Travel - Richmond to Newark, DE

Almost 3 months in US... it was my second visit to Richmond... my brother's place
my brother dropped me 45 min ahead of bus departure at Greyhound bus station...

month of June... the day there was a bomb alarm in London; there were subsequent reactions in US; security at railway, bus stations getting more stringent... I came to know of this news while standing in the queue for Bus...

The queue for bus on that day was too long... later I came to know that buses were running late and people for the last bus were still waiting in the queue...

It was easy to see frustation on faces of people.

There was not much to do standing in the queue... enough time for me to observe people around...
people from different nations... queue mainly had African american and mexican ...
some ladies were laughing a lot; I don't know on what for last 1 hour...

Just in front of me was a mexican family ... around 5 people... later came to know that four had come to just bid farewell to their mother... there was good family talking teasing going on... took me back to the days I used to travel with my brothers and sisters...

Finally my bus arrived ... around 2 hours late... but I was too back in the queue to make it... I missed it by 2... everyone was going by bus next to the one booked by them...
So now I had to leave by 6:30 bus when I had booked bus for 4:15... didn't had any option other than waiting for it; had to attend office next day

That was the last bus for the day as well...
Finally the bus came at 6:45 and I was on go... bus was almost full; maybe it wasn't the first pickup point...
In this Greyhound buses you don't have seat allocated ... first come first served...
Finally got a seat beside a lady..
She had a expression of 'Why the hell I got into this bus'... unwelcome... as She had to move her hand bag off her adjacent seat...
I somehow got into whatever little space She left for me... it was a 2 seater... however I barely got half seat..
She was huge... for the rest of the trip she was busy with her meal

Our next stop was going to be Washington...
I had started feeling that it wasn't going to be easy to reach home...

We reached Washington bus station at around 9:00
The station was crowded...

After a break of 15 min; we started for Baltimore...
I made it to the front of queue hoping to get a better seat...

I rarely sleep while travelling... there was no better option other than to keep looking outside window ...
I was trying to spot places, buildings etc. that I had observed during my previous trips...
Return trip usually lack the enthusiasum ...

I reached Baltimore at around 10:00 pm.
On reaching I came to know that there were no more buses to Wilmington ...
the next bus was at 7:00 am...
I talked with the authorities to atleast cancel and refund my ticket fare for the part 'Baltimore to Wilmington'...
but the lady incharge was too rude; it seemed She had a day worse than mine... maybe break-up ... whatever...
I had a ticket from Richmond to Wilmington and there was no mistake on my part... nobody was ready to listen...

I controlled my emotion and moved out of station in a banging way as if that will make anyone move...
I wanted to go home...
I called up my brother and he found out a AMTRAK train from Baltimore to Wilmington at 11:15...
I decided to go for it..
forget to mention that my cell was on the verge of getting discharged...

Outside the Baltimore bus station; there were cabs...
I approached one of the cab guy... two of his friends were standing beside him...
one of them said something to me; which I couldn't get, on which they started laughing; this turned me suspicious... and was about to go ... when one of them came forward and said that they were just kidding...
I somehow got convinced ... maybe because I was runnning short of time ...

Took one of the cabs and headed to railway station... the cab guy was an immigrant as well ... not sure from where...

My heart kept on pounding...
Finally I reached railway station ... paid $30 to taxi guy

Railway station was big... but there were few people...
Counters were closed... there were some machines to take tickets; had never tried them... but being a S/W guy; it wasn't difficult...
Got a ticket for around $90
more than what I paid for my bus trip from Richmond to Wilmington...

15 min to go... my eyes were glued to the screen showing track number for trains...
I don't remember how many times I read my train number and searched on the board...

Just to confirm; asked a railway guy as well...
'Gate 9!'
He was loud and clear and the expression was
'How the hell you don't know the track for Amtrak train to Wilmington?'

My cell was dying... I tried reaching 'Delaware cab' so at to book a cab from Wilmington to Newark... but there were no cabs...

I got on to train ...I used all possible signs put on station to conform that I was getting on the right train ...

The cabin I got in had few people... took the seat close to the door...
I was drained by now; still cutious not to miss out stations ...

On looking around I realized that the guy next to me was from India...
2-3 years younger than me
I noticed him 2-3 times looking towards me ... interested to talk...
Obviously people from same country have inborn affinity for each other...
I normally avoid talking to strangers...
On next look... I turned and gave a smile...
We started talking... nonstop for next 1 hour...
The Guy was from some rich family and was into medical field which he didn't liked...
I wanted to know about college life in US and he wanted to know how it feels to work in US...

We exchanged cell numbers before I left...
he is now there in my orkut friend list.

Wilmington Railway station
It seemed I was the only person who got down ...
it must have been between 12:00 to 1 am...
There were no cabs outside station!
Where do I go now?

I had a notorious image of Wilmington; especially after dark.
I started getting wildest thoughts. It sent a stir within me.
Didn't knew what to do...
F**K! I tried to switch on my cell to get some of my friend numbers; but it was totally discharged and I didn't had any written numbers with me

I was desperatley looking to find any cab.. but there seemed none...

Suddenly I heard a voice from my back... 'Hey!'
Scared I looked back.
A policeman

He scanned me top to bottom. I had even heard of policeman taking advantage of young kids!
I wondered what God had next in store for me.

After asking a few basic questions he came to know my situation...
He called up a cab guy and stayed with me till the cab guy arrived...
I really thank him from the bottom of my heart...

The cab guy took me to Newak, my house.
I paid him $40 dollors that took every penny out of my pocket.
I wished to pay him Tip but didn't had even a $1 to pay...