing above my head). Thanks man, glad I could entertain.

This is not my only public transit blunder so far in Rome, not by far. I could probably write a blog based solely on the stupid crap I do day to day. About a month ago I got stuck in the metro doors and had to fish myself out before the metro carried me sandwiched between the thick automatic portals to my certain death. This was the first and last time I tried to listen to music in transit. I totally dazed out while listening to "The Apples" and when I looked up the doors at my metro stop were closing, so instead of a.) pressing the "open" button next to the doors or b.) just relaxing and getting off at the next stop, I decided to lodge myself between the doors and squeeze my body out in sections (chest, arms, legs). Oh to be a fly on the wall at that moment.

Despite these frequent public embarrassments, I'm finally learning the best way to get places. And now that I know it will never be fully reliable, the transit system is teaching me to chill a little bit. Italian culture is very relaxed about time, a characteristic I'm trying to adopt. I now bring my book everywhere I go, so if there is a wait at least I'm enjoying myself. I've also met some of the kindest people at the bus stops. People who have volunteered advice to me not only about the buses or trains, but also about life in Rome. I'm learning the concept that I will get there when I get there, and no amount of worrying is going to help get me there any faster. I'm trying to carry this over to other aspects of my life as well, hoping that I will learn to let go a bit more. So far so good.