Traffic Report

Okay, in case some of you haven’t noticed from my last blog or from some of the other July Racers’ blogs, traffic in Vietnam is something from another dimension.  I think these people are driving straight out of hell (I use this as an expression, not as an offense).  Even after living in India for a month, I still haven’t seen anything quite like it.  I thought I would give you my highlights from the last two days:

 

1. Zach Parish was recently hit by a motorbike while crossing the street.  I have to admit, it was probably the most entertaining thing I’ve seen all week with the exception of number two on this list.  He is fine, no worries, he has no fatal injuries or… really none for that matter.  Let me break it down for you: three of us were crossing the street, Zach was paving the way, motorbike plowed into Zach (actually, it clipped him), Zach pulled and amazing Matrix move that I’ve never seen a real human perform before, I laughed.  As for the woman driving the motorbike?  She obviously lost control and fell, crushing her leg with the motorbike.  Was she fine?  I’m going to assume so because she walked away with a minor limp, hopped back on the bike, and drove off.  It was awesome.

 

2. Watching a lady with Moses’ anointing actually cross the street without stopping.  I’m not kidding!  I actually witnessed this earlier today when I went to get a cup of REAL American coffee.  I stood on the street corner in absolute awe because I’ve never seen anything like it in all of my globe-trekking.  This is how it went down: I was standing on the street corner praying for some kind of break in the flow of traffic so I could somehow sprint across traffic.  Lady walks up to the street corner across the street.  She’s small.  She’s petite.  I think to myself, there’s no way you have a chance lady.  But what did said woman proceed to do?  She put one foot in front of the other and crossed the sea of deadly traffic without stopping!  Literally – my mouth was gaping open in awe.  So after about two minutes with holding the look of astoundment on my face, I decided to try what she accomplished.  I failed miserably and ended up in the center of the road asking God for a miracle.  It came when there was a red light and all of the motorbike drivers recognized the fear on my face.  They stopped for me.

 

3. Being walked across the street by a random security guard.  Never in my grown adult life have I been walked across the street by a grown man who saw the look of horror and defeat on my face and Drey’s face.  I’ve found that my patience runs on pretty quick at this stage in the Race, especially with traffic.  Sometimes I just want to step out and pull a move like the lady did earlier, but I know that I don’t have the Moses anointing, so traffic doesn’t “part” for me…

 

4. I rode a bus today.  They appear to be safe, though you have to wait a half-hour on them to arrive…

 

Ladies and gentlemen… ergo, the traffic report for September 15, 2008.

 

Have a nice day.