Granted, it was only the side mirrors that hit, but still. I was really struggling with the fact that we just drove off. I feel like we would have been arrested had we done that in the states. Fortunately, most cars here are able to turn their side mirrors in close, or we would have knocked the whole thing off. The front was still gone though, and the little light was broken off the side. Cars drive so close together here, it is bound to happen sometimes. You never dare put your hand or arm out the window to feel the breeze.
I had seen one other accident during my time here. It was with a public transportation van and a moped. The van was pulling off the road to the right, not knowing that there was a moped in its path. The left handle broke off the moped as it frantically swerved to stay upright. The moped driver just held the handle up in frustration at the other driver, and then we had driven past and I don't know what happened after that.
Ocha and I were on our way to Jawatimur Park, a theme park about an hour away. I really don't like amusement parks; in the US I have only ever been once, and I was scared out of my mind. I had a sense of adventure today though, and this park was nothing like amusement parks in the states. The rides are not as big, tall, or intimidating. I was feeling adventurous. Ocha didn't want to go on any of the rides, but I was able to drag her onto one that spun you around over little hills forwards and then backwards. After we did bumper cars together, I had to do the rest of the rides by myself. One was a roller-coaster, not excessively high, so it was acceptable to my slight fear of heights. I sat in a four-person car. Two people face one way while the other two face the opposite direction. As we went around the numerous curves of the coaster, we were whipped around and spun out over open space. I was a little more than terrified. I'm telling you, theme parks are not my thing. The next ride was a small coaster, low to the ground, but extremely fast. We went around four times at breakneck speed. The final ride I did was the swings. I was in a two-seater by myself, and I had my eyes closed the whole time. Because the swings were raised high into the sky as you spun around the tower. My eyes had hardly separated - when I briefly saw ground so far below - before they were quickly squeezed shut again. It was one of my last days in Indonesia, so I needed to get the most out of my experience on those rides I never would have done otherwise. And in the morning I had had the impression we were going to a waterfall.... So far from it.
On the way home, we saw yet another accident. Two cars that were going the same way (opposite from Ocha and I) had collided. The driver of one jumped out of his car, ran to the other driver, and started beating him up. Other people joined in to hold the drivers back, and then we had driven past and I could see no more. Wow, what a day! And to think, I had started it out, driving through the neighborhood, practicing my driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road skills.
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