Doug in Sri Lanka: Blogging from Serendib

Back to California

2008-08-10T01:41:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

Well this post is long over due. I finished my time in Sri Lanka as of April 2007 and have returned to California via Europe, North Africa, and of course, NYC. I really enjoyed my experience in Sri Lanka and I feel like I learned a lot about the people, the culture, and humanity in general and I hope to bring what I have learned back home with me. I also learned a lot about myself, my abilities and my limitations.

I believe the project was a sucess; we constructed 100 homes for 100 families, installed numerous drinking and agricultural wells, and developed livelihood programs for the people in these villages.

I have the greatest hopes for the people of Sri Lanka and sincerely wish peace on this beautiful island.

Please feel free to continue to comment, but you may have to forgive me if I don't respond in a timely manner as I will not be maintaining this blog regularly in the future.

Thanks goes to the people of Sri Lanka, to Sewa Lanka Foundation, Cesvi - World Aid Italy, and to all my family and friends that supported me during me time overseas.

Peace

Props, Kudos, and Honorable Mentions...

2007-04-22T14:38:00.000+05:30

I was recently made aware that the work that I have been doing and more specifically, this blog was mentioned on Joshua Berman's website: The Tranquilo Traveler . Josh is the brother of my friend Todd and he was here in Sri Lanka doing work with Tea Plantation workers in the central highlands. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet up with him during his stay here. If you are interested checkout the post and enjoy the rest of his site, which is quiet interesting and beautifully laid out. Thanks for the mention Josh! Hope we can meet in Boulder or SF when I return. (Permalink to the article)

And while I thinking of it, the Berman clan seems to be quite talented. Todd is a very talented artist and I was lucky enough to check out some of his work when I was back in SF in January. You can see some of his art on his site TheArtDontStop.org Todd was in our Burningman camp in 2005 and did some fun collective art projects. On the day our camp had a party, Todd encouraged everyone to draw a small self portrait of themselves. He then cut out each of the figures and added them into a scene that he painted. It was wonderful and brought a lot of smiles to the folks that visited our camp and participated in the project.

Here is one of my favorites...

The Mission Apartments

Ok, they are not quite family yet, but my friend, and Todd's partner (soon to be legal mate by some obscurely named ceremony) Laurin Giradin has a fun culture blog called Eat Drink Protest Its a fun site with lots of good food ideas. Kathryn, I think you'd appreciate this site.

Enjoy...

Kinniya School Opening - Continued

2007-04-06T10:34:00.000+05:30

Ok, ok I know. So many pictures for a 40 min ceremony. But come on it was pretty interesting for me rather than always working with contractors and problems, staffing issues, spreadsheets, budgets. It was a pleasant change and felt like a good bonding/team building event.

All Cesvi photo: Suranjee (Admin assistant), Pietro (Administrator), Gannon (Field Officer), Vimira (Housekeeper and maker of all yummy lunches), Nicola (Country Representative - outgoing), Me (Engineer), Giacomo (Country Representative - incoming) Kumar (Driver/Logistician), Silva (Admin Asst), Franklin (Technical Officer), Rajan (Field Officer), Swaminathan (Engineer), Temporary Driver, and Shakeel (Driver/Logistician). Absent is Marco (Project Assistant).

A few of the dancing girls - happy to have their photo taken.

Some of the fishing boats in China Bay on the way back from Kinniya (note the prestine beaches).

Kinniya School Opening

2007-04-06T09:49:00.000+05:30

In addition to our housing project, Cesvi completed the rehabilitation of a school in a village called Kinniya, located about 30 mins southeast of Trinco town. The actual project has been completed for some time but they just now had the opening ceremony to coincide with several openings of other projects funded by the Italian government. Although I didnt provided any significant assistance to this project, it was fun to attend and it gave me some hope that one day, our housing project will be finished as well.

Ten of us piled into our van for the trip down there. It felt like the Cesvi Family road trip!

Only the youngest get to dress up like this, the older girls all wear the white shall as this is a Muslim girls school.

Some local big-wigs and the Italian Ambassador. The played the Sri Lankan national anthem as well as the Italian anthem.

The cer(E)mony consisted of a series of speeches and musical performances by the children and was only 40 mins or so, which is short for project openings. They often last about 4 hours. So I felt quite lucky.

All the children were quiet and well behaved during the ceremony, on the other hand, every male in the room continuously talked amongst themselves no matter who was speaking at the podium - including the Italian Ambassador

Yet Even More Oddities

2007-03-24T18:39:00.000+05:30

Time for another installment of odd things that Ive come across during my time here in Sri Lanka. Enjoy!

Praying Mantis on the wall of my balcony. Almost human (alien?) head movements. Freaky...

Natrual Spring Water in a bottle? Why not? Figure this one out... Its actually kind of common here.

Danger - Our Highly Skilled Machine Operator Will Be Dropping Heavy Rocks On Your Vehicle.

If you want to see more oddities, just click on the "Oddities" Lable link on the right. Cheers!

Awe... They are so cute!

2007-03-24T16:43:00.000+05:30

On the way back from our relaxing beach weekend in Mirissa, we stopped at a sea turtle refuge near Bentota. We talked about visiting one of these facitlities when were were planning the trip because Christen is a fan of sea turtles. But as it turns out, I think everyone likes sea turtles! I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting the place was and how well informed the people that ran it were.

Upon entering the refuge (read: house near the beach with a large sandy garden and 6 concrete tanks) we were greated by a smily local guide who was the owners son. He told us about the 5 breeds of turtles found in Sri Lanka then took us to the garden where they grow sea turtles. Yep, thats right - Sea turtles can be grown in a garden. Basically, they buy sea turtle eggs from local fisherman and keep them from becomming omlets (hmmm, now I wonder why those omlets in Mirissa were so good...). They take the eggs and rebury them in their garden and after 30-60 days (depending on the breed) the little buggers hatch. After they have hatched, they get moved to the first tank that serves as a nursery.

Jana has here hands full... there were hundreds of these little guys swimming around in the nursery tank.

You could almost hear this one crying "Mama!"

I look so confortable holding this turtle - I think I will take one home with me.

Eric and his turtle. ok, you dont have to say it... yes, Eric has a bigger turtle...

So that was our trip to Mirissa with Eric and Christen. Thanks so much for coming to visit! It was great to see you and I look forward to seeing you on the playa this year!

Beach Holiday

2007-03-24T15:40:00.000+05:30

After 18 months on this island, I finally had my first visitors! This is not surprising given the distance from the states, the cost of the flights, and of course the wonderful state of affairs here during the past year. I was lucky though, my friend Eric was making his second trip to Chenni, India for business and had inivted his wife Christen to join him. We originally were hoping to meet in the Maldives for a long weekend, but in the end it was too expensive. So we decided to make a nice 4-day weekend in Sri Lanka instead.

Eric and Christen flew into Colombo on Friday night and Jana and I made the extraordinarily slow drive down to Colombo from Trinco. It took us the better part of 8 hours to make the 260km journey. We booked rooms at a small hotel near the beach in Colombo for the first night and had a nice seafood dinner on the beach. "Nice" being a relative term and even though the beachfront restuarant was better than most places in Trinco, Eric and Christen were quickly indoctrinated to the levels of service found in Sri Lankan resturants.

We rented a car from Colombo and the four of us drove south along the coast to a beach town called Mirissa about 3 hours away. We stopped in Galle along the way and had lunch in the old Fort and walked up on the fort walls that served as protection to the old town from potential sea invaders. We met a local man that claimed to be a dive instructor that lost his boat and all his equipment in the Tsunami. He was selling old coins that he scavanged from the shallow wrecks near the fort. I bought a few Dutch and British copper coins from the 1700's. I figure they will be unique keepsakes if nothing else.

