Cows and Cars

Part 1
Hello all…Today is another day. And a day I have chosen to talk about cows. I wasn’t really expecting to see cows until I was a little more rural. However, to my dismay on the way from the airport into Colombo I found cows. Yes, city cows. Feral cows that have no home and just roam around eating trash and people’s grass and plants. Nimali was telling me how her aunt hates the city cows because they always eat her favorite flowers. If they eat nothing else they will eat her flowers. I have also seen them eating trash like plastic and compost along the roadside. I have to wonder if plastic could be considered a roughage…no it can’t but if I HAD to put it somewhere I would put it there. I think I will e-mail some nutritionists and get their opinions. There is probably a large incidence of hardware, I imagine. (Hardware is a “disease” where a ruminant ingests metal and it can irritate or even puncture the part of the stomach called the reticulum which lies very close to the diaphragm and the heart).
Cows also add to an already extremely crazy driving situation (I think the second part of this blog will review driving “rules” in Sri Lanka). The other day when Tony was driving me to work (For the first while I was picked up to come to work. Now I take the bus…which makes my boss VERY nervous so he sends someone to ride with me…Tomorrow however I hope he will let me come on my own) ummm where was I…ah yes Tony was driving me to work and this cow like ran out into the road and I think I had a heart attack. Can you imagine? “what happened to you?”… “oh we hit a cow” what is up with that…We didn’t actually hit it but Wow was it close.

Part 2
Sri Lankan driving rules:
1) If there is room drive there (irregardless of what side of the road it is) drive there. Lanes are so constricting.
2) If it’s bigger than you it has the right of way.
3) Who needs stop signs or lights (see rule 2)
4) No rules are concrete.

All is well, I still like it here.
Ok well I think that I am finished with today’s blog.
Peace
JRC

Big blue signs

Lazy days……
Today is Sunday and rainy…..although a rainy day here is sun, rain for and hour and then more sun. I am going to attempt to give this post more structure than what is normal in my writing. I am also going to try and put emotion into it. (Having been brought up in a more factual than emotional based “system”, I often leave emotions out of things. However in this situation of unfamiliarity of the reader to…all that surrounds me…Sri Lanka…my experiences…whatever, I thought it wise to attempt to put emotion into my writing. I hope this will be able to paint a clearer picture.)
Ok….So Friday I went with Rachel and Nigel and an Australian down to Tangol to the site where CRUF is building a fair-trade textiles (handbags) factory. It is about a three hour drive down the coast. Along the way, I got to see some of the damage caused by the tsunami. Two years after there are still people living in temporary shacks on the foundations of what used to be a house. Dotted along the coast were also polished floors and foundations in good conditions but lacking houses to shelter them. A few broken skeletons of boats lay bleaching in the sun. Large blue signs have been put up with stick figures running away from a large wave; at the bottom arrows point inland or to higher ground. I think the purposes of these are not for more efficient evacuation (although I was told a lot of people ran toward the sea out of curiosity) but rather to help people emotionally...deal I guess. Like the duck and cover drills they used to do in case of a nuclear bomb. Ducking and covering isn’t going to do a lot just as having signs pointing inland don’t do much. They just make the public feel better…they have a task to do in case of emergency.
Anyway, I got to visit the sea. It was absolutely lovely. The water is so warm and so so blue. It was hard for me to imagine it a ferocious beast, but most people there could.
There are tons of boats and lots of seafood (Kristen if you read this there is a lot of really nice seafood for very very cheap;). Apparently there are way more boats and fishing nets here than there were prior to the tsunami due to people sending so many over.
Anyway, that was a nice change of pace, good to get out of Colombo for a while. Oh yes, on the way there I found out that mutton here is not older sheep, but goat. Still quite tasty though.
Ok I’m up to Saturday now. On Sat. I went on a picnic with Namali’s church, Dehewala Methodist. It was nice to get out of Colombo again. It was about an hour west of here and there were trees and plants and it was gorgeous. On the way there, the bus that we took was unable to make a turn and we had to pull into someone’s drive and make the turn that way. However, the only way we could make it was by backing up. So, we drove down the road in reverse for about a quarter mile. Anyway we had an outside service with singing and food and it was good. People are still very amazed that I eat so well with my fingers (See mom there was a purpose…so there). They are also amazed that I handle the spice. It is very spicy…very and I stop eating not when I feel full but rather when my mouth and lips can handle no more spice. There was singing and games…I played cricket for the “first” time. I say “first” b/c the only other time I played it was in gym class and no one really understood what was going on. I did fairly well fielding, but when it was my turn to bat…well. I held it like a baseball bat and for a while until someone told me to hold it down. After that I got a bunch of runs...sort of. YEA for me. All and all it was good. I did however have a bit of an internal struggle. I went with Namali who is part of the young adults who have fun and are really great. However, being that I am here in a position that some find me too young for I struggled. To stay with the youth who i relate to better or stay with the adults trying to act older than I am so people have an easier time believing I am competent. In the end it worked out where there were times I was with the adults and times with the youth, so yeah for that.
Sunday…
Ok today I slept in. That was nice. I read and goofed around…folded laundry…Then in the afternoon I went out with Jen an ex-pat. From California. I took the bus on the way there. It was Rs 6. about half way to where we were going to meet the bus stopped. I waited about 10min and decided that I would walk. As I walked I saw the hold up. The police were searching every bus. Police check. Not an uncommon occurrence. I thought living here would help me understand conflict better. It doesn’t! I am now more confused why people fight. The closer I get the less I understand. People here are living happily Tamil and Sinhalese, neighbors and friends. I don’t understand where this anger is seated or who controls it. Its just weird. Anyway, eventually I got where I was going and that is good. I went to a posh store and then Jen and I got ice-cream and talked. We also picked out a movie for Daniel a friend recently turned Christian. It was called The Bible. Just an old movie, kind of a joke and just kinda fun. Alright, I have tried to express emotion, but I think I just wrote more fluff. Oh well!
Peace and Love

