The Martin's Blog

 Helen – Today I am trying to get some of my cake recipes ready for the wives.  They do not have our measuring cups so I will have to weigh the ingredients on the metric scale.  I also have not seen a mixer here, but have used the blender to cream the butter and sugar (which somehow never seems to lose the granular state).  When Tom came home from school we went to pick up the dress I had shortened (it was Sunny’s sister-in-law) and she wouldn’t take any money for it. They usually charge about $1 to do it and she said it was nothing.  Then once again to Food City, we go about 3 times a week because our refrigerator is small and things don’t last too long in it.  We had taco night and pretended we were at El Toro’s (our favorite Mexican restaurant back home) and even had limes in our beer!!!  To bed early, since Tom planned a SCUBA dive tomorrow for me and he is going to snorkel.

Tom – New beach sights today included a small shark caught by a local net fisherman and little shrimp that the children collect to be used for bate by their fathers/older brothers. 

This was followed, as usual, by our favorite time of day – eating breakfast on our patio by the pond while watching the waves roll in.

I had my last class with the instructors today.  They requested a lecture on nutrition which went well.  I spent an extra hour with them – giving and describing my gifts.  The first was a CD that included my two PowerPoint presentations, class syllabus, class reading, Exercise Chart designed for their weight room, the full copy of my book “Your Body: Your Health and Fitness” (11 chapters) which I never completed, and a number of physical activity survey articles for HR’s research.  I also gave the department two Physical Fitness and Wellness books, the brochure I wrote on the need for Quality Daily Physical Education and several small individual gifts (e.g. small stress basketball from Springfield College – the birthplace of basketball, small pocket knives, lanyards, Starburst candy, small double head screwdrivers, mini carabineers, OAHPERD pin, Jump Rope for Heart water bottle, AAHPERD name tag wallet, and their pick of one of my class T-shirts.

Maha Sivrrathri Day (Hindu holiday honoring the god Shiva)  Tom – We did walk the beach this morning and, as usual, found some new opportunities for pictures (e.g. locals catching fish and lobsters). 

Earlier in the week Helen had offered to teach a two hour theory class explaining how she teaches her Fitness Walking class.  Even though it was a holiday, HR and Pali said they wanted to participate.  So Helen did her thing from 9-11am.  Even Sunny came and attended for the last hour.  HR brought her/us a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a small brass oil lantern, a small painted elephant and a Sri Lankan key chain – all from Laksala a government handicrafts emporium.

Helen- We tried the beach again this morning with bug spray and it seemed to work a little better.  After breakfast we went to school, Tom to work on his presentations and I to do a two hour lecture on the walking class to Pali and HR, two of the male students who could not attend the class because they were with Tom in the weight training class.  As Tom wrote, it went well and I was truly surprised with HR’s gifts.  He is a very talented person and does flower arrangements for weddings and proms as a side job.  I don’t know how he does everything he does, he is very energetic for this island.

In the evening we went to Sarath’s home for dinner.  His wife and daughter (just finished medical school and is awaiting her intern assignment) prepared a lovely dinner for us. However, once again we ate alone with everyone watching us to see if we liked the food and kept encouraging us to eat more!!  This time we had rice, a chicken curry, white tuna curry, calamari curry, a wonderful vegetable assortment, hoppers (sort of a cup shaped bread, thin on the side and thicker on the bottom), and a potato curry.  It really was very good and we had several helpings of everything.  Dessert again was curd with honey (quite tasty), custard pudding with caramel sauce, jello, and fresh fruit. Stuffed again, we waddled home with tummy aches.  They gave us a lovely herbal soap assortment made here in Sri Lanka.

Tom – On our beach walk this morning it looked like someone was praying on a rock outcrop jutting out into the ocean.  However when we got closer we discovered it was a piece of drift wood decorated with plastic bags and nets.  It was a cloudy morning with a comfortable temperature for a change but the sand flies were merciless!

