More on transportation

I am a bus expert
I just successfully made it to the mall and back by myself! This was my first foray in Yemen all alone without a males escort. On public transportation! After dark! I was feeling quite cocky and proud until we realized later that it was truly a great fluke that I got on the right bus. I, in my exceeding ignorance, thought that all buses run on a continued loop so if I hopped on a bus heading the way I wanted to go, boom. I’ll get there eventually. WRONG. Apparently every single thing that needed to go my way, did. There is no set schedule for these buses, they just go when they’re full. They go on routes either toward the Aden mall(outside the region of Crater/historical area) or to W-something or other(clearly I haven’t been there yet). If you point with your finger in front of yourself off toward the distance and the driver nods his head that means that that particular bus is heading toward Aden, if you point behind you, its going some place else. These buses are simply everywhere. I haven’t waited more than 20 seconds for one to come by and you never pay more than 40 Riyals a ride(about 22 cents). These buses- why they are referred to as buses mystifies me as they are clearly vans- are called “Dabobs” I have no idea what that means but I have accidentally, PUBLICLY called them “Bo-bo’s” three times….damn it.

it has been confirmed that in the city of Aden and the surrounding area there are NO traffic lights, they simply don’t exist. There aren't any cross walks either. To get to the right side of the road you simply have to cross 8 "lanes" of RAGING traffic. I say "lanes" because yes, sometimes there are technically lines painted on the road to delineate space.... clearly they are merely a suggestion. Cars are streaming in all directions, people are crossing at will, pedestrians have ZERO right of way- its simultaneously exhilirating and terrifying!

Also upon further investigation it appears that “Nazil” has nothing to do with the word “stop” so I really have no idea why we say that. I keep doing it and it keeps working so I no longer ask questions.