Ugh, why did I choose the 9:30 bus? That was so dumb of me. Now I’m going to get back to Afyon at like 4 am.
But what could I do? The ticket had been purchased, the seat reserved. And at least I started work late on Mondays, so I could sleep for a couple of hours in my own bed. I’d be a little better rested than if I spent the whole night on a bus. So I put on my headphones, cued up Harry Potter (as read by Jim Dale, tabii), and settled in for the seven-hour ride home.
Around 1:45 am, the lights came on, signaling our approach to a bus station. I rubbed my eyes and peered out the window into the foggy night. Kütahya Otogar.
Good, this is the last stop before home. Only about an hour and a half to go. Then I can snuggle in my own bed.
The conductor announced the Kütahya stop, but I didn’t pay much mind to the announcement. I had made this stop half a dozen times. We’d sit here for a few minutes and then be on our way.
Geez…it’s been like 45 minutes. What is going on?!
Then I overhear the conductor talking with another passenger. It’s snowing in Afyon and the road is closed. It’s going to be at least another two hours before we get anywhere. Ugh.
Finally, two sleepless hours later, around 5:00, we pull out of the Kütahya bus station and get on the road to Afyon. I doze off again, only to be woken up again by the lights coming on.
Finally, we’re… At a rest stop in Afyon?! Seriously? We just spent three hours at the Kütahya Otogar and are behind schedule, and we’re stopping? But I’m so close to home…
Luckily, there was a small service bus for those of us who were actually going into Afyon. I squeezed into the clown car with the Afyonlular and we trundled off into the rising sun.
Then the bus took a sharp left turn. I rolled my eyes in impatience, now just wanting enough time to shower before I go into work. The bus inches through the snow-covered streets, only to arrive at the bus station. Really? After dropping off a passenger at the bus station, we took a detour by the university campus, 15 minutes outside of town, before we finally looped back through town. I schlepped home through the two inches of snow that had shut down the highway and the haze of exhaustion that surrounded me, just as the sun broke over the mountains behind me.
Otobüsle 