Hello Again

Don't read if you don't like non-structured poorly-written text.
Today is good. Today I laughed talked and ate more than I have since I've been here. My sleep patterns are now that of a Sri Lankan; as Shiloni put it "today [I] woke up a Sri Lankan". Well, I said, "as far as sleeping patterns go". Things thus far are great! Easy.....NO!! but I live one day at a time and try to conquere something new every day (going to the store, taking a bus, crossing the street, etc...) There are good days and bad ups and downs highs and lows (I like redundencies). I have no valid complaints thus far. As for my appetite i am not sure why it was so low. I attribute some of it to the anti-malarial I am on some to my nerves and the heat. But there was even more lack of want for food than even those reasons can justify. Today I think I am to the point where now those reasons alone can stand for my lack of hunger.
(Here is a mental break for those of you not used to my "spazmatic" writing. Stop....breathe in.........out.......in.....out.....good)
I have become quite addicted to 2 short Sri Lankan soap operas. I dont know if it will be the same once I know what they are saying........a lot of the enjoyment I get out of them is getting to make up what they are saying........Fabulous.
I found yesterday that I do not live alone. No I have a small protector. I call him.......Herman. He is a small yellowish anole. He came down from my ceiling and onto the wall by my kitchen table. At first I thought he was my arch enemy......the centipede........evil creatures they are. After I realized it was a lizzard I was releaved and gave him the name Herman.....why Herman you ask? That is the first name that popped into my head......thus that is his name.

Hello
This is my first blog.......blog......it sounds as if I am going to throw up.......oh well. I just sent a bunch of e-mails and dont really feel like writing anything so i am going to play around with putting some picture on. A picture is worth a thousand words so.......its like writing w/o all the hassle.
Very fast, very large roach.





Our Reserve Grand Champion Cow at the District 10 Holstein Show. Jana on lead (white cow) Evita, Jr 3yr old cow. Sweet (I was able to be home for my county fair so yea for that)

Two pictures of my house. I would put more up but I haven't the patience.