Halapa

Our friend Sirimal’s wife made us some Halapa which is a tasty dessert made from coconut and honey and wrapped in a leaf. Our Lanka friends laughed at us the first time we had Halapa because we didn’t know that you were not supposed to eat the leaf!

Party at the Gym!

Tonight there was a party at our gym, with food and drinks, a dj and dancefloor all set up in the parking lot. I just love the outdoor parties here (especially when we hear reports of snow in Canada!) and have so much fun dancing beneath the stars!





The more the gym guys have to drink, the more they seem to incorporate exercises into their dancing. We had a hard time getting Suranga to pose for this photo as he was busy perfecting his "lunge dancing!"

"Tsunami Family"

We went back to Waddua to visit Anil’s family, who were badly effected by the Tsuanmi. Things seemed to be looking up for the family as they are scheduled to move into their new house in May.

“Sisters” Drawing by Sandali


One of my favourite photos of me in Sri Lanka taken by Sandali


Sandali

Peace Talks

Today Colombo is a buzz about the bomb blasts and the peace process. Peace talks were to start in Colombo today and it is clearly no coincidence that the bomb blasts occurred last night. No one was injured in the bomb blasts and it does not seem likely that they were the work of the LTTE because they were very amateurish. Also they were strategically placed as to minimize injury. Some people think that the bombs were actually set by people who are pro peace process in order to remind citizens about what it was like to live in a state of war so that they would support the peace talks.

5 bombs and three idiots*

Stupid stupid stupid day! It all started when my friend, Suzanne, could not find her wallet. We spent hours searching her entire apartment. As she was canceling her credit cards a tuk tuk driver arrived. She had left her wallet in the back of a tuk. Initially everything appeared to be intact in the wallet and we gave the driver a hefty reward. However upon closer inspection Suzanne realized that nearly $100 was missing!

We were so traumatized we put our work on hold and headed for drinks and lunch at the gallery cafÈ. I stopped at my flat on the way to pick up a few things only to realize that I had left my keys at Suzanne’s and was locked out. We continued on to the cafÈ and had a few cosmopolitans since the gallery is one of the few places where you can get cranberry juice.

A little sloshed but feeling much more relaxed after the events of the day we headed off to do some shopping, Suzanne making purchases with the only credit card that she had not cancelled. We stopped for groceries on the way home and when we were at the till, Suzanne realized that her one last remaining credit card was missing. While she scrounged up some cash and searched for the card, I retrieved her shopping bags that she had checked hoping that she had slipped the cards in one of the bags. I was right – the card was in a Paradise Road bag. Whew. I handed the bags to Suzanne not realizing that one of her bags had not been retreieved.

Now late to meet Rob and his friend who was visiting from England, I hopped in a tuk, leaving Suzanne desperately looking for the missing bag which contained her house keys! Eventually she realized that the bag was still a the grocery store and was able to get her keys, access her flat and meet us at Galle Face Hotel for more drinks (which again we desperately needed).

All was well and we had an enjoyable time slipping gin and tonics on the patio while watching the sun set over the ocean. Then we grabbed a cab and headed off for dinner at Cheasa Swiss, a lovely European restaurant. We were just finishing our dinner when we got a text message from Suranga saying that not to worry but he wanted us to know that there had been two minor bomb blasts in Nugegoda. We asked a waiter if he knew anything about the recent events. Almost instantaneously the restaurant erupted into a flurry of activity. Everyone was madly texting and receiving messages on their cell phones, passing on little bits of information they heard. (As Rob pointed out, this was rather ironic since Gordon was in Sri Lanka to help set up an emergency warning system utilizing cell phones, as a result of the Tsunami.) The waiter returned to tell us that there had been 5 bomb blasts throughout the city. We conveyed the news to Suranga Who wrote, “Really. Don’t go out tonight. I hope peace talks will start soon. Take care. If u need anything anytime call me ok.”

