Dick and Pat Parker arrived around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. I was so excited to see them, I stayed up waiting for their arrival. We have had a great visit. They are easy guests. On Saturday we stayed close to home as Dick spent part of the day chasing down his luggage. He mistakenly pick up someone else’s bag but fortunately the luggage contained the owner’s contact information. On Sunday we were tourists, going to one of the older areas of town, walking along the Galle Face Green by the Indian Ocean, having a lovely al fresco lunch at Barefoot with live jazz, followed by shopping at Barefoot which specializes in hand loomed goods. I found a great book on Sri Lankan flowers and even identified an orange cosmos in our roof top garden. We went to a Chinese seafood restaurant down the street from where we live. Dick was on a mission to rediscover a Sri Lankan crab dish he had many years ago. He ordered crab but it just wasn’t the same as he remembered. On a lark, we all rode home in a tuk tuk. We had taken two to the restaurant. Pat sat on Dick’s lap and we squeezed in. Ron asked me if I was comfortable at which point I started laughing and laughed most of the way home. Let’s just say that is the last time I plan on riding in a tuk tuk with three other adults!

On Monday we went to a Buddhist temple and then to a park. We saw an elephant at each place. A gardener at the park gave us a royal tour, identifying many trees and plants for us. He was quite knowledgeable and of course asked for money after spending time with us. I came home after lunch to work on dinner as Ron had his Washington DC boss here as well as his boss from Thailand and they were coming for dinner. It was so hot that I served three salads for dinner. Only two bedrooms are air-conditioned in our home. The thought of serving a hot meal in a hot dining room just didn’t make sense to me. Tuesday Dick and Pat took off to explore the island. I haven’t decided if Dick is a courageous soul or a complete idiot for deciding to drive a rented car here. Driving here is an experience I would compare to taking LSD. There’s nothing quite like it! I got a call this morning from Pat saying they had survived the first day. I was riding in a tuk tuk at the time of the call so couldn’t hear very well. I tried to call them tonight but couldn’t reach them.

This morning I met with a manager at the SL Inst. of Local Government to get his input on good governance resource centers as apart of my volunteer assignment. I spent the rest of the day running errands. Ron came home around 3:30 to pack for a weeklong trip to the east coast of the island. He took an overnight train, leaving at 7:15 pm and I think arrives around 5:00 a.m. I am staying home to work on my two volunteer projects.

It has been unbearably hot here but cooled off today and it was quite pleasant. I was sorry Dick and Pat weren't here to enjoy the cool. They will return on Friday or Sat, the 3rd or 4th and have a few more days in Colombo before heading home to Japan where Dick lives and Maine where Pat lives when she isn't in Japan with Dick. We envy her being so close to our grandkids. We are delighted to have them here. Always before when we have gotten together there is a lot going on as we usually get together at Christmas. Then there are lots of family members and activities and grandkids to be cared for. So we have never had much opportunity to get to know each other with so many distractions. We are delighted to have this time together now.

That’s it from SL for today.