The Joys of Turkish Buses

I should have known it’d be an interesting night when I got to the Konya otogar (bus station) from Karaman and went to use the bathroom. I had to transfer there for a new bus to get to Gaziantep, so I had my large suitcase with me since I’ll be traveling for four weeks. The WC was down a spiral staircase. Why, Konya otogar, would your WC be up or downstairs? People have luggage!, although I’m sure most Turkish people don’t travel alone like me…So I pay the 75 kurus and ask the man if I can keep my suitcase outside. I go into the stall: a squatty potty and a wet door. I mean the entire back of the door is wet, dripping from the top. I try to figure out how this is possible but instead focus on squatting and not falling over into the puddle on the floor. I soon find out why the door is dripping wet. Ready? I finish with the potty and begin to fill up the bucket to “flush the toilet” and the water sprays everywhere- literally, everywhere. My boats are wet, my pants are wet, my coat is wet, my glasses are wet, and the door is wet. Ah, that’s what the door is wet. Thank you Turkish toilet, I really needed that wake-up call. It took self-restraint I never knew I had to not start swearing up a storm and began to wipe off all the water (thankfully this stall actually had toilet paper!). I should have guessed this incident would foreshadow the rest of my night.

I had about 45 minutes before my bus, so I get some snacks and sit down to eat. About 20 minutes before my bus, I decide to leave the creepy lobby (full of single men) and wait outside and look for my bus. I see no Metro bus and decide to go check at the desk. Three Metro men were literally waiting for me to come. I guess the bus was canceled or something, because before I could even ask where the bus was, one guy looked at me and said two words: Antep. Problem. He takes me ticket to check that I indeed was on the Antep bus, grabs 40 lira from the desk, and takes me over to another bus company. At the new place, they give me a new ticket (which leaves a half hour later than my original), and they start talking to me. This driver who was hanging out at the counter spoke very little English but told me his daughter was an English teacher. My response: cool, get me on the bus… I have to answer some questions about who I am and why I’m there and then I’m paraded around the otogar and taken to my new bus. I dread asking, but finally get the nerve to ask what time we’ll arrive in Antep. His response: 8am. The swearing in my head increases. Normally this wouldn’t have been such a problem except that I was supposed to arrive in Antep before my friend had class at 9am and it takes an hour to get into the city. I take my seat on the bus and, again, use this source of self-restraint I never knew I had, to not start crying. I literally spent over an hour over the last two days trying to figure out how to get to Antep at an early enough time that I could get to my friend’s place before she went to school for the entire day. I text her to tell her I’m on a new bus and finally calm down a bit. Then the bus driver I met at the counter comes on and in English says, “Teacher? Come here.” Never have I had such a FML moment. Obviously I am the yancbi (foreigner) on board and he is talking to me. So I grab my stuff thinking I’m going to have to change buses again. He then gets his phone out, dials a number, and hands me the phone. “Hello? Hi, my name is Esra. Hi, I’m Cassie. I am studying to be an English teacher. Oh, I am an American teaching English in Turkey. Why are you teaching in Isparta? Trust me, I didn’t pick the city. Okay, I don’t know what else to say. Me either, let me give the phone back to your father.” Cool, a really awkward conversation with the bus driver’s daughter. He then proceeds to talk to me in his broken English and my broken Turkish. He asks the usual questions: why I am in Turkey, how long I will be, how long I have been, what do I think of Turkey, have I been to Mardin… I then cough (I am still sick) and he notices I am cold and says I can get back on the bus. Thanks, and I smile. I then ask what time we’ll get to Antep. His response: 5am. Allah Allah (oh my God). [Post to continue when I actually get to Gaziantep.]

I should have known my night would only get better. At about 12:30am we stopped at the rest stop (bathroom break, cigarette break, dinner in the middle of the night break). The driver motioned for me to eat with him- I said no. After paying my 1 lira to visit the bathroom, I got back on the bus and attempted to fall back asleep. At about 1am, the driver came back on the bus and told me to get off. So, I grab my stuff and get off. He takes me to another bus and says “Antep.” I guess I had to switch buses. We then waited there until 1:30am so that that bus could have their break, and we started on the road again. I set my alarm for 4:45am since I had been told we’d arrive at 5am. At about 4:15am though I start to notice a lot of lights and we turn off the highway onto streets. Oh God, I think, this can’t be Antep already. But, of course, it is and we pull up to the otogar at 4:20am. There is no way the city busses will start running until 5am, most likely 5:30 or 6am. And it’s pitch black. I see a line of taxis and figure I’ll have to give in. I stand on the side of the street for awhile, but my bus is still there. I’m guessing they won’t leave me there and wait until I get in a taxi. “How much to the university?” I ask. 30 lira. Of course. It cost me 40 to get here, and it will cost me 30 to get where I need to go since it’s so * early. At 4:45am he stops at the gate to the university. The guard asks if I’m going to the dorms. No! Let me call my friend, and be that awful person who wakes her up so early…Sorry Kate, I’m in a taxi. Give him the phone; I’ll give him directions to my place in Turkish. (I forgot I’m visiting the Fulbrighter who knows the most Turkish. This has gotta help boost my self-confidence.) We turn around and go down some streets. This guy obviously has no idea where to go. He hands me back the phone and I find the place in 30 seconds. I get out and hand him a 50. He gives me 15 back. Great, it costs 40 to get Antep, and another 35 to find this place! I get inside and Kate starts rolling a sleeping bag onto the title floor. The couch is in her roommate’s room she explains. You’ll sleep there tomorrow night. Tamam, I mutter, as I finally drift asleep on a floor in Antep.