Well the adventure continues…

The election results were interesting. The LTTE (Tamil Tigers) who control the North and North Eastern sections of the country would not allow people to vote until 30 minutes before the polls closed. Because of the conflict, the government set up mass polling places for these areas just inside the government controlled areas. The LTTE set up barricades and burning tires to prevent people from crossing over the “border” to vote. In one voting district only 1 vote was cast. The final vote elected the new president who was the least inclined to pursue peace. He won by less than 200,000 votes. Had the people in the controlled area been allowed to vote, the other candidate might have won. In any case, there was virtually no violence. There were no curfews called, and Colombo and the Country are making a smooth transition to the new leadership.

We received notice that the hotel had more electrical work they needed to do and that they were going to shut off the power for 12 hours each day Saturday and Sunday. They offered to put us up in a sister hotel for the same cost and provide transportation over and back. Because we have so many clothes and items, we were concerned about having to pack everything up just for the two days. We asked if we could leave most of the items in our hotel room and only move what we needed for the week-end. They agreed, so we moved to the Trans-Asian hotel on Friday night.

By Friday Tricia was still not up to full strength, but was getting better with her ability to eat more at each meal. I tried making another appointment with another Doctor recommended by one of the folks at the Asia Foundation, but Tricia thought she was on the mend. We had a quiet dinner Friday night at the new hotel in a Thai restaurant. It was very good, and She did eat more than she had been, but still not a full meal.

Saturday morning, she ate a respectable breakfast, but she wanted to rest some more. I went to work, where I had arranged for them to unload two desks and chairs from their storage area. After they agreed to give them to us, they announced to all the staff that that Saturday morning, people could come and claim anything they wanted in the storage area as they were cleaning it all out. Anything left would be given away.

So I took them to the house. A man was available to help me. The two trips to the house with the man and van cost $7.00. I called Tricia who felt better, and we agreed to meet at a store where we wanted to buy kitchen utensils and items. We then went to another store where we bought dishes. We arranged for the dishes o be delivered to the house.

I took Tricia home to rest, because we were going out to dinner at the Director of my program’s house (Alix), and Tricia wanted to be as rested as possible. That afternoon, we went for tea in the hotel and she really seemed to be perking up. We went to dinner, where we met other western expats that Alix knows (all Canadian, except us two). Before we left, we had heard of expats that had been away for so long they had forgotten how to do laundry and cook. Well, we met some of those folks. One couple with small children have been living abroad (Sri Lanka (twice) and Africa for 15 years. Another fellow has been abroad for even longer., A single woman and her daughter (about 6 years old) were also there and she’s spent her entire professional career abroad. It was a fun evening. This was the first meal that I could really say Tricia ate a full helping. We stayed until about 11:00 and went home.

Sunday morning, Tricia was back to normal. We went shopping for bed linens, kitchen appliances (small), and other needed items. We still haven’t found side chairs for the living room or flatware. It’s kind of fun setting up a new house. One of the shops we went to had all the lights off and the aircon off because they didn’t think many people would be hopping. Strange way to save money.

As most of you know, Tricia and I have decorated our house in Vancouver with Antiques or older style furniture. With the exception of an old or reproduction coffee table, most everything is more modern looking. Hopefully we’ll be able to post pictures soon, as we’re almost in the house and we can set up all our computer equipment.

Tricia and I were both reluctant to get our haircut here, but finally realized we needed to do it sooner or later. Tricia got hers done several days ago, and I took the plunge on Saturday. Actually, I was very pleased at how it turned out. I think I’ve found the barber I’ll be using… and it only cost $8.00 plus a buck for a tip.

Well, it’s time to pack up and move back to our regular hotel. We’re counting the days until we can move in to the house. The critical path is getting the mattress delivered, and that’s planed for Tuesday. With any luck, we’ll be settled by Thanksgiving…. And our anniversary that follows several days later on the 30th