kind of like bumper cars...expect real.

so we were in our first indian car accident. i figure its like a rite of passage of living here. now i can really fit into the culture. not to mention that this accident happened on the way of shopping for kurthas in further attempts to blend into society. especially on the 10 minute walk to school. seriously, i might as well have a spotlight follow my every move. so we hopped the bus, which as previously mentioned, was packed well beyond all safety regulations. we were only on the bus for a few moments before we realized we had a daredevil on our hands. (actually, a horribly dangerous driver wielding a several ton bus fits a little better than daredevil. i mean, those people are actually talented, albeit with questionable sanity). this bus was a two hand grip required type of bus, because of course, no seats were available. after a horrifying sharp turn- where we almost lost half of our group out of the open door- we snaked our way closer to the back and away form the gaping hole of death. (of course, not too far back, can't sit in 'man land') regardless this was a great decision, because this is when the accident occurred. it was a sharp stop. extremely sharp stop. mostly because we rear ended the van in front of us. thankfully i had a kung fu grip on the overhead bars because they were the only part of me not careening through the air. ingrid however did not have such luck. she was flung backwards where the indian man collecting bus fees was kind enough to break her fall. with his crotch. yep, free falling hip meets family jewels. its possible that she may have rendered him childless and robbed him of future bus employees. we figured that his job is probably the only line of work other than professional sports where daily cup use should be a requirement. the best part of the whole situation is that no one reacted (other than us crazy americans flying all over the place) no one on the bus made a peep, the driver was not agitated in the least, no one on the street even batted an eye. i'm sure this is a daily occurrence. we we pulled over and called insurance companies and waited for the police to come to take pictures and statements. wait, no. that's not what happened at all. the bus worker got out (not the one that ingrid nailed, he was probably off whimpering in the corner) ran up to the van, literally thew some money in the window and everyone went on their merry little way. it was over in about 2 minutes. and most of that was simply because of traffic, not the accident. i feel that this is the way it should be. accidentally hit someone? throw a couple of bills in their direction and continue as you were. we might actually save some money in the long run.