I finally got a VPN so that I could connect to my Canadian bank account that has been blocked for some reason following the Easter Sunday attacks. The VPN also gives me access to Facebook which has been blocked since the crisis started.
I managed to post that I was safe before FB went down. Now that I can see FB again, I am stunned by the number of responses that I have received to my post. How sad that it takes a tragedy on the proportions of Easter Sunday to get in touch with old friends. Nevertheless, I am very grateful for the response from many both on FB and via email.
I am safe, but we are not out of the woods here yet. They keep finding bombs and bomb making equipment all over the country. Militants are responding to police and army platoons with shoot outs and bomb detonations. More innocent people have been killed including children along with the allegedly guilty.
Muslim families are worried about reprisals. I have new neighbors who are Muslim with 7 children. The children have all been sent far into the countryside to remote villages. Only the adults remain in the house here. I have told them they can come to stay with me if they feel frightened. This is a terrible time.
Some have asked if I am planning on leaving the country as the US has evacuated all nonessential embassy staff and is offering repatriation to its citizens here. I am not planning on going anywhere. Sri Lanka is my home now, for better or for worse. Let's hope it gets better.
My tuktuk man says that Sri Lanka is finished. We may be down, but we are not out yet.
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