The Not So Magic School Bus

If there is anything I hate about Italy, it’s the 168 bus. It is the vehicle that takes me to and from LUISS. It is the decider of whether or not I have a 25 minute walk, or a comfortable 10 minute ride. It is the barrier between a drenching downpour, and a warm transport to school. This bus should be a lifeline for me.

It’s not.

This bus is like Donald Trump, or Clemson fans. It consistently has negative effects on my day, and there’s basically nothing I can do about it. Its inefficiency is infuriating, and it’s almost impossible to predict. Oh and did I mention it’s one of the few Rome bus routes that isn’t accurately tracked by the RomaBus app? Because it is. It was supposed to show up today at 5:47 PM so I could make it to class. Well it didn’t. In fact, there was about an hour between buses. And then the timetable said the next one was coming at 6:18 PM. Then another at 6:24. Then the one after that wouldn’t come until 6:59 PM. I could be waiting for 5 minutes, or 45 and there’s no way to plan for it. You just have to hope for the best, or in me and my roommate’s case, sprint 50 meters down the block to reach the stop before it does.

I wish I could say that Italy is not like this bus route, but it is. Everything is run so inefficiently and poorly organized. Cars drive and park where they want, people take their sweet time getting anywhere, and nobody puts any effort into getting out of the way.

Oh you forgot a block of cheese? Never mind that there’s about 8 people waiting in line behind you, go ahead and run across the store to grab it!

You’re in the middle of a busy staircase? That’s a great place to stop and talk with all 5 of your closest friends.

You’re in the process of cutting my hair? Yeah just go ahead and walk outside and grab that phone call. It’s okay I didn’t have anywhere to be or anything.

There’s no order or unwritten rules of society and it doesn’t seem like it bothers anyone, but the disorder stresses me out. I like things to be predictable, or I get anxious and frustrated. The worst part is that my schedule is just as unpredictable and chaotic as everything else.

The classes have arbitrary dates and times and there’s no routine. Some classes are at 6 PM on Monday and 8 AM on Friday, then at 4:30 PM on Tuesday and 8 AM and 6 PM on Wednesday. There’s no reason or rhyme to it, and it drives me absolutely mad. Of the 7 classes I wrote down to take here, I could only use 1 in my final schedule. Every morning, I either have to wake up early for class and do nothing for 8 hours, and then go back to school later or just not have class until 4 PM. There’s no consistent schedule, and it makes me appreciate so much the system at USC.

Although I could complain about the annoyingly indifferent culture of Italy for hours, I realized today that it can be pretty endearing. It even makes me want to be a more patient and calm person. In the States, I know these situations would bother everyone, but I feel a bit out of place here when I start getting stressed about the chaos. My roommate Frederico seems to have no problem with it, or anything for that matter. Honestly our apartment could be on fire and he would be completely unfazed. The Portuguese (shoutout Fred, Nuno, and Mafalda) are all like that, and I’m trying my best to learn from them. When I’m around them and the Italians I try to keep my visible stress to a minimum when things start going off the charts. As much as I love the organization and order of the States, we could learn something from their patience, and maybe even calm down every once in a while. So as much as the 168 bus, my schedule, and basically every person over the age of 60 in this country drive me crazy, I will start trying my best to just be okay with it, because I guess that’s what’s important about experiencing new cultures and people. It’s not just about learning about them, but what lessons you can stand to gain from them, no matter how annoying, stressful, and unorganized that process may be.