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Ahouva's latest

2005-11-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

Blog Tues Sept 27

We are heading out to the Education program on the Elated schools. This turned out to be an occasion for me to share some of my experience with educastion- I am sure I was invited at Zkmala’s insitence. I was concerned that somehow I didnt make Kala look good, because the group had been working on longer term systemic change and Action Aid and Saroj were interested in a short term campaign, to be finished by end November and then fu rther steps taken perhaps fro further campaigns. Kamala is insistent that she doesn’t like this showy flashy short term stuff but rather is really committed to organic participatory change.

Fri- at the school near Hikkaduwa- Padamama Buddhist School-which is clearly undergoing post tsunami reconstruction. We stayed at Sukawathi where Kala always stays. Got to review the report I worked on fro two weeks with Chitradaka? In the car and as Kala tuned out we seemed to work well together-despite her annoying little girl voice.
Both on Thursday night when we had our supposed farewell dinner with Prema and the early childhood expert who was taught by Kamala-whose name I can’t remember. It was so surprising when I was talking to Kamala on Friday- playing a little hooky as Kala wanted as proposal from me- and she stated that she hadn’t actually realized my expertise in education, management and career development before.

I got really good at knocking proposals out-Friday’s one was about housing-5 houses, and building a community center in the Ambalongoda area- it sounds like the 5 houses are an excuse to build the center, but as I told Indika today on the way to the airport, the golden wave is there until year end and they should take every dollar that is offered them. Now it is all in their hands.

Saturday-Sunday Oct 1-2
Carla was very good at helping us put things in perspective- she talked about the extreme lengths people will go to to avoid conflict, and how they don’t like confrontations . She said she was surprised that Kala and Indika had shared as much as they did, even thought they are very open, She also said they would never have shared their budget or finances- even though we were promised both. Maybe if we come back. It really helped to have her anthropological perspective. She was really interested in what drew us to do this. Clearly they are really looking for an ongoing relationship even though the AJWS commitment is only for the time one is on assignment.
It is still very interesting to me how few Westerners we saw and spent time with there-it really is deeply in its own world. Kala really is the future face of that world- but she sadi most people don’t look for careers in NGOs becuae of pay and prestige,etc. If anyone can change that idea, it is she. When Indika was talking today about Chandrika? He emphasized that she was from a good family and had a good education and seemed very competent. This whole thing of yicchus is a very big thing in Sinhala culture. I am really hoping to read more about Sir Lanka in the future. This book by John Richardson, Paradise Poisoned is very interesting to me, and that he is at the center for Intl Studies in Kandy is very interesting- hope to be able to take such books out at UCSD- and look into their Intl studies program. His info on development theory really sparked my interest, and he seems to be looking at a particular area that is not being examined elsewhere, using Sri Lanka as a case study.

Harriet helped a lot by saying that it really wasn’t about my doingness but about my being, and being there for the people I was with. I kind of let go the last couple of days, even though I kept working up to the last minute, I didn’t Since it did turn out that all that we did was just leave our work for them to review when they have time, I am sorry I didn’t do more fun things- especially talking to Kamala. And I am so glad it gave Albert something to do, being her secretary. though I must admit I had AJWS in mind that we were to work office hours five days a week. We didn’t go to her farewell event- it sounded really wonderful to me, and especially seeing the children’s art. It really was about our relationship though- Kala and Indika and the kids feel like my family.

Kamala was going to come to say goodbye and bring a gift but her back was really bothering her. We had a really beautiful phone call and she said that I was on the same level as Carla who helped her found Siyath- and this was the highest compliment she could have paid me. She made us promise to look after Siyath when she is gone and I told her I hoped she would be around for a long time. I told her how happy I was to get to talk to Carla on the way home from Galle- it was really great and homey and she laughs easily and often. AS Carla said, she doubts Kamala will really retire as she says she will do at end of October- she always has an interest in what is going on and especially about ed-as Carla says- she will always make it aobut education- tho she has no children, all Sri lankas children are hers. When I went to take her pic on Friday she wanted to see it as she was thinking about a photo for her viewing when people come and pay their respects- I said I hoped she would be around for a long tine- she is stressed and worried about the kids, of course as I am.
Some guiy tried to grab kala’s mother around the neck as she came to their gate and the Tejon saw it – really scary.

I am now on the plane-as I write this blog. It was like I got my sadness out of the way over the past week and I didn’t think about it so much today- too busy with doingness. Still, very wrenching to say goodby to Indika. AND last night when I said goodbye to Kala, it was really hard and she was really crying, It made it easier to leave that she was gone to Katmandu to her Homenet, event tho she was suffering from overwork, exhaustion and not having had time to prepare at all for Homenet. As she was saying she may need to give up her leadership role, which I doubt, The love is really there , even tho Indika is always running. It was like he knew we were really there- and they really wanted so little and gave us so much honor and friendship- we really are family- so how do you have family halfway around the world? Right and feeling incredibly stupid that I didn’t think more carefully about luggage allowance for Sri Lankan air and Swissair for that matter- we may need to ship stuff from India.

Yom Kippur night
Spent a very satisfying Yom Kippur day with the progressive reform people and I was saying to Albert that I really appreciated how the Rabbi took every opportunity to cratge meaning for the congregation.

Last night I had a very inner experience at the Knesset Eliyahu- it was great to be able to go to a place nearby and event thought. I went and sat by myself and across from Albert so we could check in with each other and smile. I mediatged and went into a reverie that was lovely with the tunes being chanted and repeated.

There were a couple of men at the group today who did songs eally beautifully today- el Nora Liala and a couple od pslams/piyut- reallyh wish I had a tape recorder wbut who would think of that on top of everything else- dodnt even take my purse today.

We went on the train so it was funny when I got off and Albert didtn I figured he went to sleep and so I waited and watched the trains coming in the opposite direction and he was on the second one- the first one was too soon. SO he didtn show up on the side of the train where people were leaning out and I decided to go ahead without him- and suddenly he showed up- he had a hard tiem getting out and had not been able to get out quickly enough at our stop even though he was out of his seat and pushing to get through- this was the difference between first and second class.

Tomorrow we make arrangements about our luggage and go to Ganeshpuri which I am really looking forward to- its near the forest and very close and seemingly very cheap.
And thereare hot springs there- whoopee. Also really want to get to Gandhis place here and the museum.

It was so lovely to see our friends from AJWS again-it was like having old friends and they seemed genuinely happy to see us too. And I got to meet Shayna and Gila from the joint, so I now know who I was in email contact with. Went to breakfast at Chabad after having a little snakc with a yummy samosa and potato chips! At JCC.

AS we walked from the train this morning we were trying to walk on the shady side of the street, which in his case meant walking directly in front of a street slum housing area and seeing the people out on the street- at first ti was harfd and then we just started smiling and waving and people were very warm and offered us popcorn that was being passed around- as we were fasting anyway oit made ti weasier to just wave it off- tho it would have been a non no anyway no matter what. People seemed surprised and happy we were walking there-and we did until we asked about Ruparel College and there it was. I said to myself and to Albert we just have to look at their humanity and we did> I just sadi to myself these are human beings and tgehy live hear by/on the street because they have no money. It was hard.

One thing I have been able to find humor in is some of the acting of the beggars on the street and their practiced exaggerated expressions. I also noticed a very carefully concocted newly bandaged fake hand that had a piece of canvas at the end painted a red brown color to look bloody. The guy had his arm tucked into his shirt so it looked as if he had a short arm cut off straight across, sort of. Very sad from so many perspectives, but one wished he would put his creativity into some other project.

Friday Oct 14

We have 4 more days in Iondia and I am really ready to go home. I am trying to grok what this all has meant as the trip comes to a close. One thiung I have really appreciated is that Albert’s humor is much more eastern than western- people kind of seem to enjoy his jolliness and silliness here. Or so it has seemed. And this has created a kind of relaxation for me and made me not feel so concerned about having to explain his joking/world view all the time.

Congregnats, both men and women took turns reading from the prayerbook ttopday- they really went cover to cover. We had thought about going elsewhere for the afternoon amd Neila service, but I had gotten to do some reading. There was a part about being called and answering Hinenei and I broke up but finally pulled myself together to continue reading- the Rabbi and several others commented on my reading style and it seemed to be appreciated. I actually found some of the passages very beautiful – so the reform service has gained some points with me. I also appreciated the sermon which talked about contemporary issues, especially the withdrawal from Gaza.

During the 1 hour break Albert was helping a group of men attempt to rewind the Torah scroll that had been badly bunched up , wrinkled and mishandled in its round box and left that way for a long time- really needs repair and tlc. So we were engaged and it seemed important to stay. And it had a/c which right now seems really I mportant- very hot here tho not as humid as Sri Lanka. I was almost keeling over , falling asleep as they were reading the names of all the deceased congregants and I just sat down although they were all standing.

I was thinking about the Havurah all the day – really missing our chevra.

Friday late aft

We decided to stay here again tonite so we could get more stuff done and we moved back to our old room for tonite. The people we met at the Calico museum invited us to dinner and it really felt like of all the things we could do this would be the most satisfying- I am very interested in learniugn more about their fabric/clothing work and sharing our excitement about these textiles. It will also be nice to be in an Indian family home- and none of our Jewish brethren made such an invitation. I am hoping we will learn some things too about our beloved textiles.

It was a frustrating day.Not much onfo from Swiss Intl- it depends on the discretion of the people at the check in desk. We need to check about unaccompanied baggage. Had 2 wonderful sessions at the museum- loved the miniatures, the ivory filigree and the bejeweled ivory and jade daggers. Bought another long dress with blue green paisley pattern, and tried to go to Mani Bhavan, the house where Gandiji stayed in Mumbai. We go to Ganeshpuri tomorrow. Here are hot springs there- I look forward to relaxing there and meditating, and hopefully spending some time at the Ashram.
Started repacking luggage and assuming some of our stuff will arrive in NY late- which is not a problem for us. Just hope it wont cost another fortune.

I am really happy we stayed in Mumbai tonight because we had such a nice evening with the friends we met in the Claico museum- AI had forgotten eh Brown connection- her son just started there and her daughter just came back from the US after 7 years, now ready to start a career in Intl media, she hopes. She lived with q Ajewish family in Providence and livd on bagels in NY worked for a big brokerage trading oil- doesn’t want to continue in finance. The mother showed me her textiles thaqt she gets printed- finds old prints and gets them revived- works with craftsmen to get new design ideas- this seems to be what’s needed. Just enjoyed their company so much.

It is after midnight- good we had a late aft nap or we would never have made it. Albert’s tailor friend showed up, discussed designs and talked about how he would make my outfits- and took my measurements painlessly. Lovely guy. And we spoke to Swissair and it was fun to try and get stuff resolved re luggage-ha.

Sat am

It is really hot here- about 35 degrees-for the first time it really feels hotter than Sri Lanka tho the temp was much lower there- it is not as humid here in most places, but I was amazed that Agra gets up to 46-48- REALLY hot. I am finding it is hard to get things done – I pointed out to Albert yesterday as he was being really impatient, that he was going against the prevailing winds here. I cant imagine what it would be like, even hotter! Our AJWS friends were commenting on not feeling so energetic either. Our new friends said to come in late November- so that needs to be noted,
I must say I am ready to go home, but we will go to Ganeshpuri which I am really looking forward to. At least it will be in the country. Last night in conversation our going back to work came up and I realized I have no idea what it will be like to try and get back to work. I have been so lucky and grateful to have had time off- and trying to imagine being back in my life is very hard. I am sure it will take time and patience- hopefully I will have more patience and a better attitude-Not likely.

Sunday eve

Well, I finally did it- I got sick- cramps and diarhea- yuck. It was really at the end of the earth getting to Ganeshpuri tho it was relatively close to Mumbai- and as others have pointed out, there is not much there. Our room which allowed us to stay in Ganeshpuri village itself was only 200 a night with hot water. Very basic room, but it had a guard for
the building and kept it lit outside all night just for us, and hot water! I imagine when Gurumayi is in town it is very crowded. We were approached by a pushy tailor- he picked out the color of my fabric- a cherry red , and I have new Punjabi dress and pants.
We figured he made hay while the sun was shining- not much Ashram traffic.
SO we took the train for over an hour to Vasai Road, in a town just past a large bay east of here. I jumped on the women’s car and was sorry as I had no water and it got very crowded. Even with my white hair I was requested to give up my seat which I did not do. I think one of the women was pregnant, tho the sari partly hid it . A man on the train who Albert had met helped us get to the bus waiting at the station, and we got the seats in the back, which made it a VERY jouncy ride- like one of the rides at Universal studios that has a warning on it! until finally it was painful and we found space farther towards the front. Today, on the way back we only stayed up front and tho it was noisy from the engine we were glad to be there with a much smoother ride.

A family got on about halfway through and the man seemed very ill, his wife was an unsmiling pillar of iron who kept her hand on his shoulder to support him and carried what looked like dried cabbage leaves, and we assumed they were headed to the hospital, or hoped they were, It was pure misery and hard to take in- tho it was easier to be with than when we first came to this part of the world. We have purposely kept ourselves closer to the people bt traveling second class and have wanted to see real life. ZEven when we hired a guide, we didn’t manage to stay removed as we got towed for over 20 km by the tractor through the villages . The daughter in law and grandson, also unsmiling despite my smiling attempts, were across from me, the son sat behind us and was very solicitous of his father both in helping him on and off the bus. Both the man and his wife were very thin. I wonder if it was AIDS, or if he had cancer. We wondered what the cabbage leaves would be used for- maybe to make soup. Albert got me some chicken soup this aft.

Got on the train with Albert tho I was one of the only women there, I didn’t care. Did I explain that they have separate women’s cars for women who may be traveling alone or even with their husbands ? Very crowded in second class. Slept on the train and was so glad to get to the hotel and to bed. Slept over 2 hours this aft. Albert went out and was accosted for 2 blocks by a guy trying to sell him a prostitute or get him high! This was a first, tho he has been out without me at night before.

As we passed scenes of country life- cows bathing up to their backs in a pond, rice paddies nearing ripening, fields with piles of bricks that looked like some lost civilization but they probably were there to build houses at some point, I kept trying to remain awake to the fleeting nature of this trip, We won’t see cows or camels or elephants or goats by the side of the road, or women carrying two huge copper pots on their heads, or large loads of sticks in only two more days. We also wont see so many beggars and so much garbage all over the place. I wont miss that! A Sunday market- in a larger village, and by the Churchgate train station in Mumbai. The one in Ganaeshpuri consisted mainly of women with wares spread in front o f them on the ground- no stands or formal structures, and they each had meager offerings of squash or chrysanthemum flowers- one would use to make offerings to Nityananda, bitter melon, all green and spiny looking and other veggies. It made me want to scoop them all up and go make a feast and feed everyone- it was clear this was a poor village. People were so thrilled to have us there to buy water and clothes and take a rickshaw ride the kilometer to the ashram and it felt like we were
contributing even for our short stay.

We were helped yesterday by the person welcoming people at the Ashram who knew my friend Panna and promised to send regards. I think she is in So. Fallsburg and it makes me want to call her and say hello. Found out Gurumayi was not in residence and didnt really expect to see her but Baba was smiling a welcome from a large photo that greeted you when you came to th hall. It has a huge silver statue of Nityananda at one end. In the village is a temple with a whole other statue and puja area, and several orange clad and other devotees there looking like toe monks we saw all over Sri Lanka but more colorful somehow, There is a third building with huge photos of him that looks like it was a meeting room of some kind, and behind all this are the public hot springs, which we saw being used by large throngs of people.

We walked home from meditation and chanting at nine last night under the almost full moon. Felt safe on the country road- who knows if we really were. Some guy who spoke English came up to us and of course I told him we had been doing tsunami relief work and shortly after he went off- who knows what he originally had in mind. We were hot and sweaty and it didn’t feel attractive to get into hot springs- I saw where they were this morning- a little way behind a fourth building which was Nityananda’s residence. I took a brief informal tour this morning, and saw places where Nityananda slept, hung out, saw people, and lay. He sure didn’t like wearing clothes very much.

Yesterday we went to evening Arati and tho it was a little familiar, it really felt like all thirty years had really passed since I had been in this practice. Lots of incense and fire offering with different numbers of flames- 3, 5, 11, then 3 rows of flames. Very elaborate ceremony with long inscribed silver batons, and brushes with silver handles that were waved by two guards in formation, and loudly ringing bells, instruments which were offered to attendees in a basket and conch shells. Lots of groups of pilgrims came and went. As it was a weekend it seemed that there were bus tours of holy sites and groups of Indians of all ages came in and out for hours. I had been sitting on the side of the room in a chair near Albert and when this whole group came in and lined up by gender I realized I should be on the other side of the room and moved over. It was hard to stand for the Arati which seemed to last forever, but I made it. Very strong vibes- like a Hindu version of our Temple of the Tooth visit.

We went back for evening meditation and chanting in a very large hall with lighting and fans and it was very relaxing and soothing- clearly being conducted by a woman leader with a group of chanters with microphones and then all the rest of us. I sat in a chair so of course nodded off.

Missed morning meditation and chanting because starting in the middle of the night I had cramps and runs. It felt like I was empty enough to get upa nd home, so we traveled from 10 to about 2 and were very happy t o get to our Mumbai hotel- we will have now spent 8 nights here of our 15 in India. We are on the ground floor which makes it easier with luggage. Have to do a massive repacking, weighing and purging to not have to pay a fortune in overcharges. tried to see if I could use miles to pay for Overweight but American said adamantly no, tho I will get miles for this Swiss Intl trip.

I felt like ia wanted to spend days and weeks learning about home based tgextile work from different parts of India and wished AI had had nore exposure to the crafts that people were makigfn in sri lamnka

Blog Oct 9

We are in a nature preserve not far from Agra and Delhi-in Bhahurat and had a really strange and interesting adventure in getting here. I think our guide doesn’t want anyone at his company to know he really screwed up today, but I feel it is really important that we talkt ot he tourist bureau- and I intend to ask for a refund of as much as they will give us.
Our guide, who so far has not listened to anything we have wanted to do but has taken us to very few places at all anyway, decided to take us on a back road to this nature reserve instead of going through Agra and staying on the main road. This was incredibly jouncy and disconcerting, but when the car stopped entirely and his several efforts to get it started failed, he found a tractor to pull us for 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) and did nothing to get us picked up and taken to the nature reserve, so this took four hours and we were so dusty and exhausted it was kind of otherwrldly , When I asked him to please call us a car, he said he would take care of it and proceeded to do nothing,

In any event , we got to see India in the villages where people are farmers and women carry bundles of sticks and jugs of water on their heads and the children herd goats and there are litters of pigs wandering around. We waved at all the children- it was certainly a sioght and they were thrilled. The experienced reinforced my image of the way ot is for women. I literally watched a man and hios wife finish their work of harvesting their fodder for the animals. A huge bundle of green twigs was bundled up in a large piece of cloth and the man ghelped her lift it to her head, grabbed the sickle and they walked off. I also saw an elderly woman carrying two cow paddies home, and several women carrying water.

We passed several village s, one where you could see the pumps every so often where people would come to pump their water- saw a man carrying two stainless steel pails,a dna woman carrying a jerrycan on her head. Saw a young girl herd the three cows who had just bathed in an irrigation pool and with her stick in hand make sure they crossed the road and got home to get milked. I saw another woman literally milking her cow by the side of the road. There were elaborately constructed feeding troughs that looked like sculptures that had feed in them.

I kept seeing what looked like spinning wheels but extra large size. Then I saw one in use and we realized they were fodder grinders and two women were working with all their strength to turn the crank, get the fodder through and get it chopped up. They were growing crops for quite a long way that looked like sorghum, this was after the lengths of rice paddies and other crops .

When we got to the park it was about 7 and we had been behind this tractor for 4 hours. Unbelievable! It was incredibly hot and dusty and at certain points there was no road at all- it had become so rutted a giant tuck was stuck- at another point, it was still muddy and had large pools of water in the middle of the road. The guest house manager and chef told us that we are really lucky there is water in the park and there are birds and animals to be seen- it has been 7 or 8 years since there have been decent rains.

One of the staff saw us walking and invitged us to come and see what they call a today cat who he ius feeding leftovers to every night- rotis and French fries and rice and lentils tonight. This animal showed p promptly a few minutes after he put out the food and seemed wary but very secire in his eating – with much enthusiasm. We looked a lot like a weasel to me with little round ears that stuck out, a fur coat and a very long full tail- I almost said fluffy but really it was sleek and full- he was brown- is nocturnal and sleeps all day. We also saw a jackala nd heard animals calling to each toehr before—like hyenas.

So far the trip to India has been mostly wonderful. I like the hotel in Mumbai and feel safe and at hoem there by now, so it will also be our Yom Kippur base, Since we we discovered there is a working synagogue in Ahmedabad we could have planned to be trhbere for YK but I am findiong that it feels important to be with community for the hoilidays eveen iif the services aren’t so wonderful ro we don’t uindertand them. Just kvellign being with this so differtn communityh and really knwoiung they are Jewis desoite our differences.

Monday morning Oct 10

We spent a most wonderful morning-6 am until about 10:30 with Amar Singh our bicycle rickshaw driver and bird guide who showed us the wonders of the park- which our guidebook says has the most species in Asia- 150 natives and 250 migrants. I was so glad we got up early- we saw another jackal just ahnagin out and weret here with the locals who were walking and running- the part just opens at sunrise and the pink was still visible as we entered the park. Just over a week left to our trip- it seemed amazing, steeped in rural India to think that we would be back in US in 10 days! We have gotten so used to being in this culture I cant imagine how strange it will be to go back. What will be nice is that we have Erin and Paulette and Bill who will at least understand.

We saw new species- bablers, storks, new kinds of a honey vulture at the very end near the huge beehive- his favorite place- and some we were familiar with- especially egrets and herons that we see in SD. We saw spotted deer and antelope grazing and some moor hens who were like mini ducks- the ducks were not there in numbers yet. October is the start of the season but there were many stork, white and black, and herons- grey, night and two other kinds and cormorants and egrets, ibises all nesting together. When the birds find a tree – mostly acacia, growing in the shallow water, they all seem to like it and hang there together in the saem spaces- Albert got some fabulous pix and I enjoyed using the field glasses I brought. Lots of views of parents feeding babies.

Amar spoke sufficient English, and though his vocabulary is just geared to the sanctuary, he has been doing this for 20 years and has been able to learn enough to be a really great and helpful guide- and we were not unhappy to not also have to pay a guide when we clearly didn’t need one. We felt really full from our time there and had omelets for breakfast. Had a confrontation with the driver guide before we left which Albert led and seemed to work out ok. He seemed more accommodating.

Monday night

We are in a nice hotel in Agra and saw the fort today – great views to the taj, a nice and fun guide who was very knowledgeable about architecture and fabulous carvings, construction and archways. All made from red sandstone- the Mogen Dovids again- and some inlaid marble and tiles from China.

Earlier, we went to Fatipur Sikri and spent some holy time at the tomb of Salim Chisti – Sufi hooly saint. It is gorgeous marble-carved screens and lacy patterned walls. Alb ert cut off the red thread he had been given by the neighborhood Hindus and we attached it to the filigreed marble wall by tying it around a section of the carved marble. The tomb’s upper arch was covered with mother of pearl inlay and made of teak or mahogany. Very beautiful and one of those places that becomes holy with people’s attributions and prayerful attentions. They bring a cloth to lay on the tomb that gets covered with flower petals and they say a prayer and then the cloths get given to the poor.

The mosque itself is the second largest in India- all red sandstone and until a few years a go had 80 little shops in the rooms all around the edge, under a canopy that held a second story above. Now the stores are gone by recent order of the govt and you just get attacked by hawkers. Originally the children slept tin the rooms and the classes were held under the sheltering stone- it was a madrassa, a children’s school where they taught Muslim children.

Tues nite- we saw the Taj mahal at dawn and I was awestruck of course by the craftsmanship- but amazing was the natl crafts museum at Delhi where they have people demonstrating their work in front of you-

Last installment of South Asia Trip Oct 14-Oct 18 & flight to NY

2005-11-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

October 14, 2005 Mumbai, India

We survived Yom Kippur, having fasted on two bananas before Kol Nidre at our most local Knessed Eliyahu synagogue, where we were due at 5:45PM. We had returned from Delhi and Amadabad at 3PM, found a taxi, gotten to the Bentley’s hotel about 4:45 PM, and taking a shower, gotten the left-behind-in-storage luggage, and gotten dressed, all in one hour. Wow!!! It was just a stroke of luck to have had the four bananas from breakfast scouting in Delhi. So we had two bananas, each, and hurried off to synagogue.
Well, allowing for Jewish time, and allowing for normal delays, (we met a young {he’s 71, just like your most ardent correspondent, and she’s probably late 50’s early 60’s} couple at our Bentley’s desk, who were trying to figure out how to get to Knessed Eliyahu) shared a cab with them and arrived at 5:50PM. We were early.
The congregation was gathering, the trustee of the Sassoon Trust, which supports three of the local synagogues, took the privilege of leading the Kol Nidre service. The cantor is not enamored of this idea. But all worked out just fine. We got to hear the service in the Baghdadi melodies, not Sephardic and not Benne Israel. These melodies were brought to Mumbai in the early 19th century when Iran and Iraq no longer were hospitable to our Jewish brethren. David Sassoon came from Baghdad, and after a few years in Bombay, founded a trading, shipping and merchandising fortune which facilitated his personal generosity to the Jewish Community, the city of Bombay and the Indian community as a whole. He personally built three of the Bombay synagogues, or facilitated their building through his grandchildren. He facilitated the building of a hospital, a number of schools, and his children and grandchildren help fund many landmarks in Bombay, like the Gate to India, a magnificent arch built to welcome King George V and his Queen Mary in 1911. The Sassoon Trust still supports the synagogues and makes sure that the declining Jewish Community of Mumbai continues to have the where with all to celebrate holidays, daily minyans, etc.
We walked home with our new friends, a mere half hour walk on a warm, not hot, pleasant evening.
Yom Kippur started out a bit hassled, with a commuter train ride to the Liberal Progressive congregation at the Jewish Community Center. We caught the train with time to spare. However, I didn’t just up fast enough or push hard enough to get off the train at my stop. Pushed and shoved my way off at the next station and waiting for the next train back. Well, this train was jammed full, so I grabbed a piece of handle on the train open door and hung on. Then before my stop I actually sardined ( a self-invented word which means to push and “excuse me!” your way through a crowd when there is no opening for another human body and there is a general competitive mind set in the culture to let no one through under any circumstance) my way through the very crowded middle of the car to other side and managed to get off at my stop. There was Ahouva waiting for me. She reminded me of the similar train experience in Switzerland, just a few months ago. (Perhaps we should be a little more careful when using the railroads in foreign countries.)
So we walked down the shady side of the road, next to the railroad, until our turn to the Jewish Community Center. As we crossed the busy road on which we had been walking, we realized that we must have been among the very few and very seldom folks, who walk on that side of the street in the early morning. The folks living up against the railroad track are impoverished and walking through their street life homes is just not done by Indians. We found our smiles and nods greeted by smiles and nods, with an occasional “Namiste” and palms pressed together greeting. Children smiled and stared. Parents and other adults just returned the eye contact with a smile.
We arrived at the JCC with the Rabbi and his wife. We were on time, and in great shape. The service was in English and Hebrew, a 1970 Reformed type of service. We participated and were given honors. The “morning service” lasted until 3PM. The Rabbi gave a dynamite morning sermon. He also gave brief background explanations of each new part of the service, without talking down to us, or making less challenging the learning experience which we were sharing.
Punctually at 3PM we were finished with the “morning service” and we were given a one hour break. During the break, the Rabbi asked for help straightening p the Torah scroll. The Sephardic, Benne Israel, and Baghdadi, all keep their Torah scrolls in a fixed round box which makes turning the scroll from one spool to the other quite challenging, when not done by an experienced professional. The main Torah scroll of the synagogue had been rolled from Genesis, where the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. For Yom Kippur the scroll is turned to Deuteronomy. The unknown person in charge this year of setting the scroll for Yom Kippur made a mess of it. So during the hour recess four of us carefully unrolled and rerolled the scroll. As the box in which the scroll is kept has access neither through the top nor through the bottom of the box. The carpenter, who made the box, and the spools on which the scroll is rolled weren’t aware of the extreme needs of the scrolling of the Torah. Apparently, from conversations with the members, who participated in the untangling, this has been an annual event. Having participated, and having blistered the knuckle of my middle finger, right hand, which supported and unrolled the tangled scroll, while the Rabbi rerolled and straightened out the unrolled portions, I now have a scab on that knuckle, a Torah rolling wound. The right hand was inside the scroll, and rubbed up against the unrolling part of the scroll. This caused chafing and blistering of the knuckle. All three of the unrollers of the tangled portion of the scroll have the same wound now.
I have taken up the research and the redesign to facilitate access to future boxed Torah scrolls. The congregation members explained that a silver smith in Beverly Hills had made all the ornamentation of the round Torah scroll box, including the tops to the scroll spools which sit outside the box. A local carpenter/cabinet maker made the box, covered it with blue velvet and nailed the silver ornaments to the box, and forced the spool crowns onto the pointed wooden spools.
The afternoon service began punctually at 4 PM, followed by Yiskor and Neila. We stayed to breakfast, Indian style, with samosas filled with spicy veggie goodies and some sliced apple, cheese twists and potato chips. Very sweet wine/grape juice was served for the blessing of the wine. A lime juice cocktail of lime juice, salt, sugar and water was also served. The lime juice cocktail, with the slightly salty taste is apparently very good in tropical climates for replacing lost salt.
From there we went to Chabad of Mumbai, and feasted on fish, Israeli salad, a veggie noodle dish, and the Rebitzen’s marvelous challah. Chabad fast breaking was also a wonderful chance to schmooze once more with the young AJWS volunteers, who are in Mumbai for six months, and the assorted guests of the Rabbi.
And as it was still early, we walked home from the Rabbi’s hotel to our hotel along the shore. Mumbai is certainly a wonderful city in which to walk at night, when it has cooled just a tad.

