Michelle’s trip….
Well, hello there Darlink!.
As you all know, Michelle came to visit back in March. We posted some Facebook pics along the way, but I’ve been promising a rundown of some of what we did — just to give my future visitors a taste of what to expect (heaven help my wallet and liver!). Basically, besides the Jordan trip, we surrounded ourselves with luxury, good food and friends.
Abaya fashion in front of the grand mosque. I like having a shayla on in the wind, but I could do without the abaya when it’s hot. But, it’s worth sweating a little to hear the call to prayer while in the grand mosque.
Gold-laced coffee, pastries and gold vending machines are totally in at the Emirates Palace, a 7 star hotel with a price tag to match. FYI: I’m so excited to be spending a night there in June thanks to a sale for gulf residents. It’s still expensive, but Shannan and I can afford to splurge and split the cost — something we wouldn’t be able to do with their normal prices.
the view of the hotel’s beach through one of their windows — cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to go there in a few weeks.
Boat docks near Intercontinental (where I ‘lived’ my first week in Abu Dhabi). These two are dangerous together. They wanted to hop on a yacht …. they had to settle for a quick foot on the boat shot.
One of our Abu Dhabi nights began at a Brazilian restaurant, where beefcakes cut up sizzling meat in front of us — don’t know which made us drool more. Why yes that is a slab of beef covering Shannan’s face.
will never tire of sipping cocktails and enjoying this view.
Another Abu Dhabi night we celebrated Shannan’s birthday at Burlesque in the Viceroy. We loved staying there.
When we weren’t doing the posh and nonfamous, we spent time lounging on the beach or at a pool.
some Abu Dhabi beach views.
It wasn’t all glamour and parties though. We spent some time in Al Ain as well. Michelle got to visit my school, a student’s house and my favorite local spots. I’ve decided it’s a good thing I don’t live in Abu Dhabi city because let’s face it I’d be totally broke whooping it up way more than I can afford. Here’s a link to the blog Michelle and I wrote about visiting my student: Home Visit
And, here’s a link to Michelle’s post about visiting my school: School Visit
And then, of course, there was Dubai. We loved the shisha stage we got to sit on. There’s so much more I could share, but I’ve got to get on with the day. I know there are better pics I could post, but there are hundreds to sift through. Hopefully, one day I’ll organize it all.
Until next time, here’s a healthy fruit shot to all of you (seriously no liquor in this one). Cannot wait wait to share this with my next visitor, whomever you may be!
Jordan! Finally…
It seems so long ago since Michelle’s and my visit, but it was less than two months ago! We were only there for four days, but we packed a lot in — including climbing to the top of Petra without the help of those poor beasts of burden. Trust me the donkeys that trek up and down the mountain earn the burden title. We just couldn’t add to their misery.
I wish I would have taken the time to write while we were there, but I didn’t, so I’ll do my picture/caption blast to tell the story. But, first I’d like to sum it all up by telling you a little bit about two young men Ashley and I met in Sri Lanka. They were brothers from Israel. They were kind, clever and a lot of fun. They were so excited about their visit to the turtle hatchery earlier in the day. Their zest for life and mannerisms reminded me of my sons back home, who like these two have no desire to wreak havoc in anyone’s life. When I said I was in Jordan just the week before, one of them said, “We can’t go there.” It stunned me because Israel shares the dead sea with Jordan, and yet they cannot cross each other’s border. Syria also borders Jordan, which is something I wouldn’t have thought much about if it weren’t for the frequent military checkpoints throughout Jordan, as well as the airport-style security check before entering any resort.
I’ve never been to Israel or Syria, but if the people there are anything like the Jordanians we met (and the two Israelis) it’s hard for me to understand why there is still this much conflict. I know there’s more to it all than my simple, touristy eyes can see (so please don’t think I’m being insensitive to the horrors that take place any where in the world), but I wish all of you could see how beautiful and normal this part of the world can be. I’ll stop with my “if the world could sing in perfect harmony” stuff, but truly I wish we could.
As for Michelle and I, we were awed by Jordan’s beauty, hospitality and variety of treasures.
the hills are alive … and, yes, I was surprised by how much green we saw there!
