the life & travels of the littleton family: One of my favorite things to do in Chiang Mai...

and the worst 45 minutes of my life.

I love markets. My favorites are in Morocco, but I really love them anywhere. I have a lot of fond memories of finding something special, tasting a new treat (cactus fruit, passion fruit/strawberry/banana shake, guava on a stick, falafel sandwiches, etc). We've gone to the night walking markets (Sat and Sun nights) about 15 times or more since we moved here and recently I've been finding some really great accessories for myself which is sort of rare- I usually don't buy stuff like that for myself, but since we moved here I've gotten a scarf, a belt, a necklace, and a purse all of which I totally adore. John's gotten about 10 new t-shirts (he has a major weakness for new t-shirts). Plus we've gotten lots of good souvenirs for other people and taken all of our guests there to do their souvenir shopping.

Sam has always liked markets too- when he was a little baby we'd take him on a walk in the market in Rabat because it was an easy way to keep him content and occupied. He likes the ones here too- though we've probably been more times than he'd like. We usually get him a helium balloon and some sort of smoothie or fruit or ice cream too.

Here are some pics of the amazing and extensive Sunday night walking market which stretches almost all the way across the old city of Chiang Mai right in the middle with sellers lining both sides of the main street as well as both sides of every intersecting street for at least one block as well as two parallel streets. There are also sellers in every available parking lot, temple ground, or empty lot along the entire thing.

Okay now for the story of my worst 45 minutes of all time.

The other day, Elizabeth and I decided to go with Lucy and Sam for a quick shop (we'd already gone to the Sat. night one the previous week). We decided that we'd go 30 minutes in and then turn around so we could be in time for an earlier dinner with the kids. John stayed home with Jeff who was taking a nap. We decided to go super early to try to avoid the crowds but even at 5pm it was pretty crowded.

I had forgotten the ergo and anyway Sam is kind of heavy so I decided that he could walk with me on the way in to the market and when we turned around, I'd carry him back. Every few minutes he'd ask me to carry him and I'd say, "remember what I said? if you walk all the way on the way into the market we can get an ice cream." He was really excited about that. They do have this awesome coconut ice cream on a stick that we love.

Lucy was getting hungry so we decided to try to find a smoothie for her too- I saw a smoothie place and Sam and I went across the street and about 20 feet up from where Elizabeth was picking out a handmade journal. I told him that we were getting a smoothie for Lucy and he said that he wanted an ice cream. I told him we'd get one as soon as we could find one but that we were getting the smoothie first because it was right here. About 5 seconds after that, I looked back at Elizabeth and didn't see Sam in my peripheral vision. I checked the other side and he wasn't there either. I thought maybe he'd walked back to Elizabeth so I went to look and when I didn't see him, I asked her to keep an eye out for him back in her direction. I started looking all around where we were and calling out for him. There were two lots filled with sellers on both sides of the street and then the street was filled with sellers and people as well. After about 3 minutes, I started to panic. No one had seen him. My sister and I walked in opposite directions looking for him and didn't find him. I went all the way up to the next main intersection where the market went in three directions. Surely, Sam couldn't have gotten all that far away from me? (in fact, that is exactly what he did- walked straight on up the market without stopping for three big blocks!). I really lost it- I screamed his name, asked everyone if they'd seen him, called John for the 5th time and he picked up. I told him I'd lost Sam and broke down. He flipped out too- left Jeff with our babysitter (who now lives on our property- she's so awesome!!), drove like a madman on his motorbike booking it for the other end of the market from where I was so we could cover it all. He brought his laptop and was showing people a picture of Sam on it. I called our Thai friend to call the police for me and went to a police station. My sister went to the information center where they can make announcements on the loud speaker and had them make an announcement in Thai. Lots of friendly Thais and tourists tried to help us. After 20 minutes I found some school girls who'd seen him but I ran ahead and couldn't find him. Another 10 minutes later another seller told me he'd seen him about 20 minutes earlier. At least he was walking by himself and lost, I thought, and probably not nabbed. Still, where to look? There were so many intersections and so many people and he's so little. After 45 minutes, I received a call from our Thai friend that the police had him at the station and I ran back to find him in the arms of a nice British woman who had persuaded him to let her help him. Apparently she'd found him more than three big blocks away from us, crying and surrounded by those Thai schoolgirls in their blue and white uniforms. I think she'd walked with him in the wrong direction after that until she found the police herself and they told her where to bring him. When I had him in my arms, I cried and cried and he looked up at me like "why is mom acting so weird?" He totally doesn't get the gravity of the situation.

I remember getting lost once in a big department store and having to have them call on the loudspeakers for my mother to find me. I was so embarrassed. I remember once staying on a commuter train in Boston when my grandfather and sister got off. I wasn't all that bothered about that one (I was 5). My mom tells a story of when I was 3 and took off at a zoo and she followed me and I didn't turn around for 10 minutes. So when I called her about my horrible day, I asked her if she remembered the time in the department store. She didn't. She said that I was lost so many times that she can't remember that far back. The most recent worst one for her was when I wasn't where I should have been to be picked up after school in high school for 30-45 minutes. Cell phones would have solved that one, but not the ones with a little kid.

So now that I have him back, I just want to do anything I can to avoid that horrible feeling ever again. Of course, I'm going to keep a good eye on him, but I was doing that Sunday night- I wasn't distracted or anything that day- he just disappeared so fast. I should have screamed his name the moment I noticed- he would have heard me- it had only been 5 seconds. But I looked around where we were- went back to where Elizabeth was- and in that time he'd already booked it so far.

He says he was just looking for ice cream. Sometimes he says he was looking for me. I'm sure it was a combination, but either way, he apparently isn't the kind of kid who tries to stay close to Mom.

So I'm going to get this to help me keep track of him. He wears the teddy bear, I hold the beeper. If I press the button, he beeps loudly. I'm not going to use it as a substitute for keeping an eye on him, just that if he'd been wearing it Sunday, I could have found him immediately and avoided all that heartache. And if he turns out to be like me- disappearing more times than my parents can remember, than I'll really need it.