Friday, 14 October 2005 Mumbai…
We woke up hungry and eager to do all the things that needed doing in preparation for departure to Ganeshpuri. Our trusty Bentley’s Hotel was flexible about our leaving them on Friday. So we stayed another night and took the time to go to the Prince of Wales museum, take care of business and get some of the packing done for going home. We’re in the middle of the problem of the weight and the number suitcases. We were caught at the airport in Sri Lanka and paid a bunch to get our luggage to Mumbai. Now, we’re going to be very circumspect and careful.
We did all that business that you need to do. We engaged our tailor, the man, who had sewn up my passport wallet and my backpack. He sews on his grandfather’s peddle sewing machine. He came an measured Ahouva for the two Punjabi pajamas for which she had bought cloth in Delhi at the National Crafts Museum. These pieces are hand embroidered. Each has a front panel which has the most decorative part, and an area for sleeves. Part of the decorated piece, or a separate piece of cloth is for the pants. There may be ankle pattern as well.
We also did some walking about in Mumbai to see things which were on our list, but hadn’t been visited, as yet.
Dinner was with Kalpana and Apurva Parakh, whom we had met at the Calico Museum in Amadabad. She has had a store, selling hand crafted textile for the past 30 years. She designed her own hand printed cloth which she has made up into pillow cases and other decorative pieces. She is a native of Gujarat, as is her husband. He got his electrical engineering degree at Brooklyn Tech and an MA or MS in software related technology. She got in a year of textile marketing in Chicago. They were introduced by a cousin of hers after he had returned to India to practice software/hardware in his own firm.
Their daughter joined us for dinner. She is a graduate of Brown, with several years of experience with Morgan Stanley in New York. She has returned to India to initiate a career in broadcast journalism. Her younger brother is a freshman at Brown and has been there since the beginning of this semester. They have a Providence telephone number which translates into $29 per month for unlimited called between son and family in both directions.
Dinner conversation ranged wide and far. Ahouva got to see a number of different items which Kalpana had designed and printed. I had a wonderful conversation with Apurva about the marvels of the computer and what all these wonder machines do for us.
We returned to the hotel via taxi along the water front and the lights of Mumbai.

Saturday, October 15, 2005, Mumbai, India

We rose to prepare to go to Ganeshpuri to visit the Ashram of Mukdinanda. To do this fete, we took the interurban train from Church Gate station to the second stop from the end of the line. Our fellow passengers were kind and took our circumstance in consideration, making space for Ahouva to sit, immediately, and then making certain that we were being advised of both progress of journey and that we would surely know the right stop. It was an hour plus train ride through both city terrain and some very wide open space near a body of water.
When we reached our station, one of our fellows helped me off with or luggage, and directed us to the appropriate bus. The bus was beginning to pull out as we reached where it had been parked. Our host hailed it, stopped it and caused it to wait while we piled on board. We sat at the back of the bus. The back door of the bus is the entry point. And from the fine seat we bounced an hour and a half to Ganeshpuri. The vast majority of the ride was open country with a slight rise to the elevation of Ganeshpuri. Toward the end of our hour and a half ride we noticed large deposits of brick in the fields. Not piles, but orderly, carefully stacked bricks which appeared to either be waiting to be used, or which had been assembled for a purpose other than storage. On our Dehli portion of the trip, we had noticed brick ovens in the fields on our way to our destinations in those environs. But there were no smoke stacks and not apparent signs of brick making in the area, even though these large stacks of brick were quite frequent and numerous.
There were hills and even mountains visible from the bus. The road was not smooth and even. The bounding in the back seat of the bus was violent and sudden. We were totally lifted from our seats more than once or twice.
As the hour and a half ended, we came to a very lovely piece of road, a well developed ashram on the left side of the bus and a walled, gated compound on the right side of the road. The driver and the conductor knew where we were going and stopped at Muktananda’s Ashram.
We were greeted by the manager/secretary of the establishment, who happened to be walking to her office at that moment. We suggested Nityananda’s Trust’s accommodations, if there was space. It would be the closest, and the cleanest and the most eatable food. We took a trishaw from the ashram to “town”, the village of Ganeshpuri. At Nityananda Ashram an office held all the answers. First, the older gentleman, who controlled keys and accommodations, spoke little or no English, but faked it. He handed me a laminated sheet of paper with rates. I held out 400 Indian Rupees, i.e., 200 for a night’s lodging and 200 for a key deposit.
We were conducted to the room in a building, very new in appearance, about two city blocks from the ashram. The room included a fan in the ceiling, two beds shoved together, a window on the world, and a private bathroom. All was clean and lovely.
The gentleman, who took us to the room, also recognized our hand motions and other means of requesting food, as it was mid-afternoon. Shortly, another gentleman brought a lovely little meal of savory wheat pancakes a little curry and some other goodies. Adequate for our hunger of the moment, and very satisfying.
After a short nap, we repaired to the Muktananda Ashram, up the road, for evening prayers, Arati (forgive the misspelling) and meditation. Though this is not an Orthodox Jewish group, the men and women sit separately on either side of the large main meditation room, with a large altar and appropriate image of Nityananda and pictures of Muktananda on the walls. As in Oakland, the other ashram of his with which I am familiar, this one in Ganeshpuri is spotlessly clean and cared for.
While walking in Ganeshpuri, we stopped at one of the local tailor’s for Ahouva to have a Punjabi Pajama. While this encounter took place in the afternoon, before the visit for evening prayers, the garment was ready to be picked up on our way home in the evening.
I also bought a Kurta (the Punjabi Pajama top for men) and had a pocket added. Mine is a lovely pale violet, and Ahouva’s is maroon to red.
We meditated with the Muktananda followers. We chanted their evening chants. We walked back to our hotel/hostel/sleeping place. Our room without a/c was adequate with the fan overhead.

Sunday 16 October Ganeshpuri
Morning found Ahouva feeling a bit under the weather. After a breakfast of local food: curry, roti, a little fruit and tea, we went back to the Muktananda Ashram for morning meditation.
At noon we caught our bus back to the train. We returned to Mumbai with the first cousin to the bus which took us out to Ganeshpuri. The bus was definitely vintage 1930. It was front door only entry. Therefore, we sat in the front of the bus on our way home. This meant that we bounced around a great deal less. We also enjoyed the trip a great deal more. However, it was still worth our lives to get to the train and back to the city.
The bus delivered us to the train. There were long lines, because of the holidays. It was Sunday, and the train was more crowded and less often. However, we managed to get aboard, find a seat for Ahouva and eventually for me. We got the overnight bag of ours out of the way. And all in all we had a pleasant ride home.
We were back in the trusty Bentley’s hotel. We had the stored baggage delivered to our room. We were overwhelmed by the amount. The number of bags, the things we had to sort through and repack to make the 30 kilo limit of Swiss International.
The little overnight bag which had served us so gallantly was used to hold the objects and items to be distributed through AJWS volunteers to those more needy after they checked to see what they could use.
We did little after we got back, because Ahouva felt poorly. So I went out and found the rare and unspiced food she yearned. We packed and weighed luggage and arranged a driver and car for the airport trip. The small Bombay, Mumbai, taxis haven’t space for the four huge pieces of luggage and our hand luggage. We returned to scale to the front desk.
All that remained of business was to connect with the tailor to pick up Ahouva’s Punjabi Pajamas which he cut and from the hand embroidered cloth we had bought at the National Crafts Museum in New Delhi.

Monday, 17 October 2005, Mumbai, India

The tailor had revise his approach to the cutting of the cloth and the making of the pajamas. I retrieved them in the morning. They needed a slight adjustment, and he did that in a wink and a nod, as we say.
We preceded to do the weighing of the suitcases with a scale provided by the hotel. The old scale left doubt in our minds, but the “new” scale appeared to be accurate. There was the usual rearranging of the heavy stuff, the phoning to the AJWS workers to set our Erev Sukkot schedule, and a nap in the afternoon.
In the evening we went one last time to Chabad of Mumbai. It turned out to be less than a block or two from our hotel. We enjoyed a lovely social hour with Rifke, the Rabbi’s wife, who is the Challah baker, and hostess-par-excellence.
There was a Sukkah on the roof, which met the requirements of three sidedness, and branches on the roof (dense enough to keep the sun of one’s head during the day, and still allowing some stars to shine through at night).
The Rabbi returned from Knesset Eliyahu, and we ate the sumptuous meal of fish, salads, rice, vegis and it hit the spot. We said our sad good byes to our host and hostess, and to the guests, and started off for the airport.
We arrived in a timely fashion, broke, no more rupees beyond the 650 for the driver. This led to nasty mumbling frm the porters, who insisted on helping. Ahouva found a few dollar bills to pay them. We did the security and luggage weighing thing, rearranged some of the things, once more, and ended this long day.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005, Mumbai, India’s airport

Our sojourn in India ended at 1:30AM as our plane climbed into the sky for the endless flight to Zurich. We would arrive in Zurich around six in the morning local time. We were served several meals, none of which made any sense in te normal way of eating. There was a little sleeping. But mostly watching things on the little screen and snoozing.
In Zurich we settled in a transit lounge where the couches were long enough for Ahouva to get a little snooze.
We boarded again around 10AM and climbed into the sky for the trip to Kennedy. Our scheduled arrival was 4:30 PM, but we arrived early. Ahouva’s boot enabled her to have a wheel chair and porter. This meant that immigration and customs was a breeze. We were greeted by a driver from Greenwich Cab, who drove us to Ahouva’s sister, Nancy. Nancy’s daughter, Robin, is the niece whose wedding we were coming home for.
The ride through the familiar countryside of New York and into Connecticut was uneventful. It was just nice to be off the airplane and on the ground.
It was getting late, like 6PM when we arrived at Nancy’s. She greeted us and suggested that we plan to stay awake and not go to sleep until 8PM or later. That schedule should ease our jet-lag.
We crashed punctually at 8PM

We're home in San Diego

2005-11-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

Dearest kindest reader: There is catching up to do to get you through our Indian adventures, and that will follow in the next day or two.

For now, please know that we are safe and sound in our own house in San Diego. We left Greenwich this morning at 10:30 AM. Ahouva's sister, Nancy Zisson, was kind enough to drive us to Stamford, CT to the nearest Amtrak station. The train to Providence RI was only 30 minutes late. And after we were underway for a bit, the train stopped between scheduled stops, BECAUSE the autumn leaves gather between the wheel and the brake pad of the cars of the train. These leave smolder and smoke terribly. So we stopped to remove them, so that the train wouldn't fill with smoke. We arrived in Providence RI an hour late, taxied to the airport, and caught our plane at 5:30PM. After a brief stop in Baltimore MD we flew non-stop to San Diego. We arrived almost 45 minutes early. Dear friends, Rhonda and David, pick us up and took us home to our house.

Gosh it's nice to be home and to sleep in our own bed this Halloween night.

Blessings to you all, and to all a good night....... A&A

We're in America

2005-10-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Connecticut. We've been in America since the 18th. We traveled very long, boarding in Mombai at 1:30 AM on the 18th (local time) arriving at Zurich about 6:30 AM on the 18th, local time and finally arriving Kennedy at 12:37 Noon on the 18th local time. Jet lag which I usually prevent with lots of liquids, 16 oz per hour of non-alcoholic juice, coffee, tea or water, wasn't warded off sufficiently. We're still having a bit of jet lag.
Our purpose for returning at precisely this time is the wedding of Ahouva's niece, Robin, tomorrow the 22ud in the evening.
We're coming around to realizing that we've been in a different culture, and yet we're home again. There's a whole lot of loss in our lives, as we carry on without our daily 10AM tea, and without our dear friends and co-workers at SIYATH Foundation. We're preparing to do our 500 word report to our sponsor, AJWS. We're getting ready to meet with the volunteer, who will be going to Sri Lanka to work with SIYATH later this year and into early next year.
Wow! wow!! wow!! It's all the same, and yet so changed. Now comes the challenge to put words to the feelings and the insights which we have gathered. Our blog is our journal. It was written as much to us as to you. Thank you for your participation, and for excusing us from writing you individually. A&A

Foregiveness and NewYear's greetings

2005-10-11T10:58:00.001-07:00

Please foregive the intermission in transmission. We are traveling in India and it's big. We'll report in usual detail. To you who celebrate New Years at this time of the year, we wish you a blessed, healthly, prosperous new year filled with joy, pleasure and pride in your children and grandchidren, and great grandchildren if you have them; we ask your foregiveness for any and all wrongs we may have done, committed intentionally by accident knowingly and unknowingly....
We are for this season in India.... full report on New Yer in Mumbai coming..... Taj visit and Yom Kippur also coming.....
Re: earthquake in Pakistan..... we are more than deeply impacted. we have friends and close kin there.... we hope to know more than what's in the news before we get home.... we're safe and unimpacted directly by any of it. There was some shaking in Delhi, but we weren't impacted at all...
We'll see you-all soon and we're getting ready to leave Asia and return to the cooler climates, where the food is cooler and nights require blankets....
Love you and miss you all...... a&a

Foregiveness and NewYear's greetings

2005-10-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Coming close to the end

2005-09-26T03:07:00.001-07:00

Fri Sep 23
We are back in our old haunt of Hikkaduwa- wanted to spend time with Kala and this is one way to do it on the long rides back and forth. Left Colombo at 630 am and it really is hot here-and no shade- most of the trees were wiped out by the tsunami and it is just hotter.
Weds I was teary on and off and just felt sad. We went to a nearby crafts center and saw tons of hand made stuff- it was overwhelm- but much of it was very beautiful. We watched part of Amadeus until Albert fell asleep.

Yesterday we had a long work day, but went off and had a farewell lunch with Emily and Rosanna, her partner. They are working on gay rights in Sri Lanka which is a tall order in such a conservative society. Rosanna is working on the steering group for the Out Games to be held next summer in Montreal, so we might be able to see them then. Of course I got teary again, and felt so thankful to Emily for her care of us when we first got here- we knew so little and she was so gentle and helpful.

She reminded me of how culture shocked we were when we arrived and pointed out we would likely feel the same on our return to the US. For example, I have been noticing I am getting more used to looking to the right when we go to cross the street and after we leave India we will have to switch gears again. Oh yes. And who am I now anyway and who have I become? I sure feel more relaxed. Wonder if I can stay with it back home.

Kala asked me to put together some case studies for a report she has been working on so I spent most of the day doing that Thursday> today, while she was meeting with her staff, I worked on another proposal. I am getting pretty used to cranking them out, but I am also noticing my writing in general is just flowing and I am so grateful for that- it feels like I have recovered part of myself- sure I can remember how to do grant proposals, but to be able to write my own thoughts and ideas is a gift.

We had found an artist whose work we liked when we were here last time and we hope to have Kala meet him today- very bright colors and cheerful designs- I hope we can make another match, but I know so much more now about watching, letting it happen- would like to keep that with me too.

We went to see our friend with the drum shop today- we may get another drum, but of course I expect it will decorate our living room like the other one- oh well- when he plays it it sounds so great- but it is really nice – made from coconut wood and goat skin. We are in the clinic in Hikkaduwa as I write now. Albert just spilled tea all over himself, so his friend Wimal went next door and brought a white sarong and orange shirt for him to wear- he had his final blood test today until we get home. We rea so taken care of here. I hope I can be so gracious when we have guests when we get home.

Blog Sep 16 Friday

Kala and Kamala have just left to go to a national education reform meeting of bigwigs in a flurry of paper and computer sticks. Kala pieced together her report from the parts I corrected and Albert corrected. It is a program that revolves around including underserved students and having parents and the community involved in the schools and advocating for better use of education funds. This was a pre tsunami project, so having to write a paper and create a presentation has been an added burden at this juncture. Kala was doing the main presentation and a group of education professors and govt people were going to be there.

I absolutely cannot see how Kala can do all she does. We are trying to teach her that she has the option to say no and in fact she is realizing that something has to change – she is overextended beyond belief- and knows that she can’t keep up this pace. Amazingly she usually has such a positive attitude- it is extraordinary- but she is exhausted and it is worrisome.

I think to myself that the only reason she can have the stamina she does is because she is 36,not 50 something, but I remember that it was only when I compromised my health by overworking that I began to slow down. Even now, as our time in Sri Lanka winds down and I realize I can’t do and see everything, and really don’t have the energy in the heat , I still have a million things I want to be doing!!

We worked late with her and Indika Thurs night to try and help get things moved along. Indika and I brainstormed about their web site- the guy who is going to help with it was supposed to show up this morning and didn’t- I was really excited about it as I have a lot of ideas, but it is just as well as A and I were working on this paper all morning. I hope he does come next week as I think this will be one of the most important things I can contribute with a face to face meeting.

We have both been working on various projects all week besides doing this with Kala. The folks from UNIFEM- the United Nations Women’s program are here for a field visit, so there is more to be done this evening to prep for that> we had met the head of the org at the Joan Kroc center at USD-she was part of their lecture series and was very inspiring- her staff is inspired by her too. I actually did some more on that on Fri afternoon

Monday night Kala , Indika and their kids and Amah took us to the huge book fair nearby, which actually has been going on all week at the big exhibition hall. I got more goodies (books, workbooks) for the children’s program, a book for each of the kids, and got a history of Sri Lanka and a guidebook for India- we now leave in 21/2 weeks- it seems utterly amazing that our stay is almost over-I am trying to stay conscious and appreciate every minute—
A couple of nights ago A and I went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, had some yummy curry and met some young people from Switzerland and had a fun time bashing the policies and blunders of our current govt.

Tuesday we went to see a great Indian film about a hero of the rebellion of 1857- Mangal Pandey very inspiring- I am sure it will come to the Ken at some point- a real epic story- 3 hrs with intermission where a guy comes down the aisle with peanuts and candy, and a room materializes off of the corridor where there is a bar for drinks!!

Tonite we go to our Bangladeshi consultant friend’s for dinner-we really enjoy them.

Sunday Sept 18

We leave 2 weeks from today. It is now Sunday and both yesterday and today we had late morning naps. I got a big cold sore on my lower lip from being too exposed to the sun last weekend and it has been painful and wearing, so it has been nice to rest. We went and got some dvds and watched Fiddler on the Roof last night. Had this whole plan to go to a place an hour away and watch the huge sails on the fishing boats and go on a boat trip to see birds in the late afternoon and it was just too hot. So we had a nice a/c lunch and came home and slept some more and saw the movie on A’s laptop.

Today we went swimming and then went grocery shopping- fruit and yogurt and eggs and tomatoes and we finally found whole wheat bread. Then went back to sleep! If we can muster up the energy we may go back to our Buddhist meditation practice this afternoon which I would love to do. The heat has returned and I realize how lucky we have been to have the heavy clouds and rain the last 2 weeks- it really is very livable then in terms of heat, but pretty intense otherwise. Albert does a lot better with the heat than I do- I just wilt. Swimming every day has been a joy and has made so much difference.

We are reading our India guidebook and I am feeling overwhelmed. How do we begin to see India in 2 weeks- and the places I want to go are on opposite sides of the subcontinent! We will be with the Jewish community of Bombay- now Mumbai- for Rosh Hashana and have a hotel reservation. Hope to meet the AJWS volunteers who are there-have been emailing. One of them is working for one of Siyath’s chief partner/funders here called Action Aid in India, whose home is Great Britain. Have also written to the JCC that has reform services, so will see where we end up. I am hoping we might be offered a holiday meal somewhere which would be really nice. Not sure yet where we will be for Yom Kippur.

The wife of our Bangladeshi consultant is from Calcutta, where they met at the university, and there is a big festival there in Oct so we may go there and get to see the city from a native’s viewpoint which would be great. Our guidebook says there are still 100 Jews there so maybe we will find them for Yom Kippur.

I also want to go to Pondicherry and Auroville, the home of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I have written to Gurumayi’s website about visiting Ganeshpuri but it may not be possible as they only seem to accept visitors for a minimum of an 8 day program or a month long stay and one has to apply and be a long term Siddha Yoga practitioner. But I will see-I read that there are hot springs there which sound very appealing. I really don’t want to spend all that time in cities. Our friend told us to get air tix in India, as they can be very cheap- so we will see. We may also take a long train ride to see some of the countryside.

Appreciating the slower pace here and realizing that it won’t be long until it changes—it will be much more intense in India-2 weeks of travel- and then we get to NY on the 18th a month from today-after 22 hours traveling- we have a 4 hour layover in Zurich-but luckily we have a few days to sleep before the wedding on the 22nd!

Later Sunday

Went to meditation after picking up laundry and what turned out to be dinner rather than lunch from the Indian restaurant- may be too spicy for me. Enjoy the way it is structured- intro, sitting, walking , then sitting again. I luxuriated in having bare feet and getting to walk on the lush grass in the garden. Hard to stay conscious, especially with the heat. Had a nice chat with the Dutch monk who seemed happy to see us. He has a nice subtle sense of humor. It turns out he had a Jewish father- A and I talked about our Jewish observance , R. Zalman and the holidays and I explained we would be in Mumbai for Rosh Hashana. He told us about some caves which will be fun to see in India, not far from Mumbai by train.

A has to finish his continuing ed for his taxes tonight so I will read and maybe do some more writing. I want to do a summary of our work experience to try to capture what it feels like at this moment in time and see if it changes over the next two weeks. It really may be that we will just have grabbed moments with Kala and Indika until we leave, and that we will just need to leave them what we have written up. Not what I would have hoped, but part of my lesson here is getting to see that it is not only a different culture and a different way of seeing and being , but also that the people are incredibly, unbearably stressed and the last thing we want to do is add more stress. I think it would be too bad, but it may be impossible for them to prioritize taking time away from each urgent thing they are coping with to really work with us for a block of time.

One part of me is very frustrated with the whole thing- going back to even before we came and how hard it was to have them decide and agree to us coming. Maybe that should have been a sufficient red flag for us to have tried to look elsewhere. On the other hand, it isn’t about us and our contribution. We are really here to serve, and maybe our service has more to do with our presence and our willingness than it does with our concrete results. I am so results oriented and so accomplishment oriented that its hard to know if we will have made any real difference if we don’t get to create a comprehensive plan and timeline together . Maybe that’s the real lesson. I have had to do so much letting go and it really is important for me to keep doing that and getting that lesson.

We think we were scammed again yesterday-no loss to us but a rather overly friendly person claiming to know us from the Royal College (he must have heard us talking about this with a tuk tuk driver who wanted too much money) and trying to help us- and then suddenly needing money for medicine. Before he asked to borrow money from us, a lot more money than the scammer on the train in Galle- I let him know right away we were not going to lend him money and he disappeared pretty fast- sigh-

So here’s what I have done so far- after the two weeks of field work-
Edited and rewrote an 80 page report and a 30 page report and a series of charts
Contributed to several summary reports and monthly updates both writing and editing
Wrote a series of microlending documents and microlending forms
Wrote a fundraising plan
Wrote a two page proposal for funding to replace the funds lost in the fire of Sept 1
Started to make calls about a children’s savings and insurance program
Have done some work on web site suggestions and material and donation plan-
Researched local banks to handle donations on the web
Have half finished a proposal for a comprehensive coordinating center in Hikkaduwa area
Have done work on an ecotourism proposal regarding an artisan’s village they want to create down south
As I read the list I am actually pretty impressed, its just that we have barely been able to discuss most of these with Kala and Indika- to get feedback and develop ideas further- let alone take the time to show them the documents-
though our web conversation last week was exciting and heartening.

SO, will I only feel that it didn‘t meet my pictures? I think not- in many ways its been more wonderful than I could have imagined, especially because we adore Kala and Indika and Kamala and the rest of the staff so much. It is a joy to be with them. One of the things I will surely miss is having a group of people to work with. I think I need to do that with my volunteer efforts, whatever those turn out to be. One job needs to be to help Siyath get 501c3 status, not a fun thing but really necessary- We want to get them on Skype so we can talk for no cost when we get back.

Monday morning

You would have thought that with all the naps and meditation we would have been up early and ready to go but I slept until almost 8 and we didn’t go swimming. We came into the office and it turns out Kala’s child care person has run off with someone. So it happens even in conservative Sri Lanka!! She also told us avery funny story about getting crabs and it turns out they were live. She didn’t want to boil them so she put them in a tub of cold water and in the meantime they were scuttling around the house, the two little boys were up on the table and it sounded like a great comedy scene- but I am sure it didn’t seem so at the time.

Indika has come back from a paper factory he is involved with, carrying a big box of gorgeous samples of paper notebooks of all kinds made with indigenous products- banana leaves, rice leaves, etc Very exciting!These would do well at any high end paper store like Papyrus etc.

Not sure what I want to focus on at this moment but its time to get to work.

Tues the 20th

Went swimming this am and it was crowded- turns out no school this week for some reason so that may be part of it. It was amazingly also a few degrees warmer than last week- it is amazing how much the water tempof this big pool can be affted by the sun- it was almost too warm! A father was bringing his 10 year old in to the women’s locker room and hung around to make sure she could take a shower properly. Absurd~It was more than a little disconcerting! In the pool it felt like we were being ruin down by swimmers who didn’t care if we were already in the lane they wanted to swim in- Albert had a collision. Not fun. Most of the time most of the people are so warm and wonderful and sometimes a few people can be so unconscious and rude. I guess it is that way everywhere .

