the humanness of Vietnam: Thumbs up + smile :-)

Saigon 2011 January, typical traffic

Riding in traffic, swimming in a sea of motorbikes, surrounded by motorbikes, 

I'm one of them, one of hundreds, inching forward, grabbing that bit of space, 

chugging along, impassive face, aware all around. .
A tall young woman, sitting high up at the back of a bike, passes me and turns around, bright smile on her face. She gives me a big thumbs up sign, me the foreigner on his on his 50cc Honda Cub bike. 

I feel accepted. 

I feel part of the place. 

For a moment I see life from the vantage of the majority of Vietnamese in Saigon. 

 10Feb11 Saigon, Le Loi Street D1.

I'm wanted at the traffic-jam
They're saving me a seat
I'm what I am, and what I am
Is back on Boogie Street...

- Leonard Cohen