The big fat Greek wedding was great fun. The actual wedding took place in a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church that had brilliant stained glass windows and many icons. The groom, Tyson Wisbrock, was truly handsome and his bride, Effie, couldn’t have been lovelier. She wore a strapless cream colored gown with an overlay sheer shirt that was trimmed in taupe ribbon. There were 23 attendants so it was a big wedding. I would guess there were about 400 guests. In the Greek tradition, the couple does not exchange vows. There were at least six priests officiating at the service. Some had minor roles and other major roles. There was lovely chanting throughout the service. All parts of the service have symbolic meaning and a handout was given to each guest to explain the symbolism. All in all it was a wonderful experience.
The reception took place at a beautiful country club about 20 minutes away. Oh my goodness the food was truly incredible and oh so delicious. There were hot appetizers of spinach wrapped in filo dough, skewers of chicken and beef, stuffed cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and pea pods and a table with hot suckling pig. The meal was lemon-egg soup, salad with goat cheese, poached pear and walnuts, the entrée was surf and turf with a thick beef filet and shrimp with a twice baked potato, carrots and pea pods. Dessert was wedding cake, ice cream and chocolate sauce. Then there was this table that was the entire width of the room that was stacked with about thirty different choices of sweets: fresh strawberries the size of your fist, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, chocolate cups with fresh raspberries (my favorite), and too many pastries to describe. I used incredible restraint. After dinner a Greek band played wonderful Greek dancing music and it went nonstop until we left at 10:00. I never saw Effie and Tyson sit down. They danced the entire time. And they were dancing as we left.
We got up at 6:00 on Monday and drove to O’Hare, almost two hours away. We had plenty of time to get checked in and board so there was no stress. We were eager to be home so were grateful when we touched down in Portland and caught the shuttle as soon as we got our bags. What luck. It was a sunny, warm day when we returned. Our yard looks so lush if not overgrown. All I could see was a zillion projects but knew each would get done with time. Our first task was to sort through 82 days of mail. Yikes! The newspaper goofed and restarted the paper March 7th instead of May 7th so I had two months of the Oregonian sitting on my kitchen counters. I had food in the freezer so only needed to pick up juice for breakfast and salad greens for dinner. It is so good to be home.
Today we spent a lot of time in the office, working on bills, sorting through paperwork and getting organized. This afternoon we took a bike ride after cleaning off our bikes that had been sitting for a year and a half. Tomorrow we start our exercise program as we both put on a few pounds eating in restaurants three times a day for almost 90 days..
Thursday
Ron went to our CPA today to pick up our 2006 tax return. Fortunately we only owed a small amount. That’s always good news. We are getting back in the groove here. We get up when we wake up, a great benefit of retirement. We do stretches, exercise, shower and have breakfast. Then we start our day. We try to do a little each day in the yard as the weeds have almost taken over. We are making progress. We had massages today and Ron worked in the office all day. I made out a menu for the next few days. We are eating healthy and that feels good. I have already dropped a couple of pounds. Does that mean I can have dessert? Oh guess not…we leave on the 21st to go see Ron’s mom and back here on the 30th. Then I take off for a weekend with girlfriends on the Umpqua River. And life goes on. Our next planned trip will be to Sri Lanka in July, our final trip there unless the proposal Ron wrote comes through. We may try to go to Thailand since we will be so close. Too soon to plan. I also want to go to SC to see my family there this summer. So our travels will continue. I don’t plan to do another blog unless we go to a new place. But will notify you if I do another one. This concludes the blog. Thanks for your readership.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
4-30-07
Gosh I am behinder than usual! We had a super visit with Sandi and Bill in RI. Again the weather turned sunny while we were there. Our timing has been good this trip. It poured rain the day we left but we left early so can’t complain. We took walks in the lovely town of Kingston. New England is so special for people like us who love older homes. Some in Kingston that we saw were from the early 1700’s. That’s more maintenance than I could handle but they were charming houses all the same. We went to Narragansett Beach to view the storm damage. They had part of the same sort that David and Anne had had in Maine. We also went to the historic home of Gilbert Stuart who was the portrait artist who painted the famous portrait of George Washington. Unfortunately, the museum/home was closed but we walked around the beautiful grounds and peeked in the windows where you could see the displays of colonial life. We feasted on fresh ‘lobstra’ as they say in RI and went out for Italian to celebrate Ron’s 61st birthday. Sandi and Bill had added a addition to their home about two years ago and we couldn’t believe how well it fit the house and Sandi did a stellar job with the décor. She is brilliant with color and the room was perfect in every way. It is a dining room filled with sunlight.
The train ride to Dc was a bit over six hours and the scenery was great with lots of water: ponds, bays and the coastline. New Jersey was not attractive however. I know there are pretty parts of NJ but our train didn’t go by those parts. And to our Surprise we saw dumping similar to what we experienced in Serbia and Sri Lanka. Trash dumped right down a small hill where the trash and old tires rested against a chain link fence at the bottom of the hill. Disgusting!
From Union Station we took a metro train to the last stop where Mark picked us up and drove us to Centreville VA where they live. This made for a hard day because we were schlepping one heavy suitcase each, a carry-on each and Ron had his very heavy briefcase that contains two computers and lots of paper. Ugh! In addition we had to wear our winter coats due to all we were trying to manage with the luggage along with escalators, train doors, etc. It got hot carrying luggage with winter coats on. Ron is lots stronger than I am and has a longer stride so at one point he ran to catch a train and stood in the doorway to hold the door for me. By the time I caught up with him the door had closed onto his suitcase. There was no way for me to get in and I had a vision of him leaving on the train and me waving goodbye on the platform. I whimpered “I can’t do this’. When he realized I couldn’t get on, he hopped off and we waited for the next train.
We have had a ball with Avi, our newest grandchild. He looks like a little man and could charm the horns off a billy goat. He, like his cousin Jacob, he is an easy child, always happy and a big flirt. On Friday Ron’s niece Leah came over for Shabbat dinner. On Saturday, we went to Fredericksburg, a charming historic town where many civil war battles where fought. We toured the home of Betty Washington Lewis, sister of George Washington. There was a portrait of Catherine Lewis Willis who was their great granddaughter and a distant relative of mine. What a trill and coincidence. I didn’t realize when we decided to tour this home that there was the connection with Catherine. So I wrote down all the information about her and sent it to my dear family history-loving sister. We have some book we read many years ago about Catherine. She moved to Florida with her parents after her husband’s death and her father’s financial reversal. She later married Prince Achille Murat, who was Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew. They were buried in Tallahassee FL. Once when my mother came to visit me in college I took her to the cemetery to show her their graves.
We walked around Fredericksburg for awhile after visiting Kenmore, the plantation and estate of Catherine’s forefather. On Sunday we went to DC and visited the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial. What a grand memorial. There are two statues of him. At the beginning of the memorial that is several blocks long, has a bronze statue of him in his wheelchair that he designed. It was modeled after a kitchen chair and had two sets of wheels, one made from bicycle wheels and one set of tricycle wheels. In between, there are numerous fountains and stone walls with various quotes of FDRs. There is also a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first US delegate to the UN. The final statue of Roosevelt is larger than life. He is seated with a cape around him and it is a magnificent portrayal of him. The quotes are inspiring and are very thought provoking when read in the current context.
Today, Monday, Rachel and I went out for mani/pedicures. Rachel treated me for my birthday. After lunch we went to Babies R US and got a new car seat for Avi who has almost outgrown his first car seat. Then Ron and I came back to our motel and rested before having a dinner/movie date. Prior to leaving the US in February we saw the previews to The Namesake so finally saw it tonight. It was a great film. Of course, Ron and I are having a love affair with India so we pretty much like anything to do with India.
May 3, 2007
Tuesday Ron and I went into DC. We started the day with a tour of the Capitol, led by Ron’s niece Leah who works for Senator Lieberman (CT). It is pretty special to have your own private tour. I had never been in the Capitol but Ron had in the 60’s when he told Hubert Humphrey who was then Vice President that he would have his job in the 80’s. Life is what happens when you are making other plans! Then we headed over to the American Indian Museum and had lunch and a feast for our eyes, seeing beautiful crafts of the various tribes. There was no way we could see everything as it is a huge museum and we can only absorb so much. We enjoyed a special exhibit on Indian dress.
Then we went to the Brass Knob, an architectural savage store. Ron had bought an outdoor lamp fixture there the last time we were in town (Sept) and he had met his three criteria: big, old and heavy (cast iron). After picking it up we went to a Starbucks, read the paper and did a crossword while waiting to meet friends at an Indian restaurant for dinner. It was great to see Jon and Alice, Jon’s wife (Jon hired Ron for the SL job) and Corrine, who used to work for ICMA and now works for Montgomery County.
On Wednesday we had family portraits taken at a nearby mall then Mark dashed off to rehearsals. Rachel, Ron and I did projects. Ron put baby proof latches on all the cabinet doors in the house while Rachel and I sorted threw all the baby clothes she has, making piles of too little, too big, and just right. Afterwards, we went for a walk then Rachel had the hots for custard ice cream so at 6:00 we headed out. It was 7:00 by the time we got home so I fed Avi while Rachel took the dog out. They had an English bulldog. Then we started supper and finally ate at 9:00. By then Ron was grumpy from low blood sugar, mine on the other hand was still up from ice cream. He didn’t have any ice cream.
May 6, 2007
So we went to Chicago on Friday and stayed right downtown. Alexander Calder’s stabile “Flamingo” was right around the corner from us and Picasso’s “Baboon” was within a few blocks. What a thrill to see good art. We are here to attend the wedding of Tyson Wisbrock, son of our good friends Rollie and Dolores Wisbrock and Effie Manos. Friday night we attended the dress rehearsal dinner in Greek Town at a Greek restaurant and had a fabulous meal: appetizers, soup, salad and we opted for the spicy shrimp entrée. We met a woman at the party who grew up in Kandy Sri Lanka and now lives in Portland OR. Yes, it is a small world.
