The Latest

I will begin by writing about milk. I have a friend who has a cow and she is bringing me fresh, raw, beautiful milk. With this milk I have been making fun milk products with my family. These products include, butter, buttermilk, mozzarella cheese and drinking milk. That's right. I'm that woman. Of course, this is all on the learning curve and there is room for improvement, but, I'm looking forward to making fresh pushki butter from the milk of the cows who have been nibbling on the fresh pushki shoots in the spring. My mom said she hates fresh milk because when she was young the cows were eating wild onions from the fields of their farm and the milk and butter tasted like onions! I told her people pay big money for that flavor now...

Marina is off at the Challenger Learning Center today on a field trip to learn about climate change and its impact on the planet. She is not seeing how this could be a fun or interesting mission or why it has anything to do with space. She can be such a mumbler! This is a new program NOAA is creating to help students understand planetary changes due to climate change. Marina doesn't understand why CLC would need to create an entire program for this as she feels it should be obvious (after our short visit to China especially). I explained that there are many people in the country who don't understand the scientific definition of 'Theory' - as in Theory of Gravity vs. 'I have a theory that my teacher will be absent from school today'. Should be interesting to see what she comes home with!

The Girl Scouts have been busy. We have taken a trip to the veterinary clinic to learn about becoming vets and we cooked Sri Lankan Food for International Thinking Day. Yes, most troops brought pizza and said they were Italian. These troops have smart and sane troop leaders. The girls loved cooking such complicated recipes and we really had a blast.

On the other side of the giftedness spectrum, Falcom is in the middle of spirit week and today is dress up like a celebrity day. Seems like it should have been a no brainer, but... As it is with genius, the more you know the less able to be decisive one becomes... Drama! He wanted to be CeLo but was afraid of getting teased for wearing an earring and that friends would pull them off. He wanted to go as Jennifer Tilly but I felt the reference was too obscure for middle school. I also didn't see how he could get teased more for CeLo than Ms. Tilly, but...this is modern middle school so who can say. He ended up going as an obscure indy rocker. And so the middle school turns.

Now that I have sufficiently worked into the blog far enough to where the non readers will have already bailed, I can talk about W. Mema and I 'borrowed' him from K after my last blog post. We had a super day together. I got a lot off my chest and I was able to see for myself how bad off he is cognitively without the structure, sleep, and nutrition necessary for kids with his disability need to have in order to be successful. It was truly a miracle of a day. Lucy happened to call from Guam and talk to him. He got to go to therapy with us so that Falcom could get the closure he needs. Marina got to slap him and hug him.

Little did I know that K would totally freak. She took to her facebook and posted how he was missing. Her sister had to cut school to help find him. I was about to bring W home to her when a young father and friend of W's showed up at Mema's and brought him a charged cell phone. Seriously. W decided to go back with K and hugged me tight and promised to call me the next day. He was so happy to know that we love him and that we are always here for him.

The next day I got a text telling me "Hey Mom, just letting you know I can't do veggie boxes with you today. I'm very sorry, I had plans with - for Valentine's day." All that formal writing! proper use of punctuation. Amazing... and he spent the day with the boys after K dropped him off with them. There is more to this sad story, but unfortunately it makes the younger parties involved look like such morons that I'm not going to bother reliving it for you. Anyway,

I continue to hold firmly to the belief that God will give me ideas about what to do and that I will carry through with my soul promise to both W and to the mother of K.

Speaking of mothers, mine had two surgery's in a week! First the leg and then 'the eye'! That is right! Mema spent a whole day with one working leg and one working eye. She doesn't believe this but she is actually doing really well and just because she doesn't feel great does not mean that she is not doing great. Good job Mema!

Falcom and I had a date to see the Air Force party band "Top Cover". Falcom had seen them play at the middle school and loved it so we decided to go together last night. Of course, the minute he gets there his friends see him and our date is over. No problem...I got to sit with Valda instead.

What else, what else? I was gifted a restaurant espresso machine. It wasn't working and Vince has been fixing it with the help of a tremendous man who works on these up in the valley. The main goal or having it is fundraisers, but the thought of having a delicious drink here at home is killer! Thank you Vince... you are an angel!

Alright! I'm off to making milk products!

I Still Love Homer

KBBI AM 890 Homer Alaska
From the Homer Police blotter: "Anonymous caller reports driving by local business and observing a cleaning lady trapped in the arctic entryway and banging on the glass. Officers to scene. Business contacted and cleaning lady freed."


There are some really serious heartbreaking agitations in my life (named Willie), sure... But one thing holds true...

I Love My Family, I Love My Community...


I Still Love Homer....

Bangkok

Another huge day in Bangkok has left us withered and oversleeping. I had better wake up the girl for breakfast so that we can get busy doing it again!

Christmas

The most beautiful, stress free, Christmas...

Polonnaruwa

Stepping into Kipling's Jungle Book, we visited the ancient temple complex and stood in awe of time, religious mysteries, and the power of nature and the jungle.

Safari!

The rain is covering the entire island. This is the news of the day in Sri Lanka. "Mud Slips" and "Flooding" dominate the conversations. We spent the day sitting, reading, and watching as the rain poured down. Vince and Marina made a rain gauge. A frog jumped in the pool. This does not mean that we did not have an adventure.

Today we went on Safari! We piled into a jeep and set off with a driver and a spotter to Kandulla national park. Once we got to the park the God's stopped the rain. The roof of the car was peeled back and we stood, watching, as animals and birds were discovered in the jungle. Peacocks were everywhere. The national bird of Sri Lanka presented itself for us. Monkeys sat eating fruit in the trees. Oh! Those arn't termite mounds...those are cobra dens. "If you want to see alligator you must come in the morning when they are coming out to enjoy the hot sun."

But if you want to see elephants...

A hundred elephants gathered in the open marsh land next to the lake. They were enjoying eating the tender grasses. Babies stood with their mothers and played with juvinilles. The elephants would grab grass out of the bog and then shake it out with their trunks. Why are they doing this? "Because they like to shake the dirt out." Oh! They are like me with spinach!

We saw an elephant with a deformed leg. It got hit by a train. It seems that elephants here are much like moose in Alaska. They wander around. They go into the jungle at night and come to the lake or river during the day to cool off. Sometimes, they come into a villiage and eat farmers crops. Sometimes, they like to stand in the road or on the railroad track... There are stands in the trees surrounding the park. In these places villagers sit at night so that if the elephants try to come out of the jungle and into the farms the farmers scare them away. I asked if they use guns or rocks or what. Our guide said, "Oh, the farmers just turn on a light."

On the way home elephants were everywhere along the sides of the road. I could hardly see them because they are camouflaged. Just like the moose hanging out along side the highway. It takes a trained eye. I guess I will have to stay here a bit longer to develop that gift!

(Sorry Lynn Hibdon, great pictures on real camera!)

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.