Ancient ruins in the capital, Amman
Even more ancient are the ruins in Petra. Joe wants to visit here, so I’m sure I’ll be back. Next time I will stay in the modern city of Petra and spend two days hiking around. Michelle and I hired a driver to pick us up from our Dead Sea resort, bring us to Petra, and then back to our resort. This meant a total of 6 hours driving, which was also cool because we got to see the sunrise and all sorts of countryside. (sorry the pics below are not in order, but you get the idea)
Michelle at one of the plateaus before reaching the top. You keep going up and up, thinking you’re almost there, and then bam you realize you’re not.
We get to look tiny for a change. The Monastery, was probably a temple first, is really close to the tippy top, but just look how massive that building carved into rock is. To learn more about Petra and its history (and, yes, you’ve seen some of its ruins in an Indiana Jones flick), click here.
some of those gazillion stairs that lead to the top. Vendors, who we think live on site, sell along the way.
of course we made friends with the people in front of us — going up those stairs. They were kind enough to take a photo of us taking a break in some much needed shade.
tacky tourist time. Come on, admit it, I’m sexy in those black socks!
poor babies work hard for their owners’ money. There were also camels and horses you could ride. While we felt sad for the animals, we did enjoy the banter with some of their peddlers. Some of them had kohl around their eyes and braided hair, which made them look like Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. They flirted and joked away trying to talk us into paying for a ride. Alas, their charm did not get our asses on their asses.
Although we did talk a man into letting Michelle ride his camel for a few minutes, so she could experience the fun of the mount and dismount. Hahahaha getting to watch your friend do this for the first time: priceless! The camel seemed amused as well.
the first part of your hike is going through a rock canal, which is beautiful in itself. 
the sun waking up while we’re headed to Petra.
the rock had so many layers of color, which changed when the sun shifted. This reminded me so much of Sedona in Arizona. 
The romans are coming! or maybe they’re supposed to be the Greeks (damn don’t know my military garb). Okay, so this was tacky. You gotta feel for the locals earning some dirhams dressing up as Roman or Greek or whatever guards. I realize I’m not being a very good teacher right now by not finding out the correct details for you.
the wild beasts we met at the top. Puma kittens — okay, whatever, they’re just kittens, but I like my version better. As you can tell they didn’t mind snuggling up to us either.
At the top looking down at the massive monastery. It doesn’t look so big there does it?
well shit I am in Arizona…
OMG our freshly squeezed juice was so needed when we got to this plateau. Best lemonade of my life!
more red rock detail. I will never get enough of watching the sun rise or set, water ripple and red rock cliffs.
While Petra was amazing, our spa day at our resort was just as wonderful!
I cannot tell you how much fun I had swimming in the spa pools. One was an indoor dead sea pool (and it stung like a mother because I shaved my legs that morning — ouch!), one was a frigid pool you jump in after relaxing in the sauna, and the other was my favorite. It was basically a big pool with all sorts of jet action — from a back massaging fountain, to the best foot massager ever, to seats of bubbles. I truly felt like a princess swimming in its waters. We spent an entire day getting pampered here, which our aching muscles from the Petra hike totally appreciated. I may come back again just for the spa day!
And then there was the fact that we could swim in the same waters as Cleopatra…
the dead sea!
Thing is before you float in this water because you can’t really swim in it — your flubbery self will flip over, and you don’t want to splash around because trust me that shit burns when it gets in your eyes — you have to cover yourself with its black, sulphur-smelling mud.
that’s not tar
definitely one of the most awkward things I’ve done. Word of warning: men will hog the vat of mud and slather that stuff all over them. Some have no shame and swab it up under their trunks. I just stood there watching this one man mud up his junk. No worries because his buddy watched me lather up my chest. Don’t know if it cured me of anything, but our skin was so incredibly soft afterward.
Getting into the water is awkward too because it’s rocky, and you don’t want to cut yourself because of all the salt. And then there’s the whole floating thing. Your body does not want to sink at all. It’s also weird swimming around knowing nothing will bite you because it’s the ‘dead’ sea.
but it doesn’t look that way. Colorful rocks and built-up salt crystals adorn its shores.
We also thoroughly enjoyed our resort, which seemed to chill everything.
Who doesn’t want chilled nuts and shisha? The shisha part was weird because when you blew it out the smoke was cold.
The best hummus I’ve ever had, however, was warm.
the roasted pine nuts tasted like bacon. Oh and that puffy bread next to it was also deliciously warm!