A typical ox-drawn cart still in comon use here in Sri Lanka. Its a wonderful juxtaposition (thanks Eric!) seeing these animal-powered transports working against the sea of buses and Japanese lorries.

Jana and I a-top the Galle Fort walls. We were so lucky, the weather was like this the entire weekend.

Eric and Christen enjoying the views and relative reprieve from India's constant hussle and bussle.

After Galle, we moved on to our final destination, Mirissa. We stayed at the nicest place there, which doesnt mean all that much. But the place was really quiet nice. We each had private 2-story bungalows with ocean views and AC for about $40/night including dinner and breakfast for two.

Not much else to do but enjoy the beach with a few tropical drinks and good friends. Ok, truth be told, these cocktails tasted just a bit off... not quite right... But never fear, Eric and Christen stocked up at the duty free in Colombo airport. So we made our own drinks that were much, much better. Thanks guys!

It was so nice to have friends come to visit me and to see the country that I have been living in for the past year and a half, even if the south is much different then our life in Trinco. The weekend was really relaxing; we started each day with a swim in the sea, followed by a breakfast of fresh fruit, omlets and juice, then back to the beach to chill in the sun, read, swim or what ever met our fancy.

On the way back we stopped at a Sea Turtle refuge. I will write about this in another post.

Nuwara Elliya - Central Highlands

2007-03-24T13:11:00.000+05:30

So its been a while since my last post. As you can Imagine, I have been pretty busy trying to finish up my work here so I can move on to greener pastures. Ok, maybe its difficult to get greener than Sri Lanka, but you get my drift. I felt pretty good coming back from my holidays in the states and was motivated to work hard and to enjoy the rest of my time here in Sri Lanka.

Not too long after my return, a few of us planned a trip to the cooler central highlands. Six of us took advantage of a long weekend, and climbed into a van for the 7 hour trip to Nuwara Elliya situated in the lush hills at about 6,000 ft above sea level. I had been here last year with my friend Tom, but it is a really nice place and I was happy to return. Nuwara Elliya is known for its lavish tea plantations and shockingly cool weather. It gets down-right cold in the evenings - about 45 deg (8 deg C).

The view from a mountian top behind our guest house. We hiked through the tea fields to this visita and were pleasantly surprised by the views.

Ivo, Matej, Jana, and me standing in the tea fields above Nuwara Elliya Town.

Mmmmm freash strawberry juice. Verka enjoying her strawberry milkshake. This is almost unheard of in Sri Lanka and was a welcome treat. I think we stopped at the Strawberry Inn each day we were there!

The fierce and much feared wild Sri Lankan Elk. Ok, he was not so tough in the end. i think he even came to me and licked my hand.

San Francisco - The First Few Hours

2007-01-30T09:26:00.000+05:30

Ok, I just received a couple more pics from my time in San Francisco. These are from my first day back in SF. I landed in at SFO around 1030 AM and was greeted by Jesse and Hetal's smiling faces. We left the airport and headed for Jesse's house in Noe Valley where I changed out of the clothes that I had been in for some 48 hrs, washed up, and we walked down to a corner cafe on Dolores for my first big cup of dark roast coffee. Mmmmm! After we were sufficently caffinated (note to self: Jesse has enough energy without caffine), we went down to El Farrilito's in the Mission District for a proper mission burrito. Man, I had been looking forward to this for 15 months and when I walked in and smelled the burritos and saw the grill, it was all I could do to stand patiently in line to place my order (additional note to self: large amounts of caffine dont help any of us wait patiently in line). It was nice to see the familiar face taking my order. El Farrilito's is a Mission institution, and a late night standard. There is something about having a well seasoned grill to make a proper burrito.

Finally! After 15 months - burrito magic. Less then 2 hours in SF and I accomplished my first goal. Yum!

After finishing our burrito's (yes I finished that whole thing), we bummed around the city and I somehow managed to stay awake all day. A considerable feat seeing as there is a 12.5 hour time difference from Sri Lanka. We went to the climbing gym in the evening followed by beers. After a few stops, when met some guy that decided to join us to the next venue. Lucky for me he had a skateboard and was happy to lend it to me while he was trying to flirt with Hetal.

California Dreaming: A late-night ride down mission street. I swear the light was green when I passed!

It was a great first day back in SF. Thanks to all my friends for hanging out with me and making my time there so much bloody fun! I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Family Time

2007-01-29T09:14:00.000+05:30

After my time in San Francisco I went to Delafield, WI to visit my family. It was so nice to see my Mom and to have time to catch up with her. She retired on the 2nd of January so we had lots of time together! She had the clever idea to invite a bunch of my family that is scattered across the midwest to come visit. So we had a mini-family reunion. It was great to see everyone and helped minimize the traveling I had to do during my short stay there. The party was a lot of fun, we had good food, nice drinks and the conversations were flowing. I also gave a slide presentation of some photos from my last 15 months in Sri Lanka. Thanks to mom for organizing the party!

The Bablitch family representatives: Uncle John, Uncle Steve, Dad,Michelle, my cousin Ameen, my beautiful nieces Katie and Erin, my cousin Jacob, and me.

Still showing photos... Uncle Steve, Jacob, and me.

My mom and Erin.

Thanks again to my Mom and her husband Jim for organizing the party. And thanks to everyone who came to visit, including those not pictured here: Uncle Donnie and Aunt Carol, Aunt JoAnn, and my friend Paul from Minneapolis. Thank you for coming and traveling so far through the snowy weather! It was great to see you all. I look forward to seeing you all again soon! Much luv.

San Francisco Continued

2007-01-26T10:36:00.000+05:30

Like I said, not too many pics from my time in San Francisco, but here are a few more fun ones. Enjoy!

Dusk on Jesse’s balcony. Thanks for letting me crash at your place Jesse. You da best!
Me and Regina. Its amazing what 6-inch platforms will do for you. I was contemplating wearing these out for New Years Eve, but decided against it in the end. How can anyone dance in these things?
Good Friends. Jesse and Hetal on the balcony. The weather was so nice near the end and it was really hard to leave. I think this was taken on my last day in SF. You see the excitement in their giddy smiles that I am leaving and they will actually be able to get some sleep and be able to get to work on time in the morning!

If you are going to San Francisco

2007-01-26T10:10:00.000+05:30

Its been a while since my last post, but I am finally getting around to putting up some pics from my trip back to the states. I went back to San Francisco after being gone for 15 months and it was great to see everyone and spend time in my favorite city! Luckily my flights went smoothly, albeit insanely long, and I didn’t seem to suffer to badly from jetlag. I think I was so excited to be back that I was able to power through the drowsiness that comes with a 12.5 hr time difference.

I somehow managed not to take many photos during my stay there. I think I was too happy just to be with my friends and bumming around the city. But I did get a few pics and got some others from friends. Below are some pics from one of my favorite days. It was my first Saturday in SF and I had plans to meet my friend Hetal for brunch, which turned into a brunch for six at the Beach Chalet on Ocean Beach. There was good food, great conversation and yummy mimosas. It a beautiful sunny December day so we decided to walk along Ocean Beach for a while after. I can tell you how nice it was to be back with my friends and to have such a nice day on the beach.
The gang: Jesse, me, Hetal, Sean, and Regina (Claudia taking the photo). Is my zipper open???

Showing my excitement to be back! Um… yep, my zipper is definitely open. I wonder how long that lasted.

“Have a Wonderful Day” – Ok, we are definitely in San Francisco. We stumbled upon this sand-script that someone had made. Jesse, Regina, me, Sean, and Claudia.

Thanks to all my friends that took time to hang out with me! I had such a great trip. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to see more of you but I definitely look forward to catching up when I am back this summer! Much luv!

