The Martin's Blog

Tom – Tried a new fruit this morning, it is called a mango steen.  The white part, surrounding the seed, is what you eat.  It is sweet and delicious.  The outer fruit and seed are bitter. 

Wrote the diary for the blog this morning and then took Helen to exchange our Fibretec picture for some Fibretec shell serving dishes.  We then went to the bookstore to pick up the Sri Lankan cookbook that I had ordered for her.  Ranjan took us out to an Indian restaurant in the Taj Sumara Hotel for a farewell dinner and also presented Helen with a silver ring and two pendants.

Helen – Is it REALLY worth the effort??  Tom makes the day sound calm, when in reality it was nerve wracking!!!  The furniture logistics were a nightmare!!  On Friday, Chandra the son of the Antique store owner, called and said that he was not able to get the bookcase into his van (only the two chests and the bottom and doors of the bookcase) so the bookcase would be going to the shipper tomorrow.  They couldn’t use a truck (lorry) for everything because trucks are not allowed to go through the city due to security (another bus was bombed Friday – 24 killed).  He said he would be at the house to show me the pieces he had and also to pick up the extra weight we wanted to ship back home.  As expected, he came late and therefore I was not able to go to the shippers with him to check on things there and get our paperwork done.  He told me not to worry that he was going to take the bookcase to the shipping warehouse on Saturday, call us when he was outside of Colombo, and we could follow him to the warehouse.  We paid him with our Visa so if anything happened, we could stop payment.  The next day we waited for his call, knowing that the warehouse closed at 3 and it would take from 1-1.5 hrs to get to the warehouse, we thought that he would be here at the latest by noon. 

About 1 o’clock, we began calling his cell phone and it said that the phone was turned off.  Then we tried the store and that phone was also turned off.  Panic set in, Ruki raised the anxiety level with talk about how we should not have paid him until we were at the shippers, he probably took all our stuff and we would never see it again.  I kept calling for at least two hours and nothing.  About then I called the tourist police to ask someone to go to the store to have them call us (the store is almost two hours away!!).  I had some problems talking with the police on the phone and they said that they would call us back.  Meanwhile I found Chandra’s residence number and finally contacted him at home.  He became upset with me for asking why he didn’t contact me and said that the truck was on its way and they would call me around 2:30.  

Feeling better about his honesty, we ran our errands to Fibertec, bookstore, and  had lunch at the Commons.  We returned early and waited for his call.  At 3:30, I called again, now he was upset with me for doubting him, said that we could cancel the transaction and he would return our belongings on Sunday.  I put Ruki on the phone and she got the information about the shipping company, people and phone numbers, she was informed that we could still go to the warehouse because they were waiting for the truck and would remain open until it got there.  Ruki then called the warehouse and spoke to a man who reassured her that our belongings were there and he named most of the things there.  Since it was late, we decided to go the next day, Sunday. This would give us a chance to repack our suitcases again to get them into the weight requirements for our flight to China.  

Helen – On the way back to Colombo we stopped to have the car washed.  On earlier trips we had noticed the water hoses spraying skyward wherever there was a small waterfall.  At first we couldn’t figure out what they were advertising but soon discovered that they were carwashes.  So today we decided it would be our last chance to experience this novelty.  We chose the very best one because it took him about 45 minutes to do it and Tom said he did it as well as he would have done it himself…that young man was meticulous and only charged about $2. 

It had not rained the entire trip and you know what carwashes mean…yes, it poured not long after the task was completed.  On the way into Colombo we stopped for some bananas and pineapple.

Tom – I took care of business in the afternoon while Pat went off for another massage.  It was Pat’s last night in town, so we took him to the Galle Face Hotel for dinner.  It was built in 1864 and sits right on the ocean near downtown.  It had been raining but we still choose a table outside right next to the ocean.  There were green lights playing on the breakers, a heavy mist, salt spray, and lightening all around – it was surrealistic!  We had our initial wine there and then, with the coaxing of the maitre de moved inside under the tent.  It proved to be a good decision because it did rain.  Our only option for eating was the buffet but it proved to be marvelous.  

Helen – We began our round trip – traveling to Matara and Kandy and back to Colombo to show Pat the sights and where we lived.  We were having trouble, as I mentioned, getting our things home through China because of weight restrictions and overweight charges from here to Beijing on Cathay Pacific airlines.  So, on the way to Matara, we stopped at Sudath Antiques, where we had stopped three months earlier, and I bought a rice box, spice chest, and a two door bookcase!!!  They will bring them to Colombo on Friday morning where I can inspect them, pay for them, and then add all our other possessions that we want shipped before taking them for packing and to the shipping lines.  Since I will be on the road, I guess I really can’t say it is all taken care of…but it is close…and hopefully will be done without too much hassle. 

