I think Lan got on the bus somewhere in Alabama. She sat down next to me, and we got to talking after a while. She was a Thai tourist on vacation in Florida when some terrorists had taken over the airport in Bangkok. All the flights home, including the one she was scheduled to take, had been canceled. She was riding around the USA visiting old friends that are here now and waiting for flights to resume. She was on her way to Oklahoma City when we met. Our paths parted in Dallas, but we both had long layovers.

I found out about Pappas by asking around at the bus station. It was only a few blocks away, so we walked over there. The place had a cafeteria format. Talking about what to get she said "I'm Thai. I don't want that much food. Can I just take some of yours and split the tab?"

I said sure and let her pick. She wanted pork. We both got plenty to eat out of what they served, a Texas sized plate of food. It was much spicier than Virginia BBQ, and not as sweet. Then after the hot food was gone she pulled a couple of bananas out of her bag and offered me one. It was at the perfect ripeness for eating. I pulled a pomegranate out of my bag and offered her some. She had never seen a pomegranate before, and didn't know how to eat it. I said "don't eat the white stuff, just the kernels." She spat out the seeds, just sucking down the juice from around them.

Anyhow, it was nice to have someone to hang out with for that time.