So Many Goodbyes

2006-12-23T15:01:00.000+05:30

Well, I figured I can make one last post before I head back to the States for my 3 week holidays. life here has been pretty good in general. Work has been extremely busy and our Country Representative (my boss) has left the country for his holidays. That of course means that I am now responsible to make sure everything is moving forward. This makes busy even busier! Ugh! But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. On sunday I start making my way down to Colombo and will spend xmas with some friends at a swanky resort. Then Tuesday I travel to Colombo where I will frantically try to finish my work AND do some xmas shopping. Finally, my flight leaves for SF on Wednesday night. Phew! I can't wait. I am really looking forward to seeing my friends in SF and visiting my family in Wisconsin. My Dad sounds like he is doing great and recovering well from his surgery this fall, and my mom is retiring on January 2nd! Wow, what a milestone. I am so proud and happy for her. Congratulations Mom!

I apologize, but I have no photos to share with some holiday sentiment. There doesnt seem to be too much holiday spirit here in Trinco. You can hear the occasional xmas song being played at the two hotels here (interesting note: for some reason, ABBA qualifies as christmas music here. hmmm, figure that one out). In colombo, there are xmas lights everywhere and people are shopping like mad. Seems they have embraced the commercial aspect of xmas as much as anywhere. Anyway, back to the photos. People have been leaving Trinco by the dozens for some time now and it is really pronounced these days because many peoples missions are finishing up. It will be 2 years this 26th that the Tsunami hit the shores of Sri Lanka so many organizations are wrapping up their projects and sending the staff home. This is making Trinco a much lonelier and quiet place. Just the other day, our good friend Florian left for Germany after nearly 2 years here. He was one of the first people I met in Trinco and he kind of took me under his wing during my first few months here, introducing me to everyone, telling me how the projects worked, and making sure I knew where the next party was! So on Tuesday, we invited Florian over for a last Italian coffee at our office. :( Good Luck Florian! We miss you already!
"The last coffee" Same like the last supper, but different.

Me, Florian, and Pietro. Some of the last original Trinco Gang.

A blast from the past. Me, Shophie, and Florian at last year's holiday party. -looking pretty fresh considering the photo was taken at 5:36 AM.

When Snakes Attack (more oddities)

2006-12-11T11:04:00.000+05:30

Here is my latest installment of Oddities in Sri Lanka. I’ve been wanting to post this pic for months but have been waiting to get the image from my friend Petra (thanks Petra!). When the rainy season starts here in the Northeast of Sri Lanka, a few things happen: of course everything gets more green, the frog population seems to quintuple, and accordingly, the number of snakes increases dramatically. Moreover, they become very active! Within a few week period, the number of snake stories going around Trinco went from almost none to everyone having one better story.

Sri Lanka has one of the largest numbers of poisonous snakes and has the highest snakebite mortality rate in the world. Of course for me this is an opportunity to scare the wits out of our new intern, Marco. It started with Pietro and I making up a story that we had a big snake in our office. Well, at the time it wasn’t true, or at least as far as we knew it. But then when we traveled back to Trinco with Marco for his first visit, we found a 5ft long snakeskin right in my office. It wasn’t there when we left a few days before! And keep in mind that this was where we were sleeping at the time. Needless to say, Marco was terrified and our story could not have been more effective.

So later that week, we ran into some friends at dinner and were discussing our story when they told us about their experience the previous week. Get this: they walked into their bathroom to find a big black snake swimming around in their toilet bowl. I know this sounds like something straight out of a horror film, but it is 100% the real deal. And here is the pic to prove it.

You better check the bowl before you sit down the next time!

If you'd like to see more freaky things from SL, you can find previous oddity posts here, here, here, here and here.

I'm Comming Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-12-08T15:10:00.000+05:30

Well, at least for a few weeks… I cant wait, it will have been 1 months since Ive been back in San Francisco. I can’t wait to see all my friends and family, eat burritos and sushi, and enjoy beautiful California (I know, it’s the rainy season). I also get to see the winter wonderland that is Wisconsin in January, but this too will be a welcome change from Sri Lanka. I will return to Sri Lanka in Mid January and then will finish up my contract here at the end of March 2007. After that, who knows! I may travel around for a while or maybe come back to the states and get reacquainted with my homeland.

So my itinerary is pretty heinous. I will be in almost every major airport between here and Milwaukee at one point or another. Ive included a summary of my travels here for your amusement. Remember, there is about a 12hr time difference between Sri Lanka and the US.

Departure: December 27^th, 2006 – 9pm India Standard Time
Colombo – Male (Maldives) 1hr 30mins, 484 miles
Male – Tokyo 9hrs 0 mins, 4,740 miles
Tokyo – San Francisco 8hrs 53 mins, 5,131 miles
Arrive SFO 9:18 AM PST December 28^th, 2006
Total Duration: 25hrs 48mins, 10,335 miles

Departure: January 8^th, 2007 – 12:48pm PST
San Francisco – Denver 2 hrs 21mins, 954 miles
Denver – Milwaukee 2hrs 17mins, 907 miles
Arrive MKE 10:07pm CST
Total Duration: 7hrs 19mins, 1,861 miles

Departure: January 16^th, 2007 – 9:15 am CST
Milwaukee – Chicago 45mins, 75 miles
Chicago – Tokyo 13hrs 15mins, 6,286 miles
Tokyo – Singapore 7 hrs 29 mins, 3,311 miles
Singapore – Kuala Lumpur 1 hr 0 mins, 197 miles
Kuala Lumpur – Colombo 3 hrs 30mins, 1,524 miles
Arrives Colombo 10:25 AM January 18^th 2007.
Total Duration: 37hrs 40mins, 11,393 miles

Total Round Trip Duration 70 hrs 47mins, 23,589 miles
10 Take offs and landings
9 different airports
6 countries.

Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Lunch in the Village

2006-12-08T14:04:00.000+05:30

I thought I would share these pics from one of my last site visits where Sewa Lanka prepared lunch. Its pretty interesting to see how the kitchen works in the village.
This is a pretty standard kitchen setup in the village. It is usually outside and often has its own separate shelter. Here they are preparing chicken curry and rice.

It is a little hard to see but this guy is holding the knife between his toes and using it to cut up the brinjal (eggplant). Ive seen them do this several times even with chciken.

Yum Yum Yum! This lunch was particularly spicey!

Thanksgiving in Sri Lanka

2006-11-25T13:32:00.000+05:30

So this is my second Thanksgiving in Sri Lanka and I decided that I would host a nice dinner for my good friends here. Many of you know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (next to Halloween of course, but that is a different matter), and you know how I like to make a big dinner for my family or friends. We had a great evening with good food, considering what I had to work with, and fun conversation. So I though I would share some of my evening with you here since I wasn’t able to be there with you all.

The Menu:
Appetizer
Roasted Garlic Heads
Cashew Nuts

Main Course
Citrus Roasted Goose with Cranberry Sauce
Bread Stuffing with New Zealand Apple
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Green Beans tossed with Garlic and Roasted Cashews
Sweet Pumpkin Squash Curry
Slivered Carrots in Butter Sauce

Dessert
Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream
Italian Coffee

This is Gary the Goose. I found him at one of the small seaside beach resorts that we often visit. I could not find a turkey for the life of me and was pretty disappointed. But it turns out that Gary was pretty tasty! My friend Petr pointed out that this was like a real Thanksgiving, as we received our bounty from the natives and not the grocery store.

We forgot to say grace but I did get to share a little bit of the Thanksgiving traditions with my non-American friends. For most of them, this was there first American Thanksgiving. Clockwise from left: Marco and Nicola (Italy), Florian (Germany), and Petr and Jana (Czech Rep.). We were later joined by Petra and Ivo, two more of my Czech friends.

