Before I give you the history lesson I promised yesterday, I wanted to tell you about our mail. We rented a private post office box in Vancouver before we left and have had them forward our mail here. When we get a packet of mail, we get a six page form from the main p.o. in Colombo and I go there and it takes about 30 minutes, filling out forms, waiting in line, seeing five-six men each of whom does something to my form or my mail. Well we haven't gotten any mail for three weeks. I've been badgering our Vancouver agency about the mail. In an act of desperation today Ron had a Sri Lankan coworker call the post office and complain. Later in the day they delivered three packets of our mail! Well had I only known I wouldn't have bothered to pay 100 rupees and take 30 minutes each time. Just complain and poof there is your mail delivered! Now I know.

We got word today that DSL is to be installed next week while we are on the east coast. Keep your finger crossed. We are SO ready for it.

So for some history. Anuradhapura is SL's most sacred city. Along with Mihintale, it represents the first real home of Buddhism in SL. From its origins as a settlement in the sixth century BC, Anuradhapura was made SL's first capital in 377BC by the king Pandukhabhaya who started the irrigation works on which it depended and named it after the constellation Anuradha. The first era of religious building followed the conversation of King Tissa (ruled 250-10 BC). Under his rule, the sapling from the bo tree in India under which Buddha attained enlightenment was planted and it is one of the holiest Buddhist sites in the world. Today it is visited by thousands of Buddhists from around the world. Anuradhapura remained the capital until the ninth century AD when it reached its peak of power. At that time it probably stretched 25 km. Successive waves of invasion from South India finally took its toll. After the 13th century it almost completely disappeared. It was rediscovered by an archaeologist in 1872 and work has continued ever since. In 1988 it was designated a World Heritage site.

Mihintale is revered as the place where Mahinda converted the King Tissa to Buddhism in 243 BC. thereby enabling Buddhism to spread to the whole island. The story goes that the king was on a hunting expedition and came across Mahinda and was astonished to find a gentle person who spoke to him of Buddha's teachings. Mahinda had come from India to preach Buddhism and was able to convert the king and 40,000 followers. As well as being important historically it is an important religious site. So I climbed 1840 granite steps two days ago to see this wonderful serene place. From the top of the hill you get a beautiful view of the surronding area. Another beutiful sight was this goregous SL man who works on the archeolgical site and filled us in on some of the history there. I've been asked to provide photos of these men I keep referring to but I was so busy drooling over this guy I completely forgot to take his photos. Bummer.

I think I mentioned that we are going to the east coast, Tamil area, and may not have access to the internet for the week. If that is the case, I won't be posting until we return, hopefully to DSL in our home! Yippeeee!