Bodhi tree and flags at Buddhist temple

Tom – We stopped in Galle to do the walk around the ramparts of the walled Fort City built by the Dutch (another UNESCO World Heritage site) that was damaged by the tsunami in 2004.

and then stopped at the Sri Gemunu Beach Resort for ice café in beautiful Unawatuna. 

We also stopped in Weligama to give Pat a close-up view of the colorful outrigger fishing boats.     

After settling into the hotel (Surf Lanka) in S.K. Town right next to the house that we had rented, Luke, the hotel manager, made us the most delicious fish dinner.

Helen – it’s hot, hot, hot!!! AND sticky, sticky, sticky!!!  Ruki and I went shopping this morning for a coconut grater for me and eggs for her….we went to the manufacturing company for the Oridis Grater so I could have my choice but of course they were still closed for the holiday.  Then we went to the big general market and they didn’t have any, followed by several smaller stores and they too were sold out.  It was the same story for Ruki’s eggs but finally in the fifth store she was able to buy the 4 dozen she needed.

Tom did great driving in Colombo because it was still holiday and he went to the Fulbright and book store to exchange the cookbook I bought the first week we were here.  I found a much better one since.  After he returned and had lunch, Ranjan sent his driver to pick us up and we all went to an antique shop.  I am still looking for a rice/spice chest but didn’t find anything I liked.  On the other hand, Tom bought an old suitcase for packing some extra stuff and Ranjan bought two copper pieces (under my keen eye and influence) one a great large rice strainer and the other a large cooking pot…both looked pretty grungy but I said they would clean up; also a nine candle wrought iron holder for his garden or entryway.  He was hesitant but bought them because he got the pots for $30 and the candle holder for $5.  I went away empty handed and disappointed.

STRESSFUL EVENING – Reality has finally set in and I don’t know how I am going to get all my stuff home…then the decisions of what to take and what to leave.  The biggest snag is the flight from here to China which is only allowing us 40 lbs each (are they crazy???) and then charging $7/pound for extra weight.  At this rate, I think Tom would leave me too!!!

Tom – Our morning walk – wall built to include tree –

We came across a youth soccer team passing the national Independence Memorial and going to practice

A happy bunch of kids!

Helen – Those monkeys have been busy on the roof again.  I think that I mentioned before that they move the red tiles on the roof to get to the spiders which they consider a delicacy.  We have been having thunder storms every day, beginning about 2pm and today it really stormed.  In a matter of minutes the second story had two puddles in the TV room and there were three in our bedroom…the worst was right over Tom’s bed.  We quickly moved the beds, put out several pans with cloths in them to prevent splattering, and covered Tom’s bed with plastic.  We now just do this arrangement in the mornings so that we won’t be surprised when we get home.  It sort of reminded us of home and Chad’s room where we have that ceiling leak even though we have had the mason check the chimneys, the roofer repair several spots and the plasterer repair the ceiling, only to have the leak reappear.

We went to mass at St. Anthony’s church for 5:30 mass.  It was nearby but we still had trouble finding it so were a little late.  After mass, Tom went the wrong way, on not one but THREE streets, trying to get us to the main road to keep a dinner date.

That evening we were invited to dinner by a professor from the Geography Department at the university. Tom was given his name by the former secretary to the Minister of Education in Colombo, who is also on the Fulbright Commission, but he never got around to calling him.  On Thursday, Tom finally contacted him and they had lunch on Friday.  They had so much in common, he and his wife traveled around the US while graduate students at Syracuse, that he then invited us to dinner so we wives could also meet.  I promised to give their son (17) the rest of our peanut butter and maple syrup and he was thrilled!

Tom – This is a picture of the Buddha on a hill above Kandy Lake.

 Here is a picture of a Tuk Tuk in the drink.  It seems he failed to negotiate a turn going around the lake.

Tom – We were up at 5am to go with Namal the Tuk Tuk driver to do the 5:30am puja (offering and prayer) at the Temple of the Tooth.  It was raining but we left our umbrellas and shoes in the parked Tuk Tuk in front of the temple.  Namal had prepared a rice offering for each of us to present to the monk in the doorway to the room containing the sacred tooth of the Buddha.  We got pretty wet before we were able to use the umbrellas provided inside the gate of the temple. 