Last, but not least, they celebrated Earth Day while we were there by lighting a bonfire with gas, and filling a bunch of paper bags with candles. It was hilarious to watch the men try and set this thing up, but we got to sit on the beach, eat free appetizers and watch the lights of Jerusalem across the way.
our little non-eco friendly lanterns.
Mohammed our driver making sure the wind doesn’t blow Michelle off that cliff! He doesn’t look too worried though, does he?
Of course there’s more to tell, but you’ll just have to ask Michelle or me about the rest of our trip. I’ve already made this post too long. Next up (inshallah) will be a run down of the rest of Michelle’s visit.
p.s. Just read this blog on tourist visa changes in Jordan. It saddens me the people there are suffering financially because of what’s taking place in neighboring countries. http://quitealone.com/2015/05/05/jordan-changes-visa-regulations/
Other blogs I’ve posted this week…
I’ve been busy with work and play, but I wrote a couple of blogs elsewhere. I just finished off my lesson plans for next week and feel like I should write something in here, but what can I say I’m a lazy, tired girl right now. So, I’m just going to post links to the other blogs — of course they still have to do with my time here, so it’s all good.
Oh, and before I forget for any of my UAE friends, Emirates Palace is running a summer special for residents (yep it includes us!). We tried booking a room there for my birthday, but the May weekend dates were already nabbed, however we’re going for a weekend in June. Basically, the cheapest room is close to $300, which is pricey, but it’s the Emirates Palace — hello? divide the cost with friends and live like royalty for a day. Anyway, if you’re interested here’s the link to the sale (which goes on until September): Emirates Palace sale
My blog post in StoryShare can be found here
And my new post for TeachUAE, which was written for new hires waiting to come on over, can be found here
The good news is I’m finally able to keep up with play time, write time and work time — even if it means cutting a corner or two in my personal blog.
Now, all I have to do is get around to editing/selecting those Jordan and Michelle visit pics, so I can share — to our friends back home, I swear I will get to this before you actually see me this summer.
Cruising and camping
So, this is what I did this weekend. A dhow cruise somewhere in Oman.
I swear I’m not on some mad race to fill up my passport with border stamps. Living here just gives us such easy, inexpensive access to so many places I could never afford if I were still living in the states. At home we’d go up north on a camping trip somewhere in the Arizona mountains (which is as wonderful an experience!), over here it’s a camping trip on a beach somewhere in Oman. And yeah, I know I should know the name of the place I slept, but I didn’t plan this little trip — my friends did, and I just tagged along.
For my UAE friends I highly recommend the dhow/camping trip, but I wouldn’t do it now. It’s getting toasty — wait until next year during the cooler months. That said, we still managed to have a fantastic time.
Anchor’s up, time to set sail. whoop! whoop!
you board your dhow by walking from one boat to the next, which adds to the fun.
And we’re off
A dhow grave yard?
scenes from inside the boat
Basically, it’s a bunch of carpets and pillows for you to lounge (and/or nap) on. There were only around 15 people on our boat, so we had plenty of room, and it was fun getting to know each other. The captain, and I guess his mate (a young man who loves making sound effects and smiled so much we called him Capt Smiley), make sure you’re well hydrated with water and sodas and well fed with fresh fruit, grilled fish, chicken, rice and other goodies. They also make sure to steer into coves where tiny fishing villages thrive and dolphins play.
If you look between the two boats you will see some dolphins. 
I swear a dolphin jumped right there in front of us …. right there, but I was too into the dolphin to press the shutter.
I did, however, catch some dolphin tail
Is there anything more magical than a boy on a boat looking for dolphins? This kid and his sister were adorable. Their mother was Italian, father British — both are teachers — and it was fun listening the family go back and forth between English and Italian. We also had a good time playing with the children, as did their parents (notice same boy catching a ride on dad’s back).
Capt Smiley dove into the water to bring up a sea urchin for us to see. this little critter crawled around on deck until he was thrown back into the water.
We also got to see a lot of birds, tropical fish and baby jellyfish (sorry don’t have a waterproof camera). For the record, baby jellyfish sting too, but they only got us a few times and they were tiny stings.
Oh look we also spotted humans!
And a lot of centuries-baked rock, which didn’t stop us from jumping off the dhow into the amazing teal water.
hehehe dolphin butts…
Beware of your friends!
After a day of swimming, boating, napping on deck, we traded in our dhow for a rickety speed boat, which dashed us around a few rocky bends to camp.
