My first public bus in China (Ningming to Nanning)

OMG… you guys! Ok this was a 2 hour bus journey. We get on the bus and I’m thinking that it’s not too bad, decent seats, just a regular bus. It is an express bus, which is a little more expensive and goes straight there instead of stopping whenever someone flags the bus down. So as soon as we get on, Pete looks out the window and goes, “oh no, I hope that lady isn’t getting on our bus.” Turns out he’d seen her puking her guts out a few minutes earlier. So she is standing outside, and then a dad and a baby get on and sit in the seats right in front of her. The at the last minute right before the bus starts moving the pukey lady gets on and sits next to the dad and the baby (right in front of us).
Now in China, they don’t put their babies in diapers, which is probably a good thing, because can you imagine the mountains of disposable diapers there would be if they did. So instead of diapers, they either put their babies in these pants that have big wide slits down the back and their asses just hang out and whenever they need to go, they just squat and go, or they get held out and just go or whatever. But not all the babies seem to wear the slit pants, especially if they are taking a bus ride, I’m guessing. So in that case, I guess the parents just try to pay attention and as soon as the kid starts going, they rip his pants down and hold him over a trash can or outside or something.
So the bus ride starts and everything seems to be going ok. The baby seems happy. They play this horrible, cheesy, violent movie about corrupt officials vs good officials and some lady getting raped and her whole family killed and then her getting framed for it by her attacker who happens to be the navy captain’s son. I was hoping to be able to just ignore it but it had English subtitles, so I’d find myself watching it even though I totally didn’t want to. Anyway, the parents start feeding their baby candy. A lollipop, and this si just a baby. He is slobbering sticky slobber all over the place. Then he starts to shit, I guess, cause the dad jumps up, pulls his pants down and tries to position him over the trash can in the front of the bus. The bus driver immediately pulls over and the dad jumps out with the baby so he can finish the job, I guess. As soon as they are out of the bus, the mom starts puking in a plastic bag. (Thank goodness I had my ipod on so I couldn’t hear any of these, but believe me seeing it was enough). So she is puking repeatedly, but doesn’t get off he bus. Dad and baby get back on and she hands him the bag of puke to deal with. I’m also amazed that none of this smelled bad. I usually have a sensitive nose and puke smell totally makes me gag, so I was looking away trying to pretend none of this was happening, but just waiting to smell it and to be sick too, but it didn’t happen, thankfully. So they settle back in their seats and we are off again. Then the baby starts crying. Then screaming. They seem sort of frantic and are trying to the baby to stop crying. They put it on their back, take turns holding it, but nothing is working. So then the dad smacks it a couple times. Not too hard, like child abuse, but still, I’m not used to seeing a little baby, who can’t even talk yet or anything, get slapped. So it goes on like this. I just try to zone out to my ipod.
Then this guy moves his curtain thingy and I see what I’m pretty sure was a cockroach, fly out of the curtain and land on the seat, head rest thing in front of me. I’m like, oh shit. And it crawls the other way out of site, and then all of a sudden it’s back and it like jumps in between Anne and I. We both sort of scramble to try to smash it or flick it away or something, and I think Anne brushed it off the seat, but I have no idea where it went. And to me that was worse than the shitting baby and puking mom, an unknown cockroach crawling somewhere right around me. So I’m just trying to sit still, keeping my eyes peeled for the cockroach.
Then we get to Nanning and we are driving through the city and we turn this corner, and I see all these people, like maybe 20 on scooters, just stopped and looking. I look closer and I see a motorcycle or scooter in the road, and a person laying face down in the street not moving at all. I think the police had just got there or something, but it must have just happened. And everyone was looking, but it didn’t seem like anyone was doing anything or making any movement towards this person that was laying (dead?) in the road. Holy Crap! What a freakin’ trip! What could possibly be next?!
So we get into the bus station and we get tickets for our next bus (also public) that leaves in like 15 minutes. Anne tries to go to the bathroom, but it’s a mad house and there are tons of ladies in there, and they keep crowding her and won’t let her go. After like 10 minutes I went in to check on her and she was standing there. I tried to tell her to be assertive and just use her elbows, but I think she is too nice. I went out and then a few minutes later went back in and she was still in the same place, so I told her we had to go, and we did. So neither of us got to pee. (I didn’t even attempt it, it was too gross in there for me anyway). And we haven’t had any food other than the few biscuits and cookie things we bought before we got on the first bus. (Again, so glad I have my stash of energy bars!).