On Saturday we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. Talk about a thrill. They have a splendid collection of Impressionists paintings and they had a special exhibit: Cezanne to Picasso. Ambroise Vollard, a French art dealer had helped many modern artists so this show was featuring the works of many of those artists. It was very impressive and oh so crowded. We had to wait in line for about 40 minutes to get in and each gallery was crammed with viewers. I was in hog heaven seeing so much good art by artists that I really like. I had no idea that the Institute owned such a great collection.
Afterwards we grabbed lunch, rented a car and headed for Tinley Park, where the Greek Orthodox wedding and reception will take place. It is about 30 miles out of Chicago but we had lots of traffic (on Saturday??) to deal with so it took a while to get here. We lazed around the rest of the day and went exploring in the area that appears to be quite wealthy judging by the malls and homes. The wedding is at 3:00 today with the reception at 5:30. Not your typical 10-minute Protestant affair!
I will have one last entry to describe the wedding. We head home in the morning with about an hour’s drive with traffic to get to O’Hare airport. We arrive in Portland around noon and let me say the Bergman’s are not particularly weary so much as eager to be home in the great NW!! Ron has a gabillion projects lined up: creating box beams for the ceiling in the living and dining rooms, painting the entire downstairs and some of the outside of the house, ripping out the deck and redesigning it. Well you get the picture, we won’t get bored. I on the other had am eager to rip up the overgrown cutting garden and replant it and see what needs redoing with the rest of the landscape after having been gone for 14 months and SL then being on the roads for almost three months. It’s time to take care of the sanctuary at 112 W 28th St
Gosh I am behinder than usual! We had a super visit with Sandi and Bill in RI. Again the weather turned sunny while we were there. Our timing has been good this trip. It poured rain the day we left but we left early so can’t complain. We took walks in the lovely town of Kingston. New England is so special for people like us who love older homes. Some in Kingston that we saw were from the early 1700’s. That’s more maintenance than I could handle but they were charming houses all the same. We went to Narragansett Beach to view the storm damage. They had part of the same sort that David and Anne had had in Maine. We also went to the historic home of Gilbert Stuart who was the portrait artist who painted the famous portrait of George Washington. Unfortunately, the museum/home was closed but we walked around the beautiful grounds and peeked in the windows where you could see the displays of colonial life. We feasted on fresh ‘lobstra’ as they say in RI and went out for Italian to celebrate Ron’s 61st birthday. Sandi and Bill had added a addition to their home about two years ago and we couldn’t believe how well it fit the house and Sandi did a stellar job with the décor. She is brilliant with color and the room was perfect in every way. It is a dining room filled with sunlight.
The train ride to Dc was a bit over six hours and the scenery was great with lots of water: ponds, bays and the coastline. New Jersey was not attractive however. I know there are pretty parts of NJ but our train didn’t go by those parts. And to our Surprise we saw dumping similar to what we experienced in Serbia and Sri Lanka. Trash dumped right down a small hill where the trash and old tires rested against a chain link fence at the bottom of the hill. Disgusting!
From Union Station we took a metro train to the last stop where Mark picked us up and drove us to Centreville VA where they live. This made for a hard day because we were schlepping one heavy suitcase each, a carry-on each and Ron had his very heavy briefcase that contains two computers and lots of paper. Ugh! In addition we had to wear our winter coats due to all we were trying to manage with the luggage along with escalators, train doors, etc. It got hot carrying luggage with winter coats on. Ron is lots stronger than I am and has a longer stride so at one point he ran to catch a train and stood in the doorway to hold the door for me. By the time I caught up with him the door had closed onto his suitcase. There was no way for me to get in and I had a vision of him leaving on the train and me waving goodbye on the platform. I whimpered “I can’t do this’. When he realized I couldn’t get on, he hopped off and we waited for the next train.
We have had a ball with Avi, our newest grandchild. He looks like a little man and could charm the horns off a billy goat. He, like his cousin Jacob, he is an easy child, always happy and a big flirt. On Friday Ron’s niece Leah came over for Shabbat dinner. On Saturday, we went to Fredericksburg, a charming historic town where many civil war battles where fought. We toured the home of Betty Washington Lewis, sister of George Washington. There was a portrait of Catherine Lewis Willis who was their great granddaughter and a distant relative of mine. What a trill and coincidence. I didn’t realize when we decided to tour this home that there was the connection with Catherine. So I wrote down all the information about her and sent it to my dear family history-loving sister. We have some book we read many years ago about Catherine. She moved to Florida with her parents after her husband’s death and her father’s financial reversal. She later married Prince Achille Murat, who was Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew. They were buried in Tallahassee FL. Once when my mother came to visit me in college I took her to the cemetery to show her their graves.
We walked around Fredericksburg for awhile after visiting Kenmore, the plantation and estate of Catherine’s forefather. On Sunday we went to DC and visited the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial. What a grand memorial. There are two statues of him. At the beginning of the memorial that is several blocks long, has a bronze statue of him in his wheelchair that he designed. It was modeled after a kitchen chair and had two sets of wheels, one made from bicycle wheels and one set of tricycle wheels. In between, there are numerous fountains and stone walls with various quotes of FDRs. There is also a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first US delegate to the UN. The final statue of Roosevelt is larger than life. He is seated with a cape around him and it is a magnificent portrayal of him. The quotes are inspiring and are very thought provoking when read in the current context.
Today, Monday, Rachel and I went out for mani/pedicures. Rachel treated me for my birthday. After lunch we went to Babies R US and got a new car seat for Avi who has almost outgrown his first car seat. Then Ron and I came back to our motel and rested before having a dinner/movie date. Prior to leaving the US in February we saw the previews to The Namesake so finally saw it tonight. It was a great film. Of course, Ron and I are having a love affair with India so we pretty much like anything to do with India.
May 3, 2007
Tuesday Ron and I went into DC. We started the day with a tour of the Capitol, led by Ron’s niece Leah who works for Senator Lieberman (CT). It is pretty special to have your own private tour. I had never been in the Capitol but Ron had in the 60’s when he told Hubert Humphrey who was then Vice President that he would have his job in the 80’s. Life is what happens when you are making other plans! Then we headed over to the American Indian Museum and had lunch and a feast for our eyes, seeing beautiful crafts of the various tribes. There was no way we could see everything as it is a huge museum and we can only absorb so much. We enjoyed a special exhibit on Indian dress.
Then we went to the Brass Knob, an architectural savage store. Ron had bought an outdoor lamp fixture there the last time we were in town (Sept) and he had met his three criteria: big, old and heavy (cast iron). After picking it up we went to a Starbucks, read the paper and did a crossword while waiting to meet friends at an Indian restaurant for dinner. It was great to see Jon and Alice, Jon’s wife (Jon hired Ron for the SL job) and Corrine, who used to work for ICMA and now works for Montgomery County.
On Wednesday we had family portraits taken at a nearby mall then Mark dashed off to rehearsals. Rachel, Ron and I did projects. Ron put baby proof latches on all the cabinet doors in the house while Rachel and I sorted threw all the baby clothes she has, making piles of too little, too big, and just right. Afterwards, we went for a walk then Rachel had the hots for custard ice cream so at 6:00 we headed out. It was 7:00 by the time we got home so I fed Avi while Rachel took the dog out. They had an English bulldog. Then we started supper and finally ate at 9:00. By then Ron was grumpy from low blood sugar, mine on the other hand was still up from ice cream. He didn’t have any ice cream.
May 6, 2007
So we went to Chicago on Friday and stayed right downtown. Alexander Calder’s stabile “Flamingo” was right around the corner from us and Picasso’s “Baboon” was within a few blocks. What a thrill to see good art. We are here to attend the wedding of Tyson Wisbrock, son of our good friends Rollie and Dolores Wisbrock and Effie Manos. Friday night we attended the dress rehearsal dinner in Greek Town at a Greek restaurant and had a fabulous meal: appetizers, soup, salad and we opted for the spicy shrimp entrée. We met a woman at the party who grew up in Kandy Sri Lanka and now lives in Portland OR. Yes, it is a small world.
On Saturday we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. Talk about a thrill. They have a splendid collection of Impressionists paintings and they had a special exhibit: Cezanne to Picasso. Ambroise Vollard, a French art dealer had helped many modern artists so this show was featuring the works of many of those artists. It was very impressive and oh so crowded. We had to wait in line for about 40 minutes to get in and each gallery was crammed with viewers. I was in hog heaven seeing so much good art by artists that I really like. I had no idea that the Institute owned such a great collection.
Afterwards we grabbed lunch, rented a car and headed for Tinley Park, where the Greek Orthodox wedding and reception will take place. It is about 30 miles out of Chicago but we had lots of traffic (on Saturday??) to deal with so it took a while to get here. We lazed around the rest of the day and went exploring in the area that appears to be quite wealthy judging by the malls and homes. The wedding is at 3:00 today with the reception at 5:30. Not your typical 10-minute Protestant affair!