The green tents are the facilities, which were kept quite clean. We had a blast playing Cards Against Humanity, feasting on dinner, night swimming in the crystal-clear water, which was now black (except for when you woke the plankton, and then you were surrounded by minuscule underwater fireflies), and smoking shisha by our camp fire.
Capt Smiley also kept an eye on camp while we slept.
I cannot tell you how happy Shannan was when M (an Omani heart throb — oh how we’ll miss him coming up to our table to politely let us know of the next activity) said she could light our fire.
She was also pretty pleased with the puppy flashlight. Me thinks she’s addicted to light.
I fell asleep with sand and salt in my hair and the sound of the sea caressing our beach.
I awoke to this.
That’s M making us coffee … oh and the sunrise is quite nice too
Of course we have a ton more pics, but I have to get some things done for work, and, well, some pics are meant just for us and not the blog.
I thank all the gods and powers that be for the amazing times I get to experience. I am so touched I get to spend my time meeting so many wonderful people in so many wonderful places.
One of the positives which can also be a negative to all of this fun, is we become more connected to the world. I have not yet traveled to Nepal (but Joe and I will go there one day), but my Sri Lanka traveling buddy (and neighbor wine daughter) is there now. She loves everything about that area and went to spend the weekend with friends. She and her friends are okay, but my heart goes out to all of them. The more I get to travel, the smaller this world becomes, and the more relatives I gain.
Love and healing wishes to a people I haven’t yet met. I am so sorry this has happened to you.
Just chilling on a work night
Love this pic Ashley took of me when I was watching the sun set, and a commuter train (below) go by, while soaking in a rooftop infinity pool. Seriously, life does not get much better than that…
It’s almost 8 p.m. on a Tuesday (my hump day). I’m on my balcony, sipping a glass of french grapes, watching Bibin (the man I affectionally call the Indian on the roof) move my car (so that he can wash it…how awesome is that?) while listening to the vehicles buzz by on the E-22, the road that leads to Abu Dhabi city. It’s gratefully cooler than it’s been, but still hot by anyone-who-doesn’t-live-in-a-desert-or-tropical-place standards.
Oddly enough there’s also a traffic jam in front of my complex. Yesterday a big-ass tent with an industrial generator and a/c unit as well as water tank popped up on the plot of land between my road and the E-22. It has a canopy leading to it’s entrance, carpets and throne chairs. Shannan and I saw the servants enter yesterday, and some big shin dig took place. I assumed it was a wedding. Going by the amount of cars pulling up and parking every which way, I’m thinking something else is going down tonight. Wish I knew what it was, but I don’t think it’s a wedding. Hmmmm, something new for me to discover. Maybe when I take my evening walk tomorrow there will be someone around I can ask about it. Inshallah they speak English.
I’m still discovering so much about this place I now call home.
I work until July, but it seems I have only around 4, maybe 5, weeks of actual teaching left. Apparently, my girls will quit coming the end of May, returning for a week or two in June to take their finals, and then khalas. Can you believe? I can’t. While the first trimester slogged by, the rest of this year has flown by as fast as an Emirate SUV (hehehe I’m teaching similes right now and might just share that one with them).
I’m so at peace with my decision to come here. While there’s so much I miss about ‘home,’ there is now so much I embrace about here. The irony of it all is I will once again be homesick when I do return to my own country. It’s a catch 22, damn it!
And, I know I still owe you my posts about Jordan and Michelle’s visit. I promise they will come. I’ve just been busy readjusting to the whole work thing (and, well, I had some fun this past weekend too —- so much for my promise to myself to be a couch potato). While I said I was going to take it easy and not do any more traveling before the summer, it seems I lied because I’m going on a dhow cruise and overnight camping trip somewhere in Oman this weekend. So, I won’t get to post much until maybe next week, but I swear I will get to those Jordan pics and the recount of Michelle’s time here. We truly had an amazing time, and I have some fun photos to share.
For now I’ll just share some pics Ashley sent me of our Sri Lanka trip, which now seems so long ago. Ha! It was just over a week ago. And for you financial freaks out there, yes I am also still paying my bills and saving money.
hahahaha this is so cheesy, but screw it we’re cheesy girls.
Ashley’s looking hot while I totally dork out here next to our lovely guide. He lives in the village alongside the river. This young man wakes to tropical birds singing, earns his keep by riding rapids all day and yanking tourists out of the water (yep after we went for a swim, he pulled both of us back into the boat — dude has strength!), and goes to bed at night while monkeys play on his roof. And I thought my life was good.