The drums were beating as we entered the temple and took up our positions in the line waiting to give offerings.  An extended family was sitting in an enclosure in front of the offering doorway – it was their day at the temple (an honor).  We made our offering (with donation) and took a peek at the reliquary inside the room containing the sacred tooth.  As we were leaving, one of the guards asked if we wanted to go into the room with the reliquary.  Again, this is quite an honor and relatively few people are allowed inside.  We said yes but had to wait about 20 minutes to be escorted into the room.  You were only given about 20 seconds inside – just enough to give another donation and get a close up look at the reliquary.  It was a spectacular sight!  You can see a little bit of it in the picture taken of the monk in the doorway. 

This is a picture of another temple shrine hall in the complex. 

We intend to come back to explore the entire complex and museum at a later date.

Helen – It was Tom’s last day teaching but he spent the rest of the day working on tying up loose ends at the university.  Shenani and I stayed home and were getting dinner ready because Shamila and Raj were coming over that night.  She made several dishes which I will make when we get home since the spice level was within our range and absolutely delicious.  Shamila brought us lovely gifts which included a red material shoulder bag for me, a blue batik wall hanging, and a smaller wooden mask which is traditional for the Kandy area.

Helen – Yesterday I taught a 3 hour workshop on Fitness Walking to a group of 40 women whose main goal is to lose weight (so what’s new???)  It was pretty funny watching them watch me because they are used to having the lecturer stand in front of the room in the same spot the entire time.  After the introduction, I told them my educational background, going to grad school for a MS and receiving MRS instead.  They didn’t get it until I wrote it up on the broad and then they all laughed (they don’t usually laugh during lectures either).  Moving right along, I was walking around the room demonstrating different paces and styles of walking and they were having a difficult time keeping me in focus while they were sitting on the mats in the gym.  After finding heart rates, we went out to the field to walk our timed mile. 

I was told it would be clear but we found a rugby game in progress and a class of preschoolers having a play day.  We walked our mile in and around them; most of the women were dressed too warm with long sweat pants, long sleeve shirts and hats.  I really felt sorry for them but they were troopers and did great.  Inside we did a little electric slide for a cool down then did a hula hoop relay to demonstrate clogged arteries.  They seemed to enjoy the lecture parts interspersed with activity and after class they said they never enjoyed a class so much and that the time flew by.  Being my normal crazy self I was a novel teaching experience for them.  We really had a few laughs when we came to diets and how to lose weight…they were disappointed that there wasn’t a pill that would get them in shape and take away the fat.  Their diets include a lot of coconut products and they really need to change their lifestyles but I think it will be most difficult for them.

I went to the office with Tom today to get my fitness swim files off the computer so that I could go over my lesson plans with Gota in the afternoon.  Gota and I spent about 2 hours going through the progressions and teaching methodology but did not get a chance to go into the pool to help him with his strokes.  He asked what time I was coming in the next day to finish in the pool and I told him that today was my last day.  He was disappointed but understood. He gave me a small university plate for a souvenir

Tom is down to two more classroom lectures and then we are FINISHED with work!!!  I will have to rethink the road trips as I am sure he has at least another one planned.  I can almost taste home and am getting anxious about our return.

Tom – I started a three-day workshop on “Exercise Physiology” for the Faculty of Medicine, Instructors of Physical Education and Sports Medicine Physicians today. 

I had about 30 in attendance for a three-hour morning session. 

To save time, I answered questions during their tea break!

Tom – I took pictures of two roosters above a Buddha shrine

 and the historic Queens Hotel at the front entrance to the “Temple of the Tooth” this morning.

 Helen and I participated in a “Fitness for Women Workshop” sponsored by the Department of Physiology.  She presented a three-hour Fitness Walking session in the morning and I gave a two-hour presentation on “Health-Related Physical Fitness” with an emphasis on the physiology of energy metabolism and weight/fat loss in the afternoon.

Helen – Dinner with Who?  Communication is difficult at best but this takes the cake.  Our landlords, Shenani and Ananda, were supposed to ask our physiology sponsors, Raj and Shamila, to dinner for Friday night.  The next day Shamila asks Tom if she and her husband could take us to dinner with Gota, from PE.  Tom is confused, thinking she means to come to our house and she says no.  Meanwhile, Ananda forgot to ask Raj and Shamila, so now I think we have a double engagement!!!   Next Day: we remind Ananda to ask the other couple because his wife has already begun cooking and he will be dead meat if he botches this up.  They accept and then ask us out for Thursday night with Gota so we can discuss the workshops from the last week.  Next morning: I tell Shenani that we will be going out to dinner with Raj and his wife and she says that they are coming too!!   I said, really, we are eating at 7 (they never eat before 8:30) and she said they would be OK.  Raj felt odd going to their house for dinner (they don’t socialize together) so when they invited him, he in turn invited them…are you following this???  Anyway the six of us ate together two nights in a row, once in the restaurant and once in our home and Gota joined us at the restaurant!!!