Left Behind

I'm in Athens now with the hustle and bustle of a big city. I got in at night after a long ferry-bus-bus-metro travel day. It was actually one of my smoothest travel days other than when police stopped our bus on the highway and took some guys off in handcuffs - not sure what that was about.
When I finally got off the metro, it was a little past midnight. I walked straight out of the station, to the hostel and to bed - no sightseeing with all my bags strapped on. The next morning was quite a surprise. I left the hostel and went just around the block and there's the Acropolis! Wow! It's just sitting up there on the top of the hill in all its glory. Crazy! I was struck again that these places like Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus and now Athens -- they have so much history wrapped up in them, but life just bustles on around it. Can you imagine living in the shadow of the pyramids, the Acropolis, Hayia Sophia without hardly noticing that it's there?!
There is not much time to revel in the glory of history though, because if you do, you'll get left behind. There is the metro that waits for no man. Whether you are getting on or off, you better have your elbows out and be ready to move.
Today I went to the Temple of Poseidon out on a cliff by the coast. To get there you have to take an express bus out of town. Another girl from the hostel and I found the bus stop and waited and waited and waited some more. Greeks kind of do things on their own time so that the posted bus times are more suggested guidelines than an actual schedule. The bus finally did arrive and pulled halfway into the bus lane with its blinker on. There was another bus in the way though so our bus seemed to be waiting for the other to move. I made a motion to the bus driver and looked for eye contact - I am still sure that he saw me wave!
But when the other bus left, ours did to. He just drove right past us! For a split second I thought about chasing him down (I'm pretty sure I could have caught him because of all the traffic) but the shock of him driving off without me caused me to miss my chance. Apparently you need to throw yourself in front of the bus to make sure they see you and stop.
You better believe when the next bus finally came (1 1/2) hours later, I was ready. People must have thought I was crazy - stepping out halfway in the street with arms waving - but I don't care. I'm not getting left behind again.