Kasamara - Monday night, January 28

I'm sitting, writing by candlelight, at the roof top bar at Hotel Kasamara with Rajiv enjoying a cool drink and sounds of three-wheelers (tuk tuks) in the background. It's just before 10pm and the air is heavy but cool. Kasamara is one of Kandy's many hotels and we come to the bar often in the evenings for some quiet, to do work and it's always completely empty. The same waiter is here as last year. There's a large Buddha on the hill in the distance. I drove here tonight from the house, and it was fantastic. I would have never thought I'd be driving in Sri Lanka in my life. Our car is about the size of a Mini and the ride always consists of dodging potholes, dogs, people, buses and three-wheelers. But at 10pm, the roads are pretty quiet.

The large Buddha was lit and he just went dark. So it must have turned 10.

I've been here for one week and want the time to slow down. It's so reviving to be out of Oakland and my normal life for a bit. There's something about Asia. In Sri Lanka, everything is on Sri Lankan time which generally means to me that things are an hour later. And it's so nice to be warm and in flip flops or barefoot. My whole body is happy with me. Relaxed adn blood warmed.

My first full day in Sri Lanka was spent finishing up some work that I didnt get finished at home, and recovering from jet lag. Jade and Asia and I headed with Julie to the pool for some sun and swimming after. We swim at Cinnamon Chaya, a pool nest to the river Mejawelli. It's so colonial-looking and the river is gorgeous. I went to bed after dinner around 7. :) Oh, and that day was Poya as well which is the Full Moon and a national holiday once a month. I woke up around 4am with brightest moon shining through my window. I thought it was a huge flashlight in my face.

My purpose here is to help Julie and Jake with PR materials so that they can raise funds for the children's hoome from local companies and abroad. It feels odd again to be doing design work and to be spending so many hours on my Mac while here but I guess that's what I am meant to do. Sri Lanka's political situation is so complex and I would do a terrible job at trying to explin it. But in short, the situation is creating ridiculous costs for goods and people are really suffering to make ends meet. For example, a bottle of juice costs US$7, so people just dont buy bottled juice any more. The average daily wage here is between US$3 and 5. There is a drive to push out all imported items by driving up the cost. The children's home has been mainly funded by a Swedish church for years but the church is unable to increase their donations, and Jake and Julie have found themselves in a situation where they won't be able to pay the home's bills this next year. So the website and PR seems pretty pressing. Although we all know and have seen how God is faithful and will provide whatever it is that they need for the children. (After reading Anna Greta's book last year, I was amazed at how her faith allowed her to trust God for everything and it came just when she needed it.)

I'm happy to do be doing this work for Jake and Julie. And happy to have a mellow beginning to my trip. December was so exhausting and I've found myself really chilling out and getting a nap in when I need it. :)

Here's a list of everything I'll be doing:
• website
• letterhead, business cards, envelopes
• brochures for the Home and a program for community based rehabilitation
• posters
• newsletters
• ads for newspaper announcements of Anna Greta's one year anniversary of her passing... it was Feb 12 last year when she went.
• thank you cards - these are cute! they have drawings on them done by the children!

I'll write soon on the children... and upload some pics!!

kisses, G

Sri Lanka

pappadum cinnamon tea nescafe three-wheeler string-hopper military arak elephants coconut cardamon short-eats lassi curry sambal python

ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE – Sunday, January 27

just got in from an evening of carlsburg and fries under fan swept breezes and potential mosquito bites. the air is so warm and thick, and i love it. the military was making its presence known in town tonight but my friend, rajiv and i were the only ones around and i kept thinking they needn't worry about an american-indian dread-locked man and red-headed chic. the military here are so odd and disorganized. and easily fooled by silly foreigners (sutas). anyway, life in kandy is good as usual.. totally chaotic and flying by too fast, but good. asia is divine. today, my friends and their little girls visited an elephant orphanage and it was truly an unforgettable experience. we were so close to dozens of elephants and watched them bathe, talk and play while sipping cokes and eating bbq pringles, asia's roadside staple. one elephant was two weeks old and teeny weeny. it was actually a little scary how close you could get to them.. the big ones are big!