Hahahaha yep I totally felt like the jolly green giant next to Chomi’s family. Just call me the blonde sasquatch! And below is a shot of the meal they cooked for us. People, I’m telling you if you’ve never had curried pumpkin you must give it a try, and the coconut, lime chili thing is spicy but oh so good. Oh wait and they also had a boiled cashew dish that was quite tasty. Maybe if I ate Sri Lankan food all the time, I wouldn’t be so Amazonian.
And my sunset, goodbye photo. Yeah I know … again with the cheesy poses, but hot damn look at that sunset. Amazing.
oh and wait. I also finally sent another blog post to TeachUAE. I finally got to meet my editor and Leisa, a fellow writer who always has something nice to say. I like them even more now that we’ve met, so I sorta feel like I gotta get on the ball and write more for them too. Here’s a link to the last post (if you’re a new hire scrolling through sites, please do read through all of their blog posts and articles; it’ll give you a taste of what you’re in for): http://teachuae.com/same-same-but-oh-so-different/
Beaches and beautiful beasties, final Sri Lanka post
Beach sunset photo taken from Ashley’s Facebook account. But yeah it was that awesome, with a rainbow behind us.
The food, the mountains, the temples, the people are all such a wonderful joy to experience in Sri Lanka — and then there are the beaches and let’s not forget the wildlife. Like I said in my last post it’s a magical place. Our last three nights were spent near the ocean. Two nights were at a resort in Beruwala (here’s a link to it http://www.palmsberuwala.com). It was peaceful and stunning and, best of all, not crowded. We practically had the beach to ourselves, although we did meet up with some fun folks from Israel. One night we ventured off the resort to ‘party’ at a hut bar on the beach. While the sign said bar, all they had was the local beer and a bottle of gin we could buy off an old man. What the heck, we opted for the gin. Besides a few locals, we were the only customers there, but we had a great time singing Bob Marley songs and drinking really bad gin. It’s all good, afterward we went for an ocean swim and then a pool swim before going to bed, which I swear washed away any real hangover (thank god!).
The next day we were off to play with baby turtles, eat a lovely lunch at another hut-on-the-beach place, and take a poolside nap. Two days at a beach resort is not enough time —- next time I’m making sure I have more beach days built in, and I totally plan on seeing more beaches as well.
We didn’t ask about the tsunami, but a local told us that area was damaged by it and that the beach landscape is different now. I don’t think I knew Sri Lanka even existed before then, and now that I’ve been there I cannot imagine the horror it was for these people. There is no where to run to. Our driver told us it took them by such a surprise because while they certainly get flooding and landslides from rain, they’ve never experienced a tsunami before. At least with the rain you know it’s coming.
Our last night was spent in Colombo. We were expecting our hotel to be a dud, but it was lovely. We were on the 8th floor with a beautiful view of the beach and the commuter train that runs parallel to it. And, yep, that train is packed with people, some hanging out the doors. Next time I will also try out the train. We met a couple from Ireland who said it goes up into the mountains with some amazing views.
Before arriving at the beach we visited the elephant orphanage, which was a bit of a letdown because there were so many people there, and it felt touristy. But, I got to spend time near elephants, and that was cool. I love the fact that elephants and monkeys roam freely there. Sadly poaching has taken its toll there as well, which is why the orphanage was originally created.
And, I’m rambling away not knowing where I want to go next with this post — because, again, there’s just so much to share. So, just going to blast some photos and captions to tell the rest of the story.
We got to go white water rafting during one of our drives. I think the one that eventually brought us to beach resort. OMG it was a lot of fun, and we also got to swim in the river. The mist rose above the mountains, birds sang, monkeys called out — it was totally something out of an Anaconda movie BEFORE the snakes arrived. (photo taken from Ashley’s page)
jungle near the river bank. This is when Ashley got to see me freak out because I walked into a spider web with a spider in it. We both survived.
hahaha the omelet guy made me face eggs. 
I wish my phone could’ve done these landscapes justice.
turtles!
porcupines!
and fake tusks!
um, big elephant is telling lil elephants to Get A Room! Kids are watching! yep, zoom in it’s what you think it is.
And a baby elephant getting fed.
