My luck runs out! Hit by motorcycle last night!

Well, sigh.....it happened!

Last night I went to one of my favorite seafood restaurants near campus. I love the food, but the restaurant is located across what I call "death road", thus I don't go there often. Last night I had dinner with Andrew, a young Fulbright student on campus and the only other American for miles around! He wanted to go someplace new, so we decided to brave the road crossing and headed out.

We had a good dinner....the usual Vietnamese food...and a Hanoi beer. A nice dinner and good conversation. Since speaking English without fumbling and translation is a treat, we both enjoyed the evening. Fast Forward to the walk back home.

We wander out of the restaurant and head back to "death road". It is a six lane road with three lanes in each direction and a concrete barrier in the center. This is the main road that runs north and south..and the major highway to the airport located about 25 kilometers north of town. We approach the crossing and I am relieved that the traffic seems to be lower now...not as many BIG trucks and buses. This is good because motorcycles will go around you. At least they are supposed to!

Andrew and I start across the road. Since it is one way, I look left. This was my big mistake. I take about 3 steps into traffic and suddenly WHAM...I am hit by a motorcycle GOING THE WRONG WAY on the one way street. This stupid girl was driving very fast NORTHBOUND IN THE SOUTHBOUND lane. I didn't look in that direction--and that was my mistake. [NOTE: This is not an unusual practice in this country--they ride motorcycles the wrong way on streets..on the sidewalks...everywhere!]

Anyway, I am flattened....and end up lying in middle of this busy street in the dark. People are yelling...Andrew is in a panic...more because he was barely missed by the bike. Anyway, some people scrape me off the pavement and I end up sitting on the side of the road. No blood! That is good. No pain yet...so again good. I get up and walk a bit and everything seems to be working. Again, good. So Andrew and I attempt to cross the road and make it this time. I begin to hurt and assess the damage on the way home. My right leg --thigh and calf are very sore....but no blood. My butt is sore...probably from landing very hard on it. I pull up my right sleeve because my arm hurts like hell. Oh oh....a HUGE contusion. Andrew about fainted. I had what looked like a baseball rising right below my elbow. It was the most amazing thing I have seen. It looked like I broke my arm. The funny thing was that my arm worked ok. So not broken...but just badly bruised.

I totter back to my room...say good night to Andrew and assess the damage. Lots of scrapes and many bruises. But thankfully that is all. I iced down my arm and leg...and took a big 800 mg Ibuprophen. During this time I sent an email out to one of the faculty about an early morning meeting. I told him I wanted to cancel because of my poor body. That was a BIG mistake.

Within minutes people were rapping on my door. The faculty member called a student and asked her to look in on me. The student called all her friends. They called the Chair of the department and the head of housing. As you can imagine, everyone congregated in my room over the next 20 minutes. They all wanted to "take care of me". So I had ice on my arm and leg. Then some magical Chinese alcohol appears and that gets rubbed on my wounds. I wanted to laugh...and cry at the same time!!!

Well....today things have quieted down. I am fine. The drug did its magic and I am only a bit sore. My leg bothers me the most...but looks fine! Just a big ol' knot where I was hit. The arm looks bad...but doesn't feel too bad. I have a purple bruise from mid forearm to just above my elbow. I am sure this will evolve into a nice yellow, green and blue arm over the next few days.

I was pretty lucky. If I received the hit on my head instead of my arm I would probably not be walking today! I am amazed that I didn't break my arm. Must be all that calcium I take! Anyway, someone was watching over me last night! I was fortunate that I wasn't hurt much worse.

So for now...my trips across "death road" have ended. My only trip on that road will be back to the airport in two weeks! I am going to try to stop this carnage to my body. My right ankle is almost healed up. My left ankle is still causing some problems and looks nasty...but I am walking without a limp--well I was until last night. Now I can add a very sore arm and leg. Let's hope it stops there. I am tired of pain! I can't remember being as banged up before.

Thus NOT JUST ANOTHER DAY in Vietnam!