The craziness that is Sri Lanka. Today I was out running errands. We have on department store, Odel’s, in the entire country and it is here in Colombo. I was buying some dried cranberries that I use in salads. They cost $9.00 for 300 grams, a little over a half a pound. I decided to look for a gift for my sister. I have not had much luck finding women’s clothes here. I found a beautiful claret colored London Fog jacket with a zip out lining and paid $13.50. Go figure. Then I went to House of Fashion, a clothing store where many Sri Lankans shop because it is so cheap. I went to look for towels for the Thai house. But I was inspired by my find at Odel’s so went to the men’s department because I have seen some good buys there before. I found three men’s shirts-a polo shirt, a heavy long sleeve woven shirt and a short-sleeved Dockers shirt. My bill was $12.15. I think I have outfitted just about everyone in my family with shirts and jackets. I have a stash of clothes for family to bring home in September where I can afford the mailing rates. I have been spending $70-$85 per package and decided I had sent enough gifts so stopped sending things a few weeks ago. Anything else will go with us in September or December.

Black Tigers
Black Tigers are a branch of the LTTE. They are the suicide bombers. The anniversary of the first suicide bomber was July 5th. Since 1987, 273 people had committed suicide for the LTTE. What a sad day it is. The faction that split off from the LTTE, called the Karuna faction, have issued a statement that they will launch a major attack on the LTTE in the east and have encouraged members of the LTTE to quit and go home or else risk their lives. On the 4th of July the outgoing US Ambassador to SL gave a speech and said there is no military solution to SL’s separatist conflict. He said that a solution to the civil strife would require “radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed”. We agree wholeheartedly. Until the government makes major concessions to the Tamils and undoes legislation that has limited their rights, there will be conflict. Since we have been here, a new administration has come into power. Although they talk about change, nothing has really changed.

Getting Old is Hell
Ron and I shower every night. On Tuesday I showered first. Ron came into the bathroom as I was drying off and got into the shower. He had laid his glasses in an area where they were likely to fall off the counter so I moved them. I went into the bedroom, got into bed and starting reading. I have glaucoma and cataracts so every morning and night I put drops in my eyes to control the glaucoma. I picked up my book and started reading and had one heck of a time focusing. I blinked my eyes, I moved the book further away, and I pulled the book in closer. I continued to read until Ron got out of the shower. He came into the bedroom and asked if I was having trouble reading. I looked at him, thinking the man is psychic! No, I had put on his glasses!!! Yikes, I am losing it!!! He couldn’t quit laughing at me. I was just so relieved to discover I hadn’t lost my eyesight. Getting old is hell.

We have been having three days of cloudy rainy weather. I haven’t sweated for two days and I loved it. Today the sun is back. When it was cloudy it was 78 degrees in the morning with 87% humidity so it felt cool. There is very little variation between day and night temperatures here. The low was 79 that day. Since we have been here this has been the only time where we didn’t see the sun for three days. Pretty amazing.

Compost
Shortly after we moved into the house, I purchased a compost bin. It is basically a meter tall tube, with perforations and a lid. It sits on a plastic dish. On one side at the bottom is a little door that slips up a railing and off the tube. This enables you to have access to the compost and to harvest it. We have been composting our yard debris and kitchen waste. I have been harvesting the compost and am impressed that you don’t have to turn it here. I am assuming the process works because of the extreme heat here. The only thing I don’t like about it is the harvesting is a little difficult because you have to squat down to ground level and the door is too small. But it keeps me flexible.

Wonder of wonders I found towel sets yesterday. I have lived here since October and this was the first time I have found towel sets: bath towel, hand towel and washcloth to match. I brought four sets for the Thai house. They aren’t as plush as I like but heck, I loved the fact I could have a complete set that matched.

Today is Friday so I need to wrap this up as I have been working on it for days. Ron is sick in bed with the flu. He came home from work yesterday and went straight to bed. He will emerge when he is feeling better. When we first got together, it took us over a year to discover how different we are in terms of being sick. I want someone to come in and fluff my pillow, bring me tea and say ‘there, there now how are you feeling?’ Ron wants to go to bed and be left completely alone until he is well. Imagine what our early experiences were: me fussing around, irritating him and him ‘neglecting’me. Ha! We did eventually figure it out. Ron has a huge conference on Tuesday that he has been working on for a month and I think his immune system decided he needed a break. I am hopeful this is a 24-hour bug so he can tie up loose ends between now and Tuesday. Over 500 people have been invited to attend.

That’s it from the land of sweat; yes the sun and heat are back. I did three loads of laundry to take advantage of the sun, my solar dryer.