A snake charmer performed in the lobby. I was so freaking scared. Those are 3 cobras dancing and sometimes striking at him. He brought out a baby one too, and he walked around the lobby showing us a hissing viper. I discovered that we Americans do not own the title of stupid tourists. Some Europeans from various countries wanted to hold the viper or get too close to the cobras. I swear I thought one lady was going to step on the cobra basket. I was like WTF! Back up people.
One of the best treats of all: our driver Chomi! He brought us to meet his family, which isn’t something he normally does (but I like to think he thought we were special— or maybe he just really missed his wife and knew we loved the local cooking). His wife and mother cooked us a fantastic lunch, and Chomi being the cool dude he is bought Ashley and me a couple of bottles of Lion (the local) beer — they don’t drink. It made my day seeing how proud and loved he and his family are, and I’m so grateful they shared that with us.
If you ever decide to book a trip to Sri Lanka, I highly recommend the tour company we used. They’ll customize it to what you want, and we thought their prices were good. Be sure to ask for Chomi as your driver. It’s because of him we got so much of the local flavor, and I think he had a good time with us as well. (link to tour agency: http://www.alphatravels-holidays.com). If you message me I’ll pass along the booking agent we used email info.
and for now it’s good night Sri Lanka. Until the next time!
Temples & Tea, Sri Lanka
Our 2nd and 3rd days were spent touring several temples and driving up into mountain territory, where tea is born. I wish I took the time to write when we were there, so that I could better capture the magic of this place. I liked being in a predominantly Buddhist country. Animals, for the most part, roam freely. Whiz through a windy mountain road, and whoop there’s cattle grazing off the side, or dogs napping partially on the road, and, yet, no roadkill. I don’t know how they do it, but I like it. It’s really a miracle these animals survive because the driving here makes the UAE look incredibly tame; it’s amazing the people survive too. I don’t think we witnessed a single car accident, which must be because of divine intervention. Two-lane roads easily can fit 4, maybe 5, rows of traffic — tuk tuks, busses, motorcycles and all other vehicles meshed in together.
Luckily, we had a great driver, so we could kick back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. The landscape is so incredibly green and lush. So many colors in the temples, and so many colors in the towns and countryside. I will never forgot how incredibly beautiful the drives were.
I’m back at work now, so my brain is dead and won’t adequately describe all that we saw and did, but my pictures might help some. Forgive me, but I’m just blasting you with some unedited phone photos and an occasional caption. I HAVE to go back to do this country more justice.
these last 4 temple shots were taken from the cave temple, which was really amazing. It was also suffocatingly hot, but worth every sweat bead. Here’s a link to better pics (on google). cave temple sri lanka
Yes there’s a man rubbing stuff on us. It was really awkward, but we learned a lot about where so many of our spices come from. FYI: back up when your spice guide is pointing tumeric at you — because he’s gonna rub that shit on your nose.
These colorful photos come from a temple in a small town. I wish I could tell you it’s name.
big-bellied bitches rule!
Some street shots for you. It’s cooler watching all of this in real life, but here you go…
tuk tuk
This next batch of photos are from Kandy. There’s a beautiful lake and the famous tooth relic temple. We also watched a cultural show, which ended with men walking on hot coals.
And now I’m giving you a quick glimpse of mountain life. There are rows and rows and rows of tea here, and the women pick the tea even when it’s raining.
And that’s all that I have for you tonight. Next up is all about the beaches and animals…
Hey there! It’s been a while.
Oh have I been busy having fun, which is why you haven’t seen much from me. That’s okay because I’ll be blasting you with all sorts of posts, which may take me a few weeks to finish. I had a fantastic time with Michelle’s visit, which seems so long ago. She landed March 16, and we rarely stopped to rest. I don’t know who had more fun discovering (and in some cases rediscovering) my new home — her, me or the friends who got to play along with us.
The day she left (last Saturday) I headed on over to Sri Lanka for a week, and oh my goodness what a beautiful country that is! I wrote a few blog posts along the way, and just stored them in my iPad. So, tonight I’ll just go ahead and copy and paste my first Sri Lanka post here with some pics, and then my next few posts will fill you in on the rest of Sri Lanka trip, Michelle’s and my Jordan trip, and last, but certainly not least, the rundown of all that we did in the UAE.
Going back to work today was a bit of a shock for me, but luckily it was an easy day. I’m telling you I could totally do the vacation thing full time! Okay, here’s my first words about Sri Lanka:
The eve of Easter Sunday
I am on a rattan lounge chair in front of my villa overlooking a pond filled with lillies. Soon the monkeys will return and drop things on the roof above my bed. I am in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and I’m here without my cameras. My crappy phone will just have to do the trick — let’s see what we can capture.
