TL

When I was in high school, we often complained of having little to do. On chilly afternoons when nobody really wanted to walk on the beach and we had nowhere to go, we would partake in the time-honored tradition known as TLs. 

Nobody knows who invented the Town Lap, but it is a popular pastime (literally done for no other purpose than to pass time) amongst the teens of Homer, Alaska. A full town lap takes about seven minutes, or half an hour if you include the spit. TLs are a way to admire the beauty around you, chat with those you enjoy spending time with and, eventually, connect with someone else doing the same thing so that with your combined brain power you can come up with a more productive use of your time.

Why, you ask, am I reminiscing about the good old days of town laps when I am so far from the quaint two-lane streets of Homer? Because today I took time out from my busy schedule to do what everyone should do when visiting a new city - a Town Lap.

Of course, because this is Russia and I blunder about with minimal grace, I didn't engage in this TL on purpose. After class and an afternoon nap, I talked Megan into coming with me for a quick trip downtown to the grocery store. As we exited the store, the bus that runs fairly irregularly but stops at the front doors of our school (as opposed to across the highway, where the other bus stops) pulled up. I suggested we get on it, as we had never ridden it before. Ah, the naivete. 

So the bus was really crowded. And we had groceries. And it stopped at a place near our school, but we figured it would be silly to shove our way out the door there only to walk down the hill to school. Because, I mean, the point of taking this bus is that it would drop us directly at our destination.

However, instead of making the left-hand turn we expected it to, the bus traveled further and further away from the center of the city. I didn't really mind though - we were seeing the beautiful snow-sprinkled hills of Vladivostok, the sun was setting and the sky was all kinds of pink, and we had groceries to snack on. I knew there was a reason TLs were so popular.

Soon the bus wasn't so crowded anymore. Then all of a sudden the bus was empty. The bus driver turned to us and asked, in Russian, "Girls, where are you going?" "To VGUES...?" we replied. As with most things I say in Russian, it was more a question than a statement. He nodded and continued to drive. Alright, I thought, we'll be there soon. But then the bus pulled into a bus lot, parked, the driver turned the bus off, and exited the bus to go chat up his other bus driver friends.

At this point we had been on the bus for about 45 minutes/an hour. We were tired. It was past dinner time and Megan had plans to go to dinner and then a basketball games with friends. People started calling us. Where were we? When would we be back for dinner? Those were both very good questions...

So yeah, we got a little freaked out when the bus stopped and it was getting dark out and we had no clue where we were. I apologized profusely to Megan for suggesting we get on the silly adventurous bus when all I really wanted were some groceries. The bus driver may have sensed our anxiety, because he came to talk to us. We talked about his family, living in Russia, what things were like in the US, all the normal things Russians want to talk about. It was kind of nice. It reduced my hysteria. He never really told us how long it would be until we finally got to VGUES, but he seemed to think that we would get there eventually if we continued to sit on his bus. So we did.

Eventually the bus started moving and we headed back toward town. By now it was dark so I really had no idea where we were. Our new friend the bus driver wanted to add us as friends on facebook. He warned us when our stop was coming and refused to let us pay for the bus ride. Which was nice. We got back to the dorms about three hours after we left. Longest grocery trip ever.

It wasn't the type of TL I'm used to, and it was a rather stressful end to an all-around exhausting day. Bus mix-ups happen to everyone. (I consoled myself with a memory of one particularly long bus misadventure in Washington. Knowing that even in a country where you speak the language you can go on accidental town laps gave me hope that I might still be able to survive in Russia despite this minor setback). 

Really though, our bus "adventure" wasn't all that bad. Probably the worst thing to come out of it is that next time I need groceries it will be really hard to convince Megan to come with me. Good thing I'm stocked up for a while!