i was heading home around 600pm... trying to find a back way to our apartment... just like every other car on the road was trying to find a back way home. after several false turns and dead ends on what i had hoped were shortcuts... i ended up on "the road by the gas station that is one way even though people drive both ways on it... the one that leads to the vefa". (editor's note... jen and i name roads and stores and restaurants using descriptive names instead of their actual names as we normally don't know their actual name as they are either posted in russian or not posted at all.)
anyway... i was on that road and stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. you can't let your mind wander in a situation like that as if you allow any sort of room in front of you another car races around and tries to cut in. so the car in front of me moves about 10 feet. i accelerate for about 1 second and then put on the brakes. the car behind me (now 10 feet behind me) does the same thing but instead accelerates for 2 seconds and doesn't use her brakes.
the is the first time the i have willingly been rear ended. it wasn't pretty and thankfully i didn't see it coming.
i was leaning forward and on impact... was thrown back into my seat with my head slamming against the headrest. before i go any further... yes i am ok. just a bit sore and stiff.
funny thing was... the accident didn't cause other cars to stop... it only caused them to honk and glare as they went by as we were blocking traffic.
i sat in the car for about a minute... it took me that long to get my bearings. stuff thrown all over the front seat that it took me a second to realize where it came from (the glove box)... the car turned off which i couldn't figure out how that happened (it stalled when i took my foot off the clutch)... typical "oh my gosh what just happened" kind of stuff.
i get out of of the car only to be almost run over by cars that were trying to pass me. not just on the drivers side but also on the passenger side. keep in mind that this is a narrow... one way, two lane street.
so i am standing there trying to decide what to do. i don't have my phone (i had left it at school) and a group of kyrgyz are standing around looking at the other car giving me the eye. a couple of guys come up and shake my hand (that is what they do here... "hi... you've been in a quasi serious accident... let me shake your hand") and talk to me in russian.
uh... "yea monny pie moo"... i don't understand you.
and... "ya gabaru po rouski chu chu"... i only speak a little russian.
so to make this long story short. the girl that hit me was in a car with three other girls. they were being followed in another car by their guy friends. the girl that hit me was 18. she didn't have a driver's license. she spoke a little english. the car was her dad's. the car was drivable but totaled (so does that count as totaled?). she offered more than once to just give me money on the spot. she kept asking me if i was american. everyone... even the people driving by honking... kept asking if i was an american. two little kids stood about two feet away the whole time laughing. i suggested we call the police. she insisted that we didn't. people kept honking. i kept holding my neck and waited for someone to ask if i was ok. they only asked if i was an american. she asked if we could just exchange phone numbers and talk about it later. i demanded her "technical papers" (the local version of registration). she gave them to me. i knock off a piece of under siding from the car that was halfway on the ground. i ripped off the side panel that was pinned against the tire. i drove to the school. called jennifer. and went home.
i am suppose to meet her dad on friday morning at bis. we will take it to a shop and then negotiate a settlement. i imagine that he won't want to pay much being that i am a "rich" american. so we will see how it goes.
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