Jana had the nicest looking plate. I think we were laughing about Gary Goose…

In the end, everyone really enjoyed the food, which was a big relief. I was afraid that everything was going to turn out strange.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

School Rehabilitation Project

2006-11-13T16:27:00.000+05:30

I visited one of our other projects today where we are rehabilitating a girls school in Kinniya, Trincomalee District. Kinniya is about 45 mins southeast of Trinco town and has an overwhelming majority of muslim inhabitants. I have had almost no input on this project as it was started and substantially completed by CESVI before I was working with them. This school will be state-of-the-art, especially by Sri Lanka standards. Even more so by the standards in the north and east of Sri Lanka.

This is the new building. It is strange to see a school that is a color other than tan, and with glass windows.

Two girls playing hop-scotch on the newly block-paved walkways. This older, existing building in the background. Note the color scheme, and grill work on the windows. This is typical construction for schools here.

Marco, our intern and resident chef-extraorinaire, brought a bag of italian sweets and was quickly the most popular man on the site. Also note the grass. This is absolutely unheard of here, especially for a school. I actually cant think of many other places that have grass, except for the lavish military bases maybe...

We were definetly the main attraction (or distraction???) today. And yes, the schools here do tend to look like prisons. However, you wouldn't think so if you looked around town in the early afternoon. School seems to let out at 1:30 most days and doesn't really start until 830 or 9am. After 2pm, traffic, even in modestly sized Trinco, can be a nightmare while trying to navigate the sea of uniformed school children.

More Oddities...

2006-11-10T15:43:00.000+05:30

Time for another installment of oddities from my life here in Sri Lanka.

So, I've shown you photos of the ubiquitous beach dogs and beach cows, but here is a shot of the ever elusive beach reindeer. This pics was taken at the commemoration event for the 17 slain humanitarian aid workers from ACF in August.

Each house that I have lived in has always had one iguana living in the garden. This one was from my last house.

I watched this guy climb up this pole in about 6 seconds, barefoot, with no safety device or pull straps. Obviously, the power lines are not yet energized.

If you'd like to see more freaky things from SL, you can find previous oddity posts here, here, here and here.

Ok, thats it for now. Hope you all are happy and well.
Ciao!

New Digs

2006-11-06T08:19:00.000+05:30

Hey y'all,
I thought I would post a couple of pics from my new house located in Orr's Hill, Trincomalee. we have a nice view of Trinco Harbor and Trinco town from our 2nd Story balcony, where we spend most of our time when at home. I have two Italian roommates, Pietro and Marco, both are great guys and we get along well. Pietro is taller then me and used to play professional basketball in Italy. And Marco is a fantastic cook, something that we take much advantage of (thanks Marco!)

I will try to post a few more pics from the house later this week.

Our balcony faces east and it is great to sit out here enjoying my morning coffee. My bedroom has the same view and I get the first morning light shining on my bed, pouring in my windows each morning. Its a great way to wake up, along with the sounds of dogs, raking of the garden, and all the noises that are Sri Lanka.

Our landlord lives next door and was harvesting the king coconuts from the palms in our front yard. This morning he rang our bell at 7am (this being mid-morning as everyone here gets up around 430 or 5 AM) to give us a couple of them. They are great if you but them in the freezer for a bit to chill the sweet juice inside. Most people love them here and they are quite refreshing, but I'm not really a huge fan. Marco and Pietro will enjoy for sure.

This pic is from our balcony, before it was ours. Our czech friends had us over for dinner one night. From left to right: Priya (CARE International); Marco (CESVI and current roommate); Veronica andPetr( People in Need- Czech Republic); Pietro (CESVI and current roommate); and Petra, Matej, and Ivo (People in Need- Czech Republic).

Healthy days are here again

2006-10-31T11:04:00.000+05:30

Great news! I spoke with my father this weekend and he is back home and is recovering well. Of course he is still is a bit sore, but I can tell by his voice that he is doing quite well. He has already been walking around a fair bit and it seems as though the circulation in his legs is noticeably improved. It was such a relief to hear him in such good spirits. Great job dad! Im so proud of you for going through with the operation. I know it was not an easy decision.

Also, it sounds like Hetal and Doug (my kidney swapping friends) are also quite peachy. I am so relieved!

Ok, now no one else is allowed to have any major medical issues until after I come back, got it?

All this news comes on the tail of a great weekend. I really needed a break and decided to go to Colombo for the weekend. Although this is a common occurrence as I go to Colombo every few weeks for one reason or another. This trip was purely for selfish and therapeutic reasons. The whole weekend was jam-packed with social engagements (read: dinner, party, dinner, party…and maybe a bit of sleep). On Friday we went out to a club and danced until the wee hours. Then on Saturday, there was a great Halloween party at one of the UN peoples house. It was really fun and everyone dressed up. I had a great idea for a Halloween costume but was not able to pull it together in time. It was Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter. I know, it is in extremely bad taste, but I could not resist. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you look at it) I could not find the props needed to make it work. So instead, I was just the naughty/sleazy devil guy who is always whispering bad ideas in your ear. The party was a blast and the music was really quite good for a change. J

So now Im back in Trinco, hard at work and trying to keep this project going. As most of you know I am coming back to the states for the holidays and cant wait to see you all. I will post more details about my plans in a later post. Ms Kitty (faye), Ms Devil (Jo), Pothead, missing his pot (Tom), Fairy (Jodi), Giant Munchkin (some strange dude), Indian Princess? (Michelle), Sleezy Devil guy (me). and yes the pencil stashe is the real deal... There is a better pic coming from another friends camera that I will post later.

Happy Halloween!

The Hardest Thing...

2006-10-24T10:50:00.000+05:30

The hardest things about being away from home is not being able to be there for your family and friends when they need you. In so far as this point, this week has been a tough one. Last Thursday my friend Hetal in SF had kidney transplant surgery and received a healthy kidney from our friend Doug Held. And now, as I type this entry, my father is having surgery to install a bypass tube from an artery in his chest to his legs to supply blood as the main vessels are 100% blocked to his legs.

The good news is that both Hetal and Doug’s procedure went smoothly and they are making surprisingly seedy recovery. It’s truly amazing what medicine is capable of these days.

I’m hoping that my father’s procedure goes as smoothly. My sister and her beautiful girls are there in Milwaukee with his wife Polly. I’m stuck in Trinco in this pond called Sri Lanka and was unable to come there to be with my Dad. Even calling is not easy due to the 11 ½ hour time difference and the piss-poor reception I have at my house.

I know my father was not looking forward to this procedure, considering that 9 months ago he underwent open-heart surgery. But he was strong and made the decision to go ahead with the procedure so that he would be able to enjoy all the things he loves like working outdoors at ‘Hawk Ridge’, snowmobiling, and being able to stroll through the beautiful woods of northern Wisconsin in which he makes his home.

So, all I can say or do is say ‘hang in there guys’! You are all in my thoughts and I really wish I could be there to give you my love and support. And thanks to my sister Michelle for picking up the slack for her baby brother while I am on the other side of the world trying to work this adventure out of my system.

I wish a speedy recovery to you all and am so sorry I can’t be there with you. I can’t wait to see you in December/January.

Much peace and love.

Back to the field....

2006-10-19T04:42:00.000+05:30

Things are progressing nicely on our housing construction project, at least for the time being. we will see what the rainy season has to say about that. Our proect is on track to be completed in March 2007, a date that I am looking forward to for sure! I have been making several trips up to the field and thought that I would share some recent pics.

One day I showed up at the site and the my field manager informed me that the local government agents would like me to attend a meeting they were having to organize the local Community based Organizations (CBOs). We will work with these CBOs for implementation of our livelihood project in the comming months. We will be providing trainings and livelihood inputs (read: seeds and cows) for the CBOs. Of course the meeting was conducted in Tamil and I didnt have a clue what they said...

We completed nearly all 100 foundations and are noew constructing the first few homes. Its great to see some above-ground progress!

Working out issues in the field... Note the OSHA approved footwear.

More Oddities

2006-10-17T09:24:00.000+05:30

Well its time for another installment of oddities that I have observed in Sri Lanka.

