Andrew Sanborn- A taxi adventure

The day started out slow. My meeting wasn’t until noon so I was able to sleep in for the first time since I left. Then it was on to breakfast, and out to the taxi. It was raining slightly as we drove toward the Co Nhue district, around half a mile or so north of my school. I started out the same way I do with most of the cab rides here; said hello in Vietnamese, regretted it when they started speaking to me super fast, stared at them, said xin loi (I’m sorry) and shrugged. Before I left I checked the directions one last time. I was sure that I knew exactly where I was going; after all it was only a few hundred meters or so off the main road! I expected to see the field soon. What I didn’t count on was the driver not understanding a word of English. So we made the turn off the major street onto a smaller street that dove head first into the chaos of crowded streets and densely packed housing. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to see the field from the street. I tried to tell the driver that I am looking for a “football” field, but he doesn’t understand that, so I try “SOCCER”. I pantomimed whistling, pointing, and throwing in, but he still didn’t know what I’m was saying. Sitting in my seat as the cab pushes deeper and deeper into the unknown, I asked myself, “Self, what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time? I am sitting here alone in the back of a cab going deeper into the ‘jungle,’ I mean city, oh wait it is jungle. Great. I am in a mix of rice paddies and forest, looking for some crappy soccer field that is most likely an empty lot filled with dirt and broken bottles.” I motioned for the driver to “turn around”. He understood that; well it’s a start. He asked a few people on the side of the road, but no one is helping. He called someone on his phone, handed it to me, and I attempted to communicate with two people in broken English. They finally got what I was saying, and I handed the phone to the driver. YES, he understood! “Ahh, football” he said to me. Yes, that is what I was telling you the entire time. As we continued on our quest, the driver pulled over a few times to ask for directions, and now we were getting some positive results. All of a sudden we come around a corner, and there it was, the Co Nhue Fields, in all its majesty! It was better then I ever could have imagined,; it was a synthetic turf field. The driver looked at me, we started to laugh with joy, we high-fived and I paid as we pulled up. I did the impossible -- broke the language barrier and arrived at my destination. Great Success!