Long time no blog…

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath this last month. I must apologize for not being more faithful with keeping up the blog. We are still committed to delighting you all with our lives; it’s just been a bit crazy. In my own defense, many many things have impeded my blogging attempts. First of all, while Heather and my parents were here, we hardly ever had internet services and when we did, I had no time, then the day we got back, we moved from Kalmunai to Batticaloa (an hour north) and then when we got here we had no internet connection in the office and our land line at home is the only communication we had so we weren’t on the internet very much, (cell phone service has been cut here) and we share this line between 4 people, so, there’s all my excuses, really I should have put something up anyways, I was just being lazy!

I am currently uploading photos of our travels around the island. It seems like so long ago now, even though it was only a couple of weeks. So much has changed and we are preoccupied with the security situation here in Batti which is pretty unstable and very changeable. We had a great time though, lots of laughter and adventure and a great time reconnecting with old friends and family. Heather’s practically family anyways so we’ll just say reconnecting with family! It was so fun for us to be tour guides (it’s been awhile since I’ve had that privilege) and for us to discover new sites on the island that is our temporary home. We had a rented van and our great friend Jeevan driving us around. No end of laughter and mockery was due to Jeevan, both taken and given. We all had nicknames, or should I say some of us had nicknames and some tried to give ourselves nicknames. Scott is Danger Man (given by his livelihood staff because he’s always punching them in the arm or something but I think really they sensed that danger happens all around him) I am Problem Lady, because I always cause problems for Jeevan…”some people, always problems” in his words. Heather turned into Problem Lady #2 as I once again had my sidekick along to side with me,(although I think “bargain Lady” might be more suited) Mom gave herself the nickname “Helper Lady”, I think because she always had the food, or medicine needed, and Dad was simply “Dad” to all of us kids.

We really enjoyed tea county, Mom, Dad and Heather did a great tour of a tea factory while Scott and I were heading back to work but we all enjoyed the really different scenery, all the terraced tea fields and hilly country. We climbed Adam’s Peak (also known as Sri Pada), all 5200 stairs of it, to see a sunrise and the famous footprint that we never did see. That was a pretty neat adventure. It’s a pilgrimage peak so we were joining thousands of Sri Lankan’s of all faiths, but mostly Buddhist on the way up. We started at 1 am in order to reach the peak by sunrise and we actually ended up getting there too early despite stalling and having some scalding hot, really sweet tea on the way up. The best part in my mind was the climb up; it was so cool to see all the lights winding away above us to the summit, and all the different kinds of people climbing along side us. Really old people, tiny babies being carried, disabled people, gangs of young kids who would always sprint up the stairs past us, but then mysteriously would be sitting down when we arrived at the next corner…and everyone was carrying very little except towels. We wondered why until we arrived at the summit in the coldest watch of the night to see everyone huddled under them trying to stay warm. I didn’t think it was possible to find a place in Sri Lanka where I would be cold, but by sunrise I was shivering as hard as I ever have on any winter trip! I was wishing I’d brought way warmer clothes with me. Being on the summit was pretty interesting too, I’ve long considered mountains to be very spiritual places, like outdoor cathedrals so it was not difficult for me to understand why all these people would climb this peak as a worshipful experience. However the summit experience was different from any I’ve had and I was really out of my element. In Sri Lanka religion is expressed pretty vocally and here was no exception. There were monks chanting prayers through a ringing loudspeaker right above us, and the only spots we found to sit down and wait for the sun was right in front of a really loud bell. I think people ring the bell in memory of others that were not able to make the pilgrimage so there was always a line up and only Scott with his super human ability to sleep anywhere was able to doze off. So I’m afraid it wasn’t a terribly worshipful experience for me but I did find it really interesting to see such a special sight for a different faith and experience a very different kind of worship.

And a very different experience from that was the three days we spent at the Saman Villas hotel on the west coast. It was pretty amazing. The showers were open air (look at the photos on the site) and the pool was called an infinity pool, built to look like there’s no edge between the pool and the ocean, and the food was not only good enough to eat, it was good enough to take pictures of. We really enjoyed our stay here; it was Heather’s last days on the island and a surprise 35^th wedding anniversary gift from Dad to Mom. I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn’t gotten blisteringly sunburned the first day. Oh, when will I learn?

I can’t possibly relate the whole trip so I thought I’d give the two most contrasting experiences. Another contrast between our time at Adam’s Peak and our time at the Saman villas was the level of accommodation, oh and the weather I suppose. It poured rain at this tea bungalow we stayed at for a whole day, and the accommodation was a little more rustic than we were expecting. The food was good and oh so fast, but I think Heather probably didn’t get much sleep on the bottom level of the very rickety bunk beds!!

In any case, it was an awesome trip and it was so so so fun to have all three of them here. It definitely has made being so far from home a little easier. We now have Dave and Joyce’s trip to look forward to and they arrive in a couple of weeks! After that I’ll expect many emails from all of you to help ease the homesickness that will probably follow. Because, as wonderful as it is to have family come, it does make me miss home a little more!

We love our new place in Batti. We’re right on the lagoon which is just inland of the ocean so we have a great view and really amazing ocean breezes cooling down the place. We spend so much more time in the fresh air here (and the air is considerably fresher too). We have a great rooftop patio too. The owner is planning on building a third story eventually so the ambiance is marred just a little by the re-bar sticking out and the piles of gravel, but we don’t even notice sitting up there in the evenings. Batti is a bigger town, a little more hustle and bustle, way more international presence and a lot more “activity” The sounds that wake me up in the morning are considerably more military than they used to be as we’re closer to the fighting. However, there is here, as in Kalmunai, a very loud rooster that doesn’t seem to understand that he should only crow once, right at daybreak! I think whoever started that myth should be made to pay. Roosters crow at all hours, and this one has a unique cock a doodle doo. It’s more like cock a doodle squawk and every time I hear him I think he’s called his last call cause he sounds like he’s dying! Anyways, my photos are almost done loading so it’s time for bed!

We miss you all and hope you’re enjoying the last bit of winter.

Ok, the pictures are up although I'm noticing in looking at them that some are pretty blurry and pixelated, sorry for that, I think it occurs when my camera is zoomed in fully. So don't know if I can fix that or not. I'll try. But you should just be happy there are photos up, so quit your complaining!