This is a view of our beach from the headland looking east

Lots of office work today getting ready to wrap up my teaching and preparing for my India presentation.  In the afternoon, went downtown for a haircut (first one in 2 months!).  I went to the expensive “Super Salon” by the bus station.  It cost me 100 rupees ($0.93) for the haircut + tip!  Early evening we walked out our front door and into the ocean – we had fun jumping the waves, we’ll miss our beach when we leave next week!

Helen – Tom was at the office all morning and then came home to work in the afternoon.  We were having dinner with Nicole and Luke from the hotel; she was preparing a German dish with chorabi and dumplings and I was bringing the chocolate zucchini cake.

About 4:30 we decided that Tom needed a haircut and I wanted to drop off some things to be hemmed at the tailors.  I bought four batik bathing wraps which needed the sides hemmed and Tom’s galabia (dress/robe from Egypt) needed the sleeves and hem to be shortened and the seams finished.  Can you believe that he is going to do all this for $4.50; $2 for the batiks, and $2.50 for the robe!  I think that I am going to give him some more business when I pick these things up tomorrow.

 Tom’s hair cut was another story.  The girls at the hotel said to go to Super Salon – that is where their friends go and we should expect to pay a little more there.  The shop was really little and a little dingy.  One man was cutting hair and another was shaving people with a straight razor!!  When Tom walked in they all snickered and looked at the barber, a young man attending another customer.  They were snickering because people here do not have fine hair cut in Tom’s style.  Their hair is coarser and thicker so this was going to be interesting.  Also, they don’t wash it first or even wet it for that matter.  He picked up his scissors and motioned to Tom if this was the instrument he wanted used; I guess compared to the clippers!!  They wrapped a cloth around his neck but did not use clean combs or utensils…what would Tom’s stylist say to this???  It is a bit shorter than usual but it looks good, kind of reminds me of his younger days with shorter hair.  At least he won’t need another haircut until we come home!!

It was after 6 when we got home so we ran into the ocean for a quick swim before showering and dressing for dinner.  It was a beautiful evening with lots of waves.  We were hoping to see a sunset as well but there were too many clouds.

Dinner was delicious and we licked the pots clean…the cake was also a success and it was fun being with “the crowd”.

Tom – Started the day with our standard 2.5 mile beach walk, breakfast on the front patio watching the ocean and then went to the largest temple in Matara.  It is the Weherahena Temple with a six story Buddha built sometime after 1900.  In the 1960’s a six story building (really, decorated walkways) was built around the statue. 

There are also many decorated corridors (tunnels) cut through the rock underground – hiding places for the monks during the Portuguese occupation.  Our guide (paid by donation) stated that there were over 20,000 individual paintings decorating the various passageways, primarily scenes from the lives of the Buddha.  

Another interesting fact is that the original Bodhi Tree (tree under which Buddha achieved enlightenment) is on the border between India and Nepal.  A cutting from that tree was brought to Sri Lanka in the third century BC and planted in Anuradhapura when the Sri Lankan king was converted to Buddhism.  The tree in the Weherahena Temple yard is a cutting from this tree. Today it is very large and has a great branch system spread above ground yet the root system is very small and the tunnels are built around this root system.  They consider this to be a miracle.  Buddha was also known to have 32 body parts which were different from the normal person.  Several of these include the long looped earlobes, the circle of hair on his forehead between the eyebrows, lotus flower imprints on the palms and soles of his feet, and three folds in the neck.

Afterwards we went downtown to tour the Star Fort that was constructed by the Dutch in 1763 (before the U.S. revolution!).  It is quite small and in the process of being restored (tsunami hit here) but there is not much to see beyond the entrance, drawbridge, small courtyard and a few artifacts. 

The next stop was Jez Look Batiks run by a Muslim woman (also the artist).  We were shown the process of batik making and then her showroom.  She had many interesting pieces and we will likely go back before we leave Matara.

