The Buddha Statue in Kandy

This seated Buddha is 88 feet tall and has a commanding view of the city of Kandy.

Nuwara Eliya

Took the bus for a weekend trip to hike in Hortons Plains National Park in Nuwara Eliya. There was no view due to clouds at World's End but Bakers Falls we're running hard as it was pouring rain.

Monarch Institute

Sid waiting on the students to show up for class. We're scheduled to teach three classes a day four days a week and one more on the fifth day. In actual practice we've never had more than one a day and usually only three a week.

Typical Lanka Lunch

While breakfast is almost always fresh bread (delivered daily on a bakery tuk-tuk and playing "It's a Small World After All") with mixed jam and peanut butter. Lunch is usually rice, dal, a vegetable and a curry. Today it's okra curry and a boiled egg for protein but it is frequently fish curry. Dinner is also rice and dal but with a side of pasta, a vegetable and a curry. We have not gone hungry and our carb intake is strong.

Galle

Our time here in Sri Lanka is continuing. We only taught one class (3 students in their early 20s) before we earned our first long weekend. So we packed up some stuff, jumped on a bus and headed down to the coastal city of Galle. It's on the southern tip of the island of Sri Lanka. That's where we spent our 28th wedding anniversary. The room was cool, on the second floor with a view of the Indian Ocean. The rainy season hasn't ended yet so the ocean was grey and wild. The surf too strong to swim. 

The real bummer is that I have a sinus infection and pink eye in both eyes. I'm a weepy, coughing, wheezing mess and I fall asleep every 20 minutes or so. Sid is taking good care of me when I let him and off sight seeing when I won't. They have some good museums, an old fort, a cool lighthouse, and some spice plantations from back in the days when this was known as Ceylon. 

We came back to Angoda last night. Our host families youngest daughter had her first baby while we were gone. In order to protect him from my germs we've moved to her older sister's house. This sister has a 7 yo daughter and two boys, 4 and 2.  Some of them are sick as well so none of us are getting to see the baby. 

Sid and I are supposed to be teaching a children's class this afternoon followed by another adult class this evening. He may have to solo. 

It's been almost a full day without rain today. That's a good sign as the rainy season is supposed to be ending. Our next weekend will be spent in the town of Kandy which is in the center of the island and should have good hiking. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by then. 

We've a few challenges with the "unlocked" cell phone and wireless service here. At first it wasn't actually unlocked, then the local spot couldn't do it because we're foreigners. The next spot did it for us but 24 hours later the government sent a text saying they were going to cut it off because of incomplete documents. So we went back, got it all squared away only to get the same text again the next day. Today's text said we're cut off. Gives us something to work on over our break. We need that phone so we can stay connected with our regular phones via WiFi. 

Adult Intermediate English

We made our teaching debut Saturday night with a class of three students 20-23 years old. We worked on a bit of grammar, listening skills and a few speaking games. At the end we asked them if there was anything they wanted to know more about so we got to explain Area 51.

Super Market

We walked around town this morning to make sure we could find both the school and the market. Along the way we used a two minute rain shower as an excuse to check out the local ice cream parlor.

Angoda

This is our hosts' home, the school where we will "teach" and a vegetable stall along the way.

Colombo Adventure

We haven't seen much here yet that's "photo worthy" but that's mostly because we were too tired to think. We took the city bus from the airport and then a Tuk-tuk to our hosts' home. This process was less graceful than intended as our "unlocked phone" isn't "unlocked enough" so we don't currently have phone service. Also a few challenges getting money converted at the bank. We arrived on Binara Full Moon Poya Day and our bank was closed. The Buddhists celebrate the full moon each month (the Poya Days); in September this is Binara.

The picture was taken from the tuk-tuk during a bovine related traffic jam.

People’s Park

We also visited the People's Park which included live music, water features, serenity pools, a waterfall and peaceful walking paths. By this time or energy was starting to lag so we found another restaurant repeated our "point and pray" ordering technique added a couple of Chinese beers and called the day a success.

Jiang’an Temple

Originally built in 247 AD and moved to this site in 1216, the Jing'an Temple currently includes both a white jade and a silver buddha. Fundraising is under way to add a gold buddha.

Shanghai

Ticketed passengers with a layover of less than 72 hours in Shanghai may leave the airport on a 24 Hour visa which is granted on the spot. We arranged a longer layover in order to have some time to see the city.

The first order of business was to find food. Most places weren't open that early so we wandered around the beautiful Jiag'an Park. It was picturesque and full of early morning moving meditation and tai chi groups.

When the restaurants started to open we stoped to eat. Of course the menu is all in Chinese and the item pictured on the walls weren't really available. We each pointed at some random text and we're pleased with the result. Sid ended up with a spicy meat soup and I had a pork and bok choy wonton soup. This woke us up enough to get back to sight seeing.

AHAH visits

We took the train to Jersey City to meet up with Eric. He and Sid volunteered together with All Hands and Hearts in the Virgin Islands. He was the source of some valuable advice about Shanghai. For example, it is possible to buy a one day, unlimited subway pass from the information desk clerk but not from the kiosks. Also the internet doesn't work in China. No Google Maps, no Google Translate, No Google.

Then we went in to Grand Central Station in NYC and met up with Nicholas (also VI) and Steve (first PR volunteer trip). By 10pm though we were back at JFK waiting on our flight out.

Start with a train to the city

Thanks for a wonderful visit. Now we need to practice our mass transit skills while the default language is still English.

Asia 2019 - Starts in New Jersey

We flew out of DFW last night and are visiting Ravi, Renee and Mummy for a few days in New Jersey. As it's me I've already thought of a few things I didn't bring. Apparently my belt was left in Florida (it doesn't get worn much when we have triple digit temperatures) and I threw away all of my hair brushes (apparently I collect them like I do canisters of taco seasonings and tubs of Vaseline). They were everywhere and now there are none.

We also left our favorite credit card in the airport in Dallas and spent the morning jumping through phone tree hoops in an effort to get it replaced. It may arrive before we leave; it may not. We're good either way.

We took Mummy to a local Italian place for lunch. Always eat Italian when you come to Jersey; you will never be disappointed.

Departure

I'm fairly impressed with the execution of our departure from Allen. Only one task didn't get resolved. The truck hasn't sold but once again our friends are helping out by giving it a home until we get back. When you weigh that against the million other details we did alright.

Final Happy hour

Friendships here stretch back decades others are brand new but we value them all.

Good friends are worth the weight of a washer

Thanks Alex for helping us clear out the house.

Another epic Piscitelli party

Thanks for the send off