I found this stick bug while I was near trinco buying a bunch of fresh prawns and crabs (13 lbs for 13 USD!) Last night I saw a praying mantis while we where having dinner, but I didnt have my camera...

This spider was living outside my old house. If you look closely, this guy looks like he has Felix the cat jumping on his back.

This is one of my friends little kitty. She is pretty cute. Puppies and kittens are ubiquitous here as NO ONE gets their animals fixed and they all roam the streets.

One Year Later

2006-09-29T13:23:00.000+05:30

I have been here for just a few days more than one year now. This has really been one heck of an experience, and one that I will never forget! So, its time to give a long over due update on my situation here in Sri Lanka… Like I said in an earlier post below, I made it back from Bali well rested, refreshed, and recharged. Man it was so good to relax and be in a different environment all together. Sri Lanka is a beautiful place but it can really wear on you. Anyway, the trip was great and I hope you enjoyed some of the pics I posted below.

I am now back in Sri Lanka and many things have changed, most of them for the better. First of all, I have recently signed on with an Italian NGO called CESVI. They are the main donor and partner organization for Sewa Lanka and my housing project. So this means a couple things: I am still working on the same project and have similar responsibilities and work with the same people; I now my peers and superiors are expats, and Im getting paid! Yep, insurance and everything! I am really good friends with all my coworkers and we have a lot of fun working (and playing) together. This is really a great opportunity because it gives me a chance to stick it out and see this project through to completion. I think you can understand that it would be much more gratifying to see these houses build and the people move in rather than just saying “ok, my 1 year is up, good luck to you all!”. Truth is, the project would be in dire straights if I left right now. So I think this solution works well for every one. I am sad to leave Sewa Lanka but am looking forward to my new opportunity.

This enthusiasm for my new working situation should not be confused with my excitement for returning home. I miss all my family and friend soooo much. I miss San Francisco so much. I miss climbing and snowboarding every other weekend, and road trips on smooth roads. I miss good food on every corner. I miss high-speed internet connections, wifi cafes, and good coffee. My plan is to come back to San Francisco for New years for a week or two, then off to the Midwest to see the family and more friends. I will come back to Sri Lanka for a few months to close the project and leave at the end of March 2007.

I should also let you know that the security situation here has gotten better, at least in Trinco. The gov and the LTTE are still battling it out in various places in the North and east but Trinco has been really calm and quiet. Now that I am working for an international organization, the security protocol will be more strict than with the local org. I was well cared for with Sewa Lanka but CESVI will be even more conservative. So I am in good hands. :)

So, thank you again for all your support. I really appreciate all of you that have been staying in touch and especially all the nice care packages, even if they take 4 months to arrive sometimes! I miss you all. Stay in touch and I look forward to seeing you all at the end of the year! Ciao!

This is a pic of me with many of the Sewa Lanka-Trinco crew at the beach for the commemoration of the killing of 17 local humanitarian aid workers in August. Still suffering from Sri Lankan haircuts...

More Bali pics

2006-09-22T10:13:00.000+05:30

Well, finally getting around to posting a few more pics from my Bali trip. Once I finsh posting these pics I will post an update on my situation here in Sri Lanka, which is better than its been for a long time! :) Enjoy!
Yes, another sunset photo... Can you really have enough though? This is from Kuta beach where I stayed at the begining and end of my trip. It has quiet a few tourist and the locals really seem to appreciate the beach life too. Local people fly these very large kites everyday at the beach. It seems to be a national passtime and is really beautiful. Everyone comes at to watch the sunset.
This is a family that runs a guest house in Ubud, the cultural captial in the foothills of the mountain region. There house looks more like a temple and all the buildings are beautifully decorated. I stayed in my own bungalow for about $4.50 a night, with breakfast!

Traditional Balinese dance is a popular activity in Ubud. I went to two performances while I was there and they were really entertaining. They seem to enjoy themselves which makes the show even more entertaining
!
Everyday local people prepare offerings to the gods. They start each morning by making the small baskets by hand out of grass leaves. It adds color to even the dullest of streets.

Bali Pics

2006-09-12T10:04:00.000+05:30

Well, Im finally getting around to posting pics from myBali trip. This first set is from my stay on a small island off the coast of Bali where I stayed for 4-5 days. It was really peaceful and had excellent diving!

The beach was protected by a coral reef and when the tide went out you could see all of the seaweed farms.
View of the main volcano on Bali from the beach I was staying at/
The first night I was staying here there was a shipwreck on the reef. The boat was not from the area and was unfamilar with the reef. I walked out there at low tide to find the crew stripping the vessel of anything valuable. Locals mentioned that boats like these often are pirate ships that steel fish from the local fisherman. Apparently it happens a lot down here.

It was a bit of an adventure to get out there. Walking through the seaweed farms and over the coral. I lost my flip flops 3 times as it was getting dark and got pricked by 2 sea urchins. Ouch!
I rented a motor bike and drove around this little island and there were some fantastic views. This is another bay where they are haresting seaweed.

Its not Lebanon but….

2006-08-15T18:04:00.000+05:30

It certainly has not been so good here lately. It seems that the powers that be are hell-bent on tearing this country apart. I am doing fine and have been keeping safe. I have just come down to Colombo and am taking a long overdue, and long planned leave starting tomorrow. I will travel to beautiful Bali for two weeks of R&R. Yippie!

In the last few weeks Sri Lanka, and specifically Trinco (district), has seen some pretty heavy fighting. Those of you who have been following this mess at all know that the recent flare up has been the result of a water dispute in the southern part of Trinco district, about 40 miles south of Trinco town. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces (SLAF) have been bombing, shelling, and attempting to advance ground troops in this area for weeks. In addition to this, the LTTE launched an attack on the town of Mutur, just on the other side of the harbor. 100’s of civilians, SLAF, and LTTE cadres have been killed in the recent fighting, including 17 local staff (Sri Lankan nationals) of another NGO working in Trinco. The later being a tragedy that I cannot even begin to process.

Following the attack on Mutur, nearly 70,000 people have fled the area and are now living in several makeshift camps located a about 20 miles away. Most of them walking the distance with out water and at great risk of being caught in the crossfire. Both arties agreed to a brief ceasefire to allow the civilians to leave but I can assure you this, the ceasefire was not well observed.

What this has meant for life in Trinco is that there has been daily (and seemingly endless) shelling and bombing of the LTTE controlled area on the other side of the water. Trinco has not been spared from retaliation though and received incoming artillery fire directed mainly at the several SLAF bases in and around town.

I have been working almost non-stop through this period both trying to assist with the ongoing relief efforts for the tens of thousands of displaced people, and trying to complete some time sensitive project work for our housing project. Of course we are making an evaluation of what work we can continue in this environment.

There are so many things that I could write about regarding things that have happened: things that I’ve experienced (both good and bad), and things that are not appropriate to discuss in this venue. I can say that I am feeling significant guilt about leaving right now when so many people are suffering and while many of my coworkers and colleagues are up in Trinco. But, I would be lying if I said that I am not relieved that I am taking this break. Like I said, I am doing fine but certainly am a little burned out.

So, Bali here I come!
I’ll be back in Colombo in September. Ciao!

Temple Hike

2006-08-15T17:07:00.000+05:30

The morning after the Pera Hera festival, we got up at 430am to hike up to this temple located on a high hill. It is about a one hour hike up to the top and you are required to do it barefoot! Needless to say, my feet were pretty sore by the time we got to the top. The views from the top were quite nice, although it was hazy on this day so we could not fully enjoy the sunrise. Thanks again for the pics Tom!

(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Some of the volunteer (pilgrams) and Raja on our way up.
(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Colorful hindu priest we met on the way. I was struggling to keep up with these guys on the way down because my feet were so sore.
(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Another hindu priest. Great pics Tom!

