thunder, no lightning...kaboom

just a few minutes ago we heard a thunderous earth-shaking crash. then lots and lots of sirens and alarms going off at once. the most likely conclusion being a really really big car crash in the crazy intersection outside. we can't really see anything from the window, hopefully it's okay...

i "got into" my first real "accident" here last week. i was in the backseat on my way to the airport when the car i was in hit the back of a taxi...lightly, but enough to make both cars stop and pull over. after a quick discussion, driver A pulled out a wallet and paid off driver B with a wad of cash. i didn't even see any damage. i guess it's just easier that way?

we've been surprised that we haven't seen more...other than the occasional bike on bike accident, or bike vs. deathcab (these tiny "taxis" that hold only two people) skirmish. D explains it as an unspoken traffic hierarchy...everyone knows that the bigger guy always wins, so pedestrians yield to bikes who yield to scooters who yield to larger scooters who yield to deathcabs who yield to taxis who yield to trucks who yield to buses...and so on and so forth. our motto is always DBTB (Don't Battle The Bus). it's safer that way...