-^-for posterity-^-

saigon is bustling with activity this holiday season. it feels like christmas finally. small white lights cling to trees and large banners proclaim “merry christmas” in vietnamese and english.

today a friend of mine let me borrow his motorbike. i used to drive an old motorcycle back home so speeding around the saigon streets was no problem. me and jack piled on and people starred and starred as we flew past.

we went to the bank to exchange money and i waited outside. the bike is an old, baby-blue piece of junk that makes loud popping noises. the headlight is broken and the turn signals don’t work. the horn sounds like a very old goose trapped in a plastic bag.

i parked along the side of the road with the xe om drivers. a xe om driver is a relatively poor man who operates as a taxi. they sit on their parked motorcycles and wait for people to hop on the back and haggle a price. there were three of them waiting outside the bank and they all smiled broadly as i approached.

one man was missing his two front teeth. another man was drinking something out of a cup. the third man was lounging on his bike; his back on the handlebars and his feet stretched along the seat. he was smoking.

i told them that i was a xe om driver too. the man with the missing teeth came up and asked me if i would take him to the ben thanh market. he asked how much it would cost. i named a price and he hopped on the bike. we all laughed and it was wonderful. the rest of my time was spent yelling at people and asking them if they wanted a ride somewhere. the other drivers were trying to find some work for me. it was quite a fun game. i wouldn’t want to do it for a living though.

we left the bank and drove the long way back to our hotel. the light blue bike would lurch and pop and the wind tore at my shirt and hair. christmas in saigon.