Kataragama and Pera Hera Festival

2006-08-15T10:00:00.000+05:30

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently made a very quick trip to the southwest of the island to join 275 other Sewa Lanka people as they ended their one-week pilgrimage to Kataragama. The actual pilgrimage starts in Jaffna (northern most province) down the east coast to Kataragama and obviously takes much more than a week to complete. The pilgrimage is enjoyed by both Hindu’s and Buddhist as Kataragama, the deity, is believed to be a son of Shiva that came to Sri Lanka from India and now resides in the town with the same name. The Pilgrimage ends the Night before the Pera Hera Festival begins. So, unfortunately I wasn’t able to join on the pilgrimage due to work commitments, but it was nice to join in for the festival. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Big thanks to Tom for sending me these pics!

(photo by Tom Ramsson)
Raja (my boss) and I at the festival.

(photo by Tom Ramsson)
No I did not sneak off to Burning Man... These kids were actually pretty good fire-spinners.

(photo by Tom Ramsson)
They like to dress up the elephants for the festival. This one reminds me of El Nacho, the Mexican wrestler… There were two that were magnificently adorned with rich tapestries and decorations. One elephant was sooo tall with huge tusks that nearly touched the ground. This was an intimidating animal. Before the festival the walk the elephants down to the river (which is, of course, sacred) and lovingly bath them. Then the elephants are marched to the temple grounds and they will bow to various shrines.
(photo by Tom Ramsson)
I just like this pic looking down the parade route on the temple grounds. It really was a nice setting.

Housing Project

2006-08-06T22:31:00.000+05:30

Ok, this might not be too interesting to all you, but I thought I would throw this up here anyway. As I keep saying, our housing project is getting under wa,y finally. We have built 20 foundations so far and my goal is to build all 100 foundations and 3 model homes by October 1st, the official start of the rainy season. To do this we need to hire 50 skilled masons and ~ 50 laborers. The trick is to find these guys and keep them on site. Everytime the conflict heats up, they want to leave for obvious reasons. So, my goal may not be achieved but you have to have goals, right?

Before computers, everything was drafted by hand. And in Trinco, everything is still drafted by hand... This a draft drawing for our house design. I designed the structure with input from several people here and gave a sketch to A. Swaminathan, one of our experienced engineers. He drew this up in about 3 hours. Pretty good I'd say. There are many mistakes on this draft but I think it hs a lot of character (the sketch, not the house design). This is the first house Ive ever designed. It was a challenging process to incorporate things that are important to villagers. We actually had to dull-down some aspects of the house because the people will reject too much change.

Here is a site photo of one of the foundations brought up to the DPC level (where the wall begins). Our design has 4 reinforced columns located on the corners. Tsunami proof??? more likely bomb resitant...

Just checking in....

2006-07-28T16:00:00.000+05:30

Hi everyone, just a quick note to say hello. I have not had much time to add to the blog lately, which is a good sign I guess. Things here have been OK in that we have been able to work and to get to the sites. We are building foundations for our 100 homes and making slow, but steady progress. I will try to post some construction pics later this weekend.

I’ve been here for 10 months now and the one-year mark feels like it will be here before I can blink. Many people have come and gone from Trinco since I arrived in Oct last year. I’m starting to feel like a bit of an old hand here. I have met many great people so far and am sure that I will continue to meet more as time goes on.

So whats new? Not too much I guess. Its still hot here and the rainy season is coming in a few months. Im worried that it will start early and put the kibosh on my housing project! This week I went to the south of the Island for a Buddhist and Hindu festival called the Pera Harah (blog entry coming soon), which was a 3-day trip (17 hours of which were in the car…).

The-coolest-news-ever is that my friend Doug (crazy-doug) decided to fly back from London to San Francisco to donate a kidney to our friend Hetal!!!!!!!!! WOW. Im so happy for them and really wish I could be there to support them! Many cheers to Doug for this courageous and selfless act! You are an inspiration to us all! And congratulations to you Hetal! Speedy recovery to you both! I will be pulling for you. { UPDATE: Unfortunately, Hetal and Doug were notified that the surgury has to be put off for a few months due to some test results. Hopefully everything will work itself out and we will celebrate in a few months. Hang in there guys! }

Also, wanted to send my congratulations to Craig and Jessica who got married last weekend! Man, Im really missing out. ;)

Ok, I have to get back to work but wanted to get out a quick post to let you know Im ok. Hope you all are well and thanks for the emails and calls. I haven’t forgotten about you and it is really nice to be remembered occasionally. :)
~Peace

Trip to Polanaruwa

2006-07-28T15:45:00.000+05:30

Here are some pics from my trip to Polanarwa, a cultural center about 3 hrs from Trinco. Several of us visited here during one of the evacuations from Trinco this spring.

Tatiana (CESVI) in front of an ancient buddhist Stupa. They still construct these things today but the will be plastered smooth and painted perfectly white.

semi-interesting statue carved in stone.

Monkey enjoying some goodies - stolen, no doubt.

Buddha image carved in stone. Really nice granite here. would be perfect for sport climbing!

Oddities... cont'

2006-07-07T10:51:00.000+05:30

I figure it was time for another installment of oddities. Ok, it hasn't been weekly, but I will try to keep them periodically. Enjoy!

Imagine sitting on the toilet, minding your own business but then you start to feel like someone, or something is watching you. This is what happened to me when I was staying in Colombo with some friends. I can tell you, after looking over and seeing this guy I felt a little vulnerable with my pants around my ankles and all. Scale: the tiles are 6 inches wide.

This is one of my favorites and I know some of you have already seen my dung beetle but I figured he should be up here for posterity. To get an idea of scale, the ball o' dung is about 1.5-2 inches in diameter.

You can find previous oddity posts here and here.

Rest and Recuperation

2006-07-02T05:08:00.000+05:30

I can honestly say that this work here in Trinco can be quite stressful and you can feel it building up at times. In fact many organizations including the UN (and the dozens of branches they have spawned e.g. UNICEF) all receive "Hazard" or "Hardship" compensation. This means that they get something like an extra week's vacation every few months and a flight to leave the country. They also receive additional pay for enduring their hardships... Hmmm... sounds pretty nice and yes, I am jealous but not resentful...ok, maybe a little. Anyway, my point is we all make a point to try to relax and have some fun and get your mind off the situation and the work from time to time. For example, last week when my friend Tom was visiting from Colombo, we decided to take a friday afternoon off and hit the beach. Its really amazing to be the only ones on the beach, save a few fisherman!
Kickin it in the pool, enjoying a sundowner on our makeshift beer caddy cum pool bar. We are literally the only ones at this hotel other than the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) folks that have been living here for a couple of years now. This place used to be busier with expats but many have left and most of the others (me included) have stopped coming here so often due to the horrendous service. I sure miss the pool though...

One of the ubiquitous beach dogs spaced evenly down the beach. I want to come back as a beach dog... This has to be one of the greatest existences. Your only responsibility is to chase away the beach cows that threaten your turf (the second best existence?)!

My First Visitor

2006-07-02T04:44:00.000+05:30

After being in Trinco for 9 months now, I finally received my first visitor. My friend Tom (another Sewa Lanka volunteer) came up from Colombo for a few days to visit and check out Trinco for the first time. It was fun to have a visitor, because it makes you see your surroundings through fresh eyes. We visited a few places that I have not seen since my first days in Trinco. I forget what a beautiful place this really can be!

Tom standing near a prayer tree at Swami Rock. Not exactly sure what the wooden boxes hanging from the trees are. Steep granite cliffs right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. Their is a nice hindu temple up here that is quite famous but no one visits it. Perhaps it is because you have to travel through a large army camp that is located immediately at its base.

Temple monkeys chillin on the rocks. I have to say these are some of the calmest monkeys I have seen in Sri Lanka. Unlike the ones that stole my cell phone, disconnect my power lines, and wake me up at 530am by playing on my tile roof.

