Wreck

Saturday January, 29 2011

6:05 PM

I just witnessed a motorcycle wreck. Well, I heard it anyway. I was just coming out of my house to head to Teahouse when I heard a loud BANG and a scream. I had just watched a movie about the oppression in Burma, so my first thought was that it was a gunshot…but when I walked past my gate, I saw people running down the street toward a car. I walked past the wreck on my way to the teahouse. The car had apparently hit a motorcycle as it came around the corner. The bike was almost completely under the car, and there were two women a few yards in front of it. About 50 townspeople had already crowded around the wreckage—some were fanning the victims, others were just watching. I felt out of place as a farang, so I didn’t stop and watch with the rest of them. I caught a glimpse of the girl that was nearest to me as I walked by—her face was pretty scraped up and bloody. As far as I could tell, both of them were alive, but I couldn’t make out if they were conscious or not. There were pieces of broken fiberglass (or whatever motorcycles are made of) all around the scene.

This is the fourth wreck that I’ve known about in the last week (not including the car wreck my mom got in at home). Pom-Pom (the lady that did my laundry last week) apparently got in a mini-bus accident a few days ago. The car had flipped over, and she had to go into surgery for her eye. Two volunteers in the area that I know each got into a motorcycle wreck last week as well. I enjoyed my bike ride yesterday, but I think I’ll be more hesitant the next time I get on one—no one even wears helmets in this area. I ran into Gemma (the dog-sanctuary founder) on my way from the scene today and she says that wrecks aren’t usually this common, they just seem to all be happening at the same time. I hope they stop sooner than later.