-^-for posterity-^-

our last full day of christmas vacation. jack and i took to our borrowed bicycles and left heading nowhere.

we drove across the river pedaling through chaotic traffic. my bicycle had a bell on it and i enjoyed ringing it endlessly like a child. the bridge was wide and the air was thick with exhaust. we stumbled on the industrial section of saigon.

everything was a deep shade of grey. the normal sporadic white face was no where to be found. we randomly picked small side streets and headed down them. sometimes not having anywhere to go allows you to find the most interesting places.

in the middle of our trek it started to drizzle. we parked out bikes and huddled under a large coca-cola umbrella to wait out the storm. the sky opened up and screamed and roared with thunder and lightning. we ordered coffee.

we sat and sat and watched the streets flood with water and motorcyclists. people covered in pastel ponchos seemed to ignore the downpour. the rain lasted for hours and hours. we sat and sat.

it rained and rained and poured. we had an appointment so we bought ponchos and mounted our bicycles. we had waited long enough. the rain soaked through my jeans and the wind blew my pink poncho in every direction at the same time. i could hardly see the road through the pounding rain. my eyes were sealed shut. cars narrowly missed me and i could hardly make out jack in his yellow poncho only a few feet ahead of me. we made it home after what felt like an eternity. our hearts were beating through our chest.