I lived right at the end of the road atop a hill, from where a winding concrete path led down to a minibus stop, and then an actual bus stop. The stops had a single route for each, and were the only means of public transport down to the city.
If you would walk downhill from my building at a leisurely pace, alertness would be required right after you passed the guardsmen at our entrance – cars would erupt in front of you after their sudden sharp turn from your left. You’d think you could relax after that, but no – the pungent aroma of the combined piss of countless (domestic) canines would cause you to wrinkle your nose and accelerate to a brisk walk, right in time to catch the only minibus to the city. On an unlucky day, no amount of wide-eyed staring into space would bring the green-topped menace into view, and your beaded perspiration would propel you further down the road to the bus stop, whose vehicles were even more infrequent than the former mentioned. Once there, re-enactment of aerobic movements worthy of a Reddit .gif would be necessary to combat the hordes of watchful mosquitoes hiding in the bushes. Often, I’d pause whenever a taxi sailed past, fearful of misleading them into thinking I was a customer and reminding myself that I mustn’t give in to the luxury of air conditioning so soon. Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if the taxi fare didn’t cost quite as much as two full meals at the hospital which I worked. I knew that soon enough I’d step on gratefully onto the colourful deck of my determined vehicle and sink into its plush seat, nipping secretively at the fresh welts present on my limbs and rejoicing at the little money I’d saved.
TBC
(Episode 2: I wasn’t always this frugal)
Grams of Charm 