Day Three

Day Three

This morning, we checked in at the cricket game again. It is a very boring game when distances are vast, nothing much seems to happen and one has no idea of the rules. We were treated to tea however and it was sweet and delicious. I really enjoyed watching a chap unwrap his lunch packet. It came wrapped in a waxed paper and was noodles with an egg on top and a plastic bag of red curry. The curry was squeezed out on top of the noodles and it was eaten with the fingers, no cutlery or plate. Some how, Jim volunteered for me to draw this chap, who turned out to be the secretary of the cricket club and of course I obliged ever at the ready.

Then Jim and I  walked down to the ocean.  We couldn’t get anywhere close to the water for the many tanks and hundred’s of soldiers.  Overhead, we saw little dots of colour high in the sky which turned into parachutes once they got low enough to be able to see the person below the sail. In one photo you can see four of them landing in formation. We also saw motorcades with horses and police driving the prime minister, the ex prime minister and several other big wigs or spouses. This is all in preparation for tomorrow’s Independence Day.

Day two Shri Lanka

February 2, 2019

Day two of our Sri Lanka adventure started out much better than day one. We wandered around Colombo stopping to enjoy a bit of a cricket match AND at lunch time we were at high end “mall”. As I mentioned yesterday, a few years ago in India,we managed to go seven weeks without going to a clean, predictable, spice free MCDonalds with okay bathrooms. Day two in Sri Lanka,  we again went to a McDonalds and sat in the windy shade high above a small lake surrounded by a few wonderfully interesting skyscrapers. While we were admiring the Sri Lankan flag and holding onto our food and napkins for dear life, we saw a practice for the Independence day Fly Pass. Depending on which sign you read, Sri Lanka is celebrating seven years or seventy years of Independence on Monday. While we were enjoying our lunch, I read the guide book. Finally I have time to read the guide book. I suggested we take a tuk tuk to the old Forte area and wander around and see the ocean. For three hundred rupees we got a tuk tuk there and on the way, we enjoyed the military vehicles parading to the rendevue for Monday’s parade.

After a very short wander around the Dutch Hospital from the 1600, we were approached by a man saying  he was from Kuawla Lampur and worked in their embassy.  We bought his story hook line and sinker, and were soon in the back of another tuk tuk ( supposedly metered) on our way to see a Buddhist temple that had a free ceremony only on one afternoon a year and this was it. Of course after paying to tour a Buddhist temple and then being marketed gems which were on sale only that one day of the year, we wised up. After paying the tuk tuk driver 2000 rupees ( we thanked him and even shook his hand,) we departed without jewels or more commission stops or tuk tuk.

Eventually we figured out the map with the help of a trustworthy Sri Lankan and hiked home. After cold beer and a game of quirkle on our porch, we felt slightly less jaded. One of the photos is of a jade buddha , one of the many Buddhas  we saw this afternoon.

Day One in Sri Lanka

February 1, 2019

It was supposed to be an hour and a half walk to

The Sri Lanka Immigration Office.

It took us two and a half hours.

Rough sidewalks, traffic dodging, full sun,

No time to admire the cranes or cormorants.

I felt like fainting or throwing up

But I didn’t,.

It was my idea to walk.

Just when I think that I can’t go another step

I see a McDonalds across the street.

It took me seven weeks in India

Before I insisted that we go to McDonalds.

This is day one in Sri Lanka.

Finally we arrive at Immigration to extend our Visas.

The fourth floor is a white colossal space,

Fluorescent lighting,

Three and four person benches

In shiny silver.

Low white dividers shuffle people 

Through the ticket taking,

The photo taking,

Area B, area C,

The Shroff Counter, for receiving payment.

Hours pass.

I am recovered now from the hike here.

The rooms are filed with

Warm skinned, black haired applicants,

And the occasional light skinned German or English person.

I enjoy watching couples interact,

Babies,

The head shaved  Buddhist monks

With their bare shoulders and flowing orange robes. 

The back of a tall woman

With a blond ponytail

Who is wearing a long purple skirt

And carrying a purse and a huge backpack.

When she turns around,

She is a he.

An old gray haired worker,

In a too tight blue tee shirt,

And long black skirt,

Sweeps and scowls.

I catch her eye and manage to elicit a small smile.

Jim paces, his agitation radiating.

I scribble and sketch and try to find Buddha within.

After four and a half hours

We leave with our visa extensions!

We catch a tuk tuk

Back to the YWCA.

We giddily careen in traffic

Between busses, cars,  motorcycles,

And other tuk tuks.

We stop and pick up cold  beer,

Cashews, bread and cheese.

This is day one!

January 19, 2919

I am working away on a new whimsical painting of the Truro Library at night. It will be in my exhibition that opens at our new library on May 2 at 6:30.

March 7 , 2017 Frankfurt, Germany

Enroute to Rome! Stay tuned for word pictures and paintings of Italy. Last August I got up at 4 am when I was staying in River John. Off I drove in my Pajamas to sKnee River John in the dark. This is the resulting unsuccessful watercolour that I did. But now this has sparked an idea for another Starry Night painting. I finished the underpainting the night before we left so it will be good and dry when we return!

February 22, 2017

Jim and I are so lucky to be going off again on another adventure next week. I have my paper and paints all ready and a journal packed. Stay tuned to see the first of the paintings and the word pictures next week! Where are we going? We land in Rome and depart from Paris two months later. Both of these are favourite cities of mine and it will be great to see them again with Jim. In between it will be all new territory for the both of us.

Home Thunder rolls in the distance. The first drops of rain fall. In the haze, the sky meets the sea. Large sandstone cliffs frame the harbor. The tide is low. The tiny cerulean pools swell And the flats gradually disappear. In a few hours, the boats at the wharf Will float again. Fight in front of me, On a long stony peninsula, The light house just sits and waits; No light, no foghorn But it is at the ready. I am home. Back where I drink two cups of coffee With longtime artist friends. Back where Burt gives me flowers When I am treating myself to ice cream. Back where Joan at the Harbourview Calls me by name when serving my dessert An African favourite; fries with ketchup. I am home; where I am loved and cherished I am home where I love and cherish.