Autobus

September, 2008

We took the bus to Slavonica.  Three of us, but four seats.  Tom and Julie serendipitously had seats next to each other.  I had to sit next to a stranger.

But no worries; it would have been nice to chat during the two hours it took us to get to Jindřichův Hradec, but I had my Mp3 player and my Czech seat-mate was polite and quiet.  It could have been worse; apparently, the Department of Transportation in the Czech Republic has no regard for the safety of its passengers.  No seat?  No problem.  Your ticket purchase is still good as long as you don’t mind standing in the aisle for the duration of your trip.

I slept for a bit, read for a bit.  I looked past my seat-mate.  It was too loud to talk over the rumble of the coach and the native discussions floating about, but that wasn’t an issue either.  Tom and Julie sat contentedly beside each other.  Julie’s headphones were plugged into Tom’s Ipod, and vice-versa.  Tom chose a song for Julie to listen to, and she for him.  New exposure to musical preferences of the opposite party, in an intimate way.

Slouching in my seat, I closed my eyes.  I was jealous of their activity, I wanted to be a part of the shared experience.  I didn’t want to be left out.  I wanted to feel like someone knew me enough to pick a song they thought I’d like.  Sean was good at that sort of thing.  I was jealous of Julie and Tom’s blossoming relationship when I was so far from my own and would be for quite some time.

The jealously eventually wore off into a deeper happiness that such compatible people had found each other, and that they were able to experience this wonderful place together.

In Jindřichův Hradec, we switched to a coach that would take us the rest of the way to Slavonica.  This one was less crowded, and we each had our own seat.  The bus was older, aesthetically tougher and more of what I expected from an Eastern European coach.  We drove through fairy tale woods of tall, lithe birches canopied with dark green bristles.

Julie suffered from motion sickness.  To be sure, it was a winding, hilly path.  We stopped to allow a bear to cross the street.

I didn’t have enough songs on my Mp3 player to get me through the drive.