After Chiangrai, I’ve gotten to the point here no longer feel interested in experiencing the local culture. I feel like an outsider here. A farang. My skin and hair is the wrong color while my eyes are the wrong shape. I am too big and I speak the wrong language. Children look at me funny; they laugh and they point. Their mother’s shush them then give me an apologetic look. To be fair, most everyone here is extremely kind and as interested in learning about me as I am them (except for the kids in Chiangrai the night bazaar that I’m convinced were trying to start a fight with me and every other farang they came across.) Sometimes I think that accepting those who are different may be a learned trait. The basic human condition, as exhibited by the very young, is to stare and point at those that are different. Perhaps that is a good thing, since they are staring in wonderment, not in judgment. Or maybe I am just projecting my own insecurities on the locals.
So anyway. I think today I am going to stay away from the market. I’m going to eat the hotel food. I am going to watch American science fiction TV with Thai subtitles and drink Heinekins. Maybe, if I feel adventurous, I’ll watch the city from the hotel balcony.
I was on a role with the sunsets!