I will have one last entry to describe the wedding. We head home in the morning with about an hour’s drive with traffic to get to O’Hare airport. We arrive in Portland around noon and let me say the Bergman’s are not particularly weary so much as eager to be home in the great NW!! Ron has a gabillion projects lined up: creating box beams for the ceiling in the living and dining rooms, painting the entire downstairs and some of the outside of the house, ripping out the deck and redesigning it. Well you get the picture, we won’t get bored. I on the other had am eager to rip up the overgrown cutting garden and replant it and see what needs redoing with the rest of the landscape after having been gone for 14 months and SL then being on the roads for almost three months. It’s time to take care of the sanctuary at 112 W 28th St
Monday, April 30, 2007
On Wednesday we moved from the castle to a B& B down by the bay. I misquoted the cost of the castle: it was $259 a night not $330. We found out when we checked out. Still it was a bad experience. When the B&B owner picked us up at the hotel, she asked about our stay. We told her we were disappointed and she said they had a terrible reputation and that there was no resident manager. Apparently he manages another one of their hotels and rarely shows up at the castle. Anyway, our B&B was delightful and right on the bus line. After putting our luggage there we headed to town and revisited Design Yard, the beautiful arts and crafts gallery then went on a one-hour tour of Dublin Castle that was built on the foundation of the original castle built in the 1100’s. The building is still used for important meetings and dinners by heads of state and the like. Afterwards we had a good lunch nearby. Being starved for a good film, we went to the Dublin Film Center and saw Other People’s Lives, an excellent German film.
We came back to the B&B and went to the great award winning Pakistani restaurant where we had eaten our first night in Dublin. After much deliberation, we ended up ordering the exact same dishes that we had enjoyed a week earlier. Yum. Back to the B&B that was just a few blocks away and off to bed we went. Up at 5:00 to catch our plane. We flew to London, short layover and a breakfast, then on to Chicago, a short layover then to Boston where David met us and drove us to Portland ME. From start to finish we traveled 23.5 hours and slept for 30 minutes between Chicago and Boston. We quickly fell into bed and today we are moving slowly. The kids are in school and David and Anne are at work so we can rest in between laundry and computer time.
It must be 70 degrees at least here today. We walked to a nearby café for lunch and didn’t even need our sweaters. Maine has had their coldest April this year but something changed while we were here. It is sunny and gorgeous! Lucky us. We took an hour-long nap after lunch and feel almost back to normal after our marathon no sleep trip.
Tuesday April 24th
Time flies. Yesterday we had a great day hanging out with our grandkids Jacob (5) and Tess (2.5). In the morning we planted some shrubs we had purchased on Sunday and in the afternoon we took them to a fire station to see the big trucks. Jacob is crazy about cars and trucks so we thought is would be a fun surprise outing. He got very shy when we got there. But a fireman came sliding down the fireman’s pole from upstairs and that was way cool. He gave both kids a fire chief hat and a sticker badge. Jacob would only go in the cab of the fire truck after Ron went in and Jacob sat on Ron’s lap. Then we ran a few errands and came home. The kids had a special event at their school so we walked them to school and we came back since Anne was to attend the event after work and she brought them home. Anne’s mom came over to baby sit and we took David and Anne out to eat dinner at a neat place in the downtown area.
The weather continues to be unbelievably beautiful: sunny, warm days. We have been getting up every morning and walking for 45 minutes. Today we were very bad. We stopped by a bakery on the way home for a cup of coffee and you had to walk right by the pastry case to order your coffee. Well heck, who can refuse a warm, whole-wheat sticky bun smothered in pecans??? Not me for sure. So we walked and gained two pounds from the so-called breakfast we ate at the bakery. We took a trip to the dump to recycle all the yard debris we collected when we raked the yard this weekend. We can’t stay inside in this weather. The week before we arrived Portland had a big windstorm with 65 mph gusts and many trees and limbs came tumbling down. Many in the city were without power for three days including David and Anne. They didn’t lose any trees but the yard was a mess. After yard work on Sunday we went to the mall and had family portraits done. Would you believe that the last time I had a professional photograph taken was my high school yearbook photo in 1963!!!!!!!!!! Yikes, I am older than dirt. Then we went to Pat Parker’s house for dinner. Anne’s mom is a retired college professor and Anne’s dad still teaches in Japan but plans to retire in a year. They had just completed an addition to their already lovely home that sits on a hill overlooking a bay. Living on water is a very special experience.
After the dump run we came home, cleaned up and Ron took me downtown to Anne’s hair salon. God grief, the haircut was 50% more than what I pay in Vancouver. Do I live in a vacuum or what??? Well it feels good to have my hair trimmed.
Today we take David to catch a plane to Cambridge where he will be meeting on a work project and we head out in the morning to drive to Providence RI where we will hook up with Ron’s sister Sandi. We will turn our rental car in and she will drive us to her home in Kingston where we will stay until Friday when we head to VA to see Mark, Rachel and Avi, their son who is almost eight months old.
We came back to the B&B and went to the great award winning Pakistani restaurant where we had eaten our first night in Dublin. After much deliberation, we ended up ordering the exact same dishes that we had enjoyed a week earlier. Yum. Back to the B&B that was just a few blocks away and off to bed we went. Up at 5:00 to catch our plane. We flew to London, short layover and a breakfast, then on to Chicago, a short layover then to Boston where David met us and drove us to Portland ME. From start to finish we traveled 23.5 hours and slept for 30 minutes between Chicago and Boston. We quickly fell into bed and today we are moving slowly. The kids are in school and David and Anne are at work so we can rest in between laundry and computer time.
It must be 70 degrees at least here today. We walked to a nearby café for lunch and didn’t even need our sweaters. Maine has had their coldest April this year but something changed while we were here. It is sunny and gorgeous! Lucky us. We took an hour-long nap after lunch and feel almost back to normal after our marathon no sleep trip.
Tuesday April 24th
Time flies. Yesterday we had a great day hanging out with our grandkids Jacob (5) and Tess (2.5). In the morning we planted some shrubs we had purchased on Sunday and in the afternoon we took them to a fire station to see the big trucks. Jacob is crazy about cars and trucks so we thought is would be a fun surprise outing. He got very shy when we got there. But a fireman came sliding down the fireman’s pole from upstairs and that was way cool. He gave both kids a fire chief hat and a sticker badge. Jacob would only go in the cab of the fire truck after Ron went in and Jacob sat on Ron’s lap. Then we ran a few errands and came home. The kids had a special event at their school so we walked them to school and we came back since Anne was to attend the event after work and she brought them home. Anne’s mom came over to baby sit and we took David and Anne out to eat dinner at a neat place in the downtown area.
The weather continues to be unbelievably beautiful: sunny, warm days. We have been getting up every morning and walking for 45 minutes. Today we were very bad. We stopped by a bakery on the way home for a cup of coffee and you had to walk right by the pastry case to order your coffee. Well heck, who can refuse a warm, whole-wheat sticky bun smothered in pecans??? Not me for sure. So we walked and gained two pounds from the so-called breakfast we ate at the bakery. We took a trip to the dump to recycle all the yard debris we collected when we raked the yard this weekend. We can’t stay inside in this weather. The week before we arrived Portland had a big windstorm with 65 mph gusts and many trees and limbs came tumbling down. Many in the city were without power for three days including David and Anne. They didn’t lose any trees but the yard was a mess. After yard work on Sunday we went to the mall and had family portraits done. Would you believe that the last time I had a professional photograph taken was my high school yearbook photo in 1963!!!!!!!!!! Yikes, I am older than dirt. Then we went to Pat Parker’s house for dinner. Anne’s mom is a retired college professor and Anne’s dad still teaches in Japan but plans to retire in a year. They had just completed an addition to their already lovely home that sits on a hill overlooking a bay. Living on water is a very special experience.
After the dump run we came home, cleaned up and Ron took me downtown to Anne’s hair salon. God grief, the haircut was 50% more than what I pay in Vancouver. Do I live in a vacuum or what??? Well it feels good to have my hair trimmed.
Today we take David to catch a plane to Cambridge where he will be meeting on a work project and we head out in the morning to drive to Providence RI where we will hook up with Ron’s sister Sandi. We will turn our rental car in and she will drive us to her home in Kingston where we will stay until Friday when we head to VA to see Mark, Rachel and Avi, their son who is almost eight months old.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Did I mention that there are lots of palm trees in Dublin? It was a big surprise to see them here. We have been touring around the countryside and have been able to see quite a bit in the short time we are here. Ireland is best described as “tidy”. The homes and yards are quite tidy. Most homes are multiple dwelling units, the most common being what we would call duplexes or townhouses. Often they are two stories with both units facing the street. The yard is divided by a hedge four to six feet high, giving each unit privacy.
While Ron was in meetings on Saturday and Sunday I took two different country tours along the coast-one to the north and one to the south. In addition to seeing the beautiful Irish countryside I saw Malahide Castle the first day. It was built in the 1100’s and the same family resided there for 800 years. It was sold in 1976 when the owner died unexpectedly while traveling abroad. On the second day we went to Powercourt Gardens, the finest in Ireland, both for their design and their dramatic setting at the foot of the Sugarloaf Mountains. The house and grounds were commissioned in 1730s. The gardens fell into disrepair but in 1840 were restored to their original plan. New gates, urns, statues and ornamental gardens were added in 1858-75. The building was gutted by fire in 1974 but the ground floor and ballroom have been restored. About six of the partners went out there together and had delightful weather in which to roam around the gardens. My only regret was our limited time. There were numerous ponds with fountains, waterways throughout, beautiful statuary and enormous terraces.
We are staying at Clontarf Castle Hotel built in 1172 originally and it was demolished and rebuilt in 1837. It became the Clontarf Castle Hotel in 1998. It is a 4 star hotel and cost $330 a night for the cheap rooms. It has the poorest service we have ever encountered. For starters I had to bring our luggage in (it took four trips to the waiting car) because the desk clerk pointed to the concierge when I asked for assistance. He however was fully engaged with guests who needed help planning their day. After waiting five minutes I gave up and did it myself. There was no other staff in sight. At breakfast it took 25 minutes to being our order while those seated after us were served before us. This morning we were never given menus so Ron went back to the desk and picked some up. No one ever came by to take an order. The coffee that was served was undrinkable so I sent it back and asked for more. Today they told our friends they couldn’t serve scrambled eggs or omelets because the chef wasn’t here but they could order poached or fried eggs?????????????? I can’t imagine how you can fry an egg but not know how to scramble an egg….not my idea of four star.
