Marshrutka Madness

Hello everyone!!! Today Wendy and I would like to write a little post about one of our favorite little things (yet not really a favorite at all) of living here in Russia. For those of you who have ever ridden public transit outside the borders of the United States, you know that we in America have the extraordinary system set up. Most other countries do not have the amount of cars which America owns, which results in more citizens relying on public transit, which results in buses being cram packed to the doors of people standing up and sitting and basically trying to find any amount of space available just so they can get to work or opposite, home. 

The popular mini-buses here Маршрутки (marshrutki) and they are a bit bigger than a van yet much smaller than an ordinary bus. They say the total number of people that can fit in them is 43, but I know that is not true, I am pretty sure we have been squished in with more than that. 

                                   
 One morning on the way to work, I snapped this picture of a "normal" crowded marshrutka. As you can see it is difficult to figure out where one person ends and another begins. This however is not a "ridiculously" crowded marshrutka. That is when you are stuck in the middle of the bus with two stops left to go and you try to get to the door and you say извините пожалуйста мы выходим (izvinite pozhaloosta mi xotim vixodit/ Excuse me please we want to get off.) However the people standing in your way inform you that "it is not possible". As a result you must squeeze through as tightly as you can rubbing every part of you against every part of them just in an effort to get 2 feet closer to the door, which is still impossibly far away.

 Here is what they look like empty. It must have been some strange time that we rode this one. This is quite a lucky marshrutka to take because you actually get to sit down.

This has only happened to us once where the mini bus was almost empty. It feels really strange like all of a sudden it's going to stop and 46 people will be waiting to get on and then it will be normal again. 

I liked this little sign next to the button that you must push or the driver won't stop. The sign says "The bus stop can be anywhere here or anywhere there." They have general bus stops, but it isn't uncommon for someone to yell "open the doors" while we are stopped in the middle of the road in traffic or something.