Buses

[Dale Marie]

on 12/2/02 5:01 pm, Felipe Sanchez at felipsanaOLYPEN.COM wrote:

> Dale:  ''Sacrilegious?"  "whimp?"  I disagree.  I was openly fearful on
> several stretches of highway the most memorable of which was a few
> kilometers before ascending the hills before O Cebreiro.  The area is under
> construction and heavy traffic in both senses of the word pass within feet,
> sometimes inches, of the trekkers.
> One other time on a curved overpass a truck turned short and almost caught
> me between  it and the guard rail.  So to be cautious is not to cavil or be
> craven.  One might take note, though, that even in a society that offers
> care, succor,and  friendship, the demonstrable safeguards along the roads
> and biways are not present:  guard rails, signs, walkways, and the like.
> And I receive the impression that fatalism is extant in Spanish culture much
> more than in my own and perhaps that of N.Z. So you are wise to be politic
> and cautious.  As we were wont to state at work, "Exercise a high level of
> CYA."
> Buses and trains are excellent modes of transport.  I suggest you learn some
> basic vocabulary in this regard or carry a crib sheet with phrases necessary
> to travel. Thus you can avoid the local bus or train and go direct to save
> time.  And always ask where to board in addition to the time.  I stood all
> morning on the wrong side of the street in a small Extremaduran town while
> my bus picked up its passengers within sight on the other side.  Another
> "adventure" in the life of a professional misfit.  Lots of laughs...Felipe
> Sanchez


Thank you for your good advice Felipe.  Will definitely remember to ask
where to board the bus!  But I'm sorry to say that I take the title of World
Champion Misfit - have been known to make exactly the same mistake as you
(i.e. waiting to board the bus on the wrong side of the street happily
unaware that those people boarding across the way were on MY bus) - but
sadly, this happened in my own home-town, Auckland.  And more than once I
might add.

Regards,
Dale M.