Lost on the 32

I got lost on the bus today.

I was feeling sick and decided to head home early. So I went to the bus stop near the office, and the first bus to swing by was the 32. Now, I am aware that the 32 stops almost directly in front of my house, I'm just not sure what the actual route is. But I was fairly confident that it would head up Hatzionut, turn on Tchernikovski and loop back around to Beth El after a few minutes. So I hopped on the bus to see exactly where it would take me before it took me home.

It didn't take me home, I can tell you that much.

The 32 swung down Bethlehem and into an area that I have never been to before. It's a nice area on the mountain overlooking the bay, but it wasn't exactly where I wanted to be. But I figured the bus had to loop around at SOME point because where else was it supposed to go out that way? Well, the bus was looping all right, but not where I wanted to go.

I ended up riding the bus alone in a Russian/Jewish (?) section called Ramat Shual. The roads all looped back and forth onto each other, and I felt like I was going in circles. Until the bus pulled up to a stop in the middle of nowhere and motioned to me that this was the end of the line. Slicha? Pardon? THIS is the end of the line? Where am I?!!? I had no choice but to disembark and await another bus to take me home. (Or close to it. At this point I was sort of desperate.)

At least I recognised the bus lines at this particular bus stop. I realised I could take the 26 or the 115 and those should theoretically get me back to where I wanted to be. Of course, theory I realised, was what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. *Sigh* So I was feeling sick and tired and discombobulated from the bus ride, but finally the 26 showed up. I boarded the buse and said a little prayer that this one was going to be a through ride. After about ten minutes I started to recognise street names again. Emile Zola, Stephen Wise, Victor Hugo - I knew I was getting somewhat close. (Yeah, I know they're weird street names but what can you do? At least they're famous.)

Finally, FINALLY, I was able to get off on Tchernikovski directly out front of our beloved 24-flower shop (which has its own unique and unusual story to tell), and I made it home safe and sound. And now I am sitting on my bed, poring over a street map of Haifa, trying to figure out where the heck I travelled to.

One thing I learned on my unplanned expedition - Adam is wrong. Avigdor Hame'iri is not where our trusty gas station is. It's where I got lost, where Tchernikovski turns into Stella Maris.
Hmmmmm...