On Tuesday ICMA took us on a tour to a Navan where the City Manager gave a brief overview of their economic development plan and then treated us to a tour of Newgrange (where we had gone last Friday, not knowing this was on the agenda) and to the Hill of Tara, a site of mythic importance and the political and spiritual center of Celtic Ireland and the seat of the high kings until the 11th century. We have been quite surprised at the quality of food that is served at the tourist spots like Newgrange and Powercourt. Not the usual junk food we have at such spots in the US but rather fine dining or something close to fine dining.
We ended the day with a banquet at Ye Olde Abbey Tavern in Howth, a small fishing village. We had a fabulous meal and ended with Irish dancing and music. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely delightful trip. We have Wednesday free to see whatever we missed and grab an early plane on Thursday to London, Chicago, and Boston where our son David will meet us and take us to Portland ME.
While Ron was in meetings on Saturday and Sunday I took two different country tours along the coast-one to the north and one to the south. In addition to seeing the beautiful Irish countryside I saw Malahide Castle the first day. It was built in the 1100’s and the same family resided there for 800 years. It was sold in 1976 when the owner died unexpectedly while traveling abroad. On the second day we went to Powercourt Gardens, the finest in Ireland, both for their design and their dramatic setting at the foot of the Sugarloaf Mountains. The house and grounds were commissioned in 1730s. The gardens fell into disrepair but in 1840 were restored to their original plan. New gates, urns, statues and ornamental gardens were added in 1858-75. The building was gutted by fire in 1974 but the ground floor and ballroom have been restored. About six of the partners went out there together and had delightful weather in which to roam around the gardens. My only regret was our limited time. There were numerous ponds with fountains, waterways throughout, beautiful statuary and enormous terraces.
We are staying at Clontarf Castle Hotel built in 1172 originally and it was demolished and rebuilt in 1837. It became the Clontarf Castle Hotel in 1998. It is a 4 star hotel and cost $330 a night for the cheap rooms. It has the poorest service we have ever encountered. For starters I had to bring our luggage in (it took four trips to the waiting car) because the desk clerk pointed to the concierge when I asked for assistance. He however was fully engaged with guests who needed help planning their day. After waiting five minutes I gave up and did it myself. There was no other staff in sight. At breakfast it took 25 minutes to being our order while those seated after us were served before us. This morning we were never given menus so Ron went back to the desk and picked some up. No one ever came by to take an order. The coffee that was served was undrinkable so I sent it back and asked for more. Today they told our friends they couldn’t serve scrambled eggs or omelets because the chef wasn’t here but they could order poached or fried eggs?????????????? I can’t imagine how you can fry an egg but not know how to scramble an egg….not my idea of four star.
On Tuesday ICMA took us on a tour to a Navan where the City Manager gave a brief overview of their economic development plan and then treated us to a tour of Newgrange (where we had gone last Friday, not knowing this was on the agenda) and to the Hill of Tara, a site of mythic importance and the political and spiritual center of Celtic Ireland and the seat of the high kings until the 11th century. We have been quite surprised at the quality of food that is served at the tourist spots like Newgrange and Powercourt. Not the usual junk food we have at such spots in the US but rather fine dining or something close to fine dining.
We ended the day with a banquet at Ye Olde Abbey Tavern in Howth, a small fishing village. We had a fabulous meal and ended with Irish dancing and music. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely delightful trip. We have Wednesday free to see whatever we missed and grab an early plane on Thursday to London, Chicago, and Boston where our son David will meet us and take us to Portland ME.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
On Monday evening our family had a farewell dinner for us. Tui said she never cooks but she prepared a feast for us. We had chicken soup with egg bean cake (a form of tofu) red curry, fried dried squid (we have not yet acquired a taste for dried seafood that is so popular in
We then went back to the house and started to wrap things up there. In a short time, Tui and Timm were at the door, saying we had given Timm way too much money. We explained how invaluable having the car had been. There is so much we were able to accomplish because we had the car. Everything from going shopping, picking up take out meals, shopping for household items, and on and on. I begged her to take the money and saying it was a small amount to us. I ended my plea by saying, ‘Khun Nattawan (her aunt) had suggested this amount”, assuming that Nattawan has the final say in the family. Thanks Nattawan for your suggestion! Timm then accepted the money.
Neither of us slept that well, probably a little anxious before yet another trip. Always so many details to track and god knows, we’re OLD so remembering those details is a trip in and of itself!! So we gave up about 4:45 and got up and finished covering the furniture with sheets. We do this to save having to dust everything. Tui comes down from
So two hours to the airport with almost no traffic. I drifted off for part of the trip. The new Bangkok airport is HUGE and gorgeous. We were struck by how quickly we got through all the lines, including the plane loading. We had a full plane and the woman who sat next to me liked to lift the chair arm so she to have a bit more space that was non-existent. For some reason it didn’t bother me. I liked how casual she was and as she sort of moved into my space and was physically leaning into me, she looked over and said, “Okay?” I said sure. The trip was 12 hours and although it seems short compared to our 26-hour trips to SL, I was weary before we arrived in London. The ibuprofen didn’t offer relief. We arrived in London around 6:30 pm (12:30 am body time) and went to our B&B near the airport. The room was one of the tiniest ever. My favorite was the “bathroom”. From a construction standpoint it was fascinating. It was basically an upright rectangular box that was retrofitted into the existing space. So from a user standpoint, you stepped up into the room. Hence it was easy to install the plumbing underneath without having to do a lot of infrastructure work. There was a toilet, small sink and perhaps the smallest shower ever. It was 18 inches wide and about 30 inches long. I laughed. I was looking forward to a long soaking bath to ease my weary bones but decided to fall into bed as it looked like a shower would be more work than fun. Again we didn’t sleep well. We are off our body clock by six hours and basically went to bed about 3:00 a.m. body time. Again we gave up around 4:45 London time and showered. It was refreshing. We never even opened our suitcases as the room was so tiny and we were so tired that we put on yesterday’s clothes, fixed a cup of tea. Ron worked on the computer and I started reading the Ireland tour book. At 6:00 we left for the airport. We arrived in Dublin and it was 57 degrees and the sun was shining. They have had eight days of sunshine, which is unheard of this time of year. I checked on the Internet and it is due to rain on Sunday so between now and then we will rejoice with the sun.
We had a delightful, talkative cab driver take us to the B&B where we are staying until Sunday when we move into the castle where we are staying for three nights. It costs more than three times the B&B, which is why we aren’t staying there for the entire time. Ron’s ICMA meeting is being held there.
After getting unpacked we headed to town, catching a city bus just down the street from our house. We are quite close to the ocean and got to see lots of shore birds at low tide. Tomorrow we will get up to exercise and walk down by the water. Once we got to town we were starving so ducked into the first restaurant we saw, a Cuban cocktail bar, complete with photos of Hemingway, Spencer Tracy and Fidel as a young man. I had delicious steamed mussels and Ron had fish and chips. Off we went on a walking tour of the area north of the Liffey River that runs through town. We were amazed at how much we got to see in a relatively short time. We went to the Customs House (1791) ,Moore St market with fresh produce and flowers, general post office (1818), St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral (1825) Around 4:30 we stopped for a espresso drink and a pear tart before heading home to put our very tired feet up. At a little after 7:00 we headed down the street to a Pakistani restaurant. It turned out that the restaurant has won numerous awards including Best Ethnic Restaurant in Ireland for 2007! Oh my goodness the food was incredible. We had a vegetable jalfrazi and a chicken dish with incredible spices and coconut cream. Rice and paratha completed the meal. We almost licked our plates it was so good.
We will retire early, as we are quite tired after two sleepless nights and a bit of jet lag. We were taken aback at how small Dublin appears. I had expected a metropolis with skyscrapers but never saw anything over five stories today and most buildings are two stories. We discovered that Dublin and the county have a total population of 1.1 million, much smaller than I had thought it would be. Bangkok by contrast is 14 million in population.
Thursday
We bought tickets for a tour in Dublin. We boarded a bus that makes 24 stops and you can get off and on throughout the day, choosing which sites you want to explore in depth. We saw impressionist paintings at the National Gallery, spent a long time at the Guinness Storehouse where we learned about how Guinness stout is made. You should know we stood in a long line to buy tickets for the self guided tour and paid senior rates of 19 euros. The storehouse is huge, seven stories and you visit each floor to learn about the history of 250 years of making brew. The facility is on 66 acres of land in the heart of Dublin that Arthur Guinness got 45 pounds per year lease for 9000 years! That’s what we call thinking ahead!! No pun intended. It is the largest brewery in the world. At one point they made 1000 oak casks a week to store the brew. The place was packed. We ate lunch in one of their many restaurants and it was delicious. Ron had a so-called complimentary pint (if you pay 9.50 euros to get in how can it be called complimentary???) Then he used my chit to get a second one at lunch. He never got pass drinking the first half of the second pint but it made for a very relaxed afternoon. Next we visited the National Museum where we saw an exhibit of contemporary ceramic artists, the history of clothes and Irish furniture. After the tour we wandered through what is known as Temple Bar (a bar is a riverside path). It is filled with cute shops and quaint restaurants. We had an espresso and came home.