We tried calling a cab but no company could send one in less than an hour’s time as with the news of the bomb blasts everyone was now rushing home. Suzanne, Rob and I could have walked home, however Gordon was staying at Mt. Lavinia, which was a 30 minute drive from the restaurant. We called our friend Indika, who owns a van and asked fi he would come pick us up.

A woman dinning alone called me over to her table. She asked what I had heard and I reported the information from Surganga and the waiter. She said that she had received an SMS message informing her that there had been 3 bomb blasts. She said, “ Well my three bomb blasts, and your two bomb blasts, equal the waiter’s five bomb blasts!” I asked where she was heading since we had a driver coming and there were no taxis were available. “Trincomoli!”, she replied in a cheerful voice. (There is currently a travel advisory against traveling to this town). “Can’t help you there,” I said.

I texted Suranga to let him know that we were out and couldn’t get a cab but that Indika was coming for us. Suranga, who is very protective of us, immediately got on his bike and headed towards the restuarant. In the mean time Indika arrived, which was when we realized that Rob had left his computer in the trunk of the taxi that dropped us off at the restaurant! Indika dropped us off and Suranga met us at the apartment. He immediately called the cab company trying to retrieve the lost computer. Suranga not only located the computer, but arranged for the cab driver drop it off at our flat.

* title by suzanne

Tri to Nuwara Eliya

With our time in Sri Lanka running out, we wanted to return to one of our favourite places on the island - Nuwara Eliya. Here the Climate is cool, the scenery is beautiful and you can buy name brand jackets for about $50.





The day we left Nuwara Eliya we read that the town is the new terrorist hotspot and that 500 police officers had been sent to search the city. On our way out of town we saw searches and arrests and we wondered if, like Jaffna and Trincomolee, this would be our last opportunity to visit this beautiful place.

Back to the Maldives

After snorkeling in Hawaii we realized how lucky we are to be living so close to the Maldives and planned another trip there over the Poya long weekend. The trip started out a bit rough. We left Colombo during a thunderstorm and the forecast was for rain, thunder and lightening for the next three days. The boat ride from the airport island to the resort (Club Faru - a former Club Med) was a bit rough and I was soaked by the time we got to the island. Then we found out that there was no “house reef” at this island so unlike the last resort island where we stayed there was no snorkeling off the beach and the daily complimentary snorkel trip was only possible if enough people signed up. After consuming several rounds of alcoholic beverages, we were told that drinks were not included.

However the trip rapidly improved - the weather cleared up, Rob found a good place for snorkeling off the beach that the staff didn't even know about and the issue about the drinks was a misunderstanding. We found out that most of the bartenders on the island were from Sri Lanka. Once they learned that we were living in Colombo and could speak a little Sinhala - they started pouring us doubles!

Transporting Raw Meat

Saw a tuk-tuk being used to transport bags and bags of raw chicken. It was on the floor of the vehicle and on the seats. This incident completely turned me off chicken as well as travelling in tuk-tuks. I think that the bird flu is the least of people’s worries here in Sri Lanka.

The political situation deteriorates

Things are really heating up here. There was more violence in Sri Lanka in December than in any other month since the ceasefire began. Since we left for Christmas holidays there are more soldiers on the streets of Colombo. Rob saw trenches being dug at the airport when we landed and there is a new bunker set up in front of the open university. Rob witnessed a rather violent search of a young guy a couple of days ago. Today I was stopped and questioned by soldiers at a road block on my way to the gym (this has never happened before). Some people think that war is not far away - others think it will never happen again. Rob was told today that if the war starts we will be sent home immediately. Life goes on in Colombo as usual but there is a tension here as people wait to see what will happen next.

Back to work on my dis...

I have now finished my work contract so it is time to get back to my phd research which seems like a very ominous task at the moment. Every day I beg Rob not to go to work and leave me alone with my dissertation!

In order to get back to work I literally had to brush the dust off my computer as anything that is stationary for a few days here starts to gather dust. I started by updating my electronic address book but before I could get any serious work done I became extremely distracted by our messy room and started sorting out and cleaning up. Everyone says that their house has never been so clean as it was when they were working on their dissertation!