"Oh, the places you go!"*

You have 2 choices when you arrive at a post, you can sit around until someone calls you or you can get off your ass, get out and see the things you want to see.  Guess which one I chose?

Little bit of background.  I read about this famous Sri Lankan architect called Geoffery Bawa.  There's even a city walk about him.  However, I'm too cheap and too stubborn to pay for that so I decided I'd set out on my own.  I don't think any of the buildings that follow are his but they are cool nonetheless and when my internet gets back up to speed I will track his stuff down.

First thing out this morning, along the promenade I saw a very wizened old guy trying to extract a kite from a lamp post with a long stick and a metal hook.  I could not bear to stand there and watch Mother Nature take her course.  I half expected upon my return to come across a smoldering old sarong and a few tuffs of hair!

The old Cargill's...the Costco of Colombo!

So into the Fort area I went. I found myself at Cargill's.  It's an old grocery store chain.  There are still many around but this was the flagship store and still might be the HQ, if I'm not mistaken.  I heard rumours that it is going to be renovated into a luxury hotel like a lot of the old P and O hotels  around Asia but for now it remains open with a KFC and a few meager groceries for sale.  The inside is fantastic in it neglect.

 The floors are wooden and there are these beautiful empty art deco style display cabinets around.

 There are stairwells leading nowhere but you can hear the ghosts of sandaled feet beating their way up and down the treads.  In the center of the building are the elevators to the corporate office.  It is hard to tell but I think that might be old Queen Vicky between the two panels.

The fire alarm is a hoot!

Outside the signage is brilliant but unfortunately my photography isn't!  The one sign I couldn't quite get was for their optical department and it advertised that they could make motor goggles!

 So after all this exhausting, investigative work, I decided to go to the Grand Oriental Hotel for tea.  They had a sign for a tiffan bakery but the doorman assured me the view was better from the 4th floor restaurant.  Wow! he wasn't kidding.

I love a man in uniform!

Total cost: $1.75.

The restaurant overlooks the port of Colombo and while waiting for my tea and toast (veddy proper...don't you know?)   The toast was cold and the butter hard...so British!  I could watch container ships be docked in preparation for unloading.  It was fascinating and surprisingly quick.  I guess "time is money."

Took 15 minutes and 3 tugs to dock and unload.

Snapped a few more building photos on my way back.  I was determined to find Manning Market.  Don't really know why or than why the heck not?  It was starting to open up when I arrived but really it is nothing more than a bunch of board shorts and Bob Marley t-shirt kiosks.  It was also kind of weird because I was the only woman around.  I didn't feel threatened but I didn't want to stay and chat either.  I am always dressed conservatively in these places but the hassles never stop.  Fortunately though if I do get hassled people piss off after a while.  You just smile and wag your head and say "no".

On a side note, I have kind of felt like Judas betraying Christ these last couple of days.  You see it is one of the few places in the world where Canadians aren't that popular.  They are nice to us individually but they do not like our stance vis a vis the LTTE etc..  So quite often when I am out, I say I came from the US, (which technically is not a lie) but now I tell them I am from whichever place pops into my head.  Already this morning I have been American, Dutch and German.  Gawd, no wonder I'm so tired!

*apologies to Dr.Suess!

Spa Day to Slave Island

Perhaps the most daunting thing abroad is finding a good hairdresser.  Here in Colombo all the women have long hair tied back into ponytails or buns.  Even if I had enough hair to wear that style I wouldn't!  So I took the plunge and went into this very trendy salon.  Of course the receptionist couldn't have cared less that I was there and kind of shrugged her shoulders and pointed out a chair to me.  Fortunately it was at the station of this really nice young guy, Ravi.  I told him flat out what I didn't want and he sent me off to the shampoo guy.  "Oh my lord", was the shampoo guy awesome.  He 'pooed my hair for fifteen minutes!!! "Wah!  So goood!" Ravi gave me a great cut and then 'cuz I was all relaxed and happy I went for the 1/2 hour hot oil/head massage.  At first I was all," I don't deserve this", but by the end of it I was like, "this is my birthright goddamn it!"  


G and I have been getting out and about town.  The boys are loathe to go walking so it's kind of fun to poke around with him like old times.  One of the more interesting and slightly intimidating areas of Colombo is known as "Slave Island".  Originally I guess it was a marshaling point for the various slave traders who have come through but now it is a more muslim area and extremely old and cool. Unfortunately there is still a lot of tension between the various religious groups here and people were a bit more guarded than I expected or maybe they were so surprised to us that they were caught off guard!  All the buildings are cheek by jowl and a crazy mix of businesses and homes.

"Snack anyone?"

This is the station for the train that runs by our place several times a day.  When I think about it we've got so many noisy things going by, trains, buses, mosques blaring, that I don't even notice them any more...dunno if that's a good sign or not! So this is where we'd be leaving from if we took the train down to Galle.  I believe it goes along the same route as the one that was devastated by tsunami.  Gosh that nearly 10 years ago.

 People obviously aren't afraid of colour!  These were but a few of the interesting buildings there.

This was part of wall surrounding some sort of community center.  Each panel had some sort of message painted on it, ie., religious tolerance, education.  This one however, was quite interesting because it's highlighting prevention of dengue fever.  Check out the mozzies in the shrouds approaching the patient!  Kind of creepy/cool.  On a side note; someone at the High Comm has already contracted dengue!  So it's not just the poorer neighbourhoods.  Well I'm off now to try and resolve our internet problem.  I can barely download anything!  Our speed is soooo slow I'm forced to come to the mall, drink coffee, write and veg!  Sheesh!  First world problem!  