Today is such a bittersweet day. I was supposed to arrive in Sri Lanka late last night with a dear friend, but luck was not on her side. For whatever reason the booking company screwed up her ticket, and she was not allowed on the plane. Thinking this would get fixed, I checked in her bag, and she held on to my camera bag. Sadly, it’s just not in the cards for her to come. I’d put both the airline and booking company on blast here, but it’s better I don’t because I don’t want to offend the wrong people, and I do so love the life I’m blessed with living on this end of the world.
I’m angry and hurt for my friend, but I know she will get the chance to come here — and I’d be happy to come again with her. So this time around Ashley (my other buddy in crime for this trip) and I will pave the way and ear mark the must dos for the next trip and delete whatever could be missed.
As for today, nothing should be skipped. We hiked the famous mountain that looks like a massive rock. I can’t remember its name, but when I have Internet and more time I’ll google and place the names. Note to those of you who will one day do this be adamant with the young men who want to help you up the steep steps. We kept telling them we could do it ourselves, but they kept saying we work here, and held our arms allegedly pushing us up the stairs. It was awkward because my guy was practically pushing me into Ashley’s bum, but we made it to the plateau where the boys ask you to rest and enjoy the view, before resuming the climb.
[Holy shit it’s raining flowers right now! flowers and twigs. freaking fairytalish awesome. And oh shit I just heard something big plunk into pond — um, they have monitor lizards here, so I’m rushing back into our little villa to finish this]
Okay, back to the pesky boys. While we’re ‘resting’ and taking in the view, the ‘helpers’ tell us they can help us up the rest of the mountain. How is beyond me because you basically climb a bunch of stairs. Unless they plan on carrying me on their back, there’s not much help they can do. Anyway, we politely say no, and then the bid for money begins. “1000 rupies for our work.” We didn’t give them that, but after haggling (even though we didn’t think we should pay) we gave them some bucks from 3 countries — they seemed happy with that.
After the climb we were treated to a village tour. First we got in an ox cart, where our bull Sewdoo (which means white, and is also a term of endearment for girlfriends —- um, Joe if you’re reading don’t ever call me your white ox), pulled us to a lake. Then we climbed aboard a a small pontoon boat where two men paddled us through lillies and trees, our guide excitedly pointing out local birds. The men made necklaces out of lilly flowers for us and explained the medicinal uses for their seeds. Then we were treated to a lesson by three lovely women who cooked us an amazing meal, which we ate in a hut made of clay and ox dung (no smell I swear). The food was so good — even the thing made out of leaves. The curried pumpkin was my favorite — oh and this coconut, chilli thing, oh and the little, fat (Aaron would call them choad) bannanas. Oh and we also ate salted pineapple — can you tell I really loved that meal.
After that it was pool time while the monkeys played, a nap and then dinner and a walk. Pretty amazing day. Tomorrow we drive to Kandy and visit some temples along the way.
this is actually another flight of stairs at the top. At the top of this is where a king who had 500 wives lived. He would climb to the bottom to be with them. Apparently, the women bathed and hung out at the pools at the bottom just waiting for their exhausted husband.
grinding coconut is hard
washing our hands before the big meal.
drinking coconut water, and the big rock in background. I know we have better pics to post, but this gives you a taste of day one — pretty awesome considering I didn’t sleep the night before!
Sick day…
It’s been windy, and we’ve had a lot of sand blowing all over the place. Needless to say many of us are suffering from sinus issues. I’ve been off balance and light headed for over a week now, but, in part, I just blamed it on end-of-term exhaustion. Then it finally hit me. I went to work yesterday and really, really dreaded it. Don’t know why I thought it’d be a good idea, but silly me thought it’d help my girls get their final presentations over with (which some of them did). Woke up this morning with a full-blown sinus infection, so I took my first real sick day. In order to get paid for this I have to go to the doctor and get a certified letter stating yep, I’m sick, so pay me (we also have a few emergency days we can use, which don’t need a doctor’s note, so it’s not as dire as it sounds). I went to the clinic/hospital suggested by my coworkers.
