a golden bay

     a few photos from my afternoon out with a new friend in new areas of malta [or new to me!]. 

     but i also had one of the strangest experiences that afternoon. it was more so that one small inconspicuous event lead me to realize and contemplate the beautiful absurdities of human nature.

     we decided to leave the wonderful [yet packed] golden bay beach at around 7pm. we went up the hill to the bus stop to await our buses. mine straight to lija. his to sleima.

     seated around us were a few couples and a small group of teenagers.
     we waited for what seemed like ages and finally a bus came. it was the 49, the bus i needed back to the centre of the island. however, i was apparently the only one going that way and the bus was quickly shooed on.
     it was back to waiting and i'd only have to take one extra bus to get back home. no big deal.
     we waited probably another half and hour and the looks on people's faces started to change. you could tell they were starting to question whether a bus was actually coming or not. you must realize that for the first 45 minutes or so people just blamed it on the maltese bus system which is infamous for its lack of structure. the buses come whenever they want to and sometimes the drivers even choose their own route. but it was even too long a wait to be that.

     two couples got fed up and left.

     someone had the ingenious idea to check a timetable. you would have thought this to be our first option! apparently we had missed every last bus. except for the lone 49 that had already passed by ages ago.
     still, everyone sat with inquisitive looks on their faces. but hopeful for one more bus. hopeful that the schedule was outdated [which wasn't highly unlikely].
    everyone checked the schedule a few times over...even after we discussed it among ourselves clearly understanding that there were no. more. busses.
    evident restlessness started breaking out. the group of teenagers started to sing songs in rounds. and clearly had realized it was a strange situation and started to document it with hundreds of photos. making fun out of whatever they could.
   my friend had a package of cards. i taught him some impressive canadian card games such as WAR [really the worst card game of all time] and crazy 8's [a particular favourite of mine..but also probably the 2nd of the 3 card games i actually know...go fish is the other, in case you're wondering]
in this time small conversations were also developing. we found out that the one couple left had come from argentina to learn english. the group of five teenagers were some students on holiday from bulgaria.
   we finally came to our senses and decided to order a cab. we checked with the students and found out they had already ordered a mini bus. we joined forces and decided we'd camp out together waiting for our mini bus.
    they told us 20 minutes.
    40 minutes went by. and within this time span two random mini buses drove by and stopped, asking if we needed one. the students waved them on saying that "joseph" [the driver of the particular company] was coming. my friend and i and the argentinian couple stared in amazement. a bit cheesed off, actually.
     my friend told me a little joke. a man is drowning in the ocean. a man in a boat floats by and asks him if he needs help. the man in the water explains he doesn't want help as god will save him. a second boat floats by and a man asks if he needs help. the drowning man explains he doesn't want help as god will save him. a third boat comes by and the same thing happens. eventually the man does drown. in heaven, the man meets god and asks him why he didn't save him. god replies "i fucking sent you three boats!"
   the argentinan woman was cold so i offered her my scarf. later on they offered me some mint tic-tacs. small conversation continued.
   finally our 'joseph' arrived and there was a look of relief across everyone's faces.
   out total bus stop scrape was probably just over 2.5 hours.
     it was so strange the string of emotions during this little escapade. how people act when they are bored and how people bond when they are 'stranded'.

    perhaps a bit abstract for me to write in brief but i write it down to remember it.  and although it probably appeared as a 'waste' of a few hours and did ruin dinner plans i'm actually quite glad that it happened.
     strange. odd. i love human nature sometimes.

dome church in mosta. famous for the unexploding bomb that was dropped through the middle of the dome in WWII .