Habarana

I woke up this morning to my children sitting on the bed discussing a book that they both listened to. They were having a book discussion! A book discussion not instigated by me! I couldn't believe it and I was so proud.

Today I sat by the pool. I drank coffee. I stood agape at a pair of Grey Hornbills. The birds are amazing. I should say that the birds and the butterflies are just amazing.

Our hotel reminds me of hotels we used to stay in in California. For instance, once my mom stuck a pin in the map and we stayed at a little place in Quincy. This hotel reminds me of that. It is quaint and peaceful. The pool is well acquainted and just deep enough. The hotel sits off the main road and is surrounded by fruit trees, palm trees, and grasses. The birds are bright and found in every color. Vince woke up and saw in the top of a high tree, a peacock big and bold with its tail hanging down at least 10 feet. It flew away before I could see it and I was disappointed.

Staying at the hotel here is a large family: two brothers and their wives and children. It is a happy and relaxed bunch, with the men lounging around in their sarongs and the women in the room studying Buddhist texts. How do I know this is what they were doing? I asked a daughter what a book was about that was lying on their side table. There was a centerpiece of a fetus and then the illustration swirled to a child and adult and older man. The daughter said in an annoyed nonplussed manner, "Oh, my mom, she is really into her Buddhism. This is a book of esoteric mystic stuff."

We three adults were sitting at our favorite lounging area watching Marina swim in the pool and play with the other kids when the owner of the hotel said, "Those men are members of Parliament. They like to bring their families here on vacation. That one there, he was the captain of the 1996 cricket team! Captain Cool... Ranatunga!"

Now, this information does not mean a whole lot to Americans. We don't know a thing about cricket. Here in Sri Lanka, people are not that involved with football, basketball, or baseball. They watch cricket. In 1996 Sri Lanka won the World Cup. This event is an important part of Sri Lankan social history. This man, sitting poolside is the Sri Lankan equivalent of Michael Jordan. How do I know this? Because of my research prior to coming to Sri Lanka. The kids and I watched very funny videos made by a Sri Lankan comedian. This one is the one that taught us about the importance of Cricket.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uJu8dMhE1ow

Craig and Vince decided to take a long walk to town. Marina spent the day in the pool playing with these sons of Sri Lankan nobility. I sat thinking and watching the birds and butterflies. Occasionally the sky would open and release a down pour and then the sun would shine again. At one point I saw a beautiful butterfly. It was white and orange. Then I saw another which was huge and black. I decided to follow them. In the back of this property is a gate and so I gently opened the gate and directly before me there were men standing over some dirt work. There were sticks in the ground with white flags on them. Survey markers I figured. To my left there was a bush with four different lovely butterflies. Just out of reach of my vision was some cement tombstones in the earth. Oh! A graveyard. How interesting. I looked some more at the butterflies.

And then the mourners came. Oh! These were not construction workers! This was a funeral and I walked right into it by following a butterfly!

The woman stopped and talked with me. I told them that I was sorry for their loss and they were very kind to me. It was obvious from their demeanor that this was not an unexpected passing. They invited me to come to the funeral. They were catholic. Come! They said. I told them thank you but that really it was not for me to be there for that, but thank you. They smiled at me and said goodbye. It was really quite touching.

Later, Vince and Craig returned. They had a gleam in their eye. The town here is small and there was not too much to see. But they had a great time none the less. They were up to something. They went into their rooms and came out with Sri Lankan cricket shirts on and a sharpie pen. Yes, they got their jerseys signed by the infamous captain of the Sri Lankan Cricket team. Unbelievably funny.

For us.

Later we learned that the reason those two men bring their families to this hotel is because they like the quiet, no one bothering them. oops! but not really because he was laughing too. I mean really, two American men, who have never seen anything about cricket playing around with jerseys and huge smiles. It was exceptional.

In the evening, Vince and I walked to town. We were holding hands and walking along and people were staring at us and smiling and saying hello. I told Vince people don't walk around holding hands here and he said, "Good, they think you are a prostitute!" Right then our hosts pulled over and asked if we were all right. We followed them into a shop and in the back were large open bags of lentils, chickpeas, and rice. In one bag was something neither Vince or I had ever seen before. I asked the man what it was and he said, "Gorka". "What?" "You know, gorka." "I don't know what is gorka." "gorka!" It was as I've seen so many Americans do with foreigners. "Fanta...you know...fanta!"

As we walked home some small children ran up to a gate and waved at us and said hello. We stopped and said hello back. The girl was trying to talk to us and was shy and couldn't think of the words that she had been learning in school. Before long, her mother, wrapped in a sarong across her chest told the girls to drop the gate and let us in. We were invited into their house! Now, this was not a big colonial house, but a true Sri Lankan village house. Walls with no doors and dirt floors. We sat on plastic chairs on their 'poarch' and the little girl showed us her English notebook. She has been working hard to learn little words that don't seem to relate to anything special. They are just words for things, Ice cream, elephant, mother, father, "I am seven years old." They were a very sweet family. There was another girl there who was not much taller than the seven year old and had no English. She was maybe as tall as Falcom. After a bit the mother invited us inside her house to see her kitchen. We learned how to get the meat out of a coconut and how they cook over an open flame. Really amazing. Then the older daughter gave me a hat she knitted. It was for a baby or a Sri Lankan child. She showed me others she had made. I asked her if I could buy them and they insisted NO! The children stooped to my and Vince's feet and did something which we thought was shooing bugs but was instead a sign of deep respect.

We walked home in utter amazement at the kind and loving people in this country. We got back to the hotel and the children of nobility told us that we MUST go on safari today! And so we are. Our new friends packed their bags and their bodygaurds and drivers whisked them away to return to Colombo and the franticness of their lives. We shared another meal with these interesting and beautiful people and when we went to pass out at 930 the hotel was vacant.