Taking off!

So I’m writing again, back by popular demand.  Except this time, the topic is Thailand, and this blog is dedicated to my Auntie Jeanne, who oh-so-persistently requested that I start it.

the lovely Auntie Jeanne

That doesn’t mean it’s all hers, though!  This blog is for anyone who wasn’t able to make it out to Thailand this year, so that they might have the chance to share some of my experiences, and those who are going, so that they might have a glimpse of what’s in store.  Like my last blog, &etc., I’ll try to share my thoughts, experiences, and the pictures I take along the way.  And, unlike my actual last blog, &letsgo, I'll actually update this one.  I promise.  I've already sent the link out, so now I have to.

Enough of that, though.  I was originally scheduled to fly out to Bangkok on the 7^th via Tokyo, with Japan Airlines.  Unfortunately, that plane caught fire (no joke! see the abc news article).  Japan Airlines tried to reschedule me for another flight today, but rather than braving the 44-hour trip and layover-rich route that they suggested, I chose to re-book with Royal Jordanian.   I’m glad I did, because a few hours before I left for the airport, I heard an NPR report explaining that the JAL plane I would have been on had I not rebooked had a fuel leak and was also cancelled.

So while we could call the delay bad luck, I’d prefer to call it fortune: after all, I was only minutes away from boarding a plane which would imminently catch fire.  I’m a lucky man.

At Logan, before takeoff

In any case, I’m presently I’m sitting in the plane at JFK, waiting for the doors to close on my flight to Amman, Jordan, where I have an 8-hour layover before continuing to Bangkok.   At the airport, I had the pleasure of talking with a  Jordanian man who has lived on Martha’s Vineyard for the last twelve years: a pastry maker by profession, he is on his way to his son’s wedding, where he’ll orchestrate the construction of his wedding cake.  Also, his bakery is the home of the original apple fritter—that’s something worth bragging about.

Wish me a safe flight!