Thread by @2014ORTOY

I had no idea what to expect in Bangladesh. They picked me up at the airport and whisked me to my hotel with orders to be ready as quickly as possible for "the concert."

Ends up the embassy crossed some wires, I was a day later than expected-so I threw on nice clothes... (more)

https://twitter.com/itsKryss/status/1310799100003135489

And was bundled off to The Children's Concert-and annual fundraiser for visually impaired children that takes place in their National Performing Arts Center. I had no idea but, apparently I was a guest of honor.

At the door, by the sign, the press wanted some pics...
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So, I smiled + an entire wall of Bangla Paparazzi line up + suddenly I'm like Rula Lenska! FLASH FLASH FLASH!

(I'm very disappointed by the internet-no Rula Lens gifs?!

Well, by then concert goers are arriving, the very fancy concert goers. And a line starts to form

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So I try to move so they can get a picture with the sign. No. No.

That's the line for people who want a picture with me. Oh.

Um. Oh. OK. Um...flash flash flash.

um, nobody is lining up to go inside, they want a picture first-with the celebrity teacher.
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And I don't know what to do but keep smiling. Bangladesh was the first Muslim country so, as I'm smiling I'm kind of worried because I'm being squished up into all these pictures and I don't want to be disrespectful but I keep having contact, and it was kind of a lot...

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And after about half an hour of this! Still with a big line! Out bursts my host horribly concerned because he didn't know where I had ended up! He sees my line, begs forgiveness, thanks me for being so gracious, leaves a teacher with me for support and flash flash flash!
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So, it never stops, because now I'm trending on social media, which people are seeing as they stand in line to get a picture with me... But finally the concert is about to start!

Thank Goodness!!- I think, I can hide in the darkness up in the crowd!

LOL...no. NO.

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I'm on the first seat, front row, on the aisle. EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. ENTERING. THE main aisle of the concert either passes to my left or in front of me. People are stopping to take selfies. People are coming back down out of the seats to get a picture.

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I don't know what to do. I never experienced anything like this before. The man next to me introduces himself to me. He is the Communications Cabinet Minister for the Bangladeshi government.

I'm a teacher who quit his job to go mentor the first Bangla Special Ed teachers.
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Next was his wife and then the most popular Actress in Bangladesh-and, as described to me, the Bangladesh Madonna.(The singer, not the Mother of God Madonna).

As we watch the concert, during a speech, the entire bank of TV cameras slowly start panning away from the stage.
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Until an entire row of cameras has stopped watching the Bangladesh Meryls Streep, and have turned completely away from the stage, to point at me. All of them. Even the little one.

And I'm trying not to panic.

I'm just off a 30 hour plane trip.
It is 900 degrees.
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And I suddenly feel very. very. very. fuzzy.

And I'm thinking, please, please, please don't faint.

But then my worst case scenario pipes in and adds: or faint and pee yourself. Because, they haven't let me go to the bathroom yet, it was all FLASH FLASH instead.
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So I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough, to kind of jolt me back to the real world...

which consisted of the Bangladesh Madonna now singing about something peppy, and a bunch of swirling lights, and a woman crouching down in front of me to get a selfie...
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All in front of a bank of cameras. The Cabinet Minister next to me, by the way, was by then bouncing around in his seats singling along. He knew every word. He was a groupie.

Then Meryl Streep walked by and tripped on her gown. Still, the cameras were on me.
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And I dug kinda deep to keep smiling, and tapping my foot to the music and tried not to sweat as I realized I was not going to survive wearing dress clothes...

By the time the concert was over I'd had several hundred Facebook friends from Bangladesh.
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The next day it would be thousands from all over SE Asia... the stars had aligned...at an ed conference THAT SAME DAY in Singapore, @MicrosoftEDU had presented my work at a really huge conference...and shared my social media...

And suddenly... I'm no longer allowed
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To leave my hotel without proper escort. In Rajshahi this meant an entire ARMY TRUCK of soldiers carrying automatic weapons.

In Bangladesh in recent years all of the LGBT leaders have been assassinated. I was not flying under the radar very well.
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But, if you can imagine the concert reaction, imagine seeing me in an open tuktuk with 20 army men surrounding me, as we sit in the city center roundabout, waiting for the SECOND army vehicle with a whole bunch more giant guns and soldiers...imagine the crowds that formed.
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BUT, all the attention brought people to the gofundme....while I was there I decked out the schools with a whole bunch of equipment, games, toys...I went to the biggest toy store and town and with the mighty dollar, cleared some shelves!
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And I visited a school in a slum where the kids were starving and an angel was trying to feed them. I had enough money to put in a lunch program for months!

And at a shelter for girls (and one boy) who had been saved from trafficking (sex/labor) or organ harvesters...
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I was able to use that money to buy every single product the kids had embroidered at their store. Every single scrap.
It was a holiday to them!! It was heartbreaking to me. I should auction them off to support the girls.
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So, the infamy is fickle and weird and yet it allows me to support poeple so far away and in way I never imagined. I don't know why I wrote all that tonight. Cathartic though to share. It is good to know I'm on a good path.
Cheers.