Living in Sri Lanka.
The Good
Watching the wonderful sunsets from our apartment
Looking at the twinkling lights of the ships anchored out at sea
Relaxing on the beach at Hikkaduwa
The Bad
The corruption
The huge number of stray dogs and cats
The poverty
The Ugly
Story time. We just went shopping across the street and ended up with a few more bags then we thought we would. Easy enough, we would get a tuk tuk to take us to our apartment. Chris went to find one and in short time she was back. The bagger loaded the bags, the tuk tuk driver didn't help. He took us across the street which meant leaving the parking garage, turning left and going about 50 feet, making a U-turn, returning about 50 feet and going down the ramp to our parking garage. Again he didn't help unload the bags and just sat there. I counted out 80RS (we figured 50RS was certainly sufficient) and he shook his head and said no, he wanted 100RS (or at least that's what I thought he said). Chris told him in no specific terms what he could do with his request. I being the diplomatic one said I had 100RS in our apartment,I would get it, against Chris' wishes. I told the driver to wait. I got the 100Rs and came down, stifling my anger I handed it to him and he said "No sir, 120RS". At that point, diplomacy went out the window. I went full Drill Instructor on him. Huh? I used to be a Marine Corps Drill Instructor, we have a special way of yelling when we get "upset". The driver called me a few names, I told him to "GET THE #$% OUT OF HERE". One of our splendid apartment guards was in the garage, he started approaching, then he backed off, go figure.
The beloved Colombo tuk tuk driver, always giving Sri Lanka a good name.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Consuming The Consumables
Over a year ago we received our shipment of consumable items. We were of course curious to see how far the items would go.
Kitty litter (about 400 pounds) and kitty food, long gone
Peanut butter, long gone
Balsamic vinegars, still have
Mustards, still have
Restaurant sized plastic wrap and aluminum foil, plenty left
What we do have plenty of is cleaning supplies. Initially we had a difficult time making sure our housekeeper would use it. I think she was afraid to and she would end up purchasing stuff at the store when we sent her shopping. Now she knows to use it. We probably have a good years worth of cleaning supplies left.
Now the toothpaste and toothbrushes was used up a few months ago. What has remarkably held out is my 10oz can of Skintimate shaving lotion. Yes it's a woman's shaving lotion but like I mentioned before it's an old Drill Instructors trick to use it, works great. I think the original can will deplete this week, but whats cool is that it also came with a free travel size can and at this rate it will last me another two months at least!
Kitty litter (about 400 pounds) and kitty food, long gone
Peanut butter, long gone
Balsamic vinegars, still have
Mustards, still have
Restaurant sized plastic wrap and aluminum foil, plenty left
What we do have plenty of is cleaning supplies. Initially we had a difficult time making sure our housekeeper would use it. I think she was afraid to and she would end up purchasing stuff at the store when we sent her shopping. Now she knows to use it. We probably have a good years worth of cleaning supplies left.
Now the toothpaste and toothbrushes was used up a few months ago. What has remarkably held out is my 10oz can of Skintimate shaving lotion. Yes it's a woman's shaving lotion but like I mentioned before it's an old Drill Instructors trick to use it, works great. I think the original can will deplete this week, but whats cool is that it also came with a free travel size can and at this rate it will last me another two months at least!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Book Corner - Finished Reading
The Spiders of Allah: Travels of an Unbeliever on the Frontline of Holy War by James Hider
Paperback
336 pages
Memoirs
I couldn't read this book fast enough. It was a real eye opener. I'd have a hard time explaining the book, which is why I pretty much never write a review.
It's a good read.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Outsourced
I don't know if you have ever watched the NBC show Outsourced, I love it.
I have almost choked on what I was eating from laughing so hard while watching it. Why?
The show is about an American who has to work in India and him learning about the culture and nuances. The similarities between the show and what we deal with living in Sri Lanka are very close.
In one episode the "head bobble" is explained to him. "Sometimes it means yes, sometimes it means no, sometimes it means maybe". Scary thing is after you've been here awhile you can actually tell what head bobble is which. Case in point, I was at this event and this girl asked a gentleman to take our picture. He pointed the camera and bobbled his head, I knew that meant, "Nope, didn't get the picture", she showed him how to use the camera and he tried again and bobbled, my guess this was a "Maybe", it was, one more try and another head bobble, he took a good picture. Scary thing is, I have caught myself head bobbling a time or two.
Other aspects of the show deal with the food, cleanliness, tuk tuks, food poisoning, things we deal with pretty on a daily basis.
Believe me, the show is much funnier if you have ever lived in India or Sri Lanka.
I have almost choked on what I was eating from laughing so hard while watching it. Why?
The show is about an American who has to work in India and him learning about the culture and nuances. The similarities between the show and what we deal with living in Sri Lanka are very close.
In one episode the "head bobble" is explained to him. "Sometimes it means yes, sometimes it means no, sometimes it means maybe". Scary thing is after you've been here awhile you can actually tell what head bobble is which. Case in point, I was at this event and this girl asked a gentleman to take our picture. He pointed the camera and bobbled his head, I knew that meant, "Nope, didn't get the picture", she showed him how to use the camera and he tried again and bobbled, my guess this was a "Maybe", it was, one more try and another head bobble, he took a good picture. Scary thing is, I have caught myself head bobbling a time or two.
Other aspects of the show deal with the food, cleanliness, tuk tuks, food poisoning, things we deal with pretty on a daily basis.
Believe me, the show is much funnier if you have ever lived in India or Sri Lanka.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)