Thursday, 3 November, 2022 – Elias is in Bangkok! He texted when he landed and then sent David pictures of food. He said it feels like Asia out of a movie or TV show. He sounds excited, nervous, happy, and tired. Can you be all those things in equal measure? Actually, he told me he was not feeling really tired yet, at 7am, Bangkok time. The adrenaline is a real thing, helping keep you awake and alert in a new place, under stressful circumstances. Until he crashes, it sounds like he is going to take in everything he can on his first day. I will try to map where he is in the city tomorrow.
(He’s exactly 12 hours ahead, which theoretically means I will not struggle as much to keep time straight but it is 3am here in Kansas City, so I am messing with my own internal clock. I have another damn presentation next week and I have not finished writing it.)
Though I think the stressful circumstances today are almost all good stress, he got a rude introduction to the old-lady-pickpocket-scammer experience within an hour of landing. She followed closely, bumped him, tried to jostle stuff off him, all while looking like a poor bag lady. Elias noticed she had airbuds in, however, and thought, “Hmm, that’s sort of unusual for an old lady. I bet she’s not what she appears.” He was right. He maneuvered away from her quickly, and was fine.
As he was texting me about the experience, I realized I am way more nervous for Elias in Thailand than I was about him in Europe. And I don’t think it is because Thailand is any more dangerous than Naples or Marseille or Hamburg. But because I had more time there than I ever had in Europe, I can picture him in the places I remember and I want to protect him. Or, at least, find some way to stop remembering things like having my credit card stolen, and getting so sick I lost 10 pounds, and … well, I am going to stop there.
Here’s the thing, though: Elias is not me. Thailand of 1986 is not Thailand of 2023. And, and, worrying does not help. If worrying helped, Elias would not have been stalked by a bag lady today. My worrying would have prevented that from happening. But it didn’t. And he is fine. More than fine, actually. As these pictures attest.
