Jeanne Dao, was a black student who did not speak English, and her parents did not speak Portuguese, and she had learned from an American high school teacher, not from her native language. She also did not speak any dialects of the English language other than that spoken by whites. The U.S. State Department’s 2015 African American Cultural Tourism Survey noted that black travelers are over-represented among African Americans who seek cultural adventure, but over-represented among those who seek to obtain special permission to travel within that culture.
The first trip of the year for my friend was a three-week, four-country, all-expenses paid vacation trip through Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. On the trip, she discovered that the Thai people are a lot like her: friendly, patient, and generous. At the same time, the Americans on the trip taught her how to speak Thai — and in the end, what better way to travel than with foreigners.
When the holidays are over, we will be meeting for dinner again — probably a lot sooner than you think.
We meet in Thailand, after a one-night stand. She is very drunk, he is not. They have dinner, then go to bed. He doesn’t realize all the times she’s called him daddy or mama.
“They are kind to us,” she tells him later, in a lighthearted way. What does a man with a drinking problem do? He must go get a drink. He gets in his car and takes a toll road to the border with Laos [now Laos]. His Thai driver asks him to open the window. He refuses. He opens it anyway; he doesn’t think he can make it to Laos before the driver’s call to cancel. He calls her later. The driver has been drinking and wants to go back. He explains that he can’t — he is under a 30-day domestic ban from Thailand. He is at 2:30 a.m. in Buriram, and the trip will be too dangerous. He says that he can walk the long way to the border, but they won’t let him. He will have to hire someone, which costs 2,200 baht per passenger (or 9,000 baht total for the four of them).
“You are so kind to me. I will buy you your taxi there,” she says tearfully as she walks to the house