Kala took us alogn with her and Indika to a reputable three generation jeweler today where she goes, and I got some beautiful and unusual rings and other things. Very fun. Nice to be in a/c today. Also, needed to have a break from work and it was so nice to actually be able to do one of the things Kala had wanted to do with us. Tomorrow is their 7th wedding anniversary.

Last night we went to the Mt Lavinia hotel which was formerly the governor’s mansion and since has had extensions built on it. It is on a hill above the ocean with beautiful rocks to look at and terraces for dinner and a lit up swimming pool. We got shown the gorgeous ballroom and took some pics- it turns out that this is where Kala and Indika got married. We ate dinner at a nearby restaurant and walked a few blocks and took the bus to near out place and took a tuk tuk home. This was our first bus experience and Kala was worried that it was really not a good idea.It was so jerky that it was impossible to stand up and not get kind of knocked over. We appreciated how buses are king here!~

Weds 21st
Today is Kala and Indika’s 7th anniversary- they brought their wedding album for us to look at. I got all teary again about leaving. Kala has given us Sri Lankan names- mine is Sumanavati which means-tell you later. Kamala calls us ---- which means the sun and the rain. I , of course am Ahuwa because all v’s are pronounced as w’s.

September 24, 2005 1645 Hrs Kandy, Sri Lanka

We have driven in a van with Indika and Kala, and his parents and her nursemaid, who is for the second generation the nursemaid and family member for their two sons. We got off to a slightly late start about 10:30 AM. The jolly crew of his father in front with the driver, Ahouva and me in the middle seat, and Kala, his mother and the nursemaid. Indika rotated between the middle seat and the back seat, depending on the demands of
It was a normal Sri Lankan road trip with stops for whatever moved the various member of the group. Food is paramount on such an adventure. Traffic is impossible, and we all thankful for the driver. He’s the pilot and its his problem, when to pass and when to be passed; when to move slowly and when to speed along.
Stop for tea; stop for pineapples; stop for VJ in Kandy and car repair; stop at the house that was rented; eat lunch of rice, fish curry, greens, dhal, tomato & cucumber, beet salad of onion, beets, spices etc.; taking pictures of the kids, their cute; dressing for the alms-giving ceremony in the tooth temple…..

Imagine entering the holy of holy and being invited in through the magic of a drummer set, that is three drummers, who normally will accompany Kandy dancers. Then add the musician with his double reed instrument. He repeats a simple melody, which sounds like a bad kazoo player’s nightmare, until I discern the melody in its full complex structure and rhythm. With the complex drum beats and the intertwining melody, the hypnotics of the ceremony set in. We are standing inside the Tooth Temple, in the space before the bottom of the tooth shrine. The tooth shrine is on the second floor, so to speak.
The is a curtain in front of the “ground floor” entrance to the tooth shrine. At 6;30 pm the ceremony begins. A drummer begins drumming and as he finishes his solo, the other two drummers begin their rhythms and the musician begins to play his double reed instrument. The master of ceremonies, dressed in white jacket and pants with a red and gold ribbon buttons across one shoulder, draws back the curtain and reveals an ornate silver door. Those people, who have been given the special privilege of providing the offering of the evening, are ushered in through the silver door and disappear from view. The drummers keep playing and the musician keeps playing his tunes which begins to have a sound so hypnotic.
The alms giving ritual is very special. The folks, who are honored to give the symbolic food for the offering, gather in the tooth temple about a half hour before the ritual begins. These special people bring the prescribed foods in relatively small quantities as symbols of the foods offered in days of old. The brought, packaged foods, appears to be just so many grocery bags full of food. These plastic grocery bags are taken to a special room in the tooth temple and present to the monks in the room, who are going to prepare the offerings.
As this was Indika’s special day, we were included in the groups, who brought the foods and who were then taken into the inner sanctuary for the actual presentation of the offerings. We stood before the tooth shrine and waited.
The drumming and the musician began. The chamberlain opened the curtain, exposing the ornate silver doors which lead to the chamber below the tooth shrine vault. The door was opened and the food providers entered, after the costumed supernumeraries in their puffed sleeved, white outfits, with short mess jackets, and, of course, white loongies. And the usual assortment of orange/yellow robed monks. We were ushered in and up the narrow stairs to the level of the tooth shrine vault. Then in a side door of the shrine vault which placed us directly in front of the vault entrance. In front of the shrine is a thick glass partition. There is a table (altar) in front of the glass partition. The first time in, we were handed flowers to place on the table in front of the glass partition. The shrine, itself, is white gold, encrusted with precious stones, flanked by ornaments of gold and jewels. When we have completed our flower offering, we are placed outside the vault on the side in the corridor where we entered. We wait. The curtain to the vault is closed, the flowers are cleared from the altar, and the second offering begins.
The second offering is handed to each of us in turn by the supernumerary with the puffed sleeved mess jacket. We are each given a gold bowel, the size of an ice cream dish, with fitted lid and an ornate embroidered cloth. We carry it into the vault, place it on the altar, as instructed by hand motion of the monk standing to the right of the altar. Then we are ushered over the most ornate (please don’t step on it) door lintel and out of the vault once more.
The third “pass” is made next, when each of us is ushered once more in front of the shrine vault with the curtain drawn closed, and instructed to touch the large white gold, ornately tooled box, next to which is a shiny gold tray and an empty gold bowl. The gold tray is for the cash offerings. We make ours. And we are ushered out.
It was surely the most intense and special experience.
But back to the beginning, Indika has invited us to join his family for this “alms giving” ceremony along with his family, his mother in law and Kamala. Of course, the children’s nursemaid comes along because she is really an important member of the family. Kamala and Kala’s mother both begged off at the last minute, feeling pains and ills. So, when we got to Kandy, we met up with Indika’s good friend, V.J,, who had been our host and guide for the Perahera. We drove along time across Kandy and up into the hills above the city on to a tea plantation. The house in which we stayed is the old plantation owner’s home. Called a bungalow, the 6 or 7 bedroom house includes two living rooms, a dining room, a full kitchen, and a private bath with each bedroom. A house staff of three or four men take care of every need. They prepared and served us lunch about 3:30 PM We had rice and fish curry, beet salad, dhal, papadam, cucumber & tomato and greens. Wow!!!! What a feast!
After a bit of roaming about the garden and enjoying the house, we prepared to go to the temple for the alms-giving ceremony. We dressed for the very special occasion and drove to the Temple of the Tooth
After the ceremony describe above, we drove across town and up to the top of a hill on which a huge image of the Buddha sitting is located. The image faces the tooth temple and keeps an eye on the most precious reliquary in Sri Lanka.
The drive home was involved mystery to the shoes. First, one of the shoes of the youngest son of Indika and Kala, age 2, lost a shoe. We found it at the garage where we had parked for the ritual described above. So we claimed that the super-shoe-finding Superman or another superhero, assisted with the shoe finding.
Now the tail becomes more complicated. While making a brief stop for water and the Spiderman plastic blow-up images, a shoe of Inika’s managed to leave the van at a wide spot in the road, where we had halted. The lost shoe was actually missed only 12.5 kilomoters down the road, when a stop was made to get string-hopper molds. So we turned the van around and drove back the 12.5 kilometers to the wide spot in the road, across the street from the plastic blow-up vendor. Sunday traffic and all, the return trip took another twenty minutes during which poor Indika was mercilessly teased about the lost shoe. Once arriving at the spot where the shoe should be, surely enough, the superheroes were with us. The super-shoe-finding superhero had left it plane site so that we couldn’t miss it. Success. And perhaps the beginning of a new Superhero, the Super-Shoe-Finding Superhero. Able to scale tall buildings, able to withstand adversaries, able to sniff out the lost shoes of the world, Super-Shoe-Finding-Superhero comes to you all the way from Sri Lanka.
A&A

September 23, 2005, Dodanduwa, Sri Lanka

We’re here, in “Galle” meaning District Galle, on the Southwest Coast of Sri Lanka, just a few kilometers south of Hikkaduwa. Left Colombo at 6:30 AM. Had “road breakfast” at the little “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant facing the Hikkaduwa fish harbor. The food offered was chunks of white bread and string hoppers, and two different fish curries (“white” fish curry and “red” fish curry), a chicken curry, a plate of “poached” eggs, and coconut sambol. Wash it all down with a cup of milk tea and we called it breakfast.
As is the custom on these drives south, we eat together with the driver. We also see a changing scene of Sri Lanka life, with the cows out walking, the farmers driving their half tractors down the road pulling their pay loaded wagons at 7.5 kilometers per hour. The tuk-tuks are zooming along at up to 35 miles per hour. The cargo trucks are moving down the road at whatever speed their load and the engine allows, even though their mudflap states 45 kilometers per hour. The buses, kings of the road, are zipping along at whatever speed they can get out of their engines and blasting their horns loudly to get everyone and every thing out of their road. The simple auto cruises as best the driver can maneuver among the other vehicles. We have observed ox-drawn carts, but they have always been parked when observed. Their max speed is probably 5 kilometers per hour.
So the trip, which on some occasions takes two and a half hours, took three and a quarter hours this morning.
It is our last trip to this lovely paradise on the Indian Ocean coast. For a while we will no longer walk along the beach at sunrise and dip in the warm ocean. And the friends and connections we have made in this community become memories, and yet are an intricate piece of the fabric which we know as Sri Lanka. Sadness wells up and gratitude overflows. These farewells began with yesterday’s lunch.
Farewell to our guide and guardian, Emily Paul, the AJWS country person. We lunched together and shared the company of her charming partner, who is very active in the GL&BS community in Sri Lanka, in the Asian organization and is instrumental in the Out Games which are planned for Montreal next July.
We have been so very fortunate to have such fine folks to guide us and help us through the adjustment to another culture so removed from our own. We experience the sameness of all people. And we have been shocked, amused, rendered thoughtful, etc. by the many differences. The custom of observing the full moon as a monthly holiday is so terribly civilized. The custom of the lunch packet leads directly to the custom of eating with the right hand, no silverware. What skill is required to gracefully mix on your plate the curry, vegetables, rice, and condiments. Then there’s the moment when a south-paw like me, forgets and starts to eat with the left hand or with both hands. Both of these errors are worse than bad manners. Refer to the earlier story of the amusing of the Krishna XXX restaurant crew early in our stay. The dress is also very different. The sarong or loonggi is a long skirt worn by men. The bottom of the skirt is tucked into the waste to shorten it for practical purposes. Shirts may compliment or clash with the sarong. Depending upon the weather and the mood, men often wear only the sarong. As far as I know, all sarongs are two meter pieces of cloth sewn with a single seam into a tube. Women wear saris tied in the “Indian” style or the “Sri Lankan” style. From my point of view, the “Indian” style is the one we often see in the US. The cloth is folded and gathered in front and the balance is drawn across the body and worn over the shoulder. The “Sri Lankan” style, the cloth appears to be wrapped several times around the body into a sort of straight skirt, then a piece of the 6 yard cloth is drawn across the body and worn over the shoulder. The Sri Lanka style requires the woman to fold the piece worn over the shoulder into neat perfectly ironed folds, leaving the patterned edge exposed. That patterned edge is also the decorative bottom of the skirt.
Next came a meeting with Wimal. He was his usual gracious, hospitable self, and served milktea with sugar. As I had my computer open to discuss what I had been doing for him, I preceded to spill the cup of tea without breaking the cup. Wimal went next door to his home and brought back a shirt and a white loongi. Naturally, when selecting friends in Sri Lanka, especially friends whose clothes you will borrow, select only those who are your size. The shirt fit perfectly. The loongi, of course, fit. And we continued the meeting as though nothing had changed except my costume. When Kala arrived to pick up Ahouva and me, I heard a great deal of humor about how difficult it is to take me anywhere. The clothing will be returned to Wimal on Saturday, October 1, International Children’s Day, which we will celebrate in “Galle.”
Lunch with Wimal was at the same lace we had breakfast. The restaurant was wiped out by the tsunami and has been back in operation for a month. Lunch was fish curry plus buffalo curd in individual clay pots about 2.5 inches in diameter and a half inch deep. There was honey floating on the curd. Paradise has this dessert, just in case I was thinking about leaving in tact. Not only do I leave my heart, but now my taste-buds and my appetites will not be still in California.
We a torrential down pour while at the restaurant. It is the season of the south west monsoons. However, we’ve managed to avoid most of it. This was a crashing downpour of the type where the heavens open up and the drenching down spouts of Heaven all open simultaneously. The temperature drops one or two degrees Celsius. The humidity drops one-tenth of one percent.
We checked out a house which may serve as a child care center and collection center. It was a nice big house, but it had been ruined by the tsunami. The owner is building a new house elsewhere. Siyath may get a good deal on the house, because Wimal’s nephew, the owner of the house, has been given a plot on which to build his new house.
So back to Colombo and more work. A&A

September 22, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

The professional habits of 45 years of practice clicked in in the past few days. I’ve been working on the projections of sales, inventory build up and related matters using a spreadsheet of my own design. It’s like working in the halls of finance once more. There’s a certain leisurely progress through the steps of estimating a future cash flow. First comes the grand design of listing out all the expenses, and determining whether all the expenses have been listed. Asking again about some aspect of the operation, as though none of the questions had been asked previously, the professionalism and the experience of asking questions kicks in. Then the spreadsheet begins to fills and the estimated cash flow begins to take shape. Like a good soup or goulash, or more appropriately, good curry, the details, the spices of the mixture begin to flavor and create a new reality. The seasoning must become damp and mix with the other ingredients. It has to rest for a time and change in nature by being left alone. Save that spreadsheet and return to it later. Do some unrelated work, and return to the spreadsheet after an hour or more. Reexamine the assumptions which form the silent formulation of spaces between the cells. Test the assumptions by having conversations with my inner self. “Is this a reasonable set of assumptions?” “Have I overlooked an assumption which needs to be included?” “What’s my hurry, there’s more to this than just a set of numbers.” “Imagine the store, the enterprise, operating with furniture and fixtures inventory, staff, utilities and security.” “What’s missing?” And over and over again, “is this assumption reasonable, not too conservative, conservative enough?” It is a rich use of all my instincts which are the Pavlovian salivation responses of years of glandular stimulation. I am in the store, surrounded by the inventory and the customers in the newly decorated space, experiencing life in a different dimension. And the mathematical formula in each cell which automates the spreadsheet gives life to the cash flow projection. Change one number or one assumption and the rest of the creature changes itself. Hundreds of hours of hand work become parts of seconds in the electronic wonder of my laptop computer. And now, in the middle of the night, which is midday in San Diego, I calmly reconsider the whole process and prepare to finalize one of the pieces of work for which I have come to this warm, humid world, so tropical, so lush, and so very much like everywhere and nowhere I have been before. A&A

September 19, 2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka

September’s full moon has come and gone, and we didn’t go for a long trip to somewhere of interest. We had scheduled Noralya, (wrong spelling) overnight first class train and all, BUT the train was fully booked. And our plans then sank into less and less ambitious journeys. First we thought about Negombo and the coastal area north of Colombo.
There is the International Airport, where we landed and from which we shall be departing in just two more Sundays. Adjacent and slightly north of the airport is wetland park where birds are abundant, and wild life long gone from the rest of the island is present and viewable. And just north of the wetland is the color fishing harbor where the sail fish boats are supported to be in their picturesque magnificence. Our guidebook told of access by the combination of train and tuk-tuk.
And Saturday was hot and Sunday seemed even hotter. We enjoyed lazing about as though we would be in Sri Lanka until December. We finally went “downtown,” over to Galle Road, to the shopping center from which we had bought our first round of electronics, i.e., surge protector, assorted plug-ins, etc. The center was closed for Poya Day. We stuck our noses inside the little hole-in-the wall DVD store to ask about the sought-after charger. No luck. A mere smear 100 Rs bought a copy of “The Fokkers” An inquiry about the Majestic Shopping Center across Station Road, and the joyous news that our charge would be waiting at the Singapore Center in the Majestic, and that the Majestic was open.
Though some shops in the center were closed, the center was open, and Singapore Center, within the Majestic was open and had a new charger for my rechargeable AAA batteries. The AAA batteries power my little camera. So, for the past month I’ve been taking less photos and recording less of the trip. The charger was reduced for us by twenty percent, after a bit of bargaining.
Next, across the isle from Singapore Center was a shoe store with just the right sized sneaker from Ahouva. Enough toe space, enough width, and enough “no-too-outrageous-lookingness” were the criteria. And a lovely grey pair of stylish boy’s sneakers filled the bill. The shoes were reduced a bit 20% after a bit of bargaining.
Then a trip to the shirt shop for a Sri Lanka Cricket team polo shirt. This item of clothing sold for 1,200 Rs with no bargaining in Hikkaduwa. The Sri Lankan National Cricketers have been doing fabulous, beating India, West Indies, and Bangladesh while we’ve been here. And these victories were partially unexpected. So the team polo shirts have been at a premium. Usually the sizes have been limited to small and medium. The XL and XXL sizes were simply not available. House of Fashion, the surplus run outlet, had plenty of Cricket team polo shirts, all in size medium and at our 650 Rs price. Now, on Poya Day, Buddha made one available at that price in XL. No bargaining, the owner claimed, because these were rock-bottom prices.
A quick stop at the DVD store to buy a copy of “Dances With Wolves” “Fiddle on the Roof” and “Amadeus” all at the reasonable price of 250 Rs.
A quick lunch at the “Hot Spot”, the restaurant at the top of Majestic was our next stop. They were setting up for a pool tournament. However, their broad menu was still being served and we had a lovely veggie salad, a mustard prawn dish to die for, and a mock duck curry. We ate in the usual slow manner of Sri Lanka. Expect to meal in a restaurant to be served quickly.
Then we were off to the train station at the foot of Station Road, which separates the two shopping centers. The local stop on the ancient intra-urban rail line is the name sake for Station Road. With umbrella open, we preceded down Station Road. It was just too damn hot. So we hailed a tuk tuk, bargained for our ride home, and walked away when the driver thought our 100 Rs to Royal College was appropriate. We were approached by a scammer, who was seeking a free ride to Royal College and a bit (800 Rs) help to get his medicine. We didn’t hear about the medicine “loan” until we had walked with him to his pharmacy. However, we were so abrupt and definite about the proposed “loan” that he went away. And the very next tuk tuk driver was happy to take us home for our price.
So, back to the refuge of our air conditioned bedroom and “Fiddle on the Roof.”
After the movie we made supper of the food in the refrigerator, our small one cubic meter version of a cold box. Just enough space for yogurt, cheese, and fruit that could spoil. Our luxury meal consisted of some tomato, tuna, Buffalo milk curd, and hard boiled egg salad, and whole wheat bread, with banana and peanut butter chaser. Our three story walk-up does have a way of discouraging excess numbers of additional trips to the market on excessively warm days.
So, just two weeks from departure, we must say and extra thanks to our spiritual guide and most learned Rabbi Kohler-Fox, who suggested several cans of tuna, just in case a snack was called for and the shopping would be inconvenient. The Swiss army knife purchased at the Arosa Coop store, and the canned tuna from Whole Foods, Boston, have been lazing day rescuers on a couple of occasions now.
Sunday morning, with full intention of Negambo sojourning, we lazily rose, took our “early morning swim” at 9 AM, bought breakfast makings at our reliable grocer across from the pool, i.e., four eggs, half kilo of red rice, papaya, pineapple, 4 tomatoes, and yogurt. The makings of a luxurious breakfasts was our purchase. Once home, the red rice, a local variety which is available in long, medium and short grain versions, was washed and then slowly cooked on our two-burned, propane stove. 45 minutes later, rice was ready. Because it is a fine two-burner, the eggs were boiled on the other burner. Breakfast was papaya, muesli, yogurt, and cream-cracker-tomato-gouda cheese snack.
Strenuous morning activities required a morning nap.
Because we needed to go to the Laundromat to retrieve our laundry and deliver more of the same, we planned lunch at Shanti, the Indian Restaurant across from Laundromat. However, after the short tuk tuk ride to Laundromat we noted that our lunch was beginning at 2:15 PM and we planned to go to meditation with the Dutch monk out some distance away. So we bought “take away”, i.e., two samosas, two other baked goodies, two buns dipped in a curry, garbanzo bean curry, some of the dipping curry, and a few other little plastic bags of delicious liquids. Back into another tuk tuk and off to meditation. The map of two weeks ago got us to the desired place. We were a few minutes early and heard the end of a recorded talk which was part of the poya day observance and two day intensive. We meditated from 3 to 5 PM, had a pleasant conversation with Dutch monk, and came home for the gourmet dinner, which had been purchase as lunch.
I devoted the evening to completing my tax course which is my continuing education requirement. It was a touch with the world of California and our “normal” life. This activity also brought the feelings of lonely sadness at the prospect of leaving paradise. Yes, friends and faithful readers, we are coming to the end of our journey. Only (and that word is used loosely) two weeks of Sri Lanka, two weeks of India, a long flight to New York, and we’ll be back in our “normal” and “at home” world of US and California.
A&A

September 15, 2005

Colombo, Sri Lanka and the second half of the third to last week. So far this week has flown past. On Sunday, after Saturday’s Perahera in Alamangoda, we went to the Hikkaduwa Sunday Market to buy some goodies which are, of course, no where else available. We were really early, 7:30 AM. As it had rained into the early morning, the crowd was not yet formed, some vendors were still setting up, and everything was wonderful and awesome. The smells of the fresh spice and the veggies and fruits were great. Mixed in among the pots & pans, plastic household wares, knives of all shapes and uses, bananas off the back of trucks, piles of onions, fresh fish being chopped up, dried fish being sold in chunks, were cloth sales folks with two meter pieces for sarong.
We had bought two such pieces for the table clothes, earlier in our Colombo Apartment days. Now we were looking for specific patterns which would double as sarongs, once we were home again. We checked out a number of possible purchases, and settled on a papaya. After market, a quick breakfast at the hotel, and a brief trip to the burnt out Siyath collection center. The fire had destroyed 80% of an order of mats destined for Europe. The fire was caused by and electrical short. A brief nap back at the hotel after lunch at our favorite Hikkaduwa restaurant, Refresh. It was a roasted chicken and some veggies. Then back to the hotel to nap and check out. They tried to do us wrong, BUT we prevailed. And then the adventure of the day, the second class train ride to Colombo. It’s a three hour trip and Sunday afternoon at 3:05PM, the train from Matara, via Galle picks up more folk headed to Colombo in Hikkaduwa. It was standing room only. And after an hour of standing, and older woman graciously offered Ahouva the arm rest of her seat as sitting/leaning space for Ahouva. Though it rained toward the end of the trip, all windows stayed open until the rain started into the coach. The scenery can be awesome when the train goes along the ocean, the Indian Ocean, that is. It is green and wondrous when we go through the rural jungle. And often, like railroads almost anywhere, there are slums and shanty shacks along the railroad, as well.
We arrived in Colombo around six, tuk-tukked home, and began an early to bed routine, just a bit tired.
Monday started with our usual swim and picking up breakfast at our local “rice & curry place. We’ve gotten into a routine of swimming between 7 and 8AM in the 25 meter pool at Thursten College, the other excellent boys’ school on the block across the street from the office. After swim we either go to breakfast at the local workingman’s place for string hoppers & fish curry, egg rotis and fish curry, or paratas and fish curry. Wash it all down with a cup of milk tea and give two rupees to the gentleman standing with hand outstretched outside. When you remember our teacher and friend, Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach of bless memory, you hear Schlomo reminding that this gentleman is relying on us to feed him and his. Family. I gladly give him the 2 rupees change I have gotten from the restaurant cashier. Next door, we buy yogurt, papaya, mango, bananas and water almost everyday. Then back home and time to take the long commute to work (walk around to the front of the building in which our apartment is located and up the stairs into the office).
The “Elated School” got revised from a concept paper into a newspaper article.
The strategic plan got another piece fleshed out, or begun to be fleshed out. Indika is sharing the outlet center, (the Store, office, and restaurant/coffee bar). I had gotten Indika alone in the car and started asking questions. Because of my learning challenge of not being able to read, I developed a great interviewing ability through which I am able to gather much of the information which I need. As we drive around Colombo or down to Galle, we talk about what interests him and I ask questions. The answers may be consistent or inconsistent, but they are the basis of a page or a paragraph which he reads later and marks up. It is a simple way to help him think through the projects and objectives of a strategic plan.
We discussed coco peat, the material which remains when the fiber has been removed from the coconut husk. This is a dust, or semi-granular material which has a number of characteristics which make it ideal from indoor plants, nurseries and large scale farming. When visiting a coconut fiber mills, I observed that the stack or pile or coco peat was very spongy to walk on and appeared to be moist, regardless of where in the area of spreading it was located. My personal interest in agriculture makes these conversations more interesting to me. I also get a cross reference between Wimal and Indika about the potential of agro-business of crops and soil materials.
The early morning calls are very distinct. The six tone calls of one bird, and the calls of the crows mixed with the chirping of the chipmunks gives Natures morning music a special quality which is now Colombo in my ears.
Have we discussed honkies, Sri Lanka style? The auto, bus, truck, motorcycle and tuk-tuk horn sounds are each a bit unique. All Sri Lanka drivers express themselves freely with their sounding device, i.e., vehicular horn. When passing, sound your horn to let the other fellow know you’re there. When he’s about to hit your vehicle, sound your horn. When a pedestrian, or a tuk-tuk or anything is in the way of your vehicular progress, sound your horn. Buses appear to exact the right-of-way from all other vehicles. They appear to be the kings of the road, and the constant sound of their unique pitch of horn makes them quite pronounced. The private automobile nudges in among the trucks and buses and tuk-tuks. The tuk-tuk’s horn sounds something like Road runner in the Wiley Coyote cartoons. The tuk-tuk driver is by far the bravest and most daring of the drivers. He creates a traffic lane where none existed a moment ago. He weaves in and out of traffic, even though his width is only human tusch width less than the standard automobile. The beep-beep of the motorcyclists has to be added to the symphony. These daring riders and drivers zip in and out of traffic. They appear to out number almost every other group of vehicles. And the combination of parents and children on a single motorcycle is amazing at the least. I have observes a gentleman driver with a child seated in front of him on the gasoline tank, a child behind him squeezed in between the driver’s back and his female rider. Such a motorcycle whipped past us while we were clipping along at 80 kilometers an hour. The motorcycles range from motor scooters to medium large motorcycles. No Harley Hogs to be seen. Imagine that occasional motorcyclist weaving in and out of Los Angeles rush hour crawling traffic, and multiply him by 100 and make his maneuvers a standard part of all speeds traffic, and you have a taste of Sri Lankan motorcycling. We forgot the farmers. They drive a half tractor or a regular tractor and pull a wagon at 5 to 8 kilometers per hour. Everyone tries to pass them. And all road, except maybe a few kilometers of street or road in the country, are two lanes. The shoulders are sand or clay. The pavement appears to be gravel, sand and a tar capping. Pot holes are common. And rough road causes all drivers to slow. However, one driver’s too rough road, is another driver’s challenge to destroy your back and kidneys. A three hour drive, anywhere, should be broken into 45 minute pieces, for the sake of your spine, your kidneys and your general well being. The honking and passing keep your nerves in a general condition of alert strain.
A sound of a siren is an ambulance. We have seen and heard no police or fire sirens in this land. However, the air pollution would be dreadful, were it not for the ocean breeze.
For the exotic hit today, think about our morning walk to the pool past a blooming gardenia, a pungent mock-orange or a cousin of the mock-orange, and planarian. Even my nose can smell these wonders of the tropics all mixed together and marvelous.
A&A

Coming close to the end

2005-09-26T03:07:00.000-07:00

another perahera

2005-09-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

September 10, 2005 Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka
Serendip in Spades must be the title of today’s entry. Wimal, you remember is the fellow, who owns the Medical Clinic in Hikkaduwa where I went for a check up after Ahouva had heroically cured me of my latest flare up of my foot-come-leg infection. Well, Wimal (pronounced weemahl) and I were discussing his little hospital project for Hikkaduwa $200,000 +/-, when who should appear, but his nephew, Prof. Dr. M.S. Manawadu, Chartered Architect, Professor of Architecture, University of Moratuwa. Yes, brothers and sisters, that’s the place where Ahouva was given a shell, and the place where we were shocked to see the total neglect of the government and the aid agencies.
Well, nothing is quite to simple as to be able to point fingers at government neglect or “people’s virtue”
The story behind the story of Moratuwa is that when the railroad was planning an expansion twenty years ago, and the highways department was planning to improve and widen Galle Road (Highway A2), certain lands located between the rights of way of Galle Road and the Railroad were traded to the then owners of the lands to the west of Galle Road for equally valuable lands to the east of Galle Road. Many of the squatters, for they were then squatters, who owned land east of Galle Road, sold their newly acquired lands east of Galle Road and continued to live as squatters on the lands west of Galle Road. When the tsunami struck, the government and the railroad thought they wouldn’t favor this group of people once more with additional gifts of land or services. The sea had done what the government had been unable to do for twenty years.