We bought some essentials from Cargills Food City, four fish from the fish store next to the river (he gutted them for us), three pottery pieces along the road, and then headed home for lunch. 

After lunch we tried snorkeling at a small local beach just west of Matara called Polhena.  We were the only whites there and Helen really stuck out because she was the only woman with a bathing suit.  The local women who do go in the water here go in fully clothed.  Do you remember the song “Teeny Weeny Yellow Pokka Dot Bikini?”  Well, that’s what it was like.

 A man named Nishantha from Blue Corals Dive, Eat, Sleep approached us and asked if we would like a guide for our snorkeling, he would provide the fins (we already had some cheap masks and snorkels) and guide service for 500 rupees (about $5).  We said sure!  The coral close to shore was all dead so we had to swim out to the breakers.  The light wasn’t good because it was cloudy but we did get to see some live coral as well as numerous fish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, etc.  Helen didn’t like her mask/snorkel, being some distance from shore and touching the coral – so we headed back after half an hour. 

Our guide described how he was snorkeling with two German women when the tsunami hit.  All survived including his family but his house was destroyed, a common story here.  Everywhere we stop near shore people come out of the woodwork asking for money because they lost x, y and z to the tsunami.  It is depressing, especially when mothers tell their children to run and ask as soon as they see we are foreigners.

After returning home, Helen built a fire pit with bricks in our yard and lit some coconut shells she had gotten from a neighbor to grill our fish for dinner.  I must admit I was skeptical about the process and results but both turned out great.  We each ate a fish and the other two were de-boned and put away for a meal tomorrow.

Helen – Never say die!!!  I have wanted to grill fish since we arrived in Matara and there was always something in the way.  No charcoal, no grill; I had dreams of digging a hole on the beach and using whatever available wood was there to fill a fire pit…that really wasn’t practical!  Luke, the hotel owner, said use the bricks out in the road and make a pit.  Then use coconut shells, the inner hard shells, for the fuel.  It should take about 20 minutes to get the coals you will need.  Took lots longer because I couldn’t get the fire started…the shells are really hard.  So I reorganized the shells with paper, leaves, and fibers from palm leaves plus two pieces of charred wood from a past fire and presto I got it to catch and then it was just a matter of time.  Tom watched the fire and grilled the fish while I fried the potatoes and made a salad…mmmmm, it was really yummy!!!

Tom – no instructor class this morning, so Helen and I went to Matara. 

We went to the post office to mail our India visa forms to Colombo.  This is the second time we have had to fill out visa forms because the Fulbright office gave us old ones the first time around.  We then went to a well known batik shop, the bank, got gas, and then went to Cargills Food City for staples and to get items for dinner.  Kanthi and Darme are coming this evening for dinner; Kanthi (Chair of the Physics Department and the Sport Advisory Council) has been my main contact/helper in Matara.  She has been terrific!  I will be giving her a Cross pen and pencil set and a copy of my Biomechanics of Sport book to thank her for all her help.

Helen – He talks like it was an easy task finding the post office!!  Looking on the old map of Matara hanging by the front door, he determined it was close to the police office.  Been there, done that, so we knew where that was.  Didn’t see it the first time around the loop, and the second time I saw several people putting something into two yellow bins (looked like postal boxes) with national flags flying on either side.  I conclude this must be the post office…Wrong…it was the temple!!!  Tom walks past me waving the large envelop that must be mailed today.  Walks down the block to a post office but they can’t help him, they don’t do rush mail.  He goes to a private postal service near Food City, nope, can’t help us either.  Once again he returns to the car with “the envelope” and directions to go to the main post office by the bus terminal, which we finally find…Hurrah!!  Mailed at last.

