A day of seeing old friends, eating Sri Lankan, but forgetting to take pictures

Dec 13

We woke up early after a good night’s sleep…we crashed about 9:30 last night. The heat and humidity mix takes a lot out of us. We had another Sri Lankan breakfast of string hoppers (a rice-based very thin noodle served at room temperature with dhal ladled over it. We visited with our host Gayathri. She has a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

Afterward, we headed to a nearby grocery store to have two fruit baskets made as gifts for dinner hosts. The clerk in the produce department handed us two baskets and we picked out fruit to fill them. He did a great job of arranging pineapple, apples, oranges, and strawberries.

Tonight, we will dine with Suba’s family, three generations under one roof. Ron and Suba worked together back in 2004-05 and have remained fast friends. 

On Saturday we will dine with Mr.K and his family. Mr. K is our trishaw driver. He always invites us to dinner when we come to town. Years ago, Mr. K needed a replacement trishaw but didn’t have the means to buy another one. We gave him the necessary funds to purchase one. Unfortunately, ever since then he has refused payment for his services to us. It wasn’t a loan; it was a gift. So, tomorrow night we plan to insist that we pay for his services this time. It will be a battle of wills.

Ajith and his shop

We brought the baskets back to our room so the heat wouldn’t ruin them. Then we headed to a shop to buy more gifts for friends back home. I have used the same jeweler since we lived here. When we are visiting, I often buy small, inexpensive semi-precious stones and have Ajith make pendants or earrings. They make great gifts for women friends. Today’s quote was much more than I remembered but Colombo has grown tremendously and we are finding everything more expensive even with the good currency rate. I caved after he reduced the price. As Ron likes to say ‘it’s only money’. Ajith's shop is about 5 ft X 6 ft of a shipping container.  It's enough for two workers to sit and manufacture jewelry while Ajith stands and oversees the efforts.

We ended our errands by getting three more gifts at a nearby shop. I think we have finished with the shopping other than to check on Sunday as to whether Barefoot got any extra-large shirts in.

We rested until time to leave for lunch with another friend, Don Brownell, with whom Ron worked in 2004-5. Don is a Canadian who has done international aid work in developing countries for decades. He always has some great stories. Today he informed us that SL now has a 300% duty on new imported cars. We almost fell over. That means a $35,000 KIA is $135,000 here! OY! We have noticed high-end cars like Mercedes that we do not remember seeing on previous visits. Where is the money coming from…who knows? After our two-hour lunch overlooking the Indian Ocean, we came home to escape the heat.

Tonight, we had dinner with Suba and his family. He and his immediate family have moved since our last trip here. He now lives with his wife and three children ages 14, 12 and 5. Previously his parents lived with them also. The parents now live in the former apartment just up the street. Suba has a very nice apartment at about 1700 sq. ft. with three bedrooms, three baths, and a den. There is a large room that serves as a living and dining room and a large modern kitchen and servant’s quarter they use as a pantry. He has a nice balcony that wraps around two sides of his corner apartment. Unfortunately, Ron and Suba go so busy talking that he didn't take any pictures of him, his wife, his three delightful children.  He has two boys, ages 12 & 14 and an adorable girl, age 5.

Suba a Tamil and therefore is also a Hindu (read vegetarian). We had a typical Jaffna (Northern Sri Lanka) meal of pittu which is a steamed rice and coconut dish made in a tube, string hoppers, two types of sauce, sambal which is a wonderful condiment made of ground coconut and chilies, marinated peppers, papadam, a crisp fried wafer. Many Sri Lankans eat with their hands. Suba asked me if I preferred to use a utensil and I accepted the offer. My previous efforts eating with my hands was not pretty. Since rice is the main staple here it is often served with every meal. The rice is placed in the middle of the plate and dollops of other dishes such as eggplant, green beans, sambal are placed around the rice. The diner then will incorporate the rice with a side dish by mixing them together and squeezing the mix into a small ball that then can be flicked into the mouth. Every one of my fingers is distorted with arthritis and they are no longer very flexible so imagine the mess. Ron, as always, was more adventurous than I. The ritual is to always wash our hands first and since this part of the world doesn’t always use toilet paper.  You always use only your right hand to eat. I’m left-handed so it would offend other diners I think to see me use my left hand to eat. It is fascinating to see even little children able to tear off a piece of flat bread such as naan with one hand, holding down part of the bread with some fingers on their right hand and using the other fingers on that hand to tear apiece of the bread off.

We took a trishaw home and showered and read before heading to bed. Some days require two showers due to the heat/humidity.