Tom making friends with a Temple cow. Yes, this little heffer is actually in the temple.

Before the BOSS 808 (hell, before the 303!) there were drum machines. Now I have a better idea how these temples can make so much noise!

Speaking of Sri Lanka and Journalism....

2006-06-15T22:40:00.000+05:30

Ironically, as I was uploading the previous post, news of the bus attack in Anuradhapura this morning was just making its way around here. And, of course the government responed by shelling the ltte controlled area outside of Trinco again today. So this is just a quick update to let everyone know I am fine and safe. It is not clear who was responsible for this horrible attack on the civilian population, but surely it is not going to help the peace process.

You can read about the incident here. And there is a decent analysis of the "not war, not peace" situation here if you are interested.

Peace!

Trouble in Paradise - April 2006

2006-06-15T11:57:00.000+05:30

Ok, so some of you may have heard about the recent troubles that have been brewing in Sri Lanka over the past few months. I thought I would share some stories from the events of April 2006 in Trincomalee before they are potentially eclipsed by future events. Things have been heating up in Sri Lanka and Trinco for months now but things in April really exploded. For example, on April 12th, a bomb was detonated within the main vegetable market in the center of Trinco town. Civilian riots ensued and over 20 shops and several vehicles were burned. There were reports of looting of shops and rape of civilians during these riots and approximately 20 persons were killed. Several days of civil unrest followed the 12th April bomb attack including neighborhood mobs attacking and setting fire to houses in the areas surrounding Trinco town and there were several grenade and claymore mine attacks. I decided to leave Trinco for a few days to let the situation calm down and went to Colombo.

A vehicle and shop that had been burned out during the riots that followed the market blast.

Ouch.... A hand full of vehicles and ~ 20 shops received this fate.

This is a shot taken looking up Central Rd five days after the blast and riots. It was strange to see the bustling center of town to be so deserted.

The day I returned to Trinco, the LTTE bombed army HQ in Colombo and then the army started aerial bombing and shelling the LTTE controlled area next to Trinco. Yes, it was an experience; sitting on my veranda watching rockets fire over the harbor and listing to 135mm artillery guns fire every few mins. Jets were even turning over my house (not bombing here) to return to their targets 10 miles south. After a night an exciting night of shelling, I decided to move into a hotel in town next to my boss’s because he figures it is safer for me there. The cool thing is that I keep meeting these journalists there that are finally coming to cover the things happening in Trinco. The reporting has been pretty bad in terms of being balanced and fair. Most of the information coming from the international news agencies seems to be reported from the gov. Until recently there have been very few reporters coming to the district. Most of the reporters are from Colombo. Anyway, this guy was staying at my hotel and I ask him if he is covering blast at the market (two weeks before this now). He said yeah. So I asked if he new about all these nasty things that happened (that everyone in Trinco knows about) but aren’t getting reported? he said “uh, no... but we cant just print rumors because people say it”. At this point I want to throttle his neck. I mean, isn’t this the job of reporters: to go and in-vest-i-gate potential reports of wrong doings; talk to the people etc? So, I told him that these are not rumors, these people exist, you just need to go talk to them. I hooked him up this a man that had a "real story", and it made it to press the next day (London Guardian)! JUSTICE. The first 5 paragraphs pertain to the atrocities that were not being reported previously.

This is the view from the hotel that I stayed in for a week following the aerial attacks. It actually was a nice place to be. I could watch the boys play cricket in hte afternoon before the curfew was enforced. Also watched (painfully) as the army harrassed and beat some civilians traveling down the road...ugh.

Tamil Wedding

2006-06-12T19:46:00.000+05:30

In late March, Florian and I were invited to a Tamil Wedding ceremony for the brother of Shanti, one of the administrators at Sewa Lanka. It is a really intricate affair and is very colorful as you can see by the pics. There is not to much action though. The ceremony mainly consists of the Hindu priest performing a ritual blessing that requires little or no participation from others. It is very important that the couple is wed during an auspicious time. For example, this wedding was scheduled between 10:36 AM and 11:52. The times are dictated by ancient charts I suppose. After the wedding there is a reception that consist of a luncheon at a wedding hall. It was really nice to see everyone dressed so nice and so elaborately. And for me it was a rare opportunity to wear Armani pants with flip-flops (thanks again bryan!).

During the ceremony….
During the photo shoot, Florian and I were asked to join in the photo. It is strange to be a little bit of a celebrity at these functions.

This is as good as rice and curry gets! The green pea and prawn dish was my favorite but unfortunately this was the first and last time I have seen it available. Also on this plate is chicken deviled, fish ball, and dal. They wrap the plate in plastic to ensure that it is clean...a nice touch.

And this is Shanti, one of our more enthusiast administrators. She is a little more sassy and out spoken than most of her female colleagues.

Trip to Nuwar Elliya

2006-06-11T22:46:00.000+05:30

In february, I headed south to meet my friend Tom in Nuwara Elliya and be a bit of a tourist in Sri Lanka for a few days. It was a nice break from Trinco as the climate is quite cool in the central highlands with an altitude of ~ 6,000 ft. In fact it is down right cold at night. To be honest I dont really know what this means, maybe 50 degs? All I know is that I was wearing shoes a lot and borrowing a jacket from Tom's friend, Brian, that was visiting from NY. He was well prepared with fleeces and shells (hmmm... must be cold in NY in Feb). We traveled around a fair amount but I would have to say one of the things I enjoyed most was the market in town. There were no tourist there, only locals, and the variety and quality of fruits and vegetables was much better than what I can often find in Trinco.

Thanks Picasa!

We (Brian and I) decided to try the popular if not fashinable, chewing of Beetle Nut. In reality, you are chewing much more than just beetle nut. The whole package consists of beetle nut (small red nut), a dried leafy plant that seems like it could be tobacco or one of its cousins, and lime (or lye) paste. You basically take the mix and rap it up in a small banana leave and shove it in you mouth. The result of this stimulant coctail is a big head rush and a lot of red spittle. (Photo by Tom Ramsson)Is this going to kill me? (Photo by Tom Ramsson)

Beautiful sunrise on the way to Worlds End... (Photo by Tom Ramsson)

Oddities...

2006-06-11T22:36:00.000+05:30

...of the week?

This is a signboard posted near the entrance to Worlds End, a beautiful park reserve with rolling grass lands that lead to a stunning vistas. It is surely one of the main points of interest in the central highlands. The Of course it sits next to a Singalese version of the same sign. You have to love translations.

We found this little guy while walking back from the market in Nuwara Elliya. He decided to jump onto my foot as we were trying to get a good photo of him. Handsome fellow, eh? (note: this is probably the second time wearing shoes in Sri Lanka, the central highlands can be quite cool.)

Oddities...

2006-06-05T14:04:00.000+05:30

Its amazing what can be transported by bicycle. Ive often seen people carrying (dragging) 20ft sections of re-bar and even pvc pipe!

Maybe I will do an Oddity of the week or something... I have some pretty phone pics...we will see.

Still trying to figure out how to post multiple images...
Posted by Picasa

Welcome to my new blog

2006-06-05T12:47:00.000+05:30

Hello All,

After a long hiatus from the cyber world, I have decided to return. My former website had not been updated since December (sorry!) due to a number of reasons, and now, the company that was hosting the site has closed its doors. So it is gone forever. Thanks again to Jesse for allowing me the opportunity to post a website on his account (for free). Thanks Jesse!

This is my first post and I am just figuring the site out, so bare with me. I hope to do shorter, but more frequent updates and post some pics. This new site should be easier to update, although it means I have to compose online. Keep in mind I have pretty shabby dial-up connection here.

Ok, in short I am doing well and am healthy (now). I have been here for 8 months! Can you believe it? Not sure what pics I will post today but just want to get started. I miss you all and hope you are happy and well and enjoying spring/summer! Ciao!