you enter through a main door where you pay for your ticket. the suta price is 1000 ruppes ($10) and the local price is 50 rupees ($.50). then you go out to an open area where elephants are just roaming around together. a bunch of the big ones were encircling the two week old baby. some of the really big ones were chained but i'm sure they could break them if they really wanted to. i kept a safe distance since you all know how i am with large animals and snakes. :) then, at 10am, you walk down a shop-lined path to the river where we found a seat on an embankment with tables, chairs and cokes. and then the elephants come!!! it is soooo stinkin'cute. they make their way down to the river and start playing and it's incredible! we hung around for about an hour watching and then moseyed back to the shops. along the way was a snake charmer. he had one cobra and one massive python. holy crap. i was scared to death and julie was cracking up at me... i wouldnt get anywhere near them. but jade, jake and rajiv put the python around their neck... eeek. so yucky. :)

HI FROM KANDY – Tuesday, January 22

i made it! am safely in Kandy and having toast and tea for breakfast!
it's nice and cool right now... i actually wore my sweatpants and sweatshirt to bed! i was so out of it last night on the airplane and it was, as usual, the typical introduction to india or sri lanka, with the plane being filled with 90% men all of whom have body odor and the need to tap anything in sight. do i sound grouchy? i was... but kept telling myself to have patience and to try to remember this is what its all about.. cultural differences!! the guy behind me had to have been on one of his first flights ever and he was like a little kid playing with everything he could get his hands on. so funny.. but annoying when you are that out of it. its that last leg which always gets me.

i arrived in colombo at 11pm and Roy was outside waiting for me... this man who works at the home. he is so sweet but he doesn't speak english so we couldn't chat too much on the way to kandy. the drive took 3 hours and i kept falling in and out of sleep. we pulled up to jake and julie's at 2am and i crashed to sleep. woke up at 8 this morning and just been sitting around in my pjs catching up with everyone. its so good to be here! cant believe how long it takes to get here though... wow! i think i've aged 10 years. ;)

ok, just wanted to let you know that i've arrived! love you all!
bisous, G

oh, and jade (8) and asia (5) had a fake snake waiting for me that they scared me with this morning!! too cute.. Julie told me they had been planning it for quite some time to get me with the cobras!

ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK

i spent the day in bangkok and it was soooooooooooo much fun. that city spices up my blood. i love love love it! so familar and fun. i could live there again. i walked down the river to where i used to go to school and got an iced coffee at my once favorite coffee shop, then took a boat ride around more canals with two dutch girls (they looked like they could be my sisters), and then went swimming and then walked around some more and managed to buy the cutest dress in the process.

HI FROM BANGKOK!

Now i'm in bangkok, and just had a HUGE tasty wonderful breakfast after a good night's sleep in my hotel! ah! feel so much better and even put some eye liner on to look pretty! he! my tummy is so happy right now! i'm going to hang out for the day here and walk around and then off to colombo tonight! i love bangkok! this place feels like another home. how fun! Its funny how little things are such small pleasures as i get older... my shower had tons of water pressure and it felt like heaven.

oh, on the plane i met a quebecois girl named genevieve and she just turned 30, is travelling around the world and her nickname is G. we spoke French and english together, mostly english, and it was so fun to meet her... she got stopped in immigration and for some reason, i was able to bail her out... dont know why. anyway, first fun person encounter on the trip. oh, and i fell asleep on the hong kong airport floor which cracked me up.. i was out cold for a good hour and woke up in a panic that i missed my flight....

ok, c'est tous, love G

HI FROM THE HONG KONG AIRPORT

so far.. made the first 14 hour flight in one piece! didnt sleep one bit but oh well. now i'm here in hong kong for 2.5 hours and then a 3 hour flight to bangkok where hopefully my hotel reservation lives!!! and i'll be there for one day before i fly to sri lanka!!!

love you all!!!!! kisses to you! G