We had another glorious day weather wise. It was chilly in the morning but all we needed was a sweater today. The sun was out the entire day. The flowering trees are in blossom, the tulips are blooming and birds are singing. At last we are experiencing spring. I should mention that we are so far north that it was still light at 8:30 last night. What a treat! That’s it from the land of redheads and rosy cheeks.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
4-3-07
It was so hot today we couldn’t get the house cooled down with both ACs going. Bummer. I am sweating as I write this in our bedroom with the AC on. When I was at the IC (internet café) I checked the temperature here today and it was 86 but with humidity factor it feels like 99 according to Weather.com. It is supposed to be in the low 90’s the rest of our time here so with humidity factor I reckon it will be hot, damn hot!
Ron worked all day on his proposal. He sent it off late this afternoon. Around 1:00 o’clock, the window blinds crew showed up. We ordered wooden blinds for the bedroom. They goofed on measuring two windows. Ron had suggested that the blinds be hung above the windows so the inside screens can be opened in order to open the windows and clear the blinds when raised but below the arch that is above the window so you could see the arch. When the man came to measure, he didn’t take into account the thickness of the slats so the blinds ended up being about 15cm short. It is what we call an ‘oh shit’ and I would imagine he said something similar in Thai when he saw what had happened. So one set got hung and two went back to the shop for adjustments.
Ron and I walk to the Internet café (IC) that is about three blocks from the house. There are twelve computers in the shop and usually it is filled with kids 12 years old and younger playing games. The bad news is they are playing violent games with soldiers, who have assault rifles, grenades, bayonets and handguns. Oy, if their mothers only knew the research on the effects on kids watching violence their little hinnies wouldn’t be in there. Some kids play a game with dancers. Yesterday I saw a game that at first looked like a pastoral scene with green grass and cute little animals. Then a pony-tailed girl comes onto the screen with some kind of stick weapon and beats the living daylights out of the cute little animals. Lovely. So far I have only observed three games but the place is packed every time we go. Today there were no computers available when I went in the late afternoon. The other awful part of this place is the noise. Bullets flying, grenades exploding and dance musical at a crescendo. Jeez when did I get so damn OLD? I am going to try and go at 9:00 a.m. when kids are hopefully in school and the place will be quieter. We went early today and had quiet until about 9:30 when two guys came in on motorcycles. The other funny thing that happens here is people take off their sandals outside shops and homes usually. But at the IC they take them off right as they step into the doorway so you have to watch your step as you walk in or you will stumble over a myriad of sandals.
One of the truly great pleasures of being in the tropics is the fruit. Tonight we had fresh mangoes off the trees on the property, rambutans, mangosteens (eat your heart out Larry) and another fruit whose name we don’t know but it looks like a small mango but has a different flavor. It was a feast!
After dinner we drove to an area of town we aren’t familiar with, it is a main commercial area that Jeap showed us on Saturday. We thought by walking around we could discover more of what is here such a dry cleaners, barber shops, etc. It was hotter than at the house due to the heat radiating off the asphalt and concrete from the heat of the day but we enjoyed exploring and will go back again to explore more streets. We did find a good size grocery store that is much closer than the Big C, which is way out of town. It has many of the staples we use but no produce. There are very few people who look like the Bergmans. I have seen one white person in Phetchaburi and he looked like a burned out hippie from the 60’s. I on the other hand am an aging hippie but not burned out! HA!
4-4-07
Out dirt was delivered this morning. Unfortunately the truck could not get to the house because earlier in the year Noi have put a carport roof over the drive near the front of the property and neither our moving van nor the dump truck can fit under it. Bummer. They will have to haul the dirt by hand from a very long way up the drive. The dirt quality here is quite different from home. At home you can get any mix you want with compost, sand, etc. There is even a grade called landscape grade. Not so here. We paid for a better quality dirt and got something that looks like clods of clay with roots, twigs, and god only know what else is in it. Such is life in the tropics. We will buy some compost in bags at the nursery to amend the soil. The bad news is we can’t bring compost or any plants to the back of the property until the drive way is cleared of the dirt and that may take awhile. One step forward, two steps back. A good lesson in patience for Americans who are so use to ‘having it my way’.
This afternoon we went looking for trees at a couple of nurseries. We are hoping to find some good shade trees. We didn’t find any that were suitable but we found a charming garden bench. It looks antique and will sit against the front of the house looking out at the river. The nursery offered to deliver it and we suggested Saturday hoping that by then the driveway will be cleared of the big pile of dirt. Things move slowly sometimes so we shall see.
We then went for a foot massage and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is the other wonderful thing about Thailand that I forgot to emphasize: massage. Thai body massage is usually 90-120 minutes and costs $10-$14. It is a clothed massage on a mattress that is on a raised platform. It is a very physical massage where you are manipulated or moved into various postures. The foot massage often goes way beyond the foot and includes the leg up to or above the knee. Sometimes, like today our arms, shoulders and head were massaged also. Pretty darn wonderful. Ron says we are sluts for massage!
Our fruit snack tonight was the best watermelon imaginable. Yum. That’s it from the land of tropical fruits, beautiful women and 99 degree hot weather.
It was so hot today we couldn’t get the house cooled down with both ACs going. Bummer. I am sweating as I write this in our bedroom with the AC on. When I was at the IC (internet café) I checked the temperature here today and it was 86 but with humidity factor it feels like 99 according to Weather.com. It is supposed to be in the low 90’s the rest of our time here so with humidity factor I reckon it will be hot, damn hot!
Ron worked all day on his proposal. He sent it off late this afternoon. Around 1:00 o’clock, the window blinds crew showed up. We ordered wooden blinds for the bedroom. They goofed on measuring two windows. Ron had suggested that the blinds be hung above the windows so the inside screens can be opened in order to open the windows and clear the blinds when raised but below the arch that is above the window so you could see the arch. When the man came to measure, he didn’t take into account the thickness of the slats so the blinds ended up being about 15cm short. It is what we call an ‘oh shit’ and I would imagine he said something similar in Thai when he saw what had happened. So one set got hung and two went back to the shop for adjustments.
Ron and I walk to the Internet café (IC) that is about three blocks from the house. There are twelve computers in the shop and usually it is filled with kids 12 years old and younger playing games. The bad news is they are playing violent games with soldiers, who have assault rifles, grenades, bayonets and handguns. Oy, if their mothers only knew the research on the effects on kids watching violence their little hinnies wouldn’t be in there. Some kids play a game with dancers. Yesterday I saw a game that at first looked like a pastoral scene with green grass and cute little animals. Then a pony-tailed girl comes onto the screen with some kind of stick weapon and beats the living daylights out of the cute little animals. Lovely. So far I have only observed three games but the place is packed every time we go. Today there were no computers available when I went in the late afternoon. The other awful part of this place is the noise. Bullets flying, grenades exploding and dance musical at a crescendo. Jeez when did I get so damn OLD? I am going to try and go at 9:00 a.m. when kids are hopefully in school and the place will be quieter. We went early today and had quiet until about 9:30 when two guys came in on motorcycles. The other funny thing that happens here is people take off their sandals outside shops and homes usually. But at the IC they take them off right as they step into the doorway so you have to watch your step as you walk in or you will stumble over a myriad of sandals.
One of the truly great pleasures of being in the tropics is the fruit. Tonight we had fresh mangoes off the trees on the property, rambutans, mangosteens (eat your heart out Larry) and another fruit whose name we don’t know but it looks like a small mango but has a different flavor. It was a feast!
After dinner we drove to an area of town we aren’t familiar with, it is a main commercial area that Jeap showed us on Saturday. We thought by walking around we could discover more of what is here such a dry cleaners, barber shops, etc. It was hotter than at the house due to the heat radiating off the asphalt and concrete from the heat of the day but we enjoyed exploring and will go back again to explore more streets. We did find a good size grocery store that is much closer than the Big C, which is way out of town. It has many of the staples we use but no produce. There are very few people who look like the Bergmans. I have seen one white person in Phetchaburi and he looked like a burned out hippie from the 60’s. I on the other hand am an aging hippie but not burned out! HA!
4-4-07
Out dirt was delivered this morning. Unfortunately the truck could not get to the house because earlier in the year Noi have put a carport roof over the drive near the front of the property and neither our moving van nor the dump truck can fit under it. Bummer. They will have to haul the dirt by hand from a very long way up the drive. The dirt quality here is quite different from home. At home you can get any mix you want with compost, sand, etc. There is even a grade called landscape grade. Not so here. We paid for a better quality dirt and got something that looks like clods of clay with roots, twigs, and god only know what else is in it. Such is life in the tropics. We will buy some compost in bags at the nursery to amend the soil. The bad news is we can’t bring compost or any plants to the back of the property until the drive way is cleared of the dirt and that may take awhile. One step forward, two steps back. A good lesson in patience for Americans who are so use to ‘having it my way’.
This afternoon we went looking for trees at a couple of nurseries. We are hoping to find some good shade trees. We didn’t find any that were suitable but we found a charming garden bench. It looks antique and will sit against the front of the house looking out at the river. The nursery offered to deliver it and we suggested Saturday hoping that by then the driveway will be cleared of the big pile of dirt. Things move slowly sometimes so we shall see.
We then went for a foot massage and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is the other wonderful thing about Thailand that I forgot to emphasize: massage. Thai body massage is usually 90-120 minutes and costs $10-$14. It is a clothed massage on a mattress that is on a raised platform. It is a very physical massage where you are manipulated or moved into various postures. The foot massage often goes way beyond the foot and includes the leg up to or above the knee. Sometimes, like today our arms, shoulders and head were massaged also. Pretty darn wonderful. Ron says we are sluts for massage!