Housing Beneficiaries in Our Village

2006-03-05T21:21:00.000+05:30

Here are some of our housing beneficiaries. Use of this term still bothers me…they are people right?! Bloody NGO speak!

This man’s house was destroyed in the war in the late 80’s- early 90s and has been living in various shelters and refugee camps or relatives ever since.

This woman is waiting patiently for us to build her house - standing with her family on the land where her new home is to be built.

This is a typical temporary (read: up to 10 years) shelter from one of our beneficiaries. The low ceilings are what kill me, but I guess most people here are not as tall as I.
Scare crow or just cool factor???? You be the judge.

Soil Testing at our Housing Site

2006-03-05T21:11:00.000+05:30

Back to work…

After returning from my 3-week stint in the hinterland, I finally made it back to Trinco and was able to get back to work. The main project that I am working on is a housing and livelihood project in two villages north of Trinco, Thiriyai (sounds like teary-eye) and Kattakullam. We are beginning construction of 100 homes, several domestic and community wells, and road improvements. These people were affected by the Tsunami but their story goes much deeper than that. Most of the people in this village were displaced one or more times in the 80s and 90s due to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Many fled to India as war refugees and eventually returned to Sri Lanka only to live in refugee camps. Many of the refugees from this village were placed in a camp that was located very near the sea and have lived there for approximately 10 years. The conditions in the refugee camps can be quite poor with minimal shelter given by simple block wall or corrugated steel buildings with cadjan (palm leave) roofs. The 26th December 2004 Tsunami only seemed to add insult to injury for these people.

I have included some pictures of the soil-sampling program to get soil bearing values for foundation design.

Mobile drill rig and support truck.

The vehicle is called a crew cab. They are pretty common here and we have one for our project too. Its actually the vehicle I am driving around in this week. They are fun to drive!

The drilling tool is pretty simple but does just about everything that big rig would be able to do. It has a cathead with two speeds for driving the hammer and hoisting the drill string. They drive a split spoon sampler by dropping a weighted hammer from a specified height (for my geo-geek friends..cough..jim…cough).
The soil was really loose sand and the hole was not staying open so they used bentonite slurry to keep the hole open. Screwed up my plans for grabbing a water sample…

Our site office: Eating lunch and trying to stay cool with the project coordinator and field officers. The office is lacking some furnishings.

We had difficulty finding a standing building in these villages of some 500 families that we could use for our site office. Finally, we had to rent a mostly finished house that was built be another local NGO that did not have the funds to complete it. The owner was not staying in the house as it was not finished (no doors and windows) so he was happy to have some income generation. We also offered to complete the house for him as part of the deal. Unfortunately, we cant seem to find the owner to pay rent as he left to the Vanni (LTTE controlled area) due to the recent events in the district (for example...).

Wisconsin in January...

2006-01-30T21:05:00.000+05:30

After coming back from Thailand, I was told to stay in Colombo because the events in Trinco had made it unsafe to return. All international NGOs left Trinco temporarily and I worked out of the Colombo office for a week before learning that me dad was scheduled to have heart surgery. I made the decision that I should go to Wisconsin to be with my dad. It was a good trip, er, I guess I should say visit. The trip took 36 hrs, 5 cities, 2 sunrises, and 2 sunsets! Ugh! I got to spend time with family and friends in MN and WI before the surgery and it was great to be there with my dad and his wife during the difficult time. Those of you that know my father know that he is a spitfire and recovered quiet well and only pissed off the nurses a few times!

My dad and I on the patio at Hawk Ridge, his cabin in Pembine, WI before surg. They had some good snow and I got to take a spin on their snowmobiles… January is really, really cold at 95 mph.

My dad shortly after returning home from the hospital and looking surprisingly good! You can see all the tape marks left on him. Each one represents a different line or sensor that was attached to him. I think I counted 19 lines going in or out of my dad when he was recovering. He is doing pretty well these days and has returned to work and is continuing to work with his wife Polly to finish the addition to their cabin (Hawk Ridge).

I also got to see my cousin Anna and spend time with her on her 15^th Birthday.

Thailand - Big Reclining Buddha

2006-01-09T21:00:00.000+05:30

Also at Wat Pho, the large reclining Buddha is utterly impressive. It is difficult to get a perspective from the photos but he is really, really long. Along each side of the Buddha, there are hundreds of small bronze pots that you are supposed to drop small coins in as you walk along the Buddha image. The sound is mesmerizing as you walk through the temple with all the other people.

Check out the feet on Buddha! Each foot is covered with intricate mother of pearl inlays.

Thailand - January 2006

2006-01-09T20:46:00.000+05:30

After the commemoration events, I took a short trip to Thailand for a little R&R and to celebrate new years. It is relatively cheap to get there and it is about a 4 hr flight. I was happy to return to Thailand after my trip there 4 years ago. I was only there for just over a week but really enjoyed my time in Bangkok and Chaing Mai. I even got some climbing in.

The temples at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are utterly amazing. Even some of the lesser temples in the countryside are quite impressive.

I really like these…thai versions or gargoyles(???). The detail is amazing.

This golden Buddha is actually from a temple in Chaing Mai (the north) but thought it was worth adding.

Back at Wat Pho, they are currently in the process of restoring many of the temples. Here they are tracing all the intricate artwork for preservation and verification after it has been restored. You can see the areas that have been restored.

Tsunami Commemoration Con't

2005-12-26T20:13:00.000+05:30

The Buddhist ceremony was held at a secluded beach that had fantastic landscapes with panoramic views. We could see it raining everywhere in the distance, seemingly on all sides and were sure that we were doomed to get soaked. But in the end we were lucky and didn’t feel as much as a drop.

The expats….

No, this photo wasn’t staged. I don’t think I even noticed the composition when I took it. My only point was to get a pic with these folks in it (pictures are better with people in it, right?) But when I saw it on my laptop, I really liked it. I think they were all watching Harsha get interviewed by the BBC.

Still suffering from the 100 Rupee ($1) haircut…

Harsha (Chairman, SLF) being interviewed by the BBC.

After a short ceremony by the monks and the chairman, all the monks and local slf members posed for this photo. If you haven’t heard, white is the new black. Of course Im kidding. White is the holy color, especially for Buddhists.

Tsunami Commeration - December 2005

2005-12-26T19:52:00.000+05:30

Christmas day we got up and drove to Arugum Bay on the east coast. The Journey took about 8 hrs although we only traveled ~ 200km (125 miles). Harsha had planned two commemoration events there, one Buddhist, and one Hindu. It definetly was a solemn day.

Sunrise from our beach bungalow on the morning of the 26th.

We then headed inland for the Hindu ceremony. This ceremony was filled with colorful ritualism and concluded with a shared meal prepared in a large pot over an open fire, right in front of the temple.

Harsha (Chairman) and Amanda, waiting for the Hindu ceremony to begin.

The Hindu ceremony was very interesting. Although sitting on the floor for 2+ hrs was tough for me.

They were cooking during the entire ceremony and it smelled pretty good. They made a concoction of rice, fruit, sugar, spices, sugar, more fruit..did I mention sugar?

Christmas in the South of Sri Lanka- December 2005

2005-12-25T19:39:00.000+05:30

I was invited to join the Chairman of Sewa Lanka and a few of the other American Volunteers to spend Christmas in Galle, then travel to the east to participate in two Tsunami Commemoration events on December 26th.

Christmas Dinner at the Lighthouse Hotel
We dined at a very nice hotel right on the beach, complete with crashing waves, fire-lit torches and a buffet that would not stop. It was so great to have good food and a variety of food to choose from. YUM!

Harsha, Amanda, Steve, and Thomas – Cheers!

Amanda and Steve, two american volunteers (note the creative use of the table center piece)

Some of the macabre sculptures within the hotel.