It was super easy to get to, and although it felt like forever I was there for only an hour. That said when you’re sick and cranky and your hearing is muffled because of your sinuses revolting, you just want everything to be your version of normal, which it will never be in another country. First off just because it says entrance over the door to the clinic doesn’t mean that entrance is meant for you — it’s meant for a shitload of worker men who are as sick and cranky as you (and looking a bit more dusty). Luckily, the security guard escorted me to where I needed to go.
Then you go through the “no husband? no family here?” drill, so you just say hey I’m going to put my new daughter (didn’t include her title of wine) down, so now one of my neighbors is my next of kin. If I die, she’ll be the first person to know.
Then you’re quickly told to go around the corner, take a right, find the lift, go to 1st floor and go to counter 2 — from a nice man who happens to have a very thick Indian accent. I can’t hear well when I’m healthy — imagine listening through clouds in your head. Luckily I found the lift, but when you get upstairs you’re in the hospital area and there is no sign that says Counter Two — but I figured it out. yay me. More people I don’t understand talk to me, but I sit next to a local woman who seems as dazed and confused as me — and we both get taken care of pretty quickly. Except in my case I’m pulled into a doctor’s room where there is already a patient being examined — whoops. Then I’m back to the ladies waiting room until I’m pulled in. My doctor is a nice lady from Sudan, but I couldn’t decipher half of what she said to me. All I know is I got my letter, my prescription and directions to go to next building, take lift to basement, get blood work and “skull Xrayed for sinuses.”
First I had to pay, which was only $13. Next building is actually going through the Emergency Room across the lane, and again a security guard pointed me in right direction — love those security guards! I found the lab easy enough, but then I was supposed to go to Xray place afterward, but I really didn’t want to wait anymore and seriously do I really want someone to X-ray my skull? I appreciate them being so thorough, but all I wanted was to go home, sip some tea and pass out. So, I skipped it, but shhhh don’t tell my doctor.
And here I am waiting for the theraflu to kick in, sharing my first doctor visit with you. Overall it was pretty easy, just intimidating because it was my first time — and, well, very foreign (for me). If there’s a next time I’ll know what to do. On the drive home I almost peed my pants because the largest dust devil I’ve ever seen popped up near a roundabout. Here’s a link to one my cousin posted, and, obviously, not the one I saw. Mine wasn’t that tall, but it wasn’t too much smaller girth wise. Dust Devil video
Hope you’re all having a healthy week! It’s now nap time for me.
I’m ruined…
How will I ever go back to a normal life? My normal now consists of last-minute hotel bookings to play and shop in Dubai, or to you know go to Sri Lanka for a few days, or to book my summer visits to Prague, Munich, Berlin, possibly Amsterdam, Hamburg, then home for a few weeks where my man is planning another trip for just the two of us.
Oh, and taking a few days off to go to Jordan to see Petra and float in the dead sea (and squeezing a night in Bahrain as well). And, having fun setting up my second bedroom for Michelle who’ll be visiting in two weeks (I’ll post pics after she sees it — want her to be pleasantly surprised). My new normal includes a very nice man from Pakistan and another nice one from Afghanistan (looking very much like where they come from) deliver and set up furniture in the room, and then sitting with them a bit to chat and drink water. Can you ever imagine this happening back home?
My biggest issue right now is keeping all of my upcoming travel plans in order. Poor me also has an upset stomach because we spent the day at work eating awesome Lebanese food and an amazing red-velvet birthday cake for a co-worker.
Don’t get me wrong … I do miss my old life (and all the wonders my home and loved ones have to offer), and there are days when I dream about what it’d be like to be back home. But, mostly, I see where I am, what I’m doing, and I hear the shit my friends and I say — the way we’re so casual about eh catching a flight to Colombo, so that we can go visit the elephant orphanage, or book a room in Dubai because eh, who wants to drive an hour home after shopping? — and I’m like who in the hell am I? Just last year I stressed over where I could afford to stay for my job interview in Santa Barbara (which, actually, turned out to be an awesome mother/daughter trip). I was bummed there was no hotel 6 within walking distance of the “really expensive” place the interviews were taking place.
The job still has its hard days, but me oh my I am a very lucky girl. Stay tuned because I’m sure I’ll have plenty more fun and amazing to share after Michelle’s visit (doubt I’ll get much chance to post much while she’s here).
Until then you can bask in the before picture of my second bedroom, which was up until last weekend my “walk in closet.” Lot’s of school work thrown in there… can you tell I’m tired when I get home from work?
bettina without borders 