Ambalangoda Perahera at nine thirty was the word from Hugh on the beach playing soccer at sunset. We join Wimal in his tuktuk at ten thirty. You remember how time has a habit of sliding in Sri Lanka. Well we got to Ambalangoda about eleven and we were just two hours early. Our tuktuk parked, we climbed through a rope which end access to the side street where we parked. We walked once around the town getting the lay of the land. Then we found our tuktuk once again. The sky opened up and poured on us. We managed to jump under and awning and stayed somewhat dry. It was not yet midnight. We wandered down our little street past a mask maker’s shop. The mask maker was in the window of his shop painting the “ears” of a cobra mask. We watched a while and commented to one another about his steadiness of hand and the intricacy of his skill and talent to do the painting of the ear’s design. We started a conversation about his masks, and started the business of choosing a mask which suited our taste for display in our home. Ahouva and I settled on a peacock mask. We inquired about its cost. After a thoughtful moment, the mask maker named a price. We both agreed it was a reasonable price. And we bought it. The mask maker carefully wrapped the mask for us and we stuck it in the pouch which is currently serving as my purse. It was a quarter to one. Wimal asked the man sitting in the chair across the street when we could expect the Perahera to start. He advised us that one o’clock was the moment of commencing the festivities.
So we pulled three chairs out of the mask maker’s shop, set them up across the street and drank ginger beer. There were more and more people up at the end of the street, which runs approximately parallel to Galle Road, and west of Galle Road. (Remember that Galle Road is the main highway and only road connecting Galle and Colombo.) About one thirty there is a flurry of bicycles with five to seven foot trees attached to the side of the frame just behind the handlebars. These little trees are cheerfully decorated with crape paper in all manner of bright colors. The boys have attached electric lights and little generators to their bicycle wheels. These parade starters are really a wonderful local feature. They cut figures 8 up and down the street to clear the way for the impending, anticipated parade.
The boys on bikes are followed by a truck announcing the coming of the parade. And then, and then, and then finally the cracking of the bull whips is heard as the local bull whippers come slowly up the street, driving the demons away. It is much more believable at one forty five that demons may be out and about to disturb the parade. And it has been raining, monsoon style, on and off, all night long.
The bull whippers are snapping their whips and driving off the evil demons. These whippers are young boys, almost to small the whip and snap such a long full whip. They increase in age as the group moves along, and toward the end, the senior whippers, in their fifty’s finish the whipping.
Now the first float, the one for Ghanesh, the elephant headed deity. The image of Ghanesh is seated in splendor under an arch in front of a backing wall all surrounded in lights which appear to change colors and make interesting patterns of light. Ghanesh sits back from a sort of porch which forms the front of his/her float. The appreciative crowd throws money or runs up and laces money on that porch. This is one of the ways in which the parade is financed.
The float is immediately followed by a local half tractor pulling a wagon on which is loaded a gasoline or diesel generator which is wired to the float by a harness of wires.
And now come the drummers and the musicians and the dancers. There were only three elephants, fully costumed and bearing their shrine housing on a saddle mounted on each elephant’s center back. As there are only three elephants in this parade, they are spaced with floats and dancers and drummers and musicians in between.
And you must be made aware of the difference between Ambalangoda and Kandy. First, Ambalangoda is a “people’s” Perahera. It’s locals performing for locals with much crowd appreciation. While Kandy is professional or almost professional, Ambalangoda is locally motivated and regionally supported. By Sri Lankan standards, the smaller 1 meter by 3 meter banners appeared a day or two before the event all along the Galle Road in the region. Folks were coming on foot, by half-tractor & wagon , by motorcycle and tuk-tuk (three wheel trishaw), by van and by bicycle. Didn’t see any ox-carts.
They came, just as we had, attracted by the phenomenon of elephants on parade with drummers, musicians and dancers.
Now the dancers in all groups were costumed. Some appeared to be genuine Kandy dancers with silver breast and stomach work, hats of great silver work and ear rings or ear covers of silver. Their drummers were turbaned and bare-chested and wearing the pajama pants of their group. Musicians, on the other hand, appeared to be dressed in “street” clothes. Musicians were very enthusiastic and played marvelously.
We had no seats, but stood at the end of the cross street in which our tuk-tuk was parked. At about two-thirty or three in the morning, we moved to the Galle Road end of our cross street. We were just in time to see the beginning of the parade all over again. We watched the boys on their bicycles and watched the bull whippers. We were fading, so we jumped back into our tuk-tuk for our ride home. We went to the beginning of the parade route on the road parallel to Galle Road, drove south to the point at the south end of town, where the parallel road met Galle Road and joined the south moving traffic. We drove past folks walking and moving slowly in the half tractor & wagon conveyances. Though it had not rained on the parade, it rained on the 10 kilometer drive home. And we were deposited, punctually at 4AM at our hotel. A grand adventure in the wonderful world of Sri Lanka.
-30-

September 15, 2005

Colombo, Sri Lanka and the second half of the third to last week. So far this week has flown past. On Sunday, after Saturday’s Perahera in Alamangoda, we went to the Hikkaduwa Sunday Market to buy some goodies which are, of course, no where else available. We were really early, 7:30 AM. As it had rained into the early morning, the crowd was not yet formed, some vendors were still setting up, and everything was wonderful and awesome. The smells of the fresh spice and the veggies and fruits were great. Mixed in among the pots & pans, plastic household wares, knives of all shapes and uses, bananas off the back of trucks, piles of onions, fresh fish being chopped up, dried fish being sold in chunks, were cloth sales folks with two meter pieces for sarong.
We had bought two such pieces for the table clothes, earlier in our Colombo Apartment days. Now we were looking for specific patterns which would double as sarongs, once we were home again. We checked out a number of possible purchases, and settled on a papaya. After market, a quick breakfast at the hotel, and a brief trip to the burnt out Siyath collection center. The fire had destroyed 80% of an order of mats destined for Europe. The fire was caused by and electrical short. A brief nap back at the hotel after lunch at our favorite Hikkaduwa restaurant, Refresh. It was a roasted chicken and some veggies. Then back to the hotel to nap and check out. They tried to do us wrong, BUT we prevailed. And then the adventure of the day, the second class train ride to Colombo. It’s a three hour trip and Sunday afternoon at 3:05PM, the train from Matara, via Galle picks up more folk headed to Colombo in Hikkaduwa. It was standing room only. And after an hour of standing, and older woman graciously offered Ahouva the arm rest of her seat as sitting/leaning space for Ahouva. Though it rained toward the end of the trip, all windows stayed open until the rain started into the coach. The scenery can be awesome when the train goes along the ocean, the Indian Ocean, that is. It is green and wondrous when we go through the rural jungle. And often, like railroads almost anywhere, there are slums and shanty shacks along the railroad, as well.
We arrived in Colombo around six, tuk-tukked home, and began an early to bed routine, just a bit tired.
Monday started with our usual swim and picking up breakfast at our local “rice & curry place. We’ve gotten into a routine of swimming between 7 and 8AM in the 25 meter pool at Thursten College, the other excellent boys’ school on the block across the street from the office. After swim we either go to breakfast at the local workingman’s place for string hoppers & fish curry, egg rotis and fish curry, or paratas and fish curry. Wash it all down with a cup of milk tea and give two rupees to the gentleman standing with hand outstretched outside. When you remember our teacher and friend, Rabbi Schlomo Carlebach of bless memory, you hear Schlomo reminding that this gentleman is relying on us to feed him and his. Family. I gladly give him the 2 rupees change I have gotten from the restaurant cashier. Next door, we buy yogurt, papaya, mango, bananas and water almost everyday. Then back home and time to take the long commute to work (walk around to the front of the building in which our apartment is located and up the stairs into the office).
The “Elated School” got revised from a concept paper into a newspaper article.
The strategic plan got another piece fleshed out, or begun to be fleshed out. Indika is sharing the outlet center, (the Store, office, and restaurant/coffee bar). I had gotten Indika alone in the car and started asking questions. Because of my learning challenge of not being able to read, I developed a great interviewing ability through which I am able to gather much of the information which I need. As we drive around Colombo or down to Galle, we talk about what interests him and I ask questions. The answers may be consistent or inconsistent, but they are the basis of a page or a paragraph which he reads later and marks up. It is a simple way to help him think through the projects and objectives of a strategic plan.
We discussed coco peat, the material which remains when the fiber has been removed from the coconut husk. This is a dust, or semi-granular material which has a number of characteristics which make it ideal from indoor plants, nurseries and large scale farming. When visiting a coconut fiber mills, I observed that the stack or pile or coco peat was very spongy to walk on and appeared to be moist, regardless of where in the area of spreading it was located. My personal interest in agriculture makes these conversations more interesting to me. I also get a cross reference between Wimal and Indika about the potential of agro-business of crops and soil materials.
The early morning calls are very distinct. The six tone calls of one bird, and the calls of the crows mixed with the chirping of the chipmunks gives Natures morning music a special quality which is now Colombo in my ears.
Have we discussed honkies, Sri Lanka style? The auto, bus, truck, motorcycle and tuk-tuk horn sounds are each a bit unique. All Sri Lanka drivers express themselves freely with their sounding device, i.e., vehicular horn. When passing, sound your horn to let the other fellow know you’re there. When he’s about to hit your vehicle, sound your horn. When a pedestrian, or a tuk-tuk or anything is in the way of your vehicular progress, sound your horn. Buses appear to exact the right-of-way from all other vehicles. They appear to be the kings of the road, and the constant sound of their unique pitch of horn makes them quite pronounced. The private automobile nudges in among the trucks and buses and tuk-tuks. The tuk-tuk’s horn sounds something like Road runner in the Wiley Coyote cartoons. The tuk-tuk driver is by far the bravest and most daring of the drivers. He creates a traffic lane where none existed a moment ago. He weaves in and out of traffic, even though his width is only human tusch width less than the standard automobile. The beep-beep of the motorcyclists has to be added to the symphony. These daring riders and drivers zip in and out of traffic. They appear to out number almost every other group of vehicles. And the combination of parents and children on a single motorcycle is amazing at the least. I have observes a gentleman driver with a child seated in front of him on the gasoline tank, a child behind him squeezed in between the driver’s back and his female rider. Such a motorcycle whipped past us while we were clipping along at 80 kilometers an hour. The motorcycles range from motor scooters to medium large motorcycles. No Harley Hogs to be seen. Imagine that occasional motorcyclist weaving in and out of Los Angeles rush hour crawling traffic, and multiply him by 100 and make his maneuvers a standard part of all speeds traffic, and you have a taste of Sri Lankan motorcycling. We forgot the farmers. They drive a half tractor or a regular tractor and pull a wagon at 5 to 8 kilometers per hour. Everyone tries to pass them. And all road, except maybe a few kilometers of street or road in the country, are two lanes. The shoulders are sand or clay. The pavement appears to be gravel, sand and a tar capping. Pot holes are common. And rough road causes all drivers to slow. However, one driver’s too rough road, is another driver’s challenge to destroy your back and kidneys. A three hour drive, anywhere, should be broken into 45 minute pieces, for the sake of your spine, your kidneys and your general well being. The honking and passing keep your nerves in a general condition of alert strain.
A sound of a siren is an ambulance. We have seen and heard no police or fire sirens in this land. However, the air pollution would be dreadful, were it not for the ocean breeze.
For the exotic hit today, think about our morning walk to the pool past a blooming gardenia, a pungent mock-orange or a cousin of the mock-orange, and planarian. Even my nose can smell these wonders of the tropics all mixed together and marvelous.
A&A

It's Admission Day in California

2005-09-09T01:47:00.001-07:00

Yes, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, it's a State Holiday in California. In 1849 on this day California was admitted into the Union. Hey Arnold, I hope you jumped into your SUV and smoked your cigar and gave everyone the day off, expecially state employees.

Greetings from Sri Lanka, where no one celebrates this day. But then, with the weather a warm, humid, and lovely day, and the food just a tad spicey, we'll celebrate California with a papaya, some fresh, ripe pineapple, some local water buffalo milk curb with Treacle (a very sweet and marvelous syrup).

Cheers from A&A

It's Admission Day in California

2005-09-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

More reports

2005-09-09T01:22:00.000-07:00

September 4, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Since we’ve been back in town since Monday, it’s been a little busy. I’ve been working on the micro-lending project, doing the typing and document preparation for Kamala Peiris, the president and founder of SIYATH. She and I have been rounding up moneys of the Moratuwa project. That southern suburb of Colombo which has been ignored. Kamala has been busy collecting moneys for the relief effort, because all the other tsunami relief and reconstruction funding of SIYATH was committed to the south coast region. Moratuwa is “too far north” “out of the spot light” and not really very interest to anyone. Tragic, yes, but not news worthy, because there were too few deaths, only massive destruction. As I mentioned earlier, it is as though those, who didn’t make it to the South Coast on the 27th of December 2004, can still see the same rubble, debris and destruction in Moratuwa. This little overlooked suburb, which is invisible because the coast road, Galle Road, turns inland just north of Moratuwa, leaving that area hidden from the highway. Even the coast railway turns inland, because of the little fishing harbors of Moratuwa. So this piece of disaster area has stayed invisible to the world all these 8 months. Now we’re involved.

Tonight, at Buddhist meditation, the priest specifically ask Kamala to pickup a check for part of the budget for Moratuwa. And the priest added the request for more tangible items in the budget which his donors could fund. The Anglicans and the other religious groups who are being solicited are expected to bring additional relief to the area. And Kamala, with the encouragement of friends, wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of urban Development and Water Supply. This letter is expected to bring the government into the project and round out the team. SIYATH is renting a new building for the children’s center.

Speaking of children, only 500 +/- South Coast SIYATH member’s children spent Saturday in Colombo at the Planetarium, Royal College, and Water World. These children were gathered by the field staff of SIYATH starting at 3 AM in the various villages in the South. They arrived at the Planetarium around 9 AM. These wonderful kids, some of whom are members’ children, and some of whom are from the camps and/or villages where the members live, they line up and wait for an hour and a half to get into the Planetarium. They are so well behaved and orderly. They are cheerful and joyous. After an hour and a half of Planetarium show, they orderly and quickly lined up and were back in their buses.

Then a short ride to Royal College, across the street from the SIYATH Foundation Colombo office. Royal College is the premier private boys’ school, prep-school and high school in Sri Lanka. The Boys of the College had a white plastic bag of goodies, one for each child or accompanying adult. In each bag were a plate, a tray, a shallow bowl, pencils and pencil sharpener. The children were given their bag, their lunch boxes and directed into an indoor/outdoor auditorium. On stage were two synthesizers a drum set, a pair of bongos, and two electric guitars. The Boys of the College put on a show for the children of the South Coast.

The show started off with a long speech in Sinhalese by the two masters of ceremonies. Then the President and Founder of SIYATH Foundation, Kamala Peiris, told two stories from Buddhist/Sinhalese lore, the Principal of the Middle School welcomed us all and the Deputy Principal of the Elementary School thanked everyone involved including “Mr. Albert and the Lady from America.” The music began with three different Boys of the College singing popular songs from local kids movies backed by the band. Then the Siyath Kids got up and shared their talents dancing and singing for the next hour. The musicians of the college were just high school musicians, but they knew all the songs and accompanied the Siyath kids with song after song. Then the Principal of the Elementary School got up on the stage with Ahouva and the rest of the singing adults and led some group singing of “She’ll be coming around the mountain when she comes”, “Daisy, Daisy give me your answer true” This finale brought down the house. Then, while the children ate their lunches, I ran across the street to get more batteries for the digital camera and lunch in the office.

We promptly headed of for Water World about 3PM. Water World is an indoor/outdoor aquarium. It appears to be a privately owned and operated facility with a very large collection of fish in viewing tanks. Its indoor facilities are a series of tanks which appear to be set into a concrete or mud wall in both sides of a tunnel-like arrangement. After the tunnel, the balance of the exhibit is outdoors. There was a downpour while we were examining the outdoor portion of the facility. It is the end of the South Western monsoon season, and it’s been a dry year, so no one complained.

From the Water World experience, the children headed home about 5:30PM. They had a long ride home ahead of them. But they certainly had a memorable day.

Tragedy struck on Thursday night, when a fire destroyed about 40 of the 90 bundles of door mates which were ready for shipment to Europe. It was a short in the wiring. The 90+ bundles of door mats represent a lot of work on the part of the SIYATH member women and their efforts at working their way out of the tsunami.

Almost immediately after the tsunami relief effort to feed and house and provision those families which only go away with the clothing on their back, SIYATH was out in its communities delivering yarn spinning equipments and creating collection centers. At the same time, the boards were purchased and the women went back to work making door mats and all the other products which had been wiped out by the tsunami.

Here was the first shipment of post tsunami door mats, ready to containerize and ship off to Europe for the Christmas shopping season. Well, perhaps 50 bundles survived. The surviving bundles of mats will be carefully inspects and the women will go back to work and make more mats. The customers in Europe are eager for the products, because of their high quality.

From Ahouva:
August 17/05
Sitting in Siyath Office in Colombo waiting for first assignment- already went to Indian embassy. Left our passports and need to return at 430 to pick up with our visas- now if we get kicked out of the country we will be able to go to India we hope. We managed to have our most efficient morning to date- we were first in line and they found our apps right away- I guess US govt hasn’t put us on any watch lists so far- maybe they figure we are less trouble out of the country.
Decided yesterday once again that Serendip is not the old name of this country for nothing- went to Galle for an NGO livelihood meeting, found out it is not taking place until next week- every other week- and met with UN relief coordinating group staff- they say they think things are going ok with rebuilding houses- but as Kala says, if they are housed in a govt bldg, as they are, they need to be supporting the govt. line
At our new Colombo guest house, we met a couple of Americans- not so many in Hikkaduwa where we have been staying. He is` peace corps 3 mo volunteer Craig- he did his 2 year stint in Moldava has a law degree and is working w the govt here to write out rule sand regs and has 3 mo job lined up- actually paying him- to do work with US AID. Woman we met at breakfast who has house in Galle but is in Colombo now said US AID did really good immediate work here.
Met Amelia at breakfast- redhead also peace corps 3 mo young person who said she is trying to coordinate all the info about NGOs with a coordinating agency in Colombo that has district offices all over and is aware of Action Aid but not aware of Siyath. Sri Lanka’s best kept secret. Said original list she had from UN was not accurate-and this is the group supposedly coordinating relief efforts! They are working to get things more accurate, but there are literally hundreds of NGOs and little private charities doing projects in the tsunami stricken areas.
For example, sitting next to us at the Perahera- more on that later, we met a woman who started a project in Ireland, raised a million dollars to replace lost fishing boats and has a sign up already about an Irish Village in the Siyath work area. When we had mentioned earlier that we have seen many boats lying around, it was pointed out to us that boats had been provided but no nets. This is not pole fishing, folks. We brought this up to her and she said they had ordered nets from China, because there wasn’t enough capacity to make them here and they are still awaited. As Albert says, in the meantime the boats are often lawn decorations!
Another example on a tiny scale, a group of young people from France has raised money to buy 2 boats and build 2 houses for fishing families.
Also at our guest house is an Anglican priest who answered the call for help with boat construction who is waiting to get sent by his church to 3 different boatyards. They want to get boats built for fishermen. Turns out there is a lot of waste in time and materials.
ATTENTION ALL OUR FINANCIAL DONOR?PARTNERS:
I have decided my personal project while I am here is to use the funds you have donated to buy some materials for the children for the 14 programs Siyath is running in the south. As I wrote earlier, the children are so happy to have a program to participate in, are so well behaved and have so little in the way of supplies and materials. I think a little will go a very long way here- some balls, art supplies, notebooks, etc.

Albert is typing a document for Kamala’s project, the founder of Siyaht who is 77 and Kala’s aunt- she has been preparing a new project to keep children in school- both in tsunami areas and country wide. The project is based on the concept of helping people form collectives to make things work better in the same way Siyath has helped women coir workers improve their working conditions and lives in villages for 25 years. This is being funded by a coalition of organizations including Action AID form the UK.
Kala just came out of her office-she has a tooth filling that fell out and she is on painkillers because she doesn’t have time to go to the dentist. We are concerned about her. Albert has had two friends who have died from blood poisoning from tooth infections in the past year because they didn’t have teeth attended to. Indika also has a toothache, and bugging them to get to the dentist!
Kala and Indika hope to meet with our friend Wimal this Friday on their trip soutn- somehow she felt better when her staff person said his name was Wimal, a good Sinhalese name and not Wiman which is what she thought Albert had said.

Foots Updates A and A
A’s infection flare up is being controlled by antibiotics and is doing just fine. He had some redness and heat around his ankle but that is as far as it got. Luckily we started antibiotics as soon as the fever appeared and that is what seems to be necessary. With the first two doses of antibiotics the first night and two doses of ibuprofen for the fever, he literally felt ok the next day. The redness around his ankle has now gone away too.
Ahouva’s foot seems to be getting better very gradually. She has not had her cast on in about 3 weeks and all seemed to be going ok if she didn’t walk too far and then a few days ago it got hurt again, os walking is difficult and achy at times .
On the beach, the incline along the shore is very steep at times, and the angle can be treacherous for reactivating the sprain. I think a great deal of sand has disappeared due to the tsunami- and, for example, there is a lot of exposed dead coral at the water’s edge.

This may all be moot though, as we may be spending more time in Colombo working directly with Kala and indika- we want them to really let us dig in and get some work done. My guess is that there are many factors at play here, among which is that they are treating us like respected elders and don’t want to tax us.
As it turned out we worked a full day on Wednesday in the office and I think it went well.
Albert typed contact sheets with tens of complicated Sri Lankan multi-syllabic names and also typed a brochure about the education project itself. I edited a one year employment contract for the project staff.
I also started editing a very long report on a Siyath study that was funded by Oxfam about the women coir workers. It is absolutely astonishing to me how much work is accomplished by this tiny organization. As I may have mentioned, there were 5 staff in December and now there are 30! But Kala runs and manages the whole thing with Indika doing his own projects as well as behind the scenes work. It is so impressive!

August 21/05 Sunday
Sitting in bed at guest house in Colombo. Spent the afternoon with Harriet- had lunch at our Indian restaurant where they brought us wonderful curry and when we had finished it, they brought us more! And with tea they charged us 229 rupees for 3 of us. About $2.30. We also went to our Internet place and listened to the boys swear in English in general and at each other.
We went to find a swimming club by the beach which had a great big lap pool, but it was not open today- we think we can get a short term membership ther. We then went to visit our Bangladeshi development friends who we met at our hotel in Hikkaduwa. Again had a great conversation about development issues, played with their little two year old daughter and ate tea and snacks and lassies which Shree made for us. We really have so much fun with them. They are in an apartment for foreigners that is fully equipped and includes full kitchen with 2 burner gas hotplate, fridge, cable tv, phone, iron, washing machine, 3 bedrooms and large living space, DSL internet, etc. The one below them is available for short term rental and would be so much fun.
We will see if we will be here in Colombo long enough for it to make sense for us to rent a place long term, Right now the idea of having more than one room and being able to do our own cooking is very appealing- and there are 2 supermarkets within a five minute walk.
Having a long conversation about the cost of living here and seeing that we are spending a lot of money on transportation and Internet. If we lived in this apt we could take the bus most of the way to work- down the main road- and wouldn’t have the Internet cost anymore. I think we have been spending about $15-$20 week on Internet and even more on transportation. This will be a big relief- and if we are working there is less time and opportunity to spend $.

August 26 Friday
The eighth month anniversary of the tsunami. A day of stories. We walked to the office at dawn with the birds whooping and calling in the trees-got all the supplies and quickly left for Hikkaduwa- first stopping to drop supplies for the art program at the school part way down the coast, then going to our second floor stringhopper place for curry- potato, dahl and fish, sweet hot milk tea. Ate with our fingers twice today- becoming real sri lankans!
We saw a woman at Balapityah who had been a domestic in Cypress when the tsunami happened and her house was destroyed by the tsunami- looked more like a 6 room storage shed- there were a few guys there who got dressed on our behalf and some building supplies but I wondered what they were really doing- not much it seemed. Rubble still everywhere tho in piles and the road being cleared by the people-

The woman was overweight, wore a red shirt and blue flowered skirt and sadi she had been in Cypress for 23 years as a maid- everything she had helped build was wiped out- the house had one room that was utterly gone and the adjoining one was damaged- they were living nearby in a tiny I room house and had put up a sheet so they had a place to sit outside- yet she was smiling – I sadi well I guess you have to restart she said i just cant- i told her you have a lot of courage and touched my heart.
First meeting was with parents of ist Buddhist school – in Dodanduwa- about to close- kind of small and run down feeling –old building with no roof had vines firmly rroted in several places. I took notes, Harshony translated, a man was crying about how sad it was fo r him- it had once been a top school. The principal who was a woman greeted us, and gave a speech –she seemed very competent and expressed gratitude to Kala who ran the meeting and listened to the parents who spoke. It seems often for us that listening is one of the most important things we can do.
Great downpour- we were in an outdoor classroom which luckily for us had an intact roof. Afterwards there were some puddles, but it was clear that most of the rain sank right in to the ground.
Found out there was a man who lived near the Siyath office who was fishing deep sea during the tsunami and so was ok- came back expecting his family to be ok- his sister had committed suicide last year so they had her kids as well as his in thierr tiny house by the railroad tracks in Peralya and instead he found his wife’s body a few days later and one of his kids- so decomposed he couldn’t pick it up- drinks now and rides his bike around- This was next door to Siyath office which was utterly wiped out escept for bathroom- so this guy’s house is next door- has had a new house built by Italians or Austrians – the lavender ones- and has back yard marked by a line of bricks- maybe plans to build a wall-
Kala said there were saris hanging on the tress when I asked if there was stuff strewn around.
On Saturday night we had dinner with Wimal and he and Kala told some stories about the tsunami- it really was overwhelming- and a man we bought a juice drink from talked about how he was at the beach, as were
Kala and indika and their boys- and they said how awful it must be not to have been able to hold onto your child. Across form the House of Fashion where yhou can get this weeks leftover clothes that were to be shipped overseas but somehow stayed behind and they have bargain prices- Albert had to get a nylon bathing suit for the local pool and it was $2, as were my 2 blouses.
And I still want to tell the story of Jehan from Jaffna- it was a very painful strory-
Sometimes I really feel like I am here just to bear witness to peoples stories and share love-
Madu was so affectionate with me and Kala is calling me Lulu now-
I feel really loved sna dso happy- it is like being opn a magical mystery tour where you never know what’s happening next but it will be great and amazing-
Amazed and disgusted to know that Singer charges 153 for its treadle sewing machines and no free or discount ones- how is this possible?
August 27 Saturday
SITTING ON MY saggy BED AND waiting fro the call from Kala and the driver to come and fetch us- I would have gone swimming had I known we had the time but I really slept a lot last night –was really tired.
Jehan’s sory- HE is acomputer tech guy, a colleague of Naebul;s and he came by when we were there on Weds night to get my guidebook and umbrella I had left. Our rhythm has really changed to doing office and computer work, yet we had field work this week too.
Monday wee went with Kala to look at a possible children’s center that seemed ot be the only nice and whole and attractive building in the slummy, debris strewn area of Moratuwa, south of Colombo. After seeing the building, we went to part of the slum area by the lagoon – we saw the outdoor fish stands-not occupied at that time of day- first and then drove through narrow little bumpy alleys to get to the slum area where a group of women and children quickly formed. They had us sit down on a few chairs. The piece of concrete slab we were sitting on was covered with a cloth strung with twine ot the edges of the ruined houses on either side and was propped up with large sticks. Flies, that were breeding unchecked due to the lack of water to wash off the area swarmed all over the piec eof slab, looking almost like ants. The children were in raggedy clothes and seemed sad. I gave the three kids near me 3 of my calendars and much to my surprise, a little boy in a raggedy blue shirt gave me back a lovely smooth clamshell he had been holding. It was really moving, and it really broke my heart. As we left, I cried.