Our fruit snack tonight was the best watermelon imaginable. Yum. That’s it from the land of tropical fruits, beautiful women and 99 degree hot weather.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sunday
Yesterday we had just gotten out of bed and were moving around in the kitchen to start breakfast. We looked out the window and Jeap (chicken), the man we had hired to bring us from the airport to Phetchaburi and his wife Gop (frog) were approaching. Jeap told us Thai had nicknames after animals. They are neighbors and had brought us a traditional Thai breakfast: a salad of lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, corn, shredded cabbage and chicken and hum bao. Can you believe it? This is a prime example of the Thai people and their generous hospitality. He wanted to let us know that he was free on Saturday if we needed anything. We decided it would be good to have him take us around Phetchaburi to locate resources such a good hardware stores, restaurants, barber shops, etc. He speaks excellent English and was most helpful. We wanted to go for a Thai massage later in the day and Jeap told us about motorcycle taxis so he arranged for our pick up and introduced us to the lead guy who speaks very little English.
Ron spent about half a day working on his proposal. I think I mentioned that he got a job writing a proposal for ICMA while we are here. I went to the Internet café to pay bills. Everyday we stop by Khun bah Cha-Onn to say hello. She had gone to Bangkok on Friday for a checkup after her hip replacement surgery. We have been using her daughter, Timm’s car this week. Timm came by in the morning to return the money we had left for her to pay for the use of the car. She was on her way to Bangkok for the weekend with her husband Tum and would be taking the car. We are totally spoiled by ‘our family’ here. They bring us food; let us use their car, made sure I started using their UV umbrella instead of my rain umbrella and on and on it goes. We feel like royalty here and find it difficult to find ways to repay their kindnesses.
Promptly at 4:30 our two motorcycle taxis arrived at the front gate and away we went to the massage at the hotel in town, about a seven-miinute trip. Drivers in Thailand take liberties that we would be arrested for in the US. Motorcycle drivers are slightly worse at taking these liberties than auto drivers. So if access to the correct side of a street is blocked, rather than going the long way around to get access, they just drive the wrong way on the one-way side of the road until they can get access! So we had yet another adventure. It brought back memories of when I was twenty and was hitch hiking across Europe and Northern Africa. I caught a ride across Sicily on the back of a Vespa! Oy, youth….
The massage was fabulous although painful. But then I have never had a therapeutic massage that wasn’t painful but my masseuse had thumbs of steel and I couldn’t communicate to her to lighten up so just endured. The after effect was great. Our massage cost about $8.00 each for 90 minutes, not including tip. Ron is concerned that we aren’t taking full advantage so I am sure we will be going back to the Royal Diamond Hotel for more massages before we head out on the 10th. Since we had miscalculated our time for pick up with our cabbies, we decided to have a cold drink at the hotel bar then decided to grab dinner. Bad mistake. I ordered ‘crispy spicy catfish’ and got slimy spicy catfish. We ate the sauce over our rice and ate Ron’s veggie dish. Last time we dine at the Royal Diamond. It was our first bad Thai meal so we can’t complain given how many times we have eaten Thai food.
After dinner our cabbies appeared and off we went to home. A little later we went to the Internet café, about three blocks away, catching up on email then came home and off the bed. I had an email from Nattawan saying that when she was here, she turned on the two bedroom air conditioners and opened the bedroom doors in order to cool the entire house. I am trying it today, as the living area is unbearable during the day. It is a good place for a sweat if you are in the mood.
Today we were awake but not yet up and we heard a tapping at the door. There was Timm’s daughter Pear, about 13 years old I would guess and she had our breakfast in hand. Unbelievable! It was the same breakfast as yesterday and so good. Everyone seems to worry that we won’t have enough to eat. We can’t keep up with the food that comes our way. Today we need to work on eating the food that we have in the refrigerator or else!!
Yesterday I spied rambutan at a fruit stand. We were on the motorcycles at the time but soon I want to get some for the family here and for ourselves. I can’t believe my luck that they are in season while we are here.. They are one of my favorite tropical fruits after mangoes that are also in season right now. Only thing I am missing is mangosteens. Thinking of you Larry Brown.
What do I do while Ron is on the computer writing? All of our clothes are hand washed, dried outside and ironed by yours truly. When we did yard work, I sent our shorts and t-shirts to the laundry but usually we don’t wear t-shirts due to the heat. They are too heavy and we have a wardrobe from SL of very lightweight cotton shirts. In the tropics you need to dust and sweep daily and mop frequently so that keeps me of the street and out of trouble. I ‘prepare’ our food and wash up afterwards. Notice I didn’t say cook our food. We are buying take out and it has worked out just fine. So I make rice in the rice cooker or cook noodles to serve the various Thai dishes on. Our rate of consumption of food has decreased due to the heat. I finally started to drop some of the pounds I gained in SL. We ate in AC almost the entire time we were there so the heat didn’t deter my eating. Bummer!
A knock at the door and there is Nit who has been working in our yard to clear more debris with two packets of coconut ice cream. Almost all food is packaged in little plastic bags that hold about 8 ounces and sealed with a red rubber band. Mine had toasted cashews and fresh corn sprinkled on top and Ron had nuts and we’re not sure but maybe sweet potato on top. Yum! He also gave us four mangos off the tree. Ready to eat. IS this paradise or what??
I forgot to mention that there are four dogs here. One poodle and three other small dogs. Every night one family member makes the dogs’ food with a base of rice and I’m not sure what else. Not quite like America where we buy it off the shelf and now of course we have about a gabillion choices: the hallmark of our abundance and excess. Let’s see there is food for puppies, senior dogs, dogs on a diet. Well you get the picture.
We got ants. I don’t think you can live in the tropics without them. So I had to put cereal in Tupperware then put the Tupperware inside a large zip lock bag.. Otherwise these industrious critters find their way into the cereal. I’d sure like to understand their communication system and we could all learn something from their cooperative attitudes. Ron had bought some crackers that were in a sealed bag, not yet opened and they chewed right through the packaging to get at those crackers. The hole was tiny and on the corner so I opened the package hoping to save the crackers, thinking maybe they were just eating the first cracker or two but no way, they were working the whole tray of crackers.
When we were out and about on Saturday with Jeap, we passed a place that had the neatest garden benches. We stopped to see how much they were. It turns out they were made from the wooden hubs and wheels of old bullock carts and were not for sale. It was someone’s collection that was being displayed. Bummer. They would have looked so good in our garden.
The property here has several old ceramic pots and Noi cleaned up three of them so we can use them in the garden. They are the ones that are two tones of brown with a dragon design Many of you have seen these in the US I’m sure although they are made in this part of the world. We are hoping to have dirt delivered this week and if so we can order a few trees and other plants to get the garden project really rolling.
That's it from lovely Thailand, the land of beautiful women.
Yesterday we had just gotten out of bed and were moving around in the kitchen to start breakfast. We looked out the window and Jeap (chicken), the man we had hired to bring us from the airport to Phetchaburi and his wife Gop (frog) were approaching. Jeap told us Thai had nicknames after animals. They are neighbors and had brought us a traditional Thai breakfast: a salad of lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, corn, shredded cabbage and chicken and hum bao. Can you believe it? This is a prime example of the Thai people and their generous hospitality. He wanted to let us know that he was free on Saturday if we needed anything. We decided it would be good to have him take us around Phetchaburi to locate resources such a good hardware stores, restaurants, barber shops, etc. He speaks excellent English and was most helpful. We wanted to go for a Thai massage later in the day and Jeap told us about motorcycle taxis so he arranged for our pick up and introduced us to the lead guy who speaks very little English.
Ron spent about half a day working on his proposal. I think I mentioned that he got a job writing a proposal for ICMA while we are here. I went to the Internet café to pay bills. Everyday we stop by Khun bah Cha-Onn to say hello. She had gone to Bangkok on Friday for a checkup after her hip replacement surgery. We have been using her daughter, Timm’s car this week. Timm came by in the morning to return the money we had left for her to pay for the use of the car. She was on her way to Bangkok for the weekend with her husband Tum and would be taking the car. We are totally spoiled by ‘our family’ here. They bring us food; let us use their car, made sure I started using their UV umbrella instead of my rain umbrella and on and on it goes. We feel like royalty here and find it difficult to find ways to repay their kindnesses.
Promptly at 4:30 our two motorcycle taxis arrived at the front gate and away we went to the massage at the hotel in town, about a seven-miinute trip. Drivers in Thailand take liberties that we would be arrested for in the US. Motorcycle drivers are slightly worse at taking these liberties than auto drivers. So if access to the correct side of a street is blocked, rather than going the long way around to get access, they just drive the wrong way on the one-way side of the road until they can get access! So we had yet another adventure. It brought back memories of when I was twenty and was hitch hiking across Europe and Northern Africa. I caught a ride across Sicily on the back of a Vespa! Oy, youth….
The massage was fabulous although painful. But then I have never had a therapeutic massage that wasn’t painful but my masseuse had thumbs of steel and I couldn’t communicate to her to lighten up so just endured. The after effect was great. Our massage cost about $8.00 each for 90 minutes, not including tip. Ron is concerned that we aren’t taking full advantage so I am sure we will be going back to the Royal Diamond Hotel for more massages before we head out on the 10th. Since we had miscalculated our time for pick up with our cabbies, we decided to have a cold drink at the hotel bar then decided to grab dinner. Bad mistake. I ordered ‘crispy spicy catfish’ and got slimy spicy catfish. We ate the sauce over our rice and ate Ron’s veggie dish. Last time we dine at the Royal Diamond. It was our first bad Thai meal so we can’t complain given how many times we have eaten Thai food.
After dinner our cabbies appeared and off we went to home. A little later we went to the Internet café, about three blocks away, catching up on email then came home and off the bed. I had an email from Nattawan saying that when she was here, she turned on the two bedroom air conditioners and opened the bedroom doors in order to cool the entire house. I am trying it today, as the living area is unbearable during the day. It is a good place for a sweat if you are in the mood.
