Pami?tam doskonale ten polski film, który opowiada? o przygodach dwojga dzieci podró?uj?cych autostopem. Jednak te czasy ju? dawno min??y. W Polsce ostatni raz korzysta?am z tej formy podró?owania kilka lat temu. By? to mój ostatni raz, poniewa? ten dobroduszny kierowca, który zabra? nas z drogi usilnie stara? si? podszczypywa? moj? kole?ank? po udzie. Dobrze, ?e wtedy mia?y?my parasolk?! Okaza?a si? dobrym narz?dziem obrony. W Irlandii osobi?cie nie spotka?am nigdy ?adnego autostopowicza ( mo?e drogi za w?skie a z krzaków trudno zatrzyma? samochód!). Sp?dzi?am za to wiele czasu w autobusach dalekobie?nych przemierzaj?c wysp? wzd?u? i w szerz. Niestety z naszego poczciwego miasteczka trudno gdziekolwiek si? dosta?. Wymaga to du?o czasu, kanapek i wytrzyma?ego p?cherza. Prawie wsz?dzie mamy daleko na sze?? godzin. No, ale do odwa?nych ?wiat nale?y, wi?c cz?sto podró?owa?am w ten sposób. Przyznam, ?e to ciekawe do?wiadczenie. Pasa?erów mo?na podzieli? na kilka specyficznych grup. Jedn? z nich s? irlandzcy emeryci, którzy towarzysz? nam tylko kilka przystanków. Zazwyczaj zabierani s? z miejsca gdzie nie ma przystanku, nie siadaj? tylko wisz? nad uchem kierowcy i plotkuj?. Pewnego razu taki w?a?nie pasa?er chyba pomyli? mnie z kim? znajomym. Siedzia?am wtedy z przodu autobusu, tu? za kierowc?. Weso?y emeryt tak entuzjastycznie opowiada? o pewnej pani z jego miasta, ?e mimowolnie poklepywa? mnie po ramieniu krzycz?c: no wiesz, no wiesz! No raczej nie wiedzia?am, za du?o równie? nie rozumia?am, ale przynajmniej czas jako? zlecia?. Kolejna grupa to pasa?erowie jedz?cy. S? to ludzie w ró?nym wieku i ró?nych narodowo?ci. Niestety zazwyczaj wszyscy jedz? to samo: kanapki z tu?czykiem, których zapach roznosi si? na ca?y autobus! Na t? okazj? jestem zazwyczaj przygotowana. Wo?? ze sob? pomara?cze, które swym zapachem zabijaj? wo? ryb. Do moich ulubionych kategorii nale?? pasa?erowie, którzy nie lubi? si? nudzi?. Zazwyczaj jest to ich kolejny dzie? podró?y. Wypatruj? oni wcze?niej pasa?era podatnego na s?uchanie, przysiadaj? si? i zaczynaj?c s?owami: sk?d jeste?? Lub, dok?d jedziesz? Opowiadaj? histori? swojego ?ycia. Raz nawet przez 50letniego, pocz?tkuj?cego muzyka zosta?am obdarowana p?yt? Cd. To te? takie lekcje angielskiego za darmo! Zdecydowanie polecam podró?owanie autobusami! Wszelkie niewygody wynagradzaj? wszechobecni pasa?erowie. Zawsze mo?na trafi? na kogo? ciekawego. No i b?d?my czujni, bo mo?e si? zdarzy?, ?e nast?pnym razem tu? obok nas zasi?dzie Bono i zapyta:sk?d jeste?? Dok?d jedziesz? – Jestem z Polski. Jad? do Roscommon. A ty? Piszcie do mnie: martakamykowa@wp.pl Journey for one smile! I have vivid memories of a Polish movie about two children traveling by hitchhiking and the adventures they had. However, these times are all over now. The last time I traveled this way in Poland was a few years ago and it was the last time I will be doing it. The kind-hearted driver who stopped to take us was insistently trying to pinch my friend’s thigh. It’s good that we had un umbrella! It turned out to be a good weapon to protect ourselves. In Ireland I have never met any hitchhiker myself (maybe the roads are too narrow or maybe it’s difficult to stop the car when there are bushes all over you!). However I have spent much time traveling in long-distance buses traveling the length and breadth of the island. Unfortunately it’s difficult to go somewhere when you live in our small town. But when you do decide to go somewhere it requires having a lot of sandwiches, a lot of time and a resilient bladder. It takes six hours to get almost everywhere. But, the world belongs to the brave, so I was traveling in such a way. I must admit, that it is an interesting experience. You can divide the passengers into few specific groups. The first group is the pensioners, who accompany us only for a few stops. They usually get on the bus from the side of the road, where there is no bus stop. They don’t sit down but they never get off the driver’s ear and they gossip all the time. I think one day one of those passengers must have mistaken me for someone else. I was sitting in the front of the bus at that time, just behind the driver. A joyful pensioner was talking about some lady from the town, repeatedly slapping my back, saying ‘you know’, ‘you know’! Honestly, I had no idea, I didn’t understand a lot but the good thing was that the time was passing more quickly. Another group consists of the eating passengers. These are usually people of different age and of different origin. Unfortunately they are all eating the same: sandwiches with tuna. Their scent is floating all over the bus. However I’m usually prepared for such an event: I always have some oranges with my as their kills the scent of fish. My favourite category is the passengers who don’t like to get bored. It’s usually just another day of their travel. They look for someone looking as if he or she was to listen, they sit around and usually start talking with words: ‘Where are you from?’ or ‘Where are you going?’ They are telling you the story of their life. Once I even got a CD for some 50-year-old musician. And I think it’s some kind of an English lesson for free! I definitely recommend traveling by bus! You can endure the discomforts of the journey thanks to the omnipresent passengers. You can always meet someone interesting. And let’s stay focus as maybe next time you will travel Bono will sit next to you and he will ask: ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Where are you heading?’ ‘I’m from Poland. I’m going to Roscommon. And what about you?’
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