The Batik shop was located in a private home.  An elderly woman answered the door and speaks very good English.  Welcomes us into her home and unlocks a door to a showroom.  Her husband, the designer, comes now to show us his work.  His designs are very good and if I lived here would have bought several picture hangings for the walls and other goods for the tables, etc.  He had some wonderful pictures of the Kandy Perahera in several color combinations that were awesome.  However, they wouldn’t go with our home décor so I bought two 18” x 18” fish batiks because I couldn’t resist.  He also had greeting cards with photographs of his works attached to the front of the card which he sold for $1.50.  Looking through them we noticed that several of the cards were actually small batiks so we bought several of these which are suitable for framing.

Shopping can always be disheartening…never know if they will have what you want especially since they had it the last time you were there.  With dinner guests coming for Eggplant Moussaka  (Kanthi is vegetarian) I also wanted to make a salad…NO LETTUCE,  NO YOGURT (only sweet yogurt and curd which is more like sour cream).  It cost $4 for a 28 oz can of peaches for a dessert I was hoping to make.  I was getting a little upset but we had to hurry home for lunch.  I didn’t have time to disinfect, cut, cook the eggplant, tomatoes, onions, chick peas and put the moussaka together before we left to teach our afternoon classes.

 Class was alright, Kanthi couldn’t attend because she was taking her house helper to the hospital for cataract surgery the next morning.  Here it is not an outpatient procedure.  The other two instructors from the PE department did not come…I think I wore them out the last class; that left the two students.  We did 3 miles for time and then walked 1 more to cool down while I lectured to them about diets and fats.  I really like these students, I wish they understood English better because I am never sure how much they are really grasping of what I am saying.

 Preparing dinner was not a pleasant experience.  I was tired from the walking class and stepped into a quick shower and then started.  Thank heavens I had the moussaka put together and in the 9×12 pan ready for the oven…it would take at least another hour for baking.  I go to make the dessert and discover that I need that 9×12 pan (it’s the only pan I have that can go into the oven).  I used it for a cookie sheet upside down because I was making peach shortcakes.  Took the moussaka out of the pan and put it into the wok on low heat on the stove, used the 9×12, then when I finished the shortcakes, returned the moussaka to the 9×12.  Didn’t have any cinnamon or cornstarch so just did the best I could. 

Tom – two of my PE instructors had to go to Colombo tomorrow so we had class today instead.  My instructor classes have been running about 3 hours and we meet 3 days/week.  I meet with my student fitness class for 2 hours 2 days/week.  I also meet privately with at least two instructors per week.  In addition to this workload, I have redesigned their weight room, developed an Exercise Chart (Excel spreadsheet) for their Health/Fitness class, and marked out a two kilometer walking/running course on campus.  This workload is actually heavier than my workload at Wittenberg! 

I worked in my office during the afternoon and when I got home went into the yard and was surprised to find a four foot lizard.  This was the biggest one I have seen so far – it was dark with some yellow circles and eyes that appeared to glow – I ran in the house and got my camera.  The picture is not great because he was moving but you can get a sense of how big he was!  We learned later that it was a water monitor who had come to our pond to each the frogs and fish!  It has a razor sharp tail that is used as a weapon.

The mosquitoes and bugs were really bad tonight so Helen and I went to bed early just to get under the mosquito net!  As mentioned earlier, these bites can last up to a week.  Neither our insect repellent nor the anti-itch cream seems to be very effective.      

Helen:  Wednesday is usually a day we have off together so we get to do something.  Tom said I will take a snack for lunch and see you later so we can go into town…he got home after 6:00.  He puts in a lot of time.  One of his main projects that day was also to finish up the blog after the school work.  I really didn’t mind because while we were in Colombo, someone gave me a John Grisham book “The Rainmaker” a good thriller which kept me busy all day since it was cloudy and a good reading day. 

Tom entered the house yelling don’t open the door just look out the window into the yard, there is a monster lizard by the pond.  He runs and gets his camera and just gets back to the yard to get a quick picture as the lizard swaggers up the hill by the outdoor grill/patio and into the neighbor’s yard.  From the back his tail swished back and forth very much like an alligator’s – spooky!!!  I would say he was at least 4-5 feet long.