It all started when Rachael woke Colleen and I up before
our alarms to tell us that the power was out and it might take longer to get
ready. We managed somehow, though it was
pitch black in most parts of the apartment.
We assumed that the problem was just in our building. As we approached the metro station I recall
noticing that there were a lot of people standing around, but it didn't fully
pierce my consciousness until we started down the steps and a friendly stranger
told us that the trains weren't running.
Then I looked up and realized that the sidewalk and half of the street
were swarming with people. Did I mention
that it was rush hour? The entire city
had to get to work or school, and the buses were now the only way to get
there. Anytime one turned the corner,
there was practically a stampede to get there first, even before it pulled up
to the bus stop. People were hanging out
so that the doors couldn't close, and somehow even more managed to squeeze
on.
Colleen and I made it onto the second bus that we
attempted, but only barely. I was
standing on the bottom step of the doorway, though fully inside (I'm not
brave/stupid enough to do the whole hanging-out-of-the-door thing) while
Colleen tried, unsuccessfully, to push farther in and give me some more
room. The bus started down the street with
the doors still open, but after about a block the driver decided to close
them. That is the point at which I
realized that my foot was perfectly positioned between the door and the bottom
step. Fortunately, some things are
universal, because all language ability left me for the moment, even English. But my "Ow... ow... OWW!!!!" got
the message across and someone called up to the driver to open the doors! After some rearranging, we managed to get me
in enough to close the door and continued on our merry way. And somehow 6 more people squeezed in after
me over the next two bus stops!
Watching out the window as we drove along, I couldn't
help being reminded of an apocalyptic movie.
All the stoplights were out, so we had some unusual traffic patterns
going- though it's worth noting that ever since we got here we've found the
lanes to be more of a suggestion than anything else. Our bus spent a good portion of the time on
the wrong side of the double lines, and I definitely saw a car making a U-turn
in the middle of three lanes going the opposite direction. Though to be fair, traffic was at a
standstill so that it wasn't dangerous as much as just funny looking. And every time we passed a metro station,
there was the same sea of people, overflowing the sidewalk to cover half the
street. Add to this the occasional
stampede towards the buses and you start to get the whole end-of-the-world
vibe.
We were almost 30 minutes late to school, but we were
still there before half of the teachers and most of the students, so it wasn't
a big deal. Later that night we found
out that it wasn't just the city that lost electricity- the entire country of
Azerbaijan had a power outage! Somehow
that just makes the story so much better.
:)
In closing, I'll leave you with a question we pondered
many a time over the years in Kazakhstan: How many people can you fit onto a
bus that's already bursting at the seams?
Based on my experience today, I'd say at least 20.
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