It’s hard to believe it’s only been a week since we were in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand, wondering at the dancing gibbons and searching for the elusive white elephant in the rare, still-thick jungles.  It seems a dream that just a couple days ago we were in Bangkok, City of Cities, our faces red with fire from spicy curries and oppressive heat.

Heartbreak has been battling excitement and anticipation since we touched down yesterday at SFO.  Thanks to our old neighbors Jimmy and Jen, we just woke from our first good night of sleep in several days.  We flew overnight from Bangkok to Tokyo where we spent a day and then had another over night flight to San Francisco the following day (or was it yesterday or tomorrow?).  Thanks to a flight crew that seemed to have a more gripping fear of flying than Yours Truly, accentuanted by some of the worst turbulence I have ever experienced on a 747, the latter flight was a 10-hour, white-knuckled opportunity to  contemplate my mortality.  I did manage to stave off chest pains and a murder charge by closing my eyes and going to a happy place (for most of the flight I was truly still on the beaches of Cambodia).  It worked, but it wasn’t easy.  David, God bless him,  slept through interrupted only by the the occasional seat shift to ease the pain in his back.   I still look at him, and everyone else, in wonder at their level of comfort while shooting through space at 700 miles an hour, 40,000 feat above safety, in a tin can.  I lie in wait for the glorious day when rail and sea return as the primary (and only sane) means of international travel.

Our hosts here are off to work and we are laying in bed in front of their television (oh the luxury of English!) enjoying some solitude.  It will be a few days before the jet lag wears off and our bodies come back and talk to our heads like friends again.  We’re tired and dazed and our hearts are sagging a bit.  We are trying to give ourselves some time for it all to wear off before we contemplate the answer to the already-asked question, “So, how do you feel?”

Still, it’s hard not to look around at all that is no longer the same and feel rather overwhelmed.  Most of what we have swarming through our heads, at least innitially, isn’t incredibly positive.  I don’t want to be that guy that comes back from a mere 5 months in a foreign country and whines and complains about how much better it is “over there.”  But, today I am indeed that guy and there you have it.  Talk to me in a couple days after all the luxuries of of the Western world seep in and the sleepiness wears off and I may have something to different to say.  But, today…

It’s so cold here.  This morning I walked two blocks to the old coffee shop wearing long underwear, thick khakis, a tee shirt, a long sleeved tee shirt, a fleece sweater, and a track jacket and I was still shivering well after I finished my drip.  Thinking Oakland must be in the midst of a freak cold spell not seen since the 20’s I checked the temp on the weather channel and it’s a mere 54 degrees.  Evidently we accepted the tropical Laoation heat more than we had thought.

I feel somewhat disconcerted with how different Americans suddenly seem.  Everyone seems panicky and running away (or to) from something scarrier than it must actually be.  I have gone on and on for months about how so many of the people from Southeast Asia sit in the moment without complaint, content and eager to say yes and be.  I never thought that would be even more visible from the streets of Oakland.  The contrast is harsh, especially since my long underwear and fleece just aren’t doing the job.

I’m going to give this some time before dig farther and find whatever it is I will call New.  But I will say this:  I feel more appreciation for the bit of time a few of my friends gave me last night than ever before, and on hello they made me feel home again, so to speak. And I’m so friggin’ pumped to see the rest of you soon.  Just know that if I can’t find the words quite yet I am indeed searching, and I’ll be having a hell of a time even if my eyes are still a little sleepy.

I love you all and I can’t wait to see you (right after this nap).

Kevin

p.s.  We have pictures going back 3 weeks we have yet to post so we will be getting on that (right after another nap).