So I'm sitting at the mall talking with a guy from Dubuque who has lived in the Emirates for 12 years. We're talking about the crazy drivers and he said he's been lucky to have only been hit once in his 12 years...
Ten minutes later - as I'm pulling out of the mall - I got hit. It was all in slow motion. The car was coming around a curve and I saw that he wasn't turning his wheel. He wasn't going very fast but bam, he hit the front driver's side of my car.
The guy spoke no English. I called the police and the cop who showed up spoke no English. The guy who hit me tried to claim it was my fault and the cop on the scene tried to indicate that it was my fault. I said, "Let's go to the police station."
At the police station we finally found a guy who spoke a little English. At first I was told the accident was both of our faults or it would have to go to court. I said, "Let's go to court." When they realized I wasn't going to back down the cop explained that the guy who hit me has no insurance. The fine for no insurance is huge. If we go to court he will certainly have to pay the fine.
I said, "If my car gets fixed, all is well." It took hours but I was able to contact Ann & Mike's mechanic who took my car to get the alignment fixed and the little dent below taken care of.
The fact the kid tried to blame me for the accident made me mad but I decided it wasn't worth pursuing. He paid for the fixes and I'm back home.
Today's the first time my lack of speaking Arabic has posed a problem. I was concerned for quite a while that somehow the cops would believe I was at fault. That's why I kept saying, "Let's go to court!"
I'm just glad you're okay. That's been one of my biggest fears all along is that you'll end up in a situation like this and be surrounded by people who not only don't speak English, but also don't like Americans and would like nothing more than to see you in an Arab prison for 20 years.
ReplyDeleteThere you go...that is the bad thing that you've been feeling. Thank goodness it wasn't any worse than that. Don't you feel better now? :)
ReplyDeleteIf *this* was the reason for feeling impending doom then my spidey sense really sucks!
ReplyDeletePerhapos it is time for you to start learning some Arabic if you plan to be there for any length of time. I hear Rosetta Stone is pretty good.
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