El Trasporte Publico

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The tuesday that i left for Salta i had quite the unpleasant experience on the bus. it was my first time ever taking the bus by myself. i´d walked home by myself before but pretty much do everything with susana. she doesn´t have class on tuesday so she decided to meet me at campus later that day so we could leave to go to the bus station. on the bus i had my giant backpacking bag and purse with me because i was going to leave to go the bus station straight from school. it was midday so i got a seat which was awesome. a few stops into the ride this woman got on. she kept looking at me and muttering something but i coudn´t tell if she was talking to me because i couldn´t hear her. after that she was pretty much yelling at me and making me uncomfortable the whole ride. at first i think she was asking me for money and i told her no. then i think she was asking me something else but i couldnt understand and kept pointing to my ear like i couldnt hear her. she wouldnt stop and it was kind of scary. i wasnt sure what she wanted or if she wanted my seat. i just kept ignoring her but it was pretty hard. i seriously wanted to cry and just get off at the next stop and wait for the next bus. finally i tapped the shoulder of the woman next to her and explained to her that i was foreign and didn´t understand what she wanted. this woman was a lifesaver. she explained to me that she was crazy and saying really mean things but to just ignore her and be patient until it was my stop. the rest of the ride she talked to me about her son and asked my questions about what i was studying. it helped to have someone to talk to so i could try to block out the crazy woman (who was just targeting me by the way and pestering me about my giant backpack and then yelling crazy things about blood and the devil.) finally the woman had to get off and gave me a kiss goodbye (my favorite custom here, whenever you greet someone you give them a kiss on one cheek.) i only had to endure a few more stops before getting off. it was terrible though and the longest busride of my life. uggghhh.

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