Transportation in Ukraine is always a hoot and a half. Public transportation mostly consists of a series of buses, trains, and marshrutkas. A marshrutka, literally 'route bus', is like a bus and a jank van mated and had a runty, not fully functioning offspring. Riding on a marshrutka consists of the following: your marsh may or may not show up on time, or at all; an uncomfortably hot or uncomfortably cold ride, depending on the season; no personal space and/or someone's elbow in your back, face, etc.; hard seats, if you're lucky enough to get one, or standing the entire trip; erratic driving coupled with bad roads, and no shocks to absorb the impact of the deep pot holes you will definitely hit.
Which leads me to this picture that has been circulating around the internet. Marshrutka drivers are always gruff looking men who only give one word answers, and can multitask while driving like you can't even imagine. This fine young gent is a good example. Note the 1) hot tea or coffee 2) the cigarette 3) the cellphone, and 4) him collecting someone's fare. And he's driving.
Impressive, eh?
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