The Reincarnation of Peggy Proud *

Every couple of years I have the chance to reinvent myself.  I can choose the language to describe me, the wardrobe, the herstory.  This time is especially poignant as the I am the big 5-0.  So who do I want to be this time?  Well, I don't to totally discard what has come before but it's beginning to dawn on me that there is not much time left to become who you are.  Hence, for example, if I want to call myself an "artist" then I better well get on it, start saying it and believing it.  (I have always found that if you say something out loud then you have a "witness" to it and then you are obligated to follow through.)

So what am I going to be this time?  It's hard because my role as active, full-time mother is winding down,  G is on board for a housekeeper, and at this stage I'm not so keen on subbing at the school.  It sure would be a lot simpler if things were done the Korean way where when you are a baby five things are put out in front of you, and the first thing you pick is your career path.  At least if you weren't happy down the road, you would have an idea of what you didn't want to be!

"What the heck does a stone represent?!"

I think this is one of the problems with "passing".  I don't mean it in a racial way but in a life way.  Some people don't get to know in this life what their calling is, they might have a hint and subconsciously be working toward it but they ain't there yet.  So I figure to make up for this kind of karma they get to pass..like pilgrims on a trek.  (I don't know what character in"The Canterbury Tales" I would be, the ribald, bawdy suburban housewife perhaps?  Nah...) So maybe getting my karmic house in shape is the order of the day.  Yet as I write this, it seems a bit defeatist and I'm an eternal optimist if nothing else! "What to do, what to do?"

*my apologies to Peter Fonda

Monday Morning Blues!

This is how I'm feeling today!

Last Thursday all our junk showed up.  I was happy at first.  It always feels like Christmas initially, but like the buckets of water in The Socerer's Apprentice, it just kept coming and coming!  So since then we've been unpacking and regretting our choices!  "Why did I bring a box of snowboarding pants?  Was I drunk?" Anyway here are a few shots of the process. 

Here is soil horizon A!

"Where did Mika go?"

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks...Nick is still in the same position!

It wasn't all drudgery though.  G took us out for a very nice buffet dinner at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.  It is a very posh hotel nearby.  The food was awesome and get this...Nick tried sushi!! This was only after he ate buttered spaghetti and white rice with ketchup!  Gawd can you imagine doing that in Asia?  It reminds me of when we were kids and we would drown Uncle Ben's Converted rice in "China Lily" brand soya sauce. "Shudder!"

Older home across from the park.

The boys started school on Monday and seem relatively okay with the place and their classmates.  The class size is very small, 12-15 students and it is an IB school so some chaussettes are really going to have to be pulled up!  Physically it is very much like ISKL but smaller.  The classes are predominantly Sri Lankan or Indian kids so they have a different ethnic mix and feel to ISKL and Tyee where Asian students were the largest groups.

G and I went for a walk the other day and saw a few interesting sights.  We headed out without a map (as usual) and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's so great to be able to walk somewhere and then just hop in a tuktuk and be back home in a flash!  Here are some of the sights we took in.

Down a little alleyway.

Part of a hospital complex.

Mosque downtown.

In a bathroom.

Across the alley from our place.

 More to come as I get all the admin kind of stuff out of the way.

"Same as it ever was..

Okay, reality rears it's ugly head.  I'm hot and sweaty.  I don't have any of my stuff/shit.  I am trapped at home with 2 teenage boys and my ATM card does not work.  I fear that we're going to have to live "on the economy" as they used to say in Korea.  That is a lotta dahl!

We went to school for interviews and let's just say they were less than stellar!  The campus though was very nice and quite familiar.  "Why?"  Well, the layout is similar to ISKL.  The traffic was crazy but it gave us a chance to find "GONUTS", a drive through donut shop and the "Coffee bean and Tea leaf". I spent many a pleasant hour there in Singapore.  It was also easy to see how gracious old Colombo must have been.  There are heaps of lovely looking houses and massive Banyan trees.  There are also several lakes in the city, granted the water is an unbelievable green but still lovely!

We ventured out the other night to "Barefoot"(barefootceylon.com).  It is a famous shop here in Colombo. They have a courtyard cafe and that night they were showing "Searching for Sugarman".  It was a great film but the evening was so surreal.  Sometimes you find yourself having a "Talking Heads" moment...

"You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife 

You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? 

Today dawned a bit better as we got cash last night.  I'd really hate to have to break one of the kids' limbs to better my begging chances.  G took me over to the American Commissary this morning to show me what is available.  It is generally speaking stuff I would never purchase (French Fried Onions?)but I can imagine that after awhile it will look pretty good!  The best part was that we met some really nice Aussies.  

I think they mean it!

After a long, dramatic negotiation we managed to dislodge the boys from their electronics and get them out.  G wanted to take us over to the Canadian Club.  The original chancery is being renovated so G is in a temporary location.  However the club is at the old site...got that?  Anyway the boys played pool and had a good time..huh..imagine that!  

I tried to get some arty shots but I have to admit I am a bit leery of hanging out in areas in Asia with decrepit open sewers.  I don't know call me crazy!  Plus I saw some really big holes in the ground which I am positive house giant pythons with a taste for Canadian blood! 

I'll send along some gratuitous photos later on.  Out for German cuisine tonight!  It's a weird world.