Been busy the last while. Kawasakis had a high tea on Independence Day. Nice time as always and particularly this year as there was really something to celebrate; Sri Lanka's return to democracy.
The government has been doing a good job during its short time in office. Making good on most of their election promises, devolving some of the powers of the executive president to the prime minister, bringing in a budget that lowered prices on basic commodities and introducing taxes on the super rich, acting against those suspected of corruption, getting rid of the trappings of power like ministerial motorcades and preferential treatment for family members. All in all, very impressive.
The only fly in the ointment was the presence of Amal's sister, Avanti, who I can't stand and vice versa. Visakha, the hostess, has warned me that she had been invited. I decided to just ignore her, but, of course, she felt compelled to remark to me upon her arrival that she had been invited as well. I had not said a word nor did I respond. Luckily, the party was going on inside and outside, so we just stayed in our respective corners.
High tea has been on the agenda quite a bit lately. Sonali and I were invited to an inaugural high tea at the Grand Kandyan (new hotel that looks like the inside of a Chinese bordello). The food was good, but they did not have a proper tea pot until the General Manager showed up and told them to bring one, and they had to use a pasta sieve as a tea strainer. But the food was good and we invited a lonely tourist to join us who turned out to be from Calgary. Small world.
Have been doing a lot of walking. Walked up and down to the Kawasaki's the other day and then went for a big hike with Sonali up to my friends the Leasks who live up on the top of one of Kandy's mountains. We needed a destination because I hate just walking aimlessly, so I rang up Clare and asked if we could climb up. She was most obliging and even gave us coffee and wine when we got there. Had a lovely time on the deck sipping and chatting with Clare and David. Then we walked back, getting a little lost on the way and climbing another big hill, and had lunch at Sonali's.
Walked down to the Citadel for drinks and dinner after yoga the other day as well. At least I am getting some exercise.
Book club was on Monday. Good time and then off to a local restaurant, Slightly Chilled, for lunch and to check the facilities for film club. Four of us went; myself, Clare, Ava, and Sonali. Sonali just came along for the lunch since she is not a club member. The owner is an English guy, Michael who has two boxers. He was particularly attached to the male dog, D.J., who died last week from cancer. As Michael was telling us the story, he was crying. It was very sad. Clare, Sonali and I were most sympathetic as we are all animal lovers. Ava, on the other hand, made a huge fuss after Michael had left the table, thank God, but in a very loud voice about how she hates dogs and how can they be allowed in a restaurant and that she almost walked out because a grown man had been crying. The rest of us just wanted to crawl under the table. Apart from piggy backing on her croissant orders, I am crossing her off my list.
Went to the farm yesterday bright and early at 8am. Had to wait a long time as usual, but got some lovely arugula and parsley for the house blessing on Saturday. While I was there, they brought up some mature jack fruit. The crowd went wild for it. Here it is being cut open.
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| This is ripened bitter gourd. The red is the seeds. At this stage, only the exterior is eaten, not the seeds. Colourful though. |
Then it was off to the vegetable stand to get what was not available at the farm. Then I made my first trip into a sacred goods shop. They sell monks robes, Buddha images, thread for blessings, incense, etc. I had to buy thread for the phirith (blessing) on Saturday. Then we were off to deliver vegetables to Clare and the Kawasakis. Sam negotiated the tuktuk up Leask's mountain with great skill. Then off to the other side of town to Arpico to get pasta and cheese for Saturday's lunch. The monk doing the phirith is American and I want to give him western food for his dharne (feeding of monastics) as he doesn't get it very often. So I am serving lentil soup, three different kinds of pasta; one with pesto and feta sauce, one with a sauce made from chickpeas, and one with a cauliflower sauce, arugula salad with pomegranate, walnuts and blue cheese, and something chocolatey from the Kawasakis for desert. The electronics store to pick up my sub-whoofer was next. They fixed it for Rs.750 which is about C$7.
My mosquito executioner broke, so we had go all the way into Kandy town to find a replacement, so I took the chance and got more pesto, a couple of packets of coffee for Venerable Upateesa's dharne packet and took my baroque pearl necklace in for restringing. After 5 hours and no breakfast apart from a capuccino for me and a tea for Sam at the Kawasakis, we made it back home. I had to unpack before I had lunch, so it was 2pm before I ate. I was exhausted as it had been hot and sticky in town.
There are a lot of special things needed for the phirith. I got the thread as mentioned, and thankfully, Lily, the Kawasaki's maid is looking after the rest. All these organized religions have their rules and rituals. At least I have a lovely Buddha to focus the ceremony on. Here are some of Veenitha's flowers for daily sadhu (worship).
Patches continues to endear herself. She is sleeping on the carpet behind me as I write this. I let her on my bed only one time to sleep. She loved it.
Still no visa. I need to start taking some steps as I want to go to Vietnam in March and I need a visa to get back into the country. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to be a problem.