One of the things that is becoming apparent to us about the purpose of our trip is that we are making amazing and useful connections between people we are meeting- will write more about this later.
Wimal. Nazbul, un mtg in Galle, project Galle.

Church in Moratuwa with funds for relief from don the priest at the second guest house-who kamala is now going to see- Rotem the Israeli woman from Israaid re programs-

August 26 Friday
The eighth month anniversary of the tsunami. A day of stories.
Just to fill you in first- I wrote a few days ago about maybe renting an apartment and it turned out that Indika suddenly remembered that there might be one available right behind their office, owned or rented by the people downstairs from them in their building.
We rented it the next day and moved out of the guest house we had stayed in, in Colombo, before and after the trip to Kandy which Albert described.
Albert described the place a little bit- a big hike up 3 flights –but it means we have some good breezes- it has lots of windows and a/c in one o f the two bedrooms- this is often a big relief just to have a place to cool down, and we keep it on part of each night so we can sleep without the fan at gale force.
The other bedroom has our suitcases laid out on the bed with our drugstore and also because there is no place to store clothes and we haven’t found hangers yet. The apt has a very dirty old felt carpet and requires an ascension to the throne, which is a hike up one huge stair and a few small ones- it is built over the stairs along woth the shower.
The building codes don’t seem to include stairs-I don t think we have been anyplace except maybe the hotel in Hikkaduwa that has had stairs of the same height the whole staircase-you can imagine how my knees love that!!
We have a tiny kitchen with sink and tiny fridge, but no cooking facilities- ok so far-Indika may hook up a propane hotplate, it is usually too hot to even think about cooking and not very costly if we eat Indian, Sri Lankan and Chinese which we mostly do. We do keep yogurt and fruit tho- yum!
Also we have hardly any transport costs and no Internet costs as we can use the office’s.
I think our rent averages to about $12-13/day plus electricity-lots less than hotel or guest houses and we have some space to be in more than 1 room!!
WE also feel very safe- ther are gurds all over due to the retired military guy who lives in the building with the Siyath office. There are bunkbeds where the guards sleep around the corner!
And, the good thing is we are a one minute walk to the office and Kala can call out to me across the space
“Lulu, its time to go out for dinner!
She calls me Lulu sometimes to tease the way Albert has all these funny names for me!
It is really funny to us- Albert nicknamed my foot problem my frankel because both my foot and ankle hurt sometimes and she named it my franklet- so she worries if my franklet is ok on these long car trips, mostly in vans.

So--We walked to the office at dawn with the birds whooping and calling in the trees-got all the supplies and quickly left for Hikkaduwa- first stopping to drop supplies for the art

Program at the school part way down the coast, then stopping at our now “regular” second floor stringhopper place for curry- potato, dahl and fish, sweet hot milk tea. Ate with our fingers twice today- becoming real sri lankans!
We saw a woman at Balapityah , north of Hikkaduwa in a tsunami affected area, who had been a domestic in Cypress when the tsunami happened; her house was destroyed by the tsunami- looked more like a 6 room storage shed- there were a few guys there who got dressed on our behalf and some building supplies but I wondered what they were really doing- not much it seemed. Rubble is still everywhere tho in piles and we saw the dirt road being cleared by the people as we drove up-
I had attended an organizing meeting the week before in the same neighborhood with Kala and Indika and staff , and had been surrounded by the women and kids with whom I sang a bunch of songs including twinkle twinkle little star. It just warmed the cockles of my heart!Amid such tragic stories they are very courageous and just keep going--
This woman was overweight, wore a red shirt and blue flowered skirt and said she had been in Cypress for 23 years as a maid-somnething like 20% of the foreign funds coming into Sri Lanka come from women employed as domestics mostly in Arab countries! Everything she had spent he life helping to build was wiped out- the house had one room that was utterly gone and the adjoining one was damaged- they were living nearby in a tiny 1 room house and had put up a sheet so they had a place to sit outside- yet she was smiling – I said
well, I guess you have to restart
she said i just cant-
i told her you have a lot of courage and touched my heart.
The first meeting we had had was with parents of the 1st Buddhist school in the area-called by that name – in Dodanduwa-village same area as Hikkaduwa- about to close- kind of small and run down feeling –ie-an old building with no roof had vines firmly rooted in several places along the walls with plants firmly in place. I took notes, Harshony translated, a man in a sarong with grey hair was crying about how sad it was for him- it had once been a top school and had been ranked highly. The principal who was a woman greeted us, and gave a speech –she seemed very competent and expressed gratitude to Kala who ran the meeting and listened to the parents who spoke. It seems often for us that listening is one of the most important things we can do.
Great downpour- we were in an outdoor classroom which could double as assembly space- quite large-luckily for us it had an intact roof. Afterwards there were some puddles, but it was clear that most of the rain sank right in to the ground.
Another story-
Found out there was a man who lived near the former (destroyed by the tsunami) Siyath office who was deep sea fishing during the tsunami and so was ok- came back expecting his family to be ok- his sister had committed suicide last year so they had her kids as well as his in their tiny house by the railroad tracks in Peralya.
If any of you remember coverage on CNN, this was the exact location of the train tragedy that resulted in the loss of 1800 lives- the biggest loss in one location in Sri Lanka. Three of the crunched railroad cars are still nearby as a symbol- it has become a pilgrimage site
Instead he found his wife’s body a few days later and one of his kids- so decomposed he couldn’t pick it up. He lost all eight children. He drinks now and rides his bike around.
This was next door to Siyath office which was utterly wiped out except for bathroom- so this guy’s house is next door- has had a new house built by Italians or Austrians – the lavender ones- and has back yard marked by a line of bricks- maybe plans to build a wall-
Kala said there were saris hanging on the tress when I asked if there was stuff strewn around, and there were swollen bodies filling a ditch she showed us next to t he tracks.
On Saturday night we had dinner with Wimal and he and Kala told some stories about the tsunami- it really was overwhelming-

Back in Colombo a few days later-
A man we bought a juice drink from talked about how he was at the beach, as were
Kala and indika and their boys- and they said how awful it must be not to have been able to hold onto your child and save them, as happened with many people. This was across from the House of Fashion where you can get this weeks leftover clothes that were to be shipped overseas but somehow stayed behind and they have bargain prices- Albert had to get a nylon bathing suit for the local pool and it was $2, as were my 2 blouses.
I love the way things happen here. I was wishing we had a local pool to swim in here as it is hard to exercise with the heat, the smog, the fumes, the uneven pavement, lack of sidewalks and my sometimes unhappy foot. SO we went for a walk our first morning here, found a pool by the edge of the street which belongs to a boys school, and they were willing ot give us a temporary 5 week membership for our remaining time here for $30. It has been great- a large Olympic pool a ten minute walk away and there is an Indian restaurant across the street where we get a breakfast of fish curry that is amazingly fresh and egg roti- like an egg cooked into a tortilla. I’ms sure ti doesn’t sound vey breakfasty but that’s often what we have unless we do yogurt and fruit at home.
And I still want to tell the story of Jehan, the Tamil computer guy from Jaffna- it was a very painful story-we met him at our Bangladeshi friend Nazbul’s house on Weds evening the 21th or so to get my guidebook and umbrella I had left..
Sometimes I really feel like I am here just to bear witness to peoples stories and share love-
Madu , who is Kala’s right hand has become very affectionate with me and Kala is sometimes referring to me as Lulu now- and when we make a mistake culturally they are very forgiving.
I feel really loved and also happy- it is often really like being on a magical mystery tour where you never know what’s happening next but it will be great and amazing-
Amazed and disgusted to discover that Singer charges $153 for its treadle sewing machines and no free or discount ones- how is this possible?

August 27 Saturday
Sitting on my saggy bed-our other room at eh Coral Sands hotel is not as comfy-and waiting for the call from Kala and the driver to come and fetch us- I would have gone swimming had I known we had the time but I really slept a lot last night –was really tired.
Our rhythm has really changed to doing office and computer work, yet we had field work this week too. It’s hard to do as much blogging when we are typing all day.
Monday the 19th we went with Kala to look at a possible children’s center that seemed to be the only nice and whole and attractive building in the slummy, debris strewn area of Moratuwa, south of Colombo. After seeing the building, we went to part of the slum area by the lagoon – we saw the outdoor fish stands-not occupied at that time of day- first and then drove through narrow little dirt to get to the slum area where a group of women and children quickly formed. They had us sit down on a few chairs. The piece of concrete slab we were sitting on was covered with a cloth strung with twine to the edges of the ruined houses on either side and was propped up with large sticks. Flies, that were breeding unchecked due to the lack of water to wash off the area swarmed all over the piece of slab, looking almost like ants. The children were in raggedy clothes and seemed sad. I gave the three kids near me 3 of my calendars and much to my surprise, a little boy in a rtorn blue shirt gave me back a lovely smooth clamshell he had been holding. It was really moving, and it really broke my heart. As we left, I cried. I will show you the shell sometime- it is really precious to me.

One of the things that is becoming apparent to us about the purpose of our trip is that we are making amazing and useful connections between people we are meeting- will write more about this later.
Wimal. Nazbul, UN mtg in Galle, Project Galle. Rotem the Israeli woman from Israaid re programs-

Recent such story. Don the Anglican priest, who had come at the request of his church from England, we met at breakfast at the second guest house just last week. He was talking how he had been to Moratuwa to see the boat works he was supposed to be helping at, but where they were almost finished their task.. He had then been out East to Batticoloa when we were in Kandy, where he was to spend 3 weeks at a another boatworks but quickly changed his mind when he heard shooting half the night and another 2 hours during the day not far away from it.
When we saw the disaster area that Moratuwa still is, we called (we had already gotten our apartment the day before) and told him that he might want to put in some time helping there. He told us that he might do that and said that the local church there St James had some funds and was thinking about what to do there.
We passed this info along to Kamala, the 77 year old Siyath founder, and already the 27th she went to see the priest there. Albert had worked on a letter and then helped prepare a more detailed proposal.

Sunday the 24th
It is really hard to work on the blog during the week as I am spending my days at the computer so it isn’t a very attractive prospect to do more at night, even when I want to.
I am getting some version of tennis elbow—so trying to adjust my positions to not make it worse.
I have spent lots of the past 2 weeks working on an 80+ page report that needed a lot of revision on a research project Siyath has done for Oxfam about the home based workers in their areas in the south. I also did a 30 page shorter version of the same info-learned a lot.
Since a meeting we had with Indika on the 19th or so, both of us have been working on a micro credit program, as theirs fell apart after the tsunami when records were lost and they need to rethink its structure. I woke up one morning around the 21th with the whole thing in my head and just wrote for 2 and a half hours creating forms and tracking docs etc. but we haven’t had a chance to meet with Indika again to review it.
I suspect things will speed soon, up as we now leave in 4 weeks so it can’t be put off forever if they want to get what we really can do for them. In the meantime, Kamala is very committed that we have stuff to do that is worthwhile.
Today we went with her to her Buddhist meditation class with a wonderful monk from Holland who has spent time in the states, visits teachers all over the world and has been in Sri Lanka for 25 years. He does lectures in Sinhalese as well as English and has just come back from a trip to Burma and China (I think Tibet). He has a lovely clear style and a nice sense of humor and it was great to be with a practicing group . During Q and A at the end he asked us about ourselves and has been to Spirit Rock- I mentioned Sylvia Boorstein- and mentioned our Jewish practice- he immediately mentioned the Jew and the Lotus and we told him about R Zalman who he had seen on tv and tapes, I think from his recent meeting with the Dalai Lama in Vancouver. So we mentioned our Jewish and Buddhist friends and he said yes Bujews! This was really fun! He did some instruction and then we did 15-20 min of sitting, a half hour of walking and another half hour of sitting before q and a. It just felt so reviving.
To complete the story about Kamala and fundraising for Moratuwa, the ruined area south of Colombo, at the end of the talk yesterday, the monk told Kamala to wait and said he had a check for her from funds he had raised and he wanted a note with the uses for the money to give to his donors- so the work in Moratuwa really will be a multi-denominational effort!! Very nice outcome and nice to know we helped it happen!
It was a very rainy day on and off pouring and dry and raining lightly- I think the rainiest day we have had here. The monsoons are back!
Albert has told you about yesterday with the 420 kids and 70 adults fron the south who came up and our planetarium and aquarium episodes. The planetarium was great, in Sinhalese, but still we got to see the constellations from a different angle and see the pattern of the stars from across the earth- it is amazing for example that one can still see the 3 stars of Orions belt, but they seem to be much closer together and the rest of the stars seem to work differently. Also one can see the great bear and the small bear in different configurations and all the zodiac too!
We also saw two films, one about moon exploration, including never before seen by us and I am guessing not in the US at all, photos of sputnik and Yuri Gagarin , the first Soviet astronaut. And of course Kennedy talking about landing on the moon in a decade and then the actual moon landing. We could catch some CNN English even tho it was dubbed over and it was just neat to see the old astronauts.
Siyath had had a big brouhaha with the planetarium, that was not planning to honor the reservations that had been made for the 500 people from the south, that was finally resolved, I think, with lots of yelling and Albert’s plea. After endless discussion and no resolution, he asked the powers that be how they would feel if their kids had gotten up at 3 am, as many of our kids did- to make it up to the planetarium and then couldn’t get in !!!
They had been claiming that they needed to have spaces for the public , as if the kids were not the public. Finally two other local buses of kids were going to have to come back to the afternoon show.My guess is that someone forgot about the reservations and they were trying to save face and not to be responsible about it. There were 7 buses of the kids, with staff and a few mothers, and they were all dressed in their best and were so well behaved and attentive. Tho I must say they seemed to get bored and restless and noisy at points in the endless planetarium show. Each group had its own homemade nametags of different shapes and colors-some of course mogen dovids-

Also have to share that I had another hit of great ecstasy singing with some of the staff and the principal of the primary school of Royal College She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain. Looking out at those 400+ kids, many of whom I had seen on our field visits, and realizing I have managed with the grace of the universal One to fulfill my heart’s desire, and make whatever difference I can make by being here, and remembering my mother and grandmother singing this song with me as a girl, somehow especially in the car on long trips, and thinking about their lives of giving to the community in their own ways, my heart just opened up- of course I started crying, but managed to pull out of it and just sing and be!
Many of the kids came up when they saw me and teased me in their limited English about singing on stage- by singing a few words of the song—it just made me so happy- of we ever get photos on this blog we will put some on of this day- very wonderful- and these kids waited until 3 for lunch, as everything had been delayed at the planetarium, and they still had all the kids singing and dancing for each other at the Royal College. We were in a big covered auditorium with open walls which seems to be the style here- that way you don’t need to have a/c and all the breezes come through.
What I sometimes glimpse as we go about our lives being the only white faces around, is that we are doing something unusual and that just our being here and expressing concern does make a difference to the people here when they realize why we are here.

Well I went to bed but it is an hour later and I cant sleep so I am up writing- not sure if it was the meditation or the tea we had at dinner or both that energized me so much- the tea has never done that here but it could have been extra strong- any way, here I am with so many thoughts wanting to be communicated-
Hurricane Katrina
From the view I have here in Sri Lanka, it was literally a week ago that we were talking to a BBC journalist, Nile, on a leave of absence to work with Action AID from UK who is Siyaths major funder here for tsunami relief work and he is acting as their media oerson for 6 months. Kala was on part of a 3 hour radio program on Sri Lanka, recorded in Galle live for the BBC last Sunday.
Nile’s mother is Carribean so people here expect him to be able to speak Sinhalese as do all the people in the brown skinned countries expect him to be a native!
As he pointed out there has been a survey of actual donations relative to post tsunami pledges by various countries and the US and Australia are at a meager 20%of what they promised- and the Aussies are very close neighbors here.
Some very small countries are much better promise keepers than the big ones.
So we were talking about the next big disaster to come and that as soon as that would take place, all the money, energy and interest would be diverted to the next event and away from this tragedy, despite its size and dimensions, and despite pledges and promises.
Our New Loss
There is SO much work to be done here- and the day we found out how bad the story really is in New Orleans and the south, we also found out that Thursday night a fire had destroyed half a shipment of completed coir mats ready to go at the Siyath center that was next to one of their spaces that the tsunami destroyed - it is just so heartbreaking-
The next day, Saturday, these 500 plus kids were to travel by bus from the stricken area- and the staff had to carry on as usual. What heroines they are! Most are women, some are men, There is no way to replace these burned mats- they have to be made again by hand from scratch, Siyath has already paid the workrers for their labor ( who live at subsistence level anyway, and where are the replacement funds supposed to come from now?

And how do they keep being in business with all these calamities?
As I have been working on the Siyath study report one of the clearest things is that for home based workers to really be able to earn a living rather than just scraping by, they need a reliable market and a way for them to be connected to it reliably, Siyath has been trying to serve that function and want us to help them figure it out in planning for the future- and yet what will now be available for them for funding?
Then I think with compassion about these poor people in the south and especially New Orleans which must completely rebuild itself- this is the US’s tsunami- and how ill prepared the US was, and how clearly our inadequacy is felt to deal with future disasters that may happen .What about all our lost revenues due to tax cuts and all our funds and attention going to Iraq and Bushes war on terror around which all our policies have been established to the detriment of everyone and everything else,
And having been at the last 2 conferences on Socially Responsible Investing it is so clear to me that this us one of the first major impacts of global warming that is clear unmitigated disaster that can clearly be ascribed to global warming and so , although one can hope for a major awakening and change of heart and consciousness on the part of our government , it is unlikely.
Do I see Bush actually calling for conservation? Is this possible? I can also see Bush calling for a speeding up to drilling in the Arctic Wildlife refuge as soon as this passes instead of squarely facing the real changes that need to take place in our energy and climate change policies- what more will it take? Does DC first have to also be underwater? What about Manhatten?
And I notice that his beloved John Bolton who he pushed into position at the UN in a senate recess to get his bullying power -mad way is now putting gin hundreds of obfuscating amendments to the policies that were supposed to lead by consensus to reform at the UN. Now there is hardly a chance to make progress before an upcoming major international meeting. Of course Bush really wants to do away with the UN as it is now by the usual bullying stance, (as he does social security, among other things by unfunding it) and what do I hear Monday morning but that he suddenly is willing to accept help for our disaster from the UN??

And of course it is the poor and the minorities who suffer the most from this kind of disaster. And what are hundreds of thousands of people supposed to do for 7 months or a year? And what does the state do Texas do?
And what were the city of New Orleans leaders thinking in delaying taking action to shore up their levees and dikes since Camille 1969 so many years ago? I just don’t get what they were thinking would save them
And what are all the other cities doing:
I think of San Diego and our airport that has needed to be decided about for at least the 28 years I have been there and the hot potato non action that leave us in a mess should sea levels rise- and we have so much of our country’s economic activity on the coasts-how defended are we?
And reading the Buddha’s bio and seeing again the practice of detached observation-all the world is suffering and all the US is set on the accumulation of stuff, the worship of wealth being the goal of our lives and it doesn’t/cant cause or supply happiness Because there is always only the next thing to want-and crave-
Its not that I have some answer- but I really do wonder how I will ever re renter the US and remain in equilibrium-
Not that I am there now- but there are moments- and it seems like there is a chance somehow- of course I am outside my usual obligations- but it is just so different here-
I am very happy to be in a Buddhist country for awhile- tho I wonder how the Buddha would have actually felt about all the Buddha worship that takes place here- shrines temples and monuments everywhere- and so the mosques are also large and impressive as are the churches and the Hindu temples. I’m sure any synagogues would also be huge and showy- outside the churches they even have prominently displayed and visible for a long way little Mary and Jesus shrines that reflect the names and visions of the churches and invite one to worship.

Missing a Jewish presence here.
We have developed a theory about the lost Jews of Sri Lanka- I am convinced that since the Portugese made Sri Lanka a colony starting in the 1600’s and settled hundred years earlier that some of the settlers must have been Jews. I wonder if there are families that still do things like lighting candles on Friday nights like the conversos they have
discovered in Mexico and the southwest US.
In the old church we found in Galle Fort there are pews with mogen dovids all carved along their length in rows- and of course we know it is also a Buddhist symbol- so at the most holy temple of the tooth in Kandy that we visited last month the entrance is adorned with rows of mogen dovids.
The temple supposedly at one time contained a relic of the actual tooth of Buddha, brought to Sri Lanka by two of his disciples from the funeral pyre- this is a long story with a long history depicted in murals along the walls of one of the main rooms of worship. The story includes the tooth having been stolen , destroyed and then resurrected, and it is now hidden in a gold covered vault in the center of the temple in seven layers of ornate boxes. Zonly a replica of it gets paraded at the perahera- the original is considered to valuable and precious to take out and risk a mishap. Supposedly the last westerner who saw it thought it was much too large to be a human tooth- so who knows- but like the holy Western wall in Jerusalem, it has been revered and worshiped so long that it now contains holy energy from the prayers and intentionality fo the worshippers so on some level the actual tooth doesn’t really matter.
Recently, and I guess annually at this time of year when kids are off from school, the holy Bo tree in Anaradhapura that is supposed to come from the original tree under which the Buddha sat to attain enlightenment is open at the highest physical level for a week for people to go revere. We read last week or the week before that there were lines four kilometers long of people waiting to go touch the tree! We love to have holy things to touch don’t we?
So I am finally starting to get sleept0
Will write more another time.

August 16, 17, 21 The missing pieces

2005-09-02T05:08:00.001-07:00

August 16, 2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka

We’ve spent the day, Wednesday in Colombo, after having driven up from Balpitiya with Kala and Indika. Tuesday was the day we took the train to Galle and went through the confusion of the office of the District Secretariat without finding our meeting.

Tuesday was also an adventure day, because we rode the “slow” train from Galle to Balpitiya, stopping at every hamlet, village and “wide space” in a green, wooden train which was brand spanking new in about 1890. An adventure, because the first car got the benefit of some leak or washing of “driver’s windshield” which kept the fellow across from us rather damp, each time the train slowed to a halt. This train left Galle at 1:30 PM and made it to Balpitiya about 2:55 PM. The school children boarded the train about half way on our journey. They all got on at once, and got off at the succeeding stops in groups of two’s and three’s. They seemed too young to be studying for their “A” level exams. But they may have been making up for missed school during the disaster.

We met up with Kala and Indika and the field staff of SIYATH Foundation at a Buddhist temple in Balpitiya. It was a first meeting of a women’s group being formed to serve the local women, most of whom are still in a local displaced persons’ camp. There are two such camps in the area, and this group meeting was for the women from one of the camps. There were 20 women expected. About 40 children and an equal number of women came to the meeting. It lasted an hour. The SIYATH Foundation member, one of the women in the group, introduced the SIYATH Foundation story and the history of what being a participant had done for her. Kala spoke and two of the staff members also spoke. The women expressed their interest and their needs. The meeting closed with several of the children singing songs and two of the women reciting poetry.

We drove back to Colombo along the Coast road. About half up, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, Indika stopped the car at a roadside fish stall. Two men were selling fish, which they gutted, scaled, chopped and put in a plastic bag or two. This was, according to Indika, the freshest and best fish available on the whole island of Sri Lanka. He and Kala always stop to buy a fish or two from this fish monger.

We arrived, just before dark at our guesthouse on Horton Place. We are located near, but not quite in the same neighborhood as we were the first week. The room includes breakfast and a private bath.

We dined in an Indian Restaurant with an air-conditioned dining room. Dinner was 6 curries, rice, some parathas, crispy bread, and all very good. Our tuktuk driver got lost on the way home. But, all in all, it was a good day.

Wednesday, we spent in the office of SIYATH Foundation. We edited, we typed, we did what was most helpful to getting things done. Kamala, the 77 year old founding mother of SIYATH Foundation, was busy preparing an outline of the “Elated School” project. I was privileged to be one of her typists, and I got to read the thoughts about the school as she wrote them long-hand. The concept of “bottom-up” organization of the schools with a partnership of the community/parents, the students, the teachers, the NGO’s and the government school system is very exciting. The ‘elated school’, because the children are inspired to come and overjoyed at being in school. The whole concept of the “elated school” is inviting because it is relevant to the student, the teacher, and the community. The multi-sensory approach to learning, i.e., by using tactile arts, language, music, and all the student’s faculties, is so appealing. Obviously, the educator in Kamala is just bursting out with the very best of her insights to solving this problem of high dropout rates among the poor, especially.