Today we were awake but not yet up and we heard a tapping at the door. There was Timm’s daughter Pear, about 13 years old I would guess and she had our breakfast in hand. Unbelievable! It was the same breakfast as yesterday and so good. Everyone seems to worry that we won’t have enough to eat. We can’t keep up with the food that comes our way. Today we need to work on eating the food that we have in the refrigerator or else!!
Yesterday I spied rambutan at a fruit stand. We were on the motorcycles at the time but soon I want to get some for the family here and for ourselves. I can’t believe my luck that they are in season while we are here.. They are one of my favorite tropical fruits after mangoes that are also in season right now. Only thing I am missing is mangosteens. Thinking of you Larry Brown.
What do I do while Ron is on the computer writing? All of our clothes are hand washed, dried outside and ironed by yours truly. When we did yard work, I sent our shorts and t-shirts to the laundry but usually we don’t wear t-shirts due to the heat. They are too heavy and we have a wardrobe from SL of very lightweight cotton shirts. In the tropics you need to dust and sweep daily and mop frequently so that keeps me of the street and out of trouble. I ‘prepare’ our food and wash up afterwards. Notice I didn’t say cook our food. We are buying take out and it has worked out just fine. So I make rice in the rice cooker or cook noodles to serve the various Thai dishes on. Our rate of consumption of food has decreased due to the heat. I finally started to drop some of the pounds I gained in SL. We ate in AC almost the entire time we were there so the heat didn’t deter my eating. Bummer!
A knock at the door and there is Nit who has been working in our yard to clear more debris with two packets of coconut ice cream. Almost all food is packaged in little plastic bags that hold about 8 ounces and sealed with a red rubber band. Mine had toasted cashews and fresh corn sprinkled on top and Ron had nuts and we’re not sure but maybe sweet potato on top. Yum! He also gave us four mangos off the tree. Ready to eat. IS this paradise or what??
I forgot to mention that there are four dogs here. One poodle and three other small dogs. Every night one family member makes the dogs’ food with a base of rice and I’m not sure what else. Not quite like America where we buy it off the shelf and now of course we have about a gabillion choices: the hallmark of our abundance and excess. Let’s see there is food for puppies, senior dogs, dogs on a diet. Well you get the picture.
We got ants. I don’t think you can live in the tropics without them. So I had to put cereal in Tupperware then put the Tupperware inside a large zip lock bag.. Otherwise these industrious critters find their way into the cereal. I’d sure like to understand their communication system and we could all learn something from their cooperative attitudes. Ron had bought some crackers that were in a sealed bag, not yet opened and they chewed right through the packaging to get at those crackers. The hole was tiny and on the corner so I opened the package hoping to save the crackers, thinking maybe they were just eating the first cracker or two but no way, they were working the whole tray of crackers.
When we were out and about on Saturday with Jeap, we passed a place that had the neatest garden benches. We stopped to see how much they were. It turns out they were made from the wooden hubs and wheels of old bullock carts and were not for sale. It was someone’s collection that was being displayed. Bummer. They would have looked so good in our garden.
The property here has several old ceramic pots and Noi cleaned up three of them so we can use them in the garden. They are the ones that are two tones of brown with a dragon design Many of you have seen these in the US I’m sure although they are made in this part of the world. We are hoping to have dirt delivered this week and if so we can order a few trees and other plants to get the garden project really rolling.
That's it from lovely Thailand, the land of beautiful women.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday
It hasn’t cooled off one bit. We have discovered that houses here that are two stories are much cooler since they have the upper floor to insulate the first floor. We visited Khun Pa Cha-Onn, Nattawan’s aunt, who recently broke her hip and her house is significantly cooler with very high ceilings and two stories. We will survive.
On Sunday and Monday we worked on a yard project. The front yard was filled with construction debris. Since we want to implement our landscape plan the first step is preparing the soil. So that means digging up the front yard that has chunks of concrete, tile and wood. There is also about six inches of sand on top of the dirt. Nit and Noi, Nattawan's cousins, had started the project but we had a long way to go to finish so we pitched in working only very early in the morning (until the sun came up) or in the late part of the day (after the sun went down). We moved very slowly as the heat is unbelievable. We made progress and were pleased that by the end of the week we would be able to finish.
On Tuesday we drove to Hua Hin about an hour south of here and shopped for household items like outdoor doormats, and ready made or assemble your own cabinets for bathroom storage. Although the selection is much better in Thailand than SL, it is still limited by our standards. Most Americans have no idea how the rest of the world lives. Take it from me they make do with a fraction of what we have on every level and are doing just fine without 100’s if not 1000’s of choices. After finding some of the items on our list we went over to Kay and Bill’s house. They had invited us to spend the night so we thought ‘why not’. We are on vacation and Ron is semi retired so why the heck not??? We had a great visit, got to see some news in English (something we both miss when we travel) and Kay prepared a lovely Thai feast for us. Kay owns a fantastic Thai restaurant in Eugene and has to go back there soon for a month to relieve her business partner.
The next morning we got up and had another delightful Thai meal: rice with sliced chicken and sauce. Yum. Our favorite cuisines are Thai and Indian so we are in hog heaven here. Food is so inexpensive here, and it is real easy to find take-out places so our breakfast was take-out. Many Thai people eat take-ut meals. After breakfast we went to town for more shopping. We were able to find some reading lamps for one of the bedrooms. Ron had hoped to find lamps parts here so he could make lamps from celadon vases. No such luck. He will have to buy the parts in the US and bring them here. We will also have to bring lampshades from home. Lampshades here are quite different and part of the lamp hardware is part of the shade. We were glad to have found something, as we love to read every night in bed before going to sleep. Next we went to a design center and found a few more things like the doormats I wanted. We got a quote on wood blinds for the master bedroom, the only room that needs privacy as it is exposed. After a quick lunch of duck noodle soup, we headed back to Kay and Bill’s and then headed home. On the way we stopped for a massage at a place we had not tried in Phetchaburi and got a mediocre massage so we won’t be going back there.
When we got home we discovered Noy and a friend had finished the de-rocking project in the front yard. We were flabbergasted. All the rocks were stacked to one side and all the sand had been moved to another part of the yard. On Thursday they worked all day in the sun to move the rocks to another part of the property. I tried to get them to stop because of the heat but they kept working so I took them water and fresh fruit that had been chilled. Noy said I couldn’t work anymore! You should know all the family speaks English but very limited. So Noy pointed to me and said, "No working". He told Nattawan he couldn’t believe Ron and I would get out there and do yard work. Little does he know when we re-landscaped our yard we worked hard labor for 16 weekends to transform our backyard. We will have some challenges here because there is a significant amount of concrete walkways around the yard. In addition Noy has started improving the yard by planting various plants. So we will need to do what we can to implement the design given these factors. All the more fun.
The family has us completely spoiled. They bring us tropical fruit grwon in the yard and various Thai dishes to try. We are blessed: mangoes are in season. We can't get over how accepting and kind our Thai family is. We have fun trying to communicate. Yesterday Tui got Cha-Onn, her mother to say thank you very much. Cha-Onn is 86!
Ron got a job while here to write a proposal for ICMA. We have a desk and his computer in the bedroom so yesterday he was in there all day with the AC on and I found lots of excuses to join him since the rest of the house is so hot. Another factor that increases the heat is the window and door screens we added. Since Ron’s episode with Dengue fever in SL, we are more cautious. But screens really cut down on airflow
Today Ron was doing a project: shortening the legs of a freestanding bar that had been given to Nattawan as a house-warming gift. It was about four inches too tall. So Ron was killing himself trying to saw these very big 4inch thick legs with a hand saw. Being the pushy broad that I am I told him I thought he was killing himself and what he needed was a circular saw so made him stop and took him to the one store we knew might have one. My treat. He now has a circular saw and is making a grand mess in the living area that I swept and mopped yesterday. I think I had it backwards. The bar is now the right height thanks to Ron’s hard work in the heat.
I have decided it makes no sense to cook here when take out is so readily available and so inexpensive. Today I got eight little packets of food for 80 baht, not quite three dollars. This will be enough for two people to have at least two main meals. When the man told me the price, I exclaimed, "Is that all?" Everyone laughed. We got food from this stand near the house two days ago and it was delicious.
All week we have had the use of Timm and Tum’s car, Nattawan’s cousin and her husband. Driving here is a trip. Although they had real roads unlike SL, it is not uncommon to have people on motorcycles or cars coming at you on both sides. Yikes! It is unnerving to say the least. The motorcycle is the predominant mode of transportation here and the cyclists are very reckless in their driving so you have to pay complete attention when you drive. So I help out by pointing out potential hazards. We are quite a team of old codgers! But so far we have done quite well, given that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is tame compared to SL however.
If we were to compare Thailand to SL, we would agree that Thailand is far ahead in terms of development. Both are democracies. Thailand has a very revered king. The country’s name was changed to Thailand, the land of the free from Siam when it became a democracy. People seem more industrious here and Thailand is much cleaner. There is a higher standard of living here and Ron said the food is better. We have geckos in the house here also. Both are tropical in terms of climate. When the tsunami hit Thailand they declined outside aid, saying they could take care of their needs so others could have the money. Unlike SL, Thailand has never been colonized. The pubic transportation system, infrastructure and the like are far superior to SL.
We are searching for a water delivery company that might have the equivalent to a five-gallon water bottle that will fit the water-dispensing machine we bought from SL. We have found a similar model here but since there is no ‘yellow pages’ we are stuck so far. Time to post so bye for now.
It hasn’t cooled off one bit. We have discovered that houses here that are two stories are much cooler since they have the upper floor to insulate the first floor. We visited Khun Pa Cha-Onn, Nattawan’s aunt, who recently broke her hip and her house is significantly cooler with very high ceilings and two stories. We will survive.
