As many of you know, I'm very new to Ottawa. As somewhat fewer of you may know, I'm completely useless when it comes to finding my way around cities and learning directions. I was rather embarassed today when I, driving through Ottawa, took what seemed to be one small wrong turn and ended up on a highway (and not JUST a highway....a highway with NO EXITS for 15 minutes) that led me all the way, deep into our neighbouring province...Quebec. I was so far into unknown territory that even my knight in shining armour and personal mapquest maven - Adam - didn't even know where to start looking to get me back into Ontario. I was frantically yelling into the phone "What do you mean you don't know the residential streets in Gatineau and St. Laurent off by heart?!?!?
Anyway, it all ended well when I finally exited the highway, randomly picked and new direction and saw a sign indicating the route toward the last city I had passed through (which would, of course, mean I was heading back from whence I came...)
I was feeling pretty silly about this whole thing until I read this...
BANGKOK - Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A woman who boarded the wrong bus on an attempted shopping trip from Thailand to Malaysia has returned home after 25 years.
Jaeyana Beuraheng told her eight children she accidentally boarded a bus bound for Bangkok instead of Malaysia, and once there she boarded a second incorrect bus because she could not read or speak Thai or English...
Jaeyana Beuraheng told her eight children she accidentally boarded a bus bound for Bangkok instead of Malaysia, and once there she boarded a second incorrect bus because she could not read or speak Thai or English...
...Beuraheng, who speaks only the Yawi dialect used by Muslims in southern Thailand, said the noise and traffic of the big city confused and disoriented her, leading her to board the second wrong bus to Chiang Mai, near the border with Burma.
The woman said she spent five years begging on the street in the city and was often mistaken for a member of a hill tribe because of her dark skin tone.
However, last month, three students from her home village arrived at the hostel for training, and they were able to communicate with Beuraheng and help her find her way home.
The woman said she spent five years begging on the street in the city and was often mistaken for a member of a hill tribe because of her dark skin tone.
However, last month, three students from her home village arrived at the hostel for training, and they were able to communicate with Beuraheng and help her find her way home.
C'mon! No seriously. How unresourceful do you have to be to get lost and not find your way home for TWENTY FIVE YEARS!?!?!
Something about this story is fishy, no?
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