Begin the perahera

August 17, Kandy, Sri Lanka Final night of Perahera

Imagine the most fantastic parade you have ever seen. Imagine a combination of the Rose Parade or the Thanksgivings Day Macy’s Parade. Now transform that parade into a ten night event with a few elephants and a few dancers the first night, then building to an ever larger and more spectacular event each night. On the final night, the night of the full moon of August (this year), more than 100 elaborately costumed elephants, more than 2,000 dancers and drummers and a several hundred musicians. It is hypnotic, it is captivating, and the Perahera is just the most unique celebration of festive exuberance I have ever partaken of. This is a spiritual, emotional event which simultaneously calls forth the devotional instincts of performing participant and the observer/participant. One elephant, most elaborate of costume and flanked by two elephants with three ceremonially costumed guards on each, carries the special Tooth Shrine vault in a silver housing which is held erect by the saddle on the elephant’s back and silver lines which are held by honored men walking beside the shrine. As it passes, all rise and holding hands in palms together, bow toward the shrine. It is a special holy moment in the middle of the festivities. Like all the other elephants, the Tooth Shrine bearer is preceded by Kandy dancers and special drummers, and followed by Kandy dances and special drummers. There are elephants in the parade, who obviously get into the spirit of the event and dance with the dancers.
We celebrate the holy relic, Buddha’s Tooth, which has a whole marvelous history which is portrayed on the walls of the Tooth Temple in the center of Kandy. The grounds of the Tooth Temple become a holy place of worship, the place where the ever increasing elephant herd is housed, and the place where each night the elephants are dressed for the parade through Kandy. During the height of the Sri Lankan civil war, a bomb was exploded in the Tooth Temple grounds which killed more than 100 people and destroyed part of the structures on the grounds. All was repaired, except for the absolute security and caution which is exercised. When entering the Tooth Temple grounds, you go in the appropriate entrance, male or female, with a police man or a police woman, who frisk each entrant, and check every bag and parcel. And like all temples in Sri Lanka, not hats, no shoes, and cover your knees (no shorts).
From our earlier report about the visit to the ancient cities of Polanurawa, etc., last poya day (full moon festival), our driver, Samantha (male), was once more our driver, guide and personal care-giver. He made sure that we didn’t lose too many years off our life expectancy by driving carefully and cautiously enough, and still getting us there in good time.
The parade route changes every night. The crowd increases every night. And favored, reserved seats, toward the beginning of the parade route and above the sidewalk sell for 4,500 Rs per seat, or $45. The seat providers rent the space at street level, on balconies overlooking the parade route, wherever there’s a good vantage point. This seat provider is a hustle par-excellence.

August 21, 2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka,

Scholom Alechem, in his famous collection of short stories, Going to the Fair, describes the fair-goer, as running, almost all the way to the fair, anticipating the smells and sights, the flavors and the thrills he is about to experience. On the way home, Scholom Alechem describes the slow movement toward home, away from the fair, savoring, redigesting, remembering even the smallest details of the experience of the fair. So here I am, telling you more of what it was that the Perahera is.
I left off with our newest friend, the man, who rented the space in front of the store and built at raised up area and placed some twenty or thirty chairs in three or four rows above the sidewalk level, one tusch length back from the curb. He paid the store owner 1,000 Rs per chair. The city taxed him 1,000 Rs per chair, but he paid only 17,000 Rs for all his chairs both nights. Now, you may think that he was making lots of money on that 4,500 Rs per chair. And you would be correct, if he didn’t pay a commission of 10% to each hustler, who sold a chair for him. And then there was his cousin and his cousin’s friend, his special customer in his business, etc., all of whom got their seats for 1,000 Rs or less. Poor fellow, he may have broken even. He and I discussed this situation when I teased him at 8:30PM (the parade starts at 8PM, don’t be late) when two dogs ran down the street and no elephants had appeared. At 9PM, just down the street to our right, out of the local Hindu appearing, Pattini Temple, came their red costumed elephant preceded by torch bearers and followed by torch bearers. The parade began when this elephant arrived at the Tooth Temple, about four blocks away. This elephant bore the image of Lakshmee, the elephant image deity in the Hindu pantheon. This elephant is toward the end of the parade, as Pattini and her female dancers are a relatively new addition to the parade, Kandy dancers being exclusively male.
So you ask, “Kandy Dancers”?? These are the dancers, who after years of training many hours everyday, having been fed and trained on the temple grounds as part of a traditional temple-supported activity, become the intricate dancers and drummers who dance and march before and after each elephant or pair of elephants or trio of elephants. The Kandy Dancers appear, at first glance, to all be dancing the same two or three dances, which all look sort of African. Then, as your focus sharpens you discover that each group of dancers is dancing a different and unique dance representing their temple and their dance group. The all appear to have the same headdress and the same torso silver ornamentation, but closer examination shows the individual temple’s own silver smiths have done their work. So the subtle elaborateness of this holy, wholey festive parade is without parallel in my experience.
The drummers are part of each dancing group. The drummers beat the rhythm for the dancers. And you know that something so intricate and laced through out with tradition, would never allow the drummers to just walk along and beat the rhythm. Oh, the drummers are dancing and maneuvering. They work the middle of the dance-floor as it were. Those hardworking drummers are beating the beat, dancing their dance, and doing all the moves that would make a Big 10 College Band drool. The dancers actually are dancing in the center of the space and down the sides of the space between the elephant individuals, pairs or trios.

And you have to realize that each temple group brought its own musicians. Most of these ensembles included three or four oboe-like reed instruments and two “s” shaped brass horns. These ensembles led the drummers at the beginning of each temple group. Again, not have heard the little tune which these musicians played, we were unfamiliar with their subtleties and the second night, Friday night, by the light of the full moon, we began to discern the differences among the theme tunes of the musicians.

Now there are four temples involved in the parade. So the variation on the themes appears limited. However, as we sat and heard and saw and noted all the differences and began to discern the finer points of Kandy dancing and the accompanying drummers and musicians, our pleasure and comprehension of the marvelous evening became a true sensory feast. We were deeply moved.

August 16, 17, 21 The missing pieces

2005-09-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

8-25-05 journal entry

2005-08-31T02:18:00.000-07:00

August 25, 2005

Dancing with the elephants, falling in love with an overcrowded bunch of devout, celebrating folks, and getting into the spirit of an ancient ritual, that’s what Perahera is all about. The Buddha’s Tooth Relic, the shining golden roof of the Tooth Temple and the many little vignettes are three days and two nights in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

O Ernie, your poem gave me an insight into what to expect. But your experience so understated the ecstasy of being there and doing it…….. Now we are back to work and working hard at doing what we came to do….. and still those musicians with their little horns and their kazoo-type reed instruments, the drummers and the Kandy dancers, the important men in their costumes and all those elephants….. o me o my…. Shall I ever recover…..

August 27 05 entry in jouran

2005-08-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

August 27, 2005 Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

We have been in Colombo for a week, working in the SIYATH Foundation office. Ahouva is editing a long report about a sampling 104 women, who are “home workers” in the District of Galle. The report was commissioned by OXFAM. Kala, the report’s author, has asked Ahouva edit the report and improve the English. It is an 86 page report. Ahouva is editing and trying to keep the flavor of Kala’s language while improving the communication values of the report.
In the meanwhile, we have been doing some one-on-one sessions with Kala and Indika, separately and together, to get a clear picture of the organization, its goals and aspirations, where it has been and where it is going.
One of our chief accomplishments has been to become net workers for SIYATH Foundation. We have in depth interviewed Nazbul and Sree Khan, the Bangladeshi business consultant and his wife. He is a small business specialist, employed by a Norwegian NGO surveying the small business and the tsunami’s impact in Sri Lanka. She is a PR specialist, with a strong interest in children’s matters. They have a two-year-old daughter, after having been married for the past ten years. Nazbul and Sree were staying at the Coral Sands in Hikkaduwa, surveying the local NGO’s and specifically looking at the SIYATH field operations. We met, chatted, and started exchanging ideas. We had completely enthused Kala and Indika about Nazbul before they ever met.
We also introduce Wimal, the owner of the local, Hikkaduwa Clinic, a branch of Colombo’s highly respected Apollo Hospital. Wimal is a marvelous man, whom we met when I had my blood drawn for Kaiser to keep track of my coumadin’s impact on my blood viscosity. He is a former agronomist, who developed a coconut research station in the hills above Hikkaduwa. We made the connection with Kala and Indika. The result was a highly successful, (over 100 children came) clinic for the children of the SIYATH members. It was the first of several clinics. Wimal arranged for the doctors and nurses.
After a very upsetting trip to Moratuwa, a southern suburbe of Colombo. These were just 800 families displaced, with similar lose of life and injury, lose of homes and livelihood as on the south coast. But this area, Moratuwa, has been completely neglected. Kala and Kamala have been looking at funding sources which to tap to bring. The Anglican Priest, who was staying in the Guest House (our second Colombo guest house), reported to us when we returned from the Perahera. He was discouraged by the shooting in Balcaloa on the east coast. We mentioned Moratuwa to him. He had been there earlier. And he suggested that we speak with the Priest at St James Church, which serves Moratuwa. The Anglican Priest, Don, suggested that St James Parish and the Diocese of Colombo were
Planning to spend money on relief for Moratuwa.
I have become the “SS” short for Siyath Slave. Kamala, the founder of Siyath, has been busy this past week writing about the ‘Elated School” and a campaign to keep tsunami impacted children in school. Further, upon hearing about St James Parish, arranged to meet with the Parish Priest. All this work was handed over to me as her typist, because all the other clerical staff (2) were being swamped by the needs of the organization. And through all this, I was also the secretary for emails to Holland, and the editor of the brochure about the education reforms.
In between, I’ve had an opportunity to work on the micro-lending program of SIYATH. There was a program in place earlier.

A message with an appeal

2005-08-31T01:58:00.001-07:00

August 29, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

We’re back in our cozy little apartment behind the SIYATH Foundation office, across the street from the Royal College, a privately operated elite school for the promising boys of Colombo. Ah space!! After living out of suitcases in little hotel rooms and guest house rooms, it feels luxurious to have a little more space. Though we don’t have a kitchen, i.e., with stove, hot plate or cooking area, the kitchen space does have a small refrigerator and a sink (without hot water). And we have an east facing balcony with hot morning sun and a clothes line (of coir, of course). With a dozen plastic clothes pins acquired at the Hikkaduwa Sunday Market, we have a natural dryer for our small laundry.

Since Perahera, we have been in Colombo, except this past weekend. We were back in Hikkaduwa to make some field visits and to pick up our heavy luggage which we had stored at the Coral Sands, our former hotel home in Hikkaduwa. The running joke at SIYATH is that we won’t make anymore interesting connections for SIYATH, because we’re going to be limited in our social life to SIYATH office staff and the neighbors. At the Coral Sands in Hikkaduwa, we met tsunami volunteers of all nationalities and activities. We have a wide circle of acquaintances in the tsunami relief efforts of many nations and many organizations. We have met home builders, psycho-social workers, English teachers and volunteer day laborers. We even met a woman who lives in Guernsey, who distributes bicycles, sewing machines, boats and nets to individual tsunami victims. (She has been coming to Sri Lanka And the South Coast area since February 2005 when she was among the first three guests to return to the Coral Sands. She distributes aid for about two or three weeks and then goes home to Guernsey and collects more money for the list of projects and requests she gathers in Sir Lanka. She has planned two more trips to Sri Lanka this year.

We have also made contact with the UN and other NGO’s, who are trying to coordinate all this relief and reconstruction efforts. Imagine, there is no central clearinghouse which keeps track of who’s trying to do what.

The government is unable to, because it is juggling the hot potato of how to allocate the vast sums of money which were collected and/or offered. There are displaced individuals from the twenty-year civil war and from the 12/26/04 tsunami. The north and east of Sri Lanka were very severely impacted the tsunami, and also severely devastated by the twenty-year civil war. The south and southwest of Sri Lanka were severely impacted by the tsunami.

We visited an area, Moratuwa, just in the south western coastal suburbs of Colombo, between the Galle Road (Coast Highway) and the coast, next to a little fishing harbor, which has been totally neglected. The area still has debris and rubble as it did on December 27. As though preserved for us to see the devastation on the day-after, this area, Moratuwa, was just heart breaking. The little children are all scratching, because there are only two showers for several hundred people. Ahouva gave calendars to the little children. One of them reached into his pocket and gave Ahouva his favorite shell.

We’ve started a campaign with two local church groups, one Anglican and one Buddhist, and of course our Jewish connection to gather some funding and get some help and assistance to these folks. SIYATH is setting up a children’s center.

We’ll solicit your participation through AJWS with any contribution earmarked for our efforts with SIYATH. If you put our names on your contribution to AJWS, we’ll get access to the money for this and other similar projects. Thanks a&a

A message with an appeal

2005-08-31T01:58:00.000-07:00

Ahouva's addition

2005-08-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

7/9/05
It snowed last night where we are staying!! We find ourselves after an overnight plane ride and a connection at the airport to the first of three trains, at the mountain cabin in Switzerland-it is cold in our room and we have fluffy down comforters covered in blue striped cotton and a glass door that opens out to the green mountainside where the cows graze, ringing their bells. There are only a few chalets like Albert’s cousin’s up here near the ski lifts. Albert’s cousin Georg’s father bought this place , believed to have been built in the1500’s, with his brother in 1927 and the family comes here whenever they can. In the partially cemented cold room ,off the kitchen one can see the original round logs with moss still fitted tightly between . Life centers around the dining/living room with a huge dark green soapstone heating stove and food is carried in by Krista, on trays from the kitchen which has a stone floor and a window onto a porch that has a view to the mountains, but is on a different level. It really is like life was in Switzerland a long time ago and it is a perfect place for us to rest for a few days, though we take daily hikes, despite my foot in its walking cast which I hope to have off soon.
On Sunday the church bells chime, sounding just like the bells in the Sound of Music, the meadows are filled with wildflowers-purple bells, daisies, huge red clover, giant buttercups and you know that Heidi and her grandfather live just over the hill!
How strange it seems to begin a trip to the equator with being cold! It still amazes me that we can get on a plane in New York and fly overnight and be in Switzerland in the mountains where it snowed last night and it’s cold and gorgeous and green and be with another branch of our families. How amazing that Albert and I both turn out to have first cousins in SWITZERLAND-nice, involved Jewish people that we are.
Anyway- Albert’s cousins are lovely people and live a very spartan life so we have no heat in our room –it is about 45-50 degrees at night though the living area is quite cozy- and of course we have no clothes for this- having left everything at my sisters house near New York where we will return in October.
I borrowed a sweater.that I wear day and night and a light windbreaker for hikes.
The mountains are getting dark- the sun shown on them in great pale yellow streaks and then it faded but the light is still there. We are up tin the clouds- there was a partial rainbow at dinner I could see all the colors- the purple and blue were especially visible. The clouds, referred to by the locals as the witch of Chur, or the snake of Chur (pronounced Koor),come creeping up the hillsides and then recede. So you are in the middle of a conversation at the table, and its all green and then you look around and it is all white and then you look again and its all receding or returning.
I felt very jet laggy at first and was very happy to have a place to rest-but amazed to have started our journey after so many months of preparation and organization, I sometimes think I should get a medal for actually pulling it off! WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED HOW COMLICATED IT WOULD BE to extricate ourselves from our lives and businesses- and try to set it up to work in our absences, and fully expect to be able to return to it all four months later! I was grateful that we had a whole week to be low key in Saranac event though it turned out to be much busier and workish than I wanted it to be- it just took such drive to get this in gear and get all the cogs turning and now I am truly exhausted!!
It is such an intense thing to have a shopping list and a to-do list that really has a time constraint at the end- especially since I am not a shopper and it feels like a major chore.
My foot sprain is keeping me in tow and slowing me down, It forces me to see the world differently- what is it like to live in the world with limitations that I usually don’t want to have, that our culture abhors, that keeps one confined in som,e way not of one’s choosing that requires one to take care of oneself!
So much to assimilate- feels like there is still a full plate from the US that I haven’t digested yet and there is already a new plate in front of me.

7/11-
We saw a fox yesterday stalking next to the house and then peeking up at us from under the house and wandered down into the valley-back and forth-he looked just like the fox from my tall nursery story book! Reddish coat with a lighter muff around his face, long fluffy tail. We went for a long hike in the mountains out the door- this is really living in a different era. The house has many layers of family history and some items that no one can identify but which are nevertheless precious- a spinning wheel kind of device that is not a spinning wheel- and old mattresses in a closet- on the second floor covered by old skis and old sleighs. We had a tour of the house today- and saw the little porch where the family can sit when its nice- and there is also a stove on the second floor so they are not cold up there in the main room above our dining/living room. There are balconies everywhere but it is too cold to enjoy them so we hang out just in this room-Albert talks all the time and the family seems entertained but I am bored because I either already know the story or they are speaking German of which I know about every 5th word- much too much interaction. I just want some private time but it is too cold in our room!’ This is good practice for Sri Lanka I am sure as it certainly is not the level of comfort I am used to- I feel so spoiled !
Krista makes us yummy soup and we go up the huge gondola to the mountain view area of the Weisshorn and it is surrounded by couds but every few minutes there is an opening and a tease of blue sky appears and the sun warms us, and then it goes away again.

7/17- Our last morning in Avevey, after packing up, was spent at the village square, where we had stayed our first 2 days, down by the lakefront. Saturday is market day and under the permanent stone roofed market, tables were sett up with local wine, and if you bought a glass for 5 or 9 francs, you could fill up your wine glass as many times as you like. I was briefly alone and some guys tried to pick me up- so I knew something was up!! A small band was there playing a JOHN PHILIP SOUSA MARCH MEDLEYmarch
Spent our last evening in Switzerland in Zurich eating yummy Chinese outdoors with our friend Rael who is working on his PhD in neurobiology at the university. Enough cheese for now!! He is studying the interface between meditation, brain function as measured by EEGs and psylosibin (sp?).So you know why he is here, home of Sandoz and the original LSD, rather than elsewhere. Some of his subjects have tried psychedelics before and some have not. Not surprisingly, what he’s noticed so far is that the people with experience are the most at ease with the whole experimental procedure!

7/18- We had fallen asleep on our 2 hour flight to Sri Lanka, and suddenly the lights were on, we woke up and there was the sunrise- yellow and red below a black cloud, and below us were pillows of white clouds covering our “resplendent isle” as Sri Lanka means. And then we landed and it looked so green and tropical- which it is! Bananas and papayas and coconut palms and blooming huge plumeria and oleanders. And it could almost be San Diego if it were much hotter and moister!! Our warm and welcoming host Indika picked us up at the airport with hugs and kissed and took us in his car on the long journey down the airport road to Colombo. They are building a highway but it is not ready yet and we were traveling at morning rush hour- all the white uniformed schoolchildren who go to government schools and the men on bicycles and motorcycles and 3 wheeled taxis and of course the traffic all goes on the left hand side of the road- which doesn’t mean cars don’t try to pass you heading towards you on the wrong side!

ALBERT WATHCED THE GUYS TO SEE WHO WORE LUNGIS, THE LONG WRAPAROUND skirt like fabric some older men were wearing. There is some lovely woven fabric in blues and greens many seemed to have- all wore western style shirts or t shirts. Many people along the main road in western dress, though some women wear saris.
We stopped at a pastry shop to have our fifth meal in the 20 hours we had been traveling! Little meat pies and fish pies and veggie samosas and pies with a hardboiled egg and meat.
With iced coffee that we had such a hard time convincing Swiss coffee shops to make for my 95 year old Aunt!!
You kind of get used to the hanging in there of the long trip but it is still so exhausting and wee had a great sweet lassi at the Mumbai airport!

We have finally arrived in Sri Lanka after all night at the Mumbai airport. Groups of 3 guys came and took our passports, our tickets and our baggage claim forms. Sure do have to have trust!! The Sri Lankans were the mowst scrupulous of any security people we encountered. We had to identify our bags and have our handbags checked not only by the machine but also hand searched!! I was patted down twice, etc. And all this is while having special treatment due to my foot which of necessity is still booted-unfortunately. It seems one cant simply go to booted for a sprain for 6 weeks to wearing nothing at all and walking all over, which I tried to do one day to very ill effect. Oh well. I wouldn’t have predicted it worked that way either!
The Sri Lankan flight attendants wore gorgeous green saris with a peacock feather design, and our ground support person wore a cranberry colored similarly designed sari- all were gorgeous, smiling and welcoming.