On Sunday and Monday we worked on a yard project. The front yard was filled with construction debris. Since we want to implement our landscape plan the first step is preparing the soil. So that means digging up the front yard that has chunks of concrete, tile and wood. There is also about six inches of sand on top of the dirt. Nit and Noi, Nattawan's cousins, had started the project but we had a long way to go to finish so we pitched in working only very early in the morning (until the sun came up) or in the late part of the day (after the sun went down). We moved very slowly as the heat is unbelievable. We made progress and were pleased that by the end of the week we would be able to finish.
On Tuesday we drove to Hua Hin about an hour south of here and shopped for household items like outdoor doormats, and ready made or assemble your own cabinets for bathroom storage. Although the selection is much better in Thailand than SL, it is still limited by our standards. Most Americans have no idea how the rest of the world lives. Take it from me they make do with a fraction of what we have on every level and are doing just fine without 100’s if not 1000’s of choices. After finding some of the items on our list we went over to Kay and Bill’s house. They had invited us to spend the night so we thought ‘why not’. We are on vacation and Ron is semi retired so why the heck not??? We had a great visit, got to see some news in English (something we both miss when we travel) and Kay prepared a lovely Thai feast for us. Kay owns a fantastic Thai restaurant in Eugene and has to go back there soon for a month to relieve her business partner.
The next morning we got up and had another delightful Thai meal: rice with sliced chicken and sauce. Yum. Our favorite cuisines are Thai and Indian so we are in hog heaven here. Food is so inexpensive here, and it is real easy to find take-out places so our breakfast was take-out. Many Thai people eat take-ut meals. After breakfast we went to town for more shopping. We were able to find some reading lamps for one of the bedrooms. Ron had hoped to find lamps parts here so he could make lamps from celadon vases. No such luck. He will have to buy the parts in the US and bring them here. We will also have to bring lampshades from home. Lampshades here are quite different and part of the lamp hardware is part of the shade. We were glad to have found something, as we love to read every night in bed before going to sleep. Next we went to a design center and found a few more things like the doormats I wanted. We got a quote on wood blinds for the master bedroom, the only room that needs privacy as it is exposed. After a quick lunch of duck noodle soup, we headed back to Kay and Bill’s and then headed home. On the way we stopped for a massage at a place we had not tried in Phetchaburi and got a mediocre massage so we won’t be going back there.
When we got home we discovered Noy and a friend had finished the de-rocking project in the front yard. We were flabbergasted. All the rocks were stacked to one side and all the sand had been moved to another part of the yard. On Thursday they worked all day in the sun to move the rocks to another part of the property. I tried to get them to stop because of the heat but they kept working so I took them water and fresh fruit that had been chilled. Noy said I couldn’t work anymore! You should know all the family speaks English but very limited. So Noy pointed to me and said, "No working". He told Nattawan he couldn’t believe Ron and I would get out there and do yard work. Little does he know when we re-landscaped our yard we worked hard labor for 16 weekends to transform our backyard. We will have some challenges here because there is a significant amount of concrete walkways around the yard. In addition Noy has started improving the yard by planting various plants. So we will need to do what we can to implement the design given these factors. All the more fun.
The family has us completely spoiled. They bring us tropical fruit grwon in the yard and various Thai dishes to try. We are blessed: mangoes are in season. We can't get over how accepting and kind our Thai family is. We have fun trying to communicate. Yesterday Tui got Cha-Onn, her mother to say thank you very much. Cha-Onn is 86!
Ron got a job while here to write a proposal for ICMA. We have a desk and his computer in the bedroom so yesterday he was in there all day with the AC on and I found lots of excuses to join him since the rest of the house is so hot. Another factor that increases the heat is the window and door screens we added. Since Ron’s episode with Dengue fever in SL, we are more cautious. But screens really cut down on airflow
Today Ron was doing a project: shortening the legs of a freestanding bar that had been given to Nattawan as a house-warming gift. It was about four inches too tall. So Ron was killing himself trying to saw these very big 4inch thick legs with a hand saw. Being the pushy broad that I am I told him I thought he was killing himself and what he needed was a circular saw so made him stop and took him to the one store we knew might have one. My treat. He now has a circular saw and is making a grand mess in the living area that I swept and mopped yesterday. I think I had it backwards. The bar is now the right height thanks to Ron’s hard work in the heat.
I have decided it makes no sense to cook here when take out is so readily available and so inexpensive. Today I got eight little packets of food for 80 baht, not quite three dollars. This will be enough for two people to have at least two main meals. When the man told me the price, I exclaimed, "Is that all?" Everyone laughed. We got food from this stand near the house two days ago and it was delicious.
All week we have had the use of Timm and Tum’s car, Nattawan’s cousin and her husband. Driving here is a trip. Although they had real roads unlike SL, it is not uncommon to have people on motorcycles or cars coming at you on both sides. Yikes! It is unnerving to say the least. The motorcycle is the predominant mode of transportation here and the cyclists are very reckless in their driving so you have to pay complete attention when you drive. So I help out by pointing out potential hazards. We are quite a team of old codgers! But so far we have done quite well, given that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is tame compared to SL however.
If we were to compare Thailand to SL, we would agree that Thailand is far ahead in terms of development. Both are democracies. Thailand has a very revered king. The country’s name was changed to Thailand, the land of the free from Siam when it became a democracy. People seem more industrious here and Thailand is much cleaner. There is a higher standard of living here and Ron said the food is better. We have geckos in the house here also. Both are tropical in terms of climate. When the tsunami hit Thailand they declined outside aid, saying they could take care of their needs so others could have the money. Unlike SL, Thailand has never been colonized. The pubic transportation system, infrastructure and the like are far superior to SL.
We are searching for a water delivery company that might have the equivalent to a five-gallon water bottle that will fit the water-dispensing machine we bought from SL. We have found a similar model here but since there is no ‘yellow pages’ we are stuck so far. Time to post so bye for now.
Monday, March 26, 2007
3-25-07
WOW! We are here and it feels great to be in Thailand and even better to be at ‘our’ home in Phetchaburi. It is hotter than blue blazes but we have AC in the bedroom so we can sleep at night. During the day you move very slowly and don’t do anything that requires much energy!
We got up at 4:00 am in Colombo and left the hotel at 4:30. Our flight left at 7:15 and we were worried we weren’t going to make it as the line to the counter was soooo long and one agent was serving the line. So my brilliant husband got into the shorter line for Singapore and they served him even though he was in the wrong line. Such a smart guy! There was no time to grab anything to eat or drink so no java, nuttin honey! We survived as they did feed us on the plane unlike the US. It was a three and a half hour flight so we were grateful for the breakfast. We grabbed a cab into Bangkok and checked into our hotel that was conveniently located and quite nice for $47 a night plus VAT and taxes brought it up to $70. Such a deal in the heart of the big city. We went shopping for a resource guide to Bangkok, that tells you where to shop for whatever you need. We discovered from the resource guide that there were several lamp stores in our immediate area. That was good due to the heat. Oy! We checked out three places, one had pretty celadon lamps but the price was too high for the frugal Bergmans so we will continue to search. We passed a window display with a gorgeous wall hanging, a traditional Thai weaving and I couldn’t resist it. I think I paid way too much but it’s too late now. I fell in love with the color and knew it would fit right above the living room couch. I got to Phetchaburi and discovered the colors were all wrong so it will move to the day room couch and the painting in the day room will move to the living room most probably. By now (back to Bangkok) we were tired, very hot and sweaty so headed back to the hotel for a rest and shower. Around 7:00 we headed out to the Thai massage establishment next door. We had one of the best foot massages ever that ended with a head massage and shoulder/back massage. Calling it a foot massage was not exactly accurate but we were delighted.
We ate dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Yes that’s right, condoms. The man who started the restaurant wanted to do something to bring awareness to the need for family planning and the rise of AIDS in Thailand so he created a theme restaurant. His thinking was that condoms should be as easy to get as cabbages in the market. So there are mannequins through the restaurants in various forms of dress made from condoms and/or packets of birth control pills. Our table had a glass over rows of condoms. The place was packed and the food was good. That isn’t always the case with theme restaurants. A portion of the proceeds goes to help family planning clinics and AIDS charities. Instead of after dinner mints that usually come with the bill, you guessed it, you get two condoms! They also had a craft shop that is owned by the restaurants with funny t-shirts that continue the theme such as: Stealth Condoms-no one will see you coming.
On Sunday we met Jami Sachs and her husband John. He works for the US Embassy in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) and she works for ICMA, Ron’s employer for the SL project. They had come to Bangkok for the weekend to get away from the really bad pollution in Chiang Mai. You won’t believe this. In Thailand (this may be a global standard but I don’t know) 100 particulates per cubic ft is considered the threshold for safety (I may have the ratio wrong but hang with me on this) In Bangkok on any given day there are about 50. In Chiang Mai the current rate is 380!!!!!! You know it’s bad when you come to Bangkok for clean air!! That aside, they took us to a delightful restaurant called Crepes and Co. that was two doors down from where we had dinner the night before. It was delicious and they had good decaf so imagine how happy I was. Jami ordered a pot of Moroccan tea. It is a very light tea poured over fresh mint. It brought back a flood of memories as I had last had that tea in 1966 when I hitch hiked across Western Europe and Northern Africa. I guess there is something to that thing about cycles….
We had hoped to go to a famous outdoor market in Bangkok but it was just too hot and we ran out of time. We mentioned it to John and Jami and they gave us a very interesting statistic. The market, called JJ market by the locals and the Chatuchak for the rest of us has 6,000 booths. That’s not a typo. The statistic is if you visited each booth for one minute and did this for 8 hours at a time on Sