Yesterday we had a crash. We rear ended a car that apparently stopped suddenly in front of us. Our fault, of course. It was my first real crash.
It was strange, one moment I'm looking out the side window at a radio station that had set up business outside the Mi Tierra supermarket. Next moment I hear Mike saying "Oh shit", I look in front of me and see this stopped car in front of us. Then I feel the pull of the seat belt and start coughing. I was pretty disoriented at first. It took me a minute - but then again, i couldn't really tell time - to figure out what had happened, to realize that the smoke inside the car came from the air bag, to hear Mike asking how I was, how the kids were (everyone was fine), to figure out that I could open the door and get out to escape the smoke, before it reached the children.
Once we got out we ascertained that everyone was fine. Our car had been basically destroyed - the damage is far greater than what the car is worth - but none of us had been injured. Seat belts are a great thing. Today we hurt a bit from the seatbelt marks, however. Better that than the alternative.
Mika was a little bit traumatized at first. She kept crying because we wouldn't be going to the Discovery Museum - where we were headed when the accident happened. Later, when she found out our car was going to the dump, she cried about that too. Finally, once we put her to work helping empty the car, she felt better. Camila insisted on being held all the time. Mike did more of that duty as I was still a bit shocked and had a headache. Plus it's always hard for me to hold her.
Eventually the police came, they were very pleasant and did their business. We emptied the car and our friend D. picked us up with our belongings and took us home. The tow truck took the car away.
And then, after we came home and put everything away, we got into our other car and went to the Discovery Museum.