I failed to mention a few other observations during our road trip. We passed lots of coconut trees and some rubber trees at the lower elevations. I believe rubber is another important export for SL. We also passed rice paddies at the lower elevations. When you dine out in restaurants, the service is included. It adds about 30% to your bill with taxes and service (10%). Many of the mid sized trucks here have wooden sides. When we can get our photos on the blog, we have pictures to show you. A car wash here is a couple of people standing by the roadside with a hand-lettered sign where there is a natural spring. We passed a lot of road construction on the way from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. Much was done with a shovel. They were building low walls to help with rain runoff. Instead of rebar for structure, they would use an oblong rock and sit it on end into the concrete base. Fascinating how you can make do. And lastly, the flora I’ve seen has amazed me in how much is found in the US: poinsettias (a low scrub here), canna lilies, calla lilies, and nasturtiums. We also passed a vegetable growing area at the higher altitudes. Apparently the Brits introduced a lot of their veggies when they were here so we saw tomatoes, potatoes, cilantro, cucumber, squash and the like. One last observation: the men here are extremely handsome. When we were in Thailand we noticed that the women are probably the most beautiful in the world. Here it is the men. Ron was the one to point this out to me so it’s not a woman’s bias…

Last night around 10:00 we got an email saying our lease has been approved. Yahoooo! That means we will probably sign this weekend and can start shopping for household items and taking them to the house. We can’t move in probably until our mattresses arrive in another ten days. By then I should be able to have the house habitable. God, we are so eager for a routine and home cooked food. The food we have had here has been delicious but we are anxious to just have a meal at home. I mentioned to Tricia that living in a hotel was a preview for assited living. All of our belongings are in a single room, and we go downstairs for communal dinning anytime we want to eat. Someone comes in to clean and make the bed. All we need now is someone to give us a bath.

We have ordered a wrought iron bed to be made, ordered mattresses and have narrowed down a couch but need to determine the wood. The storeowner whose sons were educated in the US has offered to have the manufacturer send up the two samples so we can pick which one will suit us best. What a sweet and helpful offer. We have narrowed down dining table choices and will make a decision this weekend. We have picked out dishes. Now for cutlery.
Yesterday after much searching I found some pots and pans I like. Most of them here are very light weight, very thin material (stainless). I found a store that sells to hotels and they had some professional grade stainless pots. I didn’t bother to ask how much but am going back today since they had to take me to the storeroom to see them as they had just arrived and weren’t unpacked. We were in another store looking at furniture and saw a table we liked. Ron asked the cost and they didn’t know as it had just arrived. It’s different here….