We are safe. A female suicide bomber blew herself up at the Army Command Center in North Colombo today, killing eight army guards and seriously injuring a commander. We do not yet know how this will impact our time here. USAID will pull us out of here when they consider it dangerous to us personally. You should know in the 14 years of civil war here, no foreigners have ever been targeted by either side. Recently some foreign civilians were injured when claymore roadside mines were set off and they were on the road near the army vehicles that had been targeted. This has only happened on the east side of the island. The attack today is the first time since the 2003 ceasefire that such a violent event has occurred in Colombo.

My Life in the Tropics

Last week I was sitting in our office working on the computer when I heard a crash outside the window. We have a coconut tree outside the window so I thought another coconut had crashed to the ground. I looked out the window and didn’t see a coconut then I realized there was a two and a half foot snake lying there stunned. After a couple of minutes he slithered into the garden. Then I saw a SL squirrel (we would consider it a chipmunk) in the tree. Probably the snake was pursuing the squirrel and lost. Now every time I water the garden I am expecting a snake to come out of the bushes and chase me. Yikes!

Ron and I went to our first movie theater this weekend. We have seen a few movies since we have been here but they have been screened in embassies or other venues. The weird thing is the movies are shown at 10:30 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. What do they do with the staff with such long breaks?? The theater was a lot like ours just not as nice. Some of the seats were worn or torn and the floor was linoleum. The other weird thing was the concession stand sold whiskey! It cost $2.00 to see a first run movie. In this case Munich by Spielberg. It was air-conditioned which made it worth the price. I was surprised to see several parents had brought their kids. This isn’t a movie for children as it had lots of violence and harsh language. Geez, I’m not turning into a prude am I? I have just read too much about children seeing violence. I forgot to mention the have ads before the movie, including a rude, sexist, ageist Coke ad (but I did laugh) and everyone stood up when the national anthem was played.

Wednesday is Ron’s 21st anniversary of turning 39. He is keeping it low key. We will meet some friends from work for drinks at Alix’s house then go out to dinner to our favorite Indian restaurant. I am going to special order some HOT dishes for Ron as the food is never hot enough for him. The rest of us will eat regular Indian fare. And watch smoke come out of Ron’s ears.

Today I looked up the average income in SL. The average monthly wage per person is SLR 3056. In the urban sector it is SLR 4997 and in the estate (tea plantation workers) it is SLR 1663. One SLR equals a penny US. So that is $30.56, $49.97 and $16.63 a month. Oh my goodness. By SL standards we are Bill and Melinda Gates!!!!

I am still earning about SL time. It is island time and I still get caught off guard. Today is Wednesday. On Tuesday I ordered a birthday cake for RB and said I would pick it up at 1:30 so the manager wrote down for the cake to be ready at 1:00. I arrived at 1:45. No cake but was told it would be there in 30 minutes and they would deliver it since it was late. They managed to deliver it at 3:45! This is the third time I have used caterers and the third time they were over an hour late. Next time remind me to say I want it two hours before I need it!

That’s it from SL for the day. Pray for peace.