Yesterday, Tricia didn't feel well and she stayed in bed all day. She was better Saturday morning, so we chalked it up to a 24 hour bug. Ihadn't slept well Thursday night either, but managed to make it through the day. When I got home around 6:00 PM I went right to bed and slept most of the night.

Today we went by Ron’s office to pick up my cell phone that he had left overnight to charge. Yes, it’s true the Bergman’s have been forced into the 21st century kicking and screaming the entire way. We now have CELL PHONES!! Yikes…so because it’s Saturday, the office it locked. There is 24 hour security so the guard gave us a key to the office. We then went inside and had to enter another locked door that goes into Ron’s office. The door was locked but there was a key in the door. Did you get that? The key was in the locked door. I’m sure there is some logic there but it escapes us.

We then went for a ride around the area on a tuk-tuk (a three wheeled motor scooter with a bench seat in the back). We saw the Independence Memorial. We’ll post the picture when our air shipment arrives and the cable for the camera connecting to the computer comes.

We found that the phone we bought for Tricia didn’t work correctly so we had to take it back to the dealer. They were very good about making the exchange, but it did take a little time to get a ride to the shop (another tuk-tuk), make the exchange, and then ride back. We then did some mundane things like go to the laundry shop next door, have lunch (2 nice chicken sandwiches and a large bottle of water for $3.30 – and that’s here in the hotel), and other domesticities.

This afternoon we did a “phone lesson” form Tricia and then we went for a walk to buy cases for the phones. All in all, it’s been a very pleasant day.

Our hotel overlooks the Indian Ocean on one side and the garden/pool on the other. We have the pool view, but that’s OK because there is construction on the other side that goes most of the night.

Our first impressions of SL are that there is lots of poverty. The place reminds of us Thailand, but with 15+ years of neglect.

Tonight we meet up with a short-term consultant who will travel with me next week to do assessments of 8 more communities. We leave tomorrow afternoon until late Friday. There isn’t enough room in the cars for Tricia, so she’ll be staying behind and looking for housing. This is another reason for “phone lessons”, so Tricia won’t feel abandoned. This will be my first experience outside of Colombo. Some of these Local Authorities that we will visit are very small and very poor… a far cry from Portland.

We met up with a few folks from the office for a quick meeting to plan out our trip next week to some of the Sri Lankan cities. We all then went out to dinner at a fabulous Swiss restaurant. It was elegantly served and quite lovely. It was a real treat to dine some place other than the hotel.