7/20
Met Emily this am who took us back to Dialog to get our cell phone working, get A trained and we made reservations at a guest house in Polonarwa which sounds quiet and lovely and has good home cooked food and is rec’d by both rough guide and lonely planet. We then registered at the US embassy and walked to the Indian embassy, Albert thinking he smelled tempting fishy smells and me realizing that it was the stench of garbage-and a dead crow we saw by the side of the street. We got accosted by a young hustler, foolishly fell for a line about elephants and ended up spending money to visit relics in the buddhist temple-great ivory, litlle statues, gems, etc all in cases lining the walls. We saw them washing the stuppa to prepare for the Poya- full moon festival tomorrow-using a small cherry picker to hold the guy with the hose. Then got dropped off after paying too much for the trishaw and giving the guy a tip- but went by the lake and saw tiny tin roofed huts on the green stretch of river,leading to the lake in the center of town that had water hyacinths, and junk floating on it. Passed Independence circle- they all seem to be circles-can’t begin to figure out how the traffic sorts itself out- not just the driving on the left but who goes first etc. Later in the day when indika picked us up to take us to the bank and a couple of craft stores- we found some kitchy stuff and some gorgeous fabrics, there waws a full fledged gridlock- a trishaw driver had stuck himself behind a car, blocking another car and so the traffic could nto go either way and he refused to back up to let the cars through when the light changed. So we all just sat there until.someone figured out a way to move. The trishaws are motorscooters with little seats fitted on them so they are referred to as tuktuks-but hey are louder than that and you can have the next car’s exhaust in your face while youa re witing for a light to change, and depending on your driver, you may go intot he wrong lane- try bring on the wrong side of the road witht eh traffic coming at yhou! It’s a little hairraising!
This afternoon we had a tour of the main garden in town with an older guy who said he was the gardener- but who cleaqrly made money from giving tourists tours- but we got a good view of the giant fruit bats whose wingspans are 3 feet!! Hanging upsaide down in the huge trees and saw a cinnamon tree and a rubber tree and giant ficus trees- just like in our yard! And mahogony and teak and a cannonball tree with coconut looking fruits that were sort of like coconuts but heavier and more plentiful-hanging all ovet the tree- and giant vines and lumbering succulent-looking parasites that seemed weightier than the trees they hung on, but flowering anyway and three frangipani trees with the most delicious fragrance- I remember wearing and adoring that fragrance from the Haight Ashbury in the 60’s.
At night, Colombo reminds me of Jerusalem 35 years ago- little hole in the wall shops, puddles of dirt and piles of cement next to half finished houses, little home ou can peak into barley furnioshed but having a tv set so people know thay should want more stuff THAN THEY HAVE!!AND EVERYTHING TAKES twice as long or two trips to do what you thought you could do in one try!!
We have our forms for the Indian visa but will get them in next week-
7/22- SO many ideas going through my head- like keeping going when you are too tired, and WAY too hot- like you would have given up long ago at home-like the steamiest of NY days and you are trekking around in and out of ancient buildings and temples - thank G-d Indika and Emily insisted we have Samantha drive us- there would have been no way to see what there was to see today without the car and having the air conditioned sitting breaks and less walking was such a blessing. like having our first Shabbos in Sri Lanka, like class issues with Simantha,like walking around Buddist holy sites in your very dirty socks, unable to wear the hat you brought to protedt you from the sun--like heading off for 4 days with no laundry and having it be ok. Sink and the bathroom a lovely tiled, self enclosed private bathroom unit with a frog family siting in the toilet tank.Washing socks and shirts and underwear in the little sink- discovering happily that Albert had brought some sample bar of Jergen’s soap, as I , of course, had forgotten the concentrated camping laundry soap that would have been really useful now. But packing seems ot be such a production every time we go to the next place- either the weight of the suitcase or in this case- what do we really need to take with us? And not having enough time to really think clearly and so we don’t have any extra socks or laundry soap or our daily vits--
I was looking around today- at the hillsides, and the trees and vegetation and at the people bathing at the tank and realizing it REALLy didn’t look anything like San Diego- as much as there are banana and acacia trees and hibiscus etc, did I ever see the rich green of rice paddies? The endless stalls by the road with fruits and tschotchkes and the ads for Coke and Toshiba dn Internet mixed with Sinhalese signs for everything.
There is a statue of a man in a sarong and business jacket in the middle of the town circle and he is guarded by three medieval looking lions as of he were part of the Polanaruwa ruins---Lat ehis aft as we were heading home, I asked Simantha if we could stop and get some mangoes and pineapple and he took us to the market place and I watched a merchant pack up his wares in layer after layer of split cardboard boxes which in the US would have long been thrown out, but whioch when bound by a faded turquoise rope tid sturdily with lots of knots made a very secure package for his wares- which had been fabric. Watched another vendor take the red fabric that made his shade on his stall and untie the tabs that held it to the wooden frame of the stall so if came undone and he could take it home-
We are 13 hours ahead of San Diego- it is strange when we see the full moon behind the clouds as we did last night to think that it is halfway around the clock-and more importantly the world—
Cows beside the road- a gray brown color a claf chases next ot us at full speed down the side of the road- traffic is hysterical- especially because I am not driving-it is like being in a bumper car. If people want to pass another car, they will try, even if it is in the city and they are on the wrong side of the road, even if it is at night and it is a a narrow rural ROAD,. Even if it means your are dring for awhile 3 abreast. I got to watch a fabulous tableau of an Indian family bathing with all the children by the side of the outlet sluice for the tank above- there were stone steps on one side and the family dunked the smaller children while the older siblings held them and sat helpfully by. A couple of young boys in blue bathing suits
Swam strokes rapidly across the rushing water to see if they could really make it to the other side. And the stone sides had been constructed so that families could sit there and bathe in this way. The traffic jam I was sitting in at the time was caused by a small car trying to drive into the side street we were trying to exit. We were following a bus also trying to exit the side road, which led to the tank and the museum, where we will go tomorrow. It took several minutes for sufficient pressure to be placed on the driver to have him let us exit this small road and to wait his turn. A policeman was going through the streets with a bullhorn trying to ge the traffic moving again-
You know you’re in a developing country when-
You sleep under turquoise mosquito netting- as if we only have white in the US
You open the bathroom door and a little gecko scuttles by
The mosquitoes are tiny but deadly and they suddenly materialize at just before dusk
You have a family of little frogs living in your toilet tank
Your driver gets one rate for everything and you get another
You see cows by the side of the road
You see elephants bathing in the nearby tank (man made lake) in the morning and people bathing in the same place in the afternoon
7/23-
Got up around 8 but my stomach had been talking to me for a couple of hours before- maybe the rice and curry we had last night- an array of birds caw and sing and call very early, along with the muzzuin- our hosts at the Devi guest house are Moslem-
Went to the wood carving factory accompanied by the cousin of the proprietor
I had mentioned I was interested in seeing local crafts-
The wood shop host showed us the kinds of wood- ebony, teak, balsa, mara etc but when we started talking about prices for a foot long carved semicircular piece he was talking 32 American dollars- about 10 times the price that might have been appropriate. We were ready to buy and felt some obligation but the prices were so completely out of line- we were offered a cobra walking stick yesterday at the ruins for $8 and he wanted 4 times that amount- it was just impossible. He showed us some tiny and cute sandalwood carvings but they were also just absurdly priced. When the cousin went with Albert to get bananas I asked Samantha and he said it was baksheesh-here they call it batar? I am sure they got a take of our safari driver’s $40 pay today but it was fine not to have to arrange it ourselves.
and he was a very good driver. Went to the museum this morning which turned out to be a very big deal in which the curator or administrator was called in and my foot was the excuse.
Samantha and the cousin fought for us all the way and it was really an accomplishment. On one hand I don’t blame them for charging a surcharge for foreigners-whitey’s really, but sometimes it just seems unfair- it is only with very great effort one can see most of the site in a day, and without our driver we wouldn’t have made it either from the heat or the distances.
The museum had some gorgeous bronze Hindu statues all from about 1200 and there were several replicas and reconstruction models of several of the key buildings from the site. It had been so incredibly hot and I go so exhausted that it didn’t mean much to me by the end but I was very glad to see the reclining Buddha and the beautiful circular building and palaces and giant Buddhas elsewhere.. I also liked many of the before and after pictures- it was amazing how they reclaimed these ruins from the jungle- some levels of buildings literally had trees growing out of them.
We had naps and rest at midday with some fruit- watermelon, perfectly sweet ripe papaya and mango- and some lychee like rambutan this seems to have become our routine- somehow 3 meals seem like too many in this heat. Either we have a big lunch at 3 and little dinner or fruit for lunch.
The safari seemed very disappointing at first- an interminable wait at the gate after an hour drive-they didn’t have change for Albert- $12 APIECE AS entrance fees plus $ FOR VEHIcle, driver and guide who spoke awful English and spent most of the trip talking to Samantha plus 15%VAT on top of it all- so this 4 hrs cost us almost $70 – very pricey for us. Wonder what additions we will discover when we get our bill tomorrow. Starts feeling like everyone looks at you as a purse not a person. A was exhausted- I am afraid he has caught Indika’s cough- my tummy still isn’t ok but I am familiar with this- it is like we get hit where we are most vulnerable.
7.24-
What was it like watching elephnants in the wild?
200 people in jeeps for 200 elephants-
A group herded together protecting their babies- one little one went galloping over to visit a friend who she saluted and then ran back to her place in the herd next to her mother. A few younger guys with tusks were with the rest of the herd- 2 big guys stayed solitary-we watched one bathing himself. Elephants had a great time swishing the grass around with their tusks and then picking it up to feed themselves-
It was like they were FEEDING THEMSLEVES SPAGETTi with their trunks over and over before they took a bite. Yhou got the feeling they were eating in a leisurely manner rather than that they were really hungry and needing ti eat this minute.They played with eah other and follwed a leader who was willing to protect the others when a truck seemed to threaten them, and to lead the way across the meadow to the water. Several females crowded around the babies to protect them. Some were very young and still nursing.
We seemed to spot them and where they were as well as or better than the driver and tracker. Driver was good and obliging but wonder what our hosts got as payoff-I see I am really paranoid at the moment!
Wee were very bounced and jounced in the jeep but it was worth ot- also saw some unusual birds, mogoose and a peacock without his nig tailfreatghers- 3wanted to sspend much more time with them but that would have to be different set of circumstances-
7/27- THREE MORE DAYS IN COLOMBO
DROVE DOWN THROUGH SIGIRYA and didn’t stop to climb it but stopped to get straw and look at wicker and went to the gorgeous shrine at KELINYA where the Buddha was supposed to have stopped- gorgeous decorations painted on every wall and ceiling and they have just set up protective banisters. We had stopped there on our way up butt it was brimming with devotees and we would never have gotten a chance to see the decorations up close-there were devotees anyway sitting in prayer and chanting, many flower offerings and some chanting- besutiful staues of reclining and sitting Buddhas and a stuppa to walk around- holy water was being poured there and at the Bodhi tree shrine and candles were being lit at an alter for that purpose- felt like grave offerings of the holy Rabbis in Israel.
Spent three days finishing business at the Indian embassy, yesterday, the Sri Lankan immigration today- Albert almost fainted- it was so hot and stuffy and endless lines-and meeting Monday with Kala – a real dynamo- bouncy, energetic and in charge and another sacred conversation with Kamala who feels she is being rushed by Kala and would rather have time to do more planning.
Havent really seen Kala or Indika since- they have been dealing with their sick little boy and with all their various work duties. We are driving down to Galle tomorrow with Indika even if it is only so we can have some time to talk to him- we were supposed to meet last night but they needed to tend to their son. Tonight we went to a play- tho they could have met- but we had made plans. It was a 1977 play delaing with women’s issues and relationship issues and all kinds of things but hard to hear- fun because it was outdoors and there were four different venues for a set of scenes that were all taking place simultaneously in the play and one rotated around in a group- but not very satisfying conclusion. It was so lovely to see each of these spaces on different levels and with characters with different body tyoes and accents.
Another bighlight of these days was dinner Monday with Mandy Winston who is the head of the Joint-THE staff person here-from Londona nd for 9 years Jerusalem- spent 4 years working on projects in the FSU- the joint reallyh ahs help set up the whole Jewish infrastructure there> She knows Joe Shoenwald of course. She is here to oversee their playground project sand other work they are doing with Sarvodaya organizing income projects around coir workers in the East. WE WERE TREATED TO a lovely Thai dinner in the most gorgeous jewel box of a restaurant- you felt like you were in a very serene palace- very nice atmosphere and attentive wait staff- and to be taken and delivered by her driver in a comfy car!!
Have met two groups at breakfast- one from a Dutch NGO having to do with building domes- in conjuinction with a group in Texas that has been working on design. They have 12 houses built in Bolivia- they blow up a balloon and pour concrte over it and can have up to 40% in windows and doors so it is flexible. They usually just do projects for groups who request it but are making an exception here.
The women from New Delhi we me today were here to oversee the rebuilding from a human rights and advocacy perspective-they discuss the way houses are built- whether they are built with the people or just for the people- and whether they are uniform or flexible as to size according to the size of the family. They
Immigration/visa extension was kinfd of a bureaucratic maze but you should have seen the official in cubicle #3 light up when we talked ot him about how we loved the country etc.
ALBNERT ALMOST FAINTED FROM THE HEAT THERE.
Sunday was the funny dinner a the Indiuan restaurant where we were th entertainment which Albert wrote about.
The midget waiter beamed that we gave a 20 rupee tip!
We watched Tuesdays with Morroe on tv with Jack Lemmon- it was poignant knowing it was his last or one of his last films. Made me feel better somehow
It was such a relief to get haircuts today- a’s looks cool and even !! and mine looks great- he was very skilled haircutter and lovely swishy guy- and A really liked how he did his hair too- after the sweat and crowding of the immigration all morning it was so nice to get pampered and have some space and the hairwash girl was very gentle and massaged your scalp.Met a lovely guy with Harpo productions at the Commons lunch place near haircut place –had interesting luch of pita wrap w mushrooms inside and tuna stuffed little potatoes w cheese melted-actually ate a ltitle salad w grated carrots- nothing I have been madly in love with – had little devilled corned beef toniote- was hot w tomato slice which tasted yum but nothing like any corned beef I have ever tasted and I hate the white bread we keep getting- oh well-lots of tropical fruit anyway-
Spent last late aft and evening reading tsunami eyewitness book I had gotten- based in Sri Lanka around Galle it is really worth reading-I had to stop today when I read abt the train wreck and loss of life- really horrifying- nice to be in a comfy room with a bed we were sharing that was comfy- tho the mosquito netting is really slimy. \
7/31- It is Sunday early morning, a gray day and I have not slept well- both from deep cough that I caught from Albert and from searing backache which is probably from too much lying around yesterday- I had a fever- about 100- which is about 101+ for me. That part seems to have passed. I can’t believe how quickly my mood has changed – I think I am just deeply in culture shock- after just one day in the field. It didn’t help being brutalized emotionally by a couple of touts on the beach the one time I ventured out yesterday they just harassed us the whole time we went for a walk on the beach. It is just so upsetting to be always being pursued by such needy people- to be here in the off season which is already depressing anyway- it is like any tourist gets pursued doubley hard and by more people-my Rough guide says that Hikkaduwa, the beach village where we are currently hotelled in the off season has all the charm of a construction zone- and this was before the tsunami!! As one small example, the hotel adjacent to ours opened on December 24 for the first time-can you imagine? So the whole back of it is being rebuilt, so we have the workers carting cement and rocks, hammering etc. outside our window and a little pool where I can swim short laps!!
To see miles and miles of destruction around you, and to have everyone you talk to affected by the tsunami in some way is overpowering. We get around a lot by trishaw- also called tuk tuks- tiny 3 wheelers run by little engines- every driver who picks us up tells you how many people his family has lost. Today, we went from the marketplace-see A’s entry- to the Internet location- and the young man who picked us up lost nieces and nephews and one of his parents. 3000 people were lost in this small area. We passed several small cemeteries by the side of the road, the main road which goes south from Colombo..You want to grieve with each person and you express sympathy and how can you take it all in?
Friday the heat was exceptional, we discovered my hat was missing which we still have not managed to find, not sure what happened to our replacement either and tho I tried to stick close to Harshony, who had a an umbrella, I was somehow really affected by the sun- and seem to have gotten some kind of heat stroke. Fever stayed with me yesterday. It is so damp I worry about my computer.
We went to see one of the children’s after school programsrun by Siyath in a nearby village in the afternoon and there were tsunami pictures all over the walls that the kids had drawn, As Kala pointed out, the parents as well as the kids are really still traumatized and the kids are not getting the attention they need at home because the parents are preoccupied with basics about housing and livelihood, and still have nothing in the way of possessions. The individual attention and the activities and materials and homework help the kids get at the program are critical. One of the kids offered me the picture he was coloring. It was the balloon man and each balloon had a different Sri Lankan alphabet letter in it.
By mid afternoon of the first day in the field when the childrem sang a song on cue- it was skinnamarink adink adoo I love you, I just lost it- my usual role of expressing the grief around me. Didn’t have much luck trying to regain my composure in any short order and I had to cry some more when I got home. Some piece of it was why should I have the right to feel lousy and complain in my air conditioned hotel room when the people around me have suffered and lost so much. And who am I to complain about being hassled, hustled and overcharged because I am American when everyone here has so much less than me. So, this doesn’t really help, but the conversation is there in my head.
An example- our first day in the field was Friday. As we went to the site Siyath is renting a few miles from here, a nicely dressed man came up to me and asked whether we could help with his English program- he is the district director/manager and wants to see his teachers better trained in conversational English so they can teach better. If we stay here for two months we might be able to do some classes in the late afternoons- but wont commit to anything yet. He already called and wanted to meet on Sunday!!
An internet/gaming site we liked in Colombo had lots of boys and young men playing games with each other on line and it was so much fun listening to them talk to each other in Sri Lankan-English accents about destroying each other!! They must have had some good English teachers or family who lives in the states or UK or they learned destruction vocabulary online or who knows!!
So this weekend I have collapsed like one of the houses we see around us here. We took a mental break by watching Titanic on the computer-definitely want to get more dvds as there is only do it yourself entertainment here. Some mental break! More death and destruction !! More class descrepancies!! We ate chocolate we had brought- hooray for chocolate- and read an old Harpers series of articles I had brought about who was Shakespeare- the guy from Stratford or the Earl of Oxford. Neither case seems airtight but they both have good arguments an dit is a great seemingly unsolvable mystery.
I am so glad Albert is such an optimist- when I get in this kind of a glump it is hard to be around me. We are getting along very well. Somehow realizing we ware very dependent on each other and being kind to each other most of the time. I find that the thing that upsets me is being rushed ion packing in the morning- so getting up earlier helps- but it was good to really unpack here after 5 weeks on the move so we could see what we have and access it. Lots of vitamins!! Last night’s entertainment during dinner was a cricket match on the tv in the bar adjacent to the dining room. Sri Lankans are nuts for cricket for some reason. Will try to get into that sometime.
We have a view from our room with porch to this rock formation right off shore- that you could swim to if there were not a very strong ocean with indeterminate currents and if not for the coral. One of the things the tsunami did was to throw huge quantities of dead coral at the shore which is now being ground and used to make cement blocks which are used to build new houses.
We met a volunteer, a teacher from New York City- Sarah who is here building houses as a volunteer for a month. We asked her to join us at dinner on Friday-she laves Tuesday. I have given here Pella’s number. Thinking our time here may be way too long- what in heaven’s name will we do here? And how can we help? But cant imagine managing with physical labor for a month- tho I might be in much better shape after that.
I went lap swimming this am-want to keep it up on a daily basis.

Later- I think one of the things that’s hard for me is to just let it be that the people here are all needy in some way, that I don’t need to be responsible for it or fix it and its ok for me to be taken care of and it doesn’t make me less. But I get really crunched around by the unfairness of it all- the Buddha biography I am reading is very helpful in seeing all this- the whole world is suffering-
It is so much easier to see that there is much to work on in San Diego from here than it is from there,whre my head was at. Sunday is Sri Lanka’s village market day in many places that we passed in the north on our trip and in Hikkaduwa where we are residing. As we arrived aI was thinbking how like a marketplace in any developing country- they had music blaring and it could have been Mexico- and not really unlike our farmer’s market in Hillcrest but it is much more makeshift and homespun and simpler iitems for sale and closer to the ground. We got there late and I got a coconut- we have had several young yellow cocnuts ou drink from, but none that you can eat the meat of,except already shaved in our sambol- mixed with chopped onions and chili powder as part of the ubiquitous rice and curry served here, We also got some mangosteens these are very riund and dark maroon, you kind of squeeze thwen open and discard the rind and inside there is a small citrusy kind of fruit in 6 or 8 sections-very sweet juicy and delectable- very short growing season-July and August- and some little bananas-many varieties here including some that are ripe when they are green!!What would George Burns do with that as joke material!!
News flash- Albert just put on his first sarong that we bought over a week ago in Colombo at one of the upscale shopping centers> IT LOOKS GREAT. SO IT IS OFFICIAL-he wears the skirt and I wear the pants in the family it is handwoven of many colors and is gorgeous. You can picture it if you think of a long skirt wrapped around the waist.
Sri Lanka has its own special qualities stemming from the predominance of Buddhism here and the traditional and worshipful way people practice. Our host at the guest house in Colombo talked about dhomma- the r is kind of silent-that the tsunami could be better understood in terms of dhomma than the Christian worldview of who gets touched as being punished for one’s sins. On the other hand, there is a belief that the reason there are a lot of crows here- we see them along the shore instead of seabirds ( tho we did see some lovely pink pelicans up the road a ways) is because people stole from the temple and then were reincarnated as crows!! How helpful is that?

We’re on a meal plan at the hotel here that includes breakfast and dinner, and many of the 10 days we have been here we have just had fruit for lunch. Today we found a restaurant recommended by both Indika and Kala and by our guidebook here and had truly wonderful soup with lots of veggies and Chinese fungus- I had hot and sour soup- not so hot or sour but so rich and full of yummy things and it felt like a huge gift- so we may be eating a few lunches there.
Friday I just had water but Albert ate the ubiquitous rice and curry at a local restaurant where all the workers eat.
Breakfast-
What is often served here as American breakfast is fruit, usually papaya and banana and pineapple- the sweetest you ever tasted-4 pieces of white toast, marmalade, eggs which are very pale and tasteless-especially compared to our yummy organically fed free range egg laying chickens—and tea- so this is not very interesting day after day- so we have started having Sri Lankan breakfast- stringhoppers- basically little thin noodles served in piles, with what we would call yellow potato curry, but they call white curry, and a fish or chicken or veggie curry and the coconut sambol, and sometimes dahl or a chili veg or other dishes. The key is that you eat it with your fingers!!
We get a lot of fresh fish here- yummy-and have had good chicken at our hotel but nowhere else-it gets cooked to death- interested in exploring more Indian and veggie food.
Monsoon- As I said it is off season and this is the period for monsoons in the south where we are. It has poured at some point every day since Weds big black clouds gather and it just pours torrentiallyand Thursday night there was lightning and thunder all night. So you might think it would make it cooler the next day but no- it was hotter Friday!! As I write it pours suddenly outside- it had been getting darker and then- whoosh-
8/1/05
A new month. Saw Indika last night on his way home from Matara where they have a new program going. It poured a bunch during the night we awoke to it.
In the middle of the night we took our doxycycline as usual and sometime later I woke up heaving and threw up my pill. It left me with not a very lovely feeling when I work up at 6, so I went back to sleep. We had a very relaxing and not too hot morning and I noticed again that the women all carry umbrellas . Albert got me one on Monday and it made all the difference on Tuesday.
We drove farther than we have been to the south to another village, a fishing harbor and then farther and inland. It was so gorgeous and sumptuous there. There are banana trees, boug, hibiscus and lantana and coconut palms- of course, and we saw a tree with little red sour fruits that make you pucker but if you have rock salt with it ,it tastes good. Then we saw a tree with a fruit that sounds like an umbrella and looks like an avocado and is solid and firm inside and also sour and is supposed to be good for blood pressure- also improved with the added flavor of salt.
We saw amazing means of production today. We began with a visit to the collection center where we saw the women who sort and weigh the coir yarn as the 200 women in the village bring it in- we watched as many women arrived with their children and their wares. We found out later that vacation started Friday. They were all ghaving a lively discussion about what they were doing and it turned out they had a question avbout the source of the coir and whether the provider was selling them wet raw material. Next we drove farther into the interior to the area with the small coconut husk pit covered by palm fronds and the little crop growing area of the community with the flowers and fruit I have been describing. Then we went to se where they have a large loom to make large mats of fiber used for erosion control and saw where these were doubled in size and rolled into huge rolls and then compressed into bales. We also saw a machine for spinning or cleaning the coconut fiber that was one fo the dirtiest things we had seen in our lives, It filled the air with dirt and made it had to breathe, I was very concerned the young bot would en dup with some kidn of lung disease and it was hard nbot to cough just from briefly passing by.
8/2/05
We went far south almost to Galle today. Our driver arrived in his tuk tuk late because his van wouldn’t start. Not nearly so comfy as the van but close to the earth and luckily it hadn’t rained so much so there weren’t so many big puddles to avoid or get splashed by.
Got very hot today and my umbrella made it utterly tolerable and MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE THAN ANY HAT .
Our friends Sarah left this morning and we got to meet Peter Cooper who is the coordinator of the building project she was working on. He is frim the states, interested in adobe and noted the very hard red clay under the earth if you go any distance inland. On one hand I have images of Mata Ortiz, but do I teach that concept to people here if it is not an indigenous art?
I am so amazed what seems to be burgeoning with Siyath as an organization. When we came to the office this morning we saw Harshony who told us that she had been meeting at a new village yesterday where they met with 300 women to talk about setting up coir work and as after school program. They seem to really have a model that works and can now replicate it with great ease because the demand is there.
The Siyath staff was planning for the month and Harshony mentioned that she was working with 2 other staff to set up a clinic with a couple of doctors. She mentioned that women had rashes and there were other things, eyes, teeth etc.
I am wondering if the AJWS and Action AID funding is helping all this to spread. If so it is really good that they have found a good partner in Siyath to get the work done.
The village we visited was coir worker central. There were spinning wheels by every house and women at work doing the basic coir spinning process. The field coordinator and her assistant were with us again and it was frustrating not to be able to talk to her directly.
We saw the foundation for a house that had been destroyed by the tsunami and they were awaiting the resources and I assume the funds to get the materials to build with. A great number of women materialized here-maybe 20- even more than yesterday- fo course we are an attraction, and it also seemed to be an area more affected by the tsunami and where people were living in much closer conditions. This may have been the case before but it certainly was now.
Near a navy base we came to a huge field where there was a UNHCR camp set up using tarps to create temporary shelters- ther were about 30 set up around the perimeter of a very flat field. It looked like some had already been taken down or had never been put up as there were big spaces across the field.
At the first site we saw the field coordinator say that the rope/yarn that they were amking was too thick. This was being made by 2 girls- but it wasn’t demonstrated how to do it thinner so I saw them continuing to do it the same way. I wonder if they are new at it or don’t understand how lightly to feed the fiber into the wheel. It is a very delicate process, but does not seem hard to do. I now understand the purpose of the y’s made of sturdy twigs that we had seen yesterday in the jungle. These are to support long strands of the yarn as they come from the spinning wheel.
I wonder about the child labor- do they just stay home sometimes, are they kept home from school because the family needs the money? Is there summer vacation?
The English teacher admin- who has 300 teachers in his district says that they just started summer vacation last week due to tsunami- they will start school in early Sept. This must be leftover from British system as it has no relation to any crop or harvest cycle here.
What was hard for me to see today was the grueling nature of the work in the coconut fiber harvesting mill that turned out to be owned by our interpreter’s nephew. The poor woman picking up the fibers from below the machinery and putting them into the spinner was so sad and it was clearly so exhausting, and the lady spreading out the fiber to dry seemed so sad and exhausted this was really too bad . I keep wondering what such a system would be like if owned by the collective. For one thing, people would clearly switch jobs during the day. They would probably find better ways to do things. What kind if machinery could be invested to fluff and clean the coir without being so dirty, requiring backbreaking labor and causing health problems from breathing the dust and fumes? IT FELT LIKE THE MECHANISM FROM HELL.
8/3/05
We spent he afternoon at the children’s society, or club as we would call it. We started out in the living room with the older children, 10-18 and they were having a very formal meeting where they discussed what they had done last week, had a treasurer’s report, collected dues from the few children who brought a coin, and voted on the program that was proposed by the staff. The weekly plan consists of a different main activity each day, such as club on Wednesday and sports on Friday, and I was not clear on the other types of activities. At a later part of the day there was a quiz on school subjects and various students offered songs of various kinds and the others sang along. There were also a couple of dramatic skits, both of which involved students seeming to misunderstand the teacher and the kids all thought these were very funny. I thought it was great that they entertained each other and enjoyed each others’ efforts and entertainment and they clapped for each other each time.
It reminded me a little of camp spirit.
It seemed that mostly the older kids participated and the younger ones watched- it would be good if there could be a middle group as well so there could be more participation. There are a couple of 14 year old boys who are very much into being in leadership roles, took major roles in the club meeting and wanted to talk to us and have our cards at the end. Several older girls were also very interested in hanging out. Many of them are very shy about their English, but our translator, a former English teacher and principal, got the staff to get over being shy long enough to really begin to talk to us this morning for about an hour,. The downside is that he really is bossy and orders people around and puts words and phrases in their mouth, which of course I then correct!. Albert was pretty bored by the whole thing and kind of disconnected but I was very engaged. At least we were beginning to break thought the language barrier which is very frustrating. It is nothing like any language I have experienced and at least as different from English as Hebrew is.
I was moved to tears again by the little ones. There were literally 40 kids sitting in a tiny room such that they were seated on the floor cross legged and covered every single inch of space. There was one window and the room was not more than 8x10- it would have been a tiny bedroom by US standards, barely big enough for a bed and bureau, no closet. So here are these children sitting attentively as each one gets up and sings a song, some with a friend or two, and the others sing along and clap and this goes on for about an hour, They had their meeting first, before we went in, so they were in this room for an hour and a half and were really well behaved the whole time. Several students had to leave to make enough room for us to sit in this room and they left invisibly. It was astonishing to me and a testament to how much they really wanted to be there, and how connected they are to each other.
Then they lined up outside in the hall to go outside and play in the dirt yard immediately next to the railroad track. Luckily there is a little barbed wire fence separating the railroad track and the play area so they can play without being at risk. Can you imagine this ever taking place in this manner in the US? They have exactly 2 seesaws and two swings.
We have seen several examples of this deep connectedness. On our first day in the field, a woman hit her head on the metal overhang covering the marketplace. Everyone crowded around her for quite awhile, got her water, rubbed her head and stayed with her until she was ok. Its not that this wouldn’t happen in the US, but the number of involved people, the time spent and the care was much greater than one might see in a similar situation and was quite touching.
I wish we had thought to bring some balls (as if we could have carried any more luggage) or could just get our hands on some equipment. The owner of the guest house in Colombo said he and some others wanted to donate some playground equipment and I am going to call and suggest that this would really make a big difference here.
There are several such centers and Siyath plans to open several more,. Their program is really in expansion mode. Not sure if I mentioned before that last week they had a 6 month evaluation from Action AID, a UK relief agency that has helped them set up tsunami relief programs and they were absolutely thrilled with the comprehensiveness and quality of the programs Siyath is doing, They audited the books but also sent 3 teams to the field to look at what they were doing with the women and children’s programs and were delighted with what they found.
What is wonderful is that they have a well trained and experienced staff that has been in the field for years so they have been able to expand their capacity with much greater facility than similar organizations might that would just have started in the post tsunami era.
Tsunami relief- what we see
The village of Hikkaduwa,, where our hotel is, has moderate damage but I think the coral reef , some riprap around the fishing harbor and some mangroves really helped protect much of the property from the kind of extensive damage we see a little farther north. IT IS important to note that even with this stated, almost every hotel or guest house on the ocean side sustained damage and some seem to be irreparable or will take massive overhauling.
One sees miles and miles of rubble and half destroyed homes that literally sat next to the ocean, on the ocean side of the road in the maybe 12 feet or so between the road and the ocean here..There are also beginning to be piles of bricks and some construuction taking palce beside th road even in the hundred meter zone which is a huge bone of contention between the people and the government.
One sees signs such as the Village association of Wellagama and the country of Florence. Printed signs that say donated by the Italian people or the Danish people. Several places claim that Samaratan Austria here is building 24 or 18 0r 12 temporary homes.THERE ARE rows of WOODEN SHACKS ATH LOOK IMPOSSIBle FOR aNYONE TO LIVE IN THAT HAVE tiny windows that are boarded up.
According to our coordinator builder friend who has been on the East Coast, the damage there is even more extensive, Great areas were washed utterly clean of buildings and homes. Before I left San Diego, my friend Mannie gave me an article about the politics of the relief money entitled ^ from treh aation.etc and the friend here confirmed that the government has participated in a great giveaway of the coastal area to developers. There will be massive development of hotels and but not with consideration for the needs of the people.
To understand how the damage and loss of life was so massive, it is important to get a sense of how Sri Lanka is developed.
First the railroad. It runs exactly along the coast for miles and miles and slightly inland for large stretches. You literally look out the window and see the waves breaking below. We took a short train ride from the main station in Colombo to the closest one to our guest house, where the immigration office is located. If you are in Colombo, the capital, where 20-25% of the population lives, the Galle road, one of the main roads running north south, is one block from the beach in the center of town. In the US, you would of course expect to see rows of hotels and condos taking advantage of this, but in Colombo, I didn’t even realize for days that the ocean was right on the other side of some of the shopping centers we were visiting.

We have become a little more immune to people asking for money- visit to the trasiwreck where 100o people lost ttheir lives= people say, I lost my x y or z, and hold out their hands, the woman at the horrible job cleaning out the debris from the coconut husk squeezing machine yesterday with a miserable expression on her face for which I don’t blame her one bit, holding out her hand and asking for money when she thought the boss wasn’t looking, the woman at eh marketplace today asking me for money to have another sheltered area at the market. When I asked her how much, she said 2000 rupees (about $20) which didn’t really make sense-it shouldn tn have cost anything like that much but I just said I didn t have that much. Which, in fact, I didn’t.
It is kind of strange not knowing from day to day what we will be doing the next day. It is more of the same of just needing to trust, but at some point we will need to actually nail down a project and my fear is that by the time we get around to that we will have 6 weeks left which feels like very little time to accomplish anything, So in the moment, everything feels fine, but I did not come here just to hang out, get to know the org and make some suggestions. I think we are going to have to get more directive about how to best use us.
On some level I am not sure Siyath really needs us. On one hand it is a great opportunity as Indika said for us to consult with them on long range planning but if they don t have time to spend with us it will be impossible for us to implement a consulting project. ON A THIRD HAND? I have already begun a suggestion list.

The Journal Enrties

2005-07-27T03:29:00.001-07:00

June 27, 2005 Knollwood Club, Saranac Lake, New York 2205 hrs EDT

We arrived here last Thursday 23 June 2005 at 3 AM . Crazy, crazy escape from San Diego on prior whatever day, trying to pack away what would not be there for the tenants to use or be in their way. Creating the space for them in the garage and in the rest of the house. Packing everything as though we were moving out, but erealy putting everything in the garage or in my office. Empty all the closets of 7 years of gathering. Chucking everything that was much too precious to throw away earlier. Still packing away stuff that will be meaningless when we return.

Then a brief sojourn among our friends the Barkans in Berkeley doing all the good bye saying at Tuesday supper in Chinese restaurant with cousins, siblings, nieces and nephews, friends, etc. Got some pictures in the new digital camera, I think. Repacked for the flight to Albany.

