Complaints

Of late, have been having a bad time and just feeling blue.

Yesterday I discovered strange insects in my jar of coriander! H's explanation of it is the humid weather. But my jar was sealed so Lord only knows how they got there.

Oh the frozen foods need a bit of getting used to. Almost all savoury foods are just too strongly flavoured with black pepper. Even well known brands like Knorr have tweaked the flavours to suit the local palette. Basically making all easily prepared foods not very tasty to me which is just as well. There are some things that just can't be found in the supermarkets : like lemons and coriander and ghee (clarified butter) and semolina.

People Passing

After coming to Colombo two of my uncles living in my home town have passed away. One of them this morning. Have been naturally feeling quite down. These people I have seen since I was a child. They were nice, happy, kind and jovial people. With this particular uncle I passed many a day discussing books, life, etc. I know his passing away will also mean one less person my mother can turn to, who is passing her days away, lonely and getting old, missing us. And ofcourse a slice of my youth gone with them, as memories of childhood are inextricably linked with these members of our family.

3am Blues

We've been unsuccessfully trying to make Daughter settle down in her new room. Every time she starts settling down she comes down with a bad cold/cough and we move her back to our bed, and she no longer wants to sleep in her own bedroom. After 2 tearful allnighters, have decided to call it quits and just move her bed back to our room in the morning.

And while we are on the topic of coughs/colds, let me just add that catching 4 bugs in the space of 2 short months is just too much to handle, and feeling quite fed up. When do I catch myself a break here?

We do not buy chocolate here, so here I am, unable to sleep, gnawing on a papaya at 3am. Papayas are nice here by the way. The fruits are very similar to Bangkok's. Weather is also similar possibly. It is constant weather here all year round.

H has been going crazy with his workload here. He continues working late into the night every day even after coming home. So that has lengthened our settling down time even further.

On another front have hired a part time maid, especially with the impending visits of relatives within weeks. Today, I caught her scrubbing down my precious rice cooker (yes the electric part at the bottom!) She can't speak any English. Daughter has a fine time harassing her with questions like "why don't you know English?!"

Today we got caught in a road block because of protesters. The entire Colpetty Junction to Temple Trees was blocked off. Had to take a long detour. As it is everyday we have to pass through a million roadblocks were the soldiers stare at you and try to figure out where you're from before asking for your passport. Road blocks are part and parcel of Colombo life.

Also, seeing a saffron clad monk every day. There are many buddhist and hindu temples around as well as mosques. We hear atleast 4 different azans every day, 5 times. Oh, and noise pollution is quite bad where we live: a train blasts away every now and then, as we live right beside the tracks. Oh, and the rain is constant. Everyone walks with an umbrella. Sri Lnnkan people are also very westernised in clothes and also their work ethics. They never go beyond their job descriptions. They will not work a minute extra or do anything that they are not officially required to do. This can be quite irritating. Oh and there's a Poya every 2 weeks. It falls on a full moon, and is a holiday (but not for H). So that's another day they refuse to work!

Ok, starting to feel a bit sleepy now.

More later.