I will never... ever...

Before coming to Vietnam... "I will never, ever drive a motorbike in Vietnam! Maybe I will buy a bicycle but I will never drive in that traffic!"

A few days after arriving in Vietnam... "Perhaps after 6 months or so I'll be able to drive myself around on a motorbike."

One week after arriving in Vietnam... "I need some freedom! I can learn to drive a motorbike. I'll take my time and learn... but let's do this."

Two weeks in... forget about renting -- I bought my own, brand new motorbike. I pulled out of the Yamaha shop on my new bike... sitting behind a Yamaha worker whom I paid to drive me home... thinking to myself, "Stacia, you might be an IDIOT for buying this thing. You had better make this work out."

Two hours after buying a brand new motorbike... CRASH! ...Back to the Yamaha shop to fix the broken brake handle. Practice, practice, and practice.

One month in... I drove myself to and from school for the first time. But... "I will never, ever drive with someone else on the back of my bike. There's no way."

Tomorrow is my TWO MONTH anniversary with Vietnam... I zip all over the city on my cute scooter! I had to go back to the Yamaha shop yesterday - but instead of fixing something that was broken, it was for a 500K check-up.

Today, Sarah and I were leaving school and planning to head to a cafe to plan the start-up of our Pen Pals with Hattie's class back in Denver, CO. Sarah didn't have her bike with her and figured she would just take a xe om... but then I got excited about a new aspiration that had crept into my mind a few days ago... "If I'm going to learn to drive with someone on the back of my bike at some point, Sarah will be a good one to begin with because she's tiny!"

Sooo... these never ever's are becoming... I-can-do-it's!

I successfully drove both Sarah and I to The Refinery on my little Yamaha Cuxi.  :D  It was easier than I imagined to balance with another person on the back.

There may or may not have been a moment of terror... covered by laughs from both Sarah and I... when we almost got smooshed by a bus buuuuut everything else was pretty smooth going! The best part was as the bus is pulling over to the curb and looming over us, coming closer and closer... I yelled out, "What do I do??" and Sarah said, "You've got to stop!" hahaha... Oh yeah, good idea. hehe... Learning everyday!