Marshrutka

What is marshrutka and why it's my second name now? It's one of the most important parts of Ukrainian life, so it deserves separate post.

Word marshrutka comes from маршрутное такси (transliteration for those of you who don't know Cyrillic or are too lazy to decode it (yes, it's about me): marshrutnoye taksi) and is a mean of public transport that enable integration with local community, development of cooperation and braking physical borders between people. Very popular in post-soviet countries.

Dear passengers! In advance, loudly and clearly
inform the driver about your stop!

In other words, on example:

There is a small bus with a number 4B. You know it goes where you want to get, so you wave your hand. If you do it on time, it will stop. You have to get inside (could be difficult if the bus is small and full of people), find out how much does it cost (1,5grn, 2grn or 2,5grn) and pass money to a driver. If you stay close to the vodítel (driver in Russian), you take part in passing money from the end of the bus to the driver, and change from the driver to passengers. You have to remember who, for how many tickets and how much money gave you. And you have to shout loudly, for example "С пятёрки, пожалуйста!" (Change from 5uah!). Orhan does it perfectly. When it's time to get off (if you know where do you want to get off and you know the name of the stop) you have to shout заранее, громко и чётко (in advance, loudly and clearly) "на остановке!" which means "on a bus stop!" or give the name of this stop "на Грузии, пожалуйста!" ("on Georgia, please!") if you want to go out on (not in) Georgia. If driver hears you, understands you and you manage to jostle through the crowd you are in your destination point. Congratulations!

Locals calls marshrutka only the smallest buses, where you are not able to stand straight. Small yellow bus is a simple bus for them. For us not. According to definition created by marshrutkalogists (Magda and me) marshrutka is any type of bus which you have to stop on your own and doesn't have conductor inside. What is more, usually a ride costs more that 1 uah.

Why do I use the name Marshrutka? Every time I hear that word I start to lough hysterically. That terrified I was when I had to travel using that thing. Now it's better, but still it's my favourite curiosity of Ukraine. And it will stay in my life forever. Bruises will disappear (I hope so), but memories are eternal.

If you want to know what it feels like, come to Donetsk!