Repacked again at the airport in Oakland, before leaving to even out the weight among the six allowed pieces so each weighed no more than 50 lbs. Then off to Albany New York with a brief lay over in Las Vegas. Poor Ahouva still has her walking removable cast on her left ankle and foot. She got to sit in wheel chair and be wheeled around by an attendant. Sounds easy, but was stressful.

Finally got to Knollwood about 3 AM and managed to start sleeping and napping and resting our exhausted selves. We’ve been getting up late, and lazying about and finding doing nothing quite refreshing. The lake is warm, don’t tell anyone that June can be lovely here, even though the “season” only starts in July. We’ve been swimming and kayaking. The tin boat sits at the cottage #1 dock, as though the Swiss cousins were in residence. Poor Ahouva can’t walk to the boathouse, so to take the motor boat out for exploration of the lake and the various regular spots to which we travel and picnic, we take the tin put-put boat over to the boathouse. We also swim to the boathouse at least once or twice a day. Good exercise.

The flying animals have discovered me, once more. I’ll bathe in anti-bug fluids or schpritz them on me, or curse the bugs……

Only now do we begin the arduous process of really packing for Sri Lanka. First to sort and count the med’s and the vit’s to make sure that we take enough, but not too much. As we are returning for the wedding of Robin on the 22th of October, we have wedding clothes and some winter coats and some formal clothing and such like stuff. That will reduce our luggage by several, perhaps two bags. For sure one bag. It would be paradise if we have only four pieces of checked luggage on the legs to and from Sri Lanka.

Packing for the cousinage stop over in Switzerland should be exciting. We’ll try to check luggage for a week in Zurich, while we go to Arosa and Vevey, five days each, in that order. It would be just lovely to have sort of over-night baggage in one smaller bag for that piece. We’ll see.

Got on the internet this evening in the new cyber café in Saranac Lake. The place has three iMac’s and the possibility to plug in or wirelessly connect our own laptops. We brought our two laptops and connected. In the meanwhile, six skilled musicians jammed doing blue-grass and some of their own compositions. They all play guitar. One also played flute. And one also played mandolin. The mandolin is a Gibson, rather old, and interestingly shaped with a graceful peak or crescent on the bottom. The music was just the right accompaniment for our work.

This record is beginning herewith. When edited and cleaned up, I may send it out. In this raw stage, I’m hesitant. Perhaps a good editor, kind critic, will encourage my continuing. Or else raw ego may put this out on my blog.

It’s 2235 hrs EDT and time to sign off.

Journal Entry 28 June 05 1412 hrs EDT Knollwood

We went skinny dipping last night at about 10 PM. The lake was calm and glass smooth. The lake was warm. And an occasional shooting star turned out to be a firefly. Their quite unusual, for a west coaster to see.

Continued on 29 Jun 05 0950hrs EDT

Spent the day resting, shopping at two farmers’ markets to get ready for a day of semi-working. Hope to get a used copy of The De Vinci Code. Lady at the bookstore next to the post office seems to have a copy that the store will sell, if it has a price on it.

Woke to lots of bug bite, and one that hit the exact upper lid of my right eye. It swelled three-quarters shut. Didn’t put in contacts all day. As General Patton would say, “Thank God for my regular glasses, which are light sensitive and darken outdoors, hold my new (Feb ’05) prescription, and are graduated-multi-focal.”

Hit our local cyber-café, the Chickadee, on the way to Plattsburgh. Nice to hear from Cousin Georg, who now describes himself as, “the Elder Cousin” because he is my senior by six months. Being good Germans and coming from “good houses” we know that we must respect age and seniority.

I look forward to visiting with him

I saw everything all day and drove 49 miles to Plattsburgh to pick up Pella in the middle of the night. Got to Plattsburgh in time to do some last minute shopping. Especially trying to find some of the little forgotten items like long pants for me, a make it up embroidery kit for me, some toiletries and things for Ahouva. We hit K Mart, and Walmart, and finally supped at Applebea’s.

My, my how those big warehouse stores do require some shopping know-how on the part of the buyer. Like shopping in any other “big box” store, it just takes for ever to find where things are. And then to find folks, who will wait on customers. We were in Walmart close to midnight. Therefore, the two night crews were busy. The one was cleaning the floors, while the other was stocking the shelves. So the widest isles were either under noisy attack from floor washing and polishing machines, or stacked high and clogged with boxes of merchandise. No pretty people were anywhere to be seen. These were all the night people, heavy of image and either bone thin or huge of body and obviously unhappy, but doing the job for which they were being paid. Not a happy place. This Walmart image contrasted with Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Mall across the highway. There the fellows were still cheerful and helpful and knowledgeable of their inventory.

Called Kaiser advice nurse too late in the day, and got some good advice about compresses and cautioning about my sensitivities.

June 30, 2005 Journal entry

Bad day at black rock. Seem to be out of sorts. Snapped at Poor Pella all day. Grouched unnecessarily. Reacted to her normal way of being in some Prussian manner with overtones of general impatience. Not nice. Must apologize in the morning.

Rather curious day of laying about, reading my book, the Da Vinci Code and thriving on the little sidebars the author, Dan Brown, takes into the history of Western Civilization, especially the Catholic Church.

Made some progress on the continuing education for the Tax Practice.

I’m beginning to see what I need to do the job for which we’re off to Sri Lanka. I’m going to prepare my wish list for my supervisor.

Economic statistics of the SIYATH Foundation:

Number of members divided into existing functions, i.e., spinners, weavers, mat makers, etc.,
Products currently being made from coir, i.e., rope, fish nets, mats, wall decorations;
Economic history:
Annual production by product, i.e., mats, rope, etc.
Annual sales by product i.e., value of sale, revenues
Annual expenses in as much detail as possible, i.e., labor, materials, tools, etc.,
Training, i.e., actual typical history of learning the trade; Does everyone learn to do everything through an apprenticeship program, or does each worker only learn a specific specialty?
Description of relationship between SIYATH and each component group at the village, clan or family level.
Description of SIYATH from the top down and from the bottom up. This would be a paragraph or two about SIYATH as the big foundation relating to the local components and the smallest “member” unit’s relationship to big SIYATH
How is the coir industry organized? From whom does SIYATH buy or take or get the coconut husk? Has the shell, meat and milk been extracted first, and the coir is a waste material, or is the coir removed before the nut is processed? Describe the process of extracting the fiber from spinning into yarn. Are younger, greener, fresher coconuts easier to work than older, riper coconuts?

Insights into SIYATH:

How is the organization currently structured? How is the administration selected by whom? What are the components of the organization, administratively? How does SIYATH interact with the its membership through what media of communication? What is the model out of which SIYATH was created?
What are the functions of SIYATH in the coir industry?
What are the functions of SIYATH in relation to the village, clan, family organizations of which SIYATH is comprised?
What are the services SIYATH provides
Who delivers those services
How is SIYATH compensated

Journal Entry July 6, 2005 greenwich, ct 0730 hrs

Since we last spoke, there’s been some changes. We’ve been canoing on the Charles River and digitally recorded a family of swans with swanlings 7 in toe. Why does the swan hang her left foot across her back and paddle with just one foot? Why do her swanlings two out of seven do the same? Does the male swan or does the female swan lead the parade? Check my pictures for answers.

We bought out all the supplies in the Boston area. Now we shall purchase what little is left in New York City. We’ll have a first and final meeting with AJWS in their offices at 11 AM.

Had some real adventures driving through the streets of Boston Area. There is a conservation movement afoot in that locale. Metal prices and supplies, being what they are, and the great need for metal products in the War on Terrorism, Boston area municipalities are doing away with unnecessary street name signage. The strength of America and the Exporting of freedom ( or is that our Freedoms?) requires much war materiale. We therefore dedicate our efforts toward winning that war by removing street name signage or never even putting it up in the first place. O Lord, who made Boston Area for Bostonians, bless them with the insight to stay in the neighborhoods and not wander far. Else they will all be in the streets of Boston, seeking some location and/or their homes once more unable to find either.

July 12, 2005 Enroute Basil – Vevey
We left New York on Thursday after having had a wonderful in the Knollwood Club on Lower Saranac Lake, first alone, just the two of us enjoying late June in the Adirondacks, and then with Ahouva’s daughter, Pella, and finally with the about-to-be married’s, Robin and Adam; down to Greenwich for two days with Nancy & Bill,; Wednesday in New York for tea and talk with Dean, dinner with Ahouva & Pella, and home on the train; Thursday busy, busy,
Left for Kennedy at 3:15PM for 6:30 Swiss International flight to Zurich. Wheel chair a bit long in coming but we managed to get all the luggage through with out any being weighted. Oh, dear reader, you didn’t realize Ahouva has a gimpy foot and ankle (please take note this is the ancient medical term, “frankle”) on the left side.
Arrived Zurich a few minutes early. The stu’s putting Ahouva aboard from the wheel chair somehow managed to lose our little lunch ,and my trusty old blue little medical thermos bag. An indication of possible need for a new one.
Found the place to stash the excess luggage, went on line for 2 Swiss francs for 3.5 minutes to find Georg’s phone number, caught the train to Chur, scrambled for the Arosa train, and arrived in Arosa around 2:30 PM on Friday afternoon.
And so began our first day of this grand adventured.
Ahouva was sensible, and took a nap. I went for a short walk with Georg & Christa toward the overlook to the next lake up the valley. We picked an Arnica flower, which happened to be the center of a prescription recommended to Georg by his physician. The local pharmacy had none in stock and claimed not to know where it could get some in the strength recommended. Georg called Jacob, his son, who works for a firm which makes exactly what the doctor ordered. Georg call the pharmacist and suggested he order it from Jacob’s firm. The phone rang as we returned from the walk. It was the pharmacy announcing the arrival of the Arnica solution in the strength and form prescribed. It does pay to have your children in the business, even when those children have passed their 40th birthday.
Haus Schoeneck is an old house which has survived at least two hundred years, and possibly three hundred. With minor modernizations, like some electricity, a new heating stove of soap stone seven years ago, and a telephone, the place is as Uncle Rheinholdt bought it with his brother in 1927. Oh, I should mention, it is now connected to the municipal sewer, even though the water source is still very local and shared by only two other families.
Once at Haus Schoeneck, one is far above the village of Arosa, and hardly accessible by car. It’s all on foot and carried on the back in a rucksack. So we spent lots of time resting, taking short walks, riding up the cable car to the Weishorn and looking at the flowers and the view of the clouds.
Arosa can only be beautiful. It may be sunny and bright with all colors more brilliant, or it may be overcast and dulling of the floral brightness potential, and there is always the music of the mountain brooks, the cow bells and the Sunday church bills.
Peace and tranquility abide in the mountain meadows, flowers abound as though it were perpetual Springtime. Yellow buttercups which reflect every yellow yet created by the Creator; purple, lavender, blue and pink bell shaped blossoms, lupines standing tall in purple, blue and pink array.
Does that flower or this one have a name? Can I remember that name after this walk? Is the altitude impacting my stamina? Am I short of breath or just out of shape? Questions about the place and questions about my reactions.
Daily routine: 6AM Georg lights a fire and reads and doses off until 7AM when he hears the news on his little radio. This appears to be his daily contact with the world. He may go on line (dial up) and continue the projects on which he is working with colleagues.
For me and for us, Arosa was the rest reward for overwork in preparation of the journey.
Elisabeth came with Raoul on Sunday. Raoul is 5 months and cute as a button, and a read resemblance to quite a few family members. A child with sweet disposition. He is a marvelous addition to our restful living. He sleeps in the morning after breakfast and in the afternoon after lunch. He appears to sleep through the night, though that may not be correct and accurate reporting. I sleep like a baby and have very bright and activie dreams.
On the 12th we took the early (8:48 AM) train from Arosa to Chur, changes to the Basil train and arrived at half past noon in Basil. Met up with Jacob and parked the luggage for later; street car to museum which houses the oldest municipal, public art collection dating back to the mid-17th century, when Basil City began buying art and exhibiting for general public enjoyment. The citizens voted to fund the purchase of a Picasso painting. When Picasso heard that the municipality had purchased one of his paintings after voting to fund and purchase, he gave, at no cost, five more original paintings from his personal collection.

July 14, 2005 Vevey, Suisse

We are on our last days in Switzerland. It’s Wednesday. We’ve been here in warm French Suisse since Monday.
Monday morning we left Arosa at 8:48 AM and trained to Basil for lunch with Jacob & Christof at the City of Basil’s fine arts museum. It was a delight to chat and joke with our cousins. They were warm and engaged in a conversation which never seems interrupted for more than a minute or two, even though we haven’t actually been eye-to-eye for four years.
Jumped on the train to Morge for change to Vevey. The train is the most modern and most wonderful, fast, comfortable of Swiss trains. We munched a little and slept a little and made a terrible error in Morge. Ahouva got on the train to Lausanne, which ended in Lausanne with my backpack, the pill bag and her grey bag with her computer, leaving me with the two big blue suitcases and no identification and no ticket or money. The train for Vevey and other such like places came next. Ahouva and I met up in Lausanne once more and everything was just fine. However, there was a slight moment of strangeness as the train pulled out of Morge with Ahouva aboard and I was on the platform with two suitcases and nothing else.
The conductor from the first train, who had pointed out that our train was arriving in the station on time and that the Vevey train would be standing waiting for us saw Ahouva on the Lausanne train and said to me, “well the train you want is coming a little late, but your wife should be fine and waiting for your in Lausanne.”
We arrived and were whisked to dinner with cousin Pierre, aunt Laura (95) and the Mexican family of Hubert & Laura; Laura’s sister Sandra, mother & father are here. Sandra has moved to Switzerland and landed a job as a packaging designer for a consulting firm, whose chief client is Nestle. Dinner was the local specialty, pan-fried perch. Dinner was lovely with poli-glotting in French, Spanish and English.
Tuesday Aunt Laura came to get us and take us swimming and then off to Payerne, about an hour away to see a retrospective of Hans Erni, a 96 year old artist, whom she knows and who is a first name acquaintance of aunt Laura’s son Michel. The swimming in Lac Lemans is fabulous. Like Saranac, the water was cool, but not too cold, and very healing and soothing. Just lovely.
The drive to Payerne was a bit on the long side, but I slept part of the way. The exhibit was fabulous. There were tapestries, at least twenty in number. They were executed by at least five or more different tapestry makers. Some were wool and some were silk. The tapestry makers included Swiss, French, Japanese and others. Just fabulous.
From the main chapel of the ancient Cathedral of Payernes (16th century) where the tapestries hung, the exhibition went upstairs into additional space over the chapel where ink, tempera and charcoal drawing were exhibited. At the end of that space was a brand-new, 2005 tapestry, the cartoon for which hung immediately to its right as one viewed the tapestry version of the cartoon. In another space there were drawings and lithographs inspired by the tsunami which are dated December, January and February of 2004/2005. Remembering that Hans Erni is 96 years young, and looking at these very moving lithographs, I was brought to an emotional state of tears and tremendous feelings. I shall be asking Michel to use his good offices to get me the suite of tsunami litho’s and ask if it possible to get postcards or posters of these very fine works.
Hans Erni’s work is very original and very moving for me. I shall be treasuring the catalogue of this exhibit for some time to come.
Tuesday evening dinner with Hubert, his pregnant wife Laura, aunt Laura, Sandra, Laura’s parents, Hubert & Laura. Yes I know that you noticed Ahouva wasn’t mentioned. Well of course she right there at dinner.
After aunt Laura went home at 10:30PM, Ahouva and I went on line using Hubert’s DSL line.
Wednesday

July 18, 2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka WE HAVE ARRIVED

We spent yesterday, Saturday, traveling from Vevey to Zurich. The morning was to begin with a swim, but it began with a walk to the shores of Lake LeMan, photographing the small flowers in the wall of the Tour de la Peilz, photographing the two towers for which the place is named and packing.
Punctually at 11:30 AM cousin Hubert picked us up, took us back to Vevey’s central square which was filled with vendors’ stands and booths, offering everything from food to clothing. The covered area with the pillars was the locus of the band, and folks stood on the steps surrounding this covered area drinking wine which was sold by the glass in the glass of the year. Each refill was free. The sun was bright. The impossible and the improbable continually took place in this mass of folks. They looked for each other and found one another. Cousin Laura, all pregnant and radiant, accompanied by her parents and little Hannya suddenly appeared and we were together. We drank a last toast, kissed each other good bye, took a quick last round of digital photos, and went to the train station. The 11:58 AM local took us to Lausanne where we caught the 12:XX to Zurich. We arrived punctually at 2:30 PM. Our uneventful train ride included the artist sitting across from Ahouva, who sketched me straight on and in profile, and did the fellow from Koeln, who sat across the isle.
Arrived Zurich at 2:30 PM met Rael and went to get the additional RAM for Ahouva’s computer. Had a down pour while waiting for the RAM to be installed. Moved into dorm for the night. Had Chinese dinner of Cashew Chicken, Spicey tofu with veggies, and Congpau Chicken.
Turned in by 11PM. Rose at 6AM for airport by 8 AM and flight at 10AM. Flew to Mumbai, arrived at 9PM local time and waited for flight to Colombo at 3AM.
Arrived Colombo at 6:30 AM to wheel chair service and Indika.

July 21, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

WE must go back to Vevey for a moment and dinner with cousin Pierre, aunt Laura (95), little Laura (Pierre’s daughter) her husband Fred, son Killian, and 15 day old second son, Javin. The traditional Alpine dinner of green salad, melted mixed local cheeses over thin sliced local dried beef and boiled small “new” potatoes. Double cream and strawberries for dessert. End conversation with Little Laura and Fred was about their life n Africa as missionaries for Jehovah’s Witnesses and their experiences with foods, Moctezuma’s revenge, and their suggested bug spray, a Swiss formula, available in any Swiss drugstore and available in three strengths: adult, children’s and laundry. Even though we were off in the morning to Zurich and on Sunday to Mumbai, we were strictly instructed to get the miracle formula, even if only at the Zurich Bahnhoff/Airport drugstore. We got it. It’s great, and it works.

Now back to the present. We packed and breakfasted, stashed the extra baggage, and were off with Samantha (male) our driver in his van. Stopped at the Laundromat to get our laundry. Of course the promised wash was not ready. We went off to a very nice temple to view and hear the story. Took pictures. Returned to the Laundromat an hour later and still nothing was ready. So we left it there and drove off to Dambulla, the home of the Golden Temple and five cave temples. Today being a full moon festival of greater significance, the place was jammed chucker-block full of folks, young and old, couples and whole families, rich and poor, climbing an astoundingly ascent the 480 feet up stairs and pathways to the five “cave” temples at the top. Ahouva, wounded in the left foot/ankle, as you’ve all come to know, climbed those thousand stairs and steep-steep hill to see and look and gaze upon the wonders. Five caves with a formal, narrow temple entrance each. Inside the ceiling and the walls were painted with fresco-like techniques. The chamber in each is filled with one or more large Buddha images, sitting in meditation, preaching or reclining. The central Buddha or Buddha’s in each chamber is surrounded by images of disciples, also sitting in awe and meditation posture. In one of the caves, the Sinhalese king, who encountered the Buddha in the forest, is standing and having a moment of realization with the Buddha. The frescos are quite unique, as they portrait many rows of Buddha images, about 10 inches square, with each image appearing almost identical to the one next, except for the color of the seating cushion. Some of the frescos are falling apart. Some of the frescos are faded. And then after several hundred years of living in a dark and dampish cave, we might all lose some of our original splendor.
The drive to Dombulla and the on to Pollanuruwa is a strenuous lesson in driving techniques. The roads are two lane or one and a half lane. The traffic is sporadic, open road with no competition, or jam-packed with everyone trying to pass everyone else, as though there were a prize for passing everyone. The traffic consists of 70% trishaws (a three wheeled cab with seating for two or three in the passenger seats and a driver up front which is a modified motorcycle), 20% passenger cars and passenger vans, and 10% every type and size of truck. We are in a passenger van. Our driver is gentle and not too daring in the passing and being passed department. We have survived, as of this writing and plan to survive the rest of the journey. We trishaw in Colombo, and that’s always a hair-raising adventure.
Over to the day’s adventure of seeking out the marvelous, the magnificent, and the historical wonders. This town is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka. Some of the kings, who ruled from here, made great and wonderful gardens and palaces. Others squandered it. One king managed to unite all the island under a single ruler.
Be peaceful and gentle with one another. We’re learning to be that way…… A&A

July 22, 2005 Friday. Ahouva tried to kill me with culture. We’re Polanaruwa, the cultural heart of Sri Lanka. There’s an anthropological park in which the kings of old (eleventh, ten and those centuries) took turns building palaces, temples, bathes and wonderful structures which have survived in part and made lots of work for contemporary anthropologists. These kings of old have also created a livelihood for postcard, map and chatshkey sellers of all types. I almost bought an ebon6y walking stick, head of a cobra, just 2200 sri lankan rupees. Now that’s about $22. For openers, that’s a healthy price in these parts. “No, no,” said I, “it’s a very nice can, but I have no room in my luggage” And so we bartered. I gave no sign of interest, and he started lowering the price. At 800 rupees, my mind started to click. And Ahouve was wearing her boot for this day’s climbing and walking. She had confessed to liking the canes, umbrellas and other third legs which she had used in Switzerland. So naughty me, I put the onus on her. Would you use it if I bought it? No, she said. So that was that. Now as we paraded through the ruins left by those kings so long ago, climbing uneven steps, taking off shoes and hat to approach the holy sites, etc., I would ask after my ebony cane, and wouldn’t she be wanting it about now. And her reply was one and the same through out the morning and early afternoon. “No thank you!”
And truth be known, I now regret not having bartered with the fellow in ernest. For in my non-existing collection of useless items, an ebony cane with a cobra head handle on which to rest my weight, and the snake’s length gracefully, artfully wrapped around the shaft of the staff, in exquisite carving, (becoming more appealing by the second), should be included. On another occasion, like tomorrow when we go to the museum, I’ll have to stay alert for that fellow and make a deal. Or in the fashion of a good story, I’ll have to report that on my way home I ran across an importer, who having bought 1,000 of these canes, made his fortune selling them into the New York men’s accessories market for a mere, smear $50 each and saw them retail at $200. He, however, bought them at my price of $4 (400 rupees) each.
The ruines were spectacular. A cross check with our guidebook and the photos with give a sense of these great city precincts which were being built when Europe was in the dark ages, and Crusaders were rampaging through Europe and the Middle East.

July 24, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

We have returned home to our original guest house where we were for our first three nights in Sri Lanka. This is the place where we left our extra suitcases full of pills and vitamins. We had been picked up by our driver, Samantha (male) in his Toyota Van and whisked off to get our laundry. But then you’ve read all that already.
So this morning, bright and early, after recovering from our afternoon with the elephants in the local national park on an adventure called a “safari” we paid our bill and set off on our adventure to the rock fortress about an hour’s drive south and east. The frankle (a foot and ankle injury which is diagnosed in keeping with our high medical standards) of Ahouva wasn’t up to climbing a precipice even taller and more demanding than the one we had undertaken two days earlier and the one we undertook the day before the “safari” So the $40 entrance fee, plus the lack of ability to climb, made a brief walk at the bottom admiring the second moat and the first moat and that was it. We drove off to have the daily adventure of seeking out the leachy-type fruit which are red and or yellow variety. They are sold at the road side stands in the area where they are grown. This year the price ranges from 5 Sri Lankan Rupees to 3.5 SLR. Last year, during a local draught, the fruit was priced at 10 to 15 SLR. We ignored the cashew girls, because they were too aggressive and assertive for our meek-mannered approach.
As we were retracing our steps to Colombo, we had some ideas about the places we wished to visit and the things we wanted to explore. The next stop on our tour was the wicker weavers area. Driving down A6 there are suddenly a mile of shops, each with a wide assortment of wicker furniture, baskets, straw hats, mats. We stopped, bargained and came away with a beach-mat-for-two and a basket for carrying beach objects.
The weavers of cloth were closed, because it is Sunday, and this is the last day of the Full Moon holiday of July which started with the Full Moon on Thursday. It is also one of the Buddhist major holidays of the year, because it commemorates one of the Buddha’s three visits to Sri Lanka. Naturally, on the way home, we stopped at the Kalinyah Temple which was built in honor of the Buddha’s visit on that occasion, when he created peace between fighting royal brothers. This awe inspiriting edifice includes a reclining Buddha, a golden Buddha, frescos telling the story of this visit of the Buddha to the island. Further, there is a Bodhi tree, the tree under which the Buddha meditated, and there is a stupah in which a diamond chair is enshrined, symbolizing the seat or throne for the anticipated return of the Buddha in human form.
The trip was concluded with a stop at Laugfs Supermarket where three bottles of water were bought for 91 SLR which is the best price yet paid for water.
Dinner, after a shower and a nap was the exciting high point of returning to Colombo. At the end of our street a group of Trishaws sit and await customers. We walked to them and began the bargaining process, insisting that our trip to restaurant was short and sweet, worth 100 rupees. We argued and seemed to agree. However, when we got to our destination, he insisted on his original bid, 300 rupees. We settled on 200 rupees and said he was unfair.
We then looked for the vegetarian eatery which was recommended by the guidebook. Only one problem, we couldn’t find it. Instead, where our restaurant was to have been located, we found a vegetarian eatery which was patronized by locals only. The menu was illegible as to what was going to come. And the English spoken among the owner/manager, the waiters and the busboys was minimal at best. We ordered a few items, onion dhosa and masala dhosa and their “special vadaia” The world’s shortest waiter brought us goodies about which we didn’t know. One was quite spicy and the other was principally coconut and sour flavoring. Two types of bread were brought, one which was like a thin version of the Ethiopian bread which covers the serving plate, but ours were smaller and light and delicious. The other bread was a parata-like wheat flour pancake which I had associated with Punjabi cuisine. A soup-like vegetable something was served and some sort of a spicy vegetable mixture. The large pancakes, one folded over and filled with fried onions and the other with potatoes, tomatoes and spices. These were delivered by one of the waiters by hand. These pancakes were very hot, even for the delivering waiter.
Now you must join in the fun. You see there was no silverware offered. We were to eat with our fingers. The entire wait staff came at different times to watch us and laugh at our difficulties. At one point I asked for a napkin. I was offered pieces of newspaper. As I wiped my hands, my hands became blacker and blacker. The local news paper is not printed off-set, but in the good old-fashioned way. After a hearty laugh by the wait-staff, the owner/manager offered me a bar of soap and a real towel. We were the greatest entertainment these fellows had seen for some time.
Oh, yes, I must mention the tea, we ordered “tea, please” as we are strictly forbidden from accepting locally offered water unless it is bottled and we are served the closed and sealed bottle. So two medium sized cups in bowel saucers were brought. The delivering waiter spilled a bit of tea on the samosas. So he quickly redelivered the samosas fresh from their deep-fried origins, hot and delicious.
This fine repast was concluded with a bill for 225 rupees. That translates to $2.25, dinner for two. It is the first encounter with the local economy where we were totally dealt with as though we were natives. Everyone else has been jacking prices on us, slightly or greatly. Our tri-shaw ride home was 150 rupees which is what the ride over to the restaurant should have been. We must improve our bartering skills.

July 25, 2005 Colombo, Sri Lanka

We are still in Colombo, having adventures which are unequalled in our past life experiences.
Yesterday, in honor of our Monday, Indika picked us up at 10:30 AM, we went to the office and talked with Kala and Kamala about the work, and about what their expectations for us were.

The Journal Enrties

2005-07-27T03:29:00.000-07:00