Hiwot Emishaw
December 10, 2011
Sky High Expectations
9.00 am
I am expecting today to be a great day. After weeks and weeks of anticipation and trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of Addis Ababa
My husband and I were thrilled to find out Sky Bus travels to Hawassa on Friday Afternoons and comes back on Monday Mornings. We had traveled with them just over a year ago to Gonder and found the experience wonderful.
Unlike the deteriorating service industry in the country, we had seen qualities that left lasting positive impressions on our mind. They were extremely punctual, gave outstanding service, the bus was very clean, had a functioning and silent air conditioning, was fast and the steward was a delight to be around.
Arriving at Mesqel square with mad hair
2.30pm
We were told to arrive at the departure venue for the bus (Mesqel Square ) 2.30pm for 3pm departure. Based on our prior experience traveling to Gonder, we had no reason to doubt this.
Around 1.30 pm, my husband arrives at my hair salon to make sure I leave on time. Since I had been at the salon since 9am, I thought I would throw in a massage before the trip. I did, but now I had no time to shower and get my hair done as well as I would have liked, with him breathing down my neck: “Come on mar, you know these people are actually serious about punctuality, I thought you were just freezing your hair”, he says. A man in hair Salons is never a good idea.
I decided to skip the shower to save time and scream on Biniyam, my lovely hair dresser, to get everything done swiftly as the essential massage oil on my body starts to drip down my back. Ugh. To make matters worse, Biniyam tells me my hair is not properly dried so it is going to be very messy even if he applies the maximum heat possible. Oh No.
It is now 2.15pm and we know we need to get a cub to get to Mesqel Square as there is no way we can make it in 15 minutes on a regular mini bus. We pay 40 Birr and rush before I had a chance to even clean my hands of the sandwich I was eating as my hair got done.
Our cub arrives exactly at 2.33pm. Despite my criminal hair, my oily skin and high level anxiety, we had made it on time. A bunch of fellow travelers are already there with their luggage all over. We step out of the cub and were surprised we could not see the big shiny sky bus on its spot yet.
3.00pm
In the last 27 awful minutes of waiting for the bus that was supposed to be here half an hour earlier, we had called the Sky Bus help line, ticket office and even the travel agent; all of whom told us the bus has left the compound at Legehar
(Even with my terrible sense of distance, not more than 2kms from where we are - I am sure).
What was so annoying about this was not just that the bus was late despite all the sacrifices we had made to get there on time. It was no one we spoke at Sky Bus was even polite enough to tell us they were sorry or explain to us why this was happening. The Operations Manger of the Bus even told my husband “to stop over reacting and wait for the bus”.
My normally very calm and take-it-easy kind of husband was in rage. I was touching my ugly oily hair and cursing Sky bus.
Waiting on the “Cake”
It is now 3.15pm and we are finally on the bus. With no apologies from the stewardess on duty and the driver who seems completely satisfied with the way things are going so far, we start the journey to Hawassa on the highly congested Debreziet road.
Just when we were about to forget what had happened for the sake of not ruining our hard earned min break and as we get to Kaliti, the bus stopped abruptly. The stewardess and the driver yell at each other about things we don’t understand. She says “we have to wait for it; we can not leave until it comes”.
Passengers onboard became confused. My husband and a few other men go to the driver to inquire about what is going on. After minutes of probing, they are told “We are waiting for the cake; the stewardess forgot to load it before we left”
In sheer disbelief, I ask the stewardess “are you serious? We are already an hour behind schedule because of you and you are now stopping us because you forgot the passenger snacks?”. “No”, she said to me. “It is not snacks, it is cakes. We are waiting for the cakes”.
I went back to my sit and prayed that I don’t kill anyone today.
4.15pm: The “Cake” arrives
Yet another unapologetic Sky Bus affiliate restaurant owner steps in to the bus and hands the package of “Cakes” to the stewardess as if nothing has happened.
The bus is now moving.
5.30pm – “The cakes” are not served.
5.45pm-
I call on the stewardess, who seems to have removed any form of smile from her face surgically and ask her if she could give me a bottle of water. She doesn’t say anything.
She goes to the back of the bus and brings back my water. I seem to have reminded her of the service she should be providing to the other passengers so everyone gets a bottle.
After a little while, the stewardess decides to put on some entertainment for us. But it doesn’t happen immediately. Ten minutes later, the second part of (CD “B”) a popular Ethiopian Movie, Bale Taxiw, starts to play. I heard later on that CD “A” failed to play so she decided to start the movie half way in anyway.
7.35pm- Are we there yet?
My husband and I, while frantically calling the hard-to-get hotel we were supposed to stay at not to cancel our reservation, keep guessing if we are any closer to Hawassa as the night replaces the day.
“I think this is Shashemene, don’t you?’, says my husband, with every passing sign of a town. “No, I think this is Zeway love, we are not there yet. If we get to Shashemene, it means we are almost out of the woods” I say.
My husband replies “but you said the last town was Zeway, we can’t possibly be still there” And then it is my turn to guess if we reached Shashemene. But it seems Shashemene is moving away from us as we try to catch up with it.
We were finally back to happy when we learned a ticket officer called Selam at Sky Bus Hawassa offered to go to our hotel and pay to secure our reservation.
The world makes sense again.
8.25pm: Good Night and See you Never
When we finally arrived and are stepping out of the bus, the stewardess uncharacteristically says “Good Night”. I murmur “Good Night and See you Never”
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