Buses

I've had some random culture shock moments since I left the Sandbox but especially in the last couple of days in Budapest. One major thing that I just think is ridiculous is the buses here. I am so glad that Shanna came to visit me in Sudan so that she understands that I'm not an idiot, I just have issues. The first day I was here we talked about buses.

Shanna: 'so I need to explain the bus system here.'
Me: 'ok. What should I know?'
Shanna: 'See that thing over there? That's the bus stop. You have to meet the bus at a place like that.'
Me: 'Wait. So I can't just get on a bus from wherever I am?'
Shanna: 'No, you have to know where the stop is and meet it there. It doesn't pick people up except for at the designated stops.'
Me: 'well that's stupid. What do I do when I want to get off the bus, snap my fingers or whistle or something?'
Shanna: 'Ummm. The bus only stops at the designated places so you have to get off at a stop. You can't just get off wherever you want. And you have to push the button by the door before you get to the stop you want so the driver knows to stop there, otherwise he will just keep going'
Me: 'Huh. OK, I guess I can do that.'
Shanna: 'also, different bus numbers run different routes and you have to know exactly which bus to get on and to do that you actually have to know the name of the stop you want to get off at.'
Me: 'Well that's complicated.'
Shanna: 'And they run on a schedule and only come at certain times.'
Me: 'I don't know how well this is going to work out for me.'

LATER at the bus stop:
Shanna: 'See this schedule? It tells you which bus numbers stop at this stop and then gives you a list of all the stops they will make on their route so that, if you don't already know, you can figure out which number you want.'
Me: 'So it's not an 'each of these unmarked, unnumbered buses ends up in a different market' kind of thing? I guess that seems easy enough.'
Shanna: 'and then see all these charts (there's like 5 of them). This is what times they come on M-Th, Fri, and then Sat. Then you take what time it is, find the next minute of the hour the bus will come and then figure out what number stop you're at in relation to the route and add that many minutes to the time it says and that is when the next bus will come.'
Me: 'What?' (thinking: do they offer college courses on how to read bus schedules? This is major complicated)
Shanna explains again
Me: 'So is this mathematical equation time schedule really that important? Do the buses actually come on these schedules or is it just a suggestion?'
Shanna: 'They come exactly at these times and if you're not standing right at the stop to get on they will leave you.'
Me: 'What do you have to synchronize your watch to the bus schedule? I don't even own a watch! This is ridiculous crazy!!'

And then they have this honor system where you don't pay by the ride but by the month. You just buy a public transportation pass for the month and it's good for as many rides as you can take...they don't check it when you get on the bus. You don't have to scan it or punch it or anything. You just get on. It's like they expect that the people here will be honest and not lying, backstabbing thieves every chance they get. It's so weird!

I haven't taken the bus unsupervised yet. I'm normally amazing with directions and not getting lost and with braving large, extensive transportation systems with no problem but I'm not gonna lie. I'm still confused and just a little worried about this whole thing. Why can't there just be a million buses and all you have to do is wave one down from wherever you want to get on and then snap your fingers really loud whenever you want to get off. It seems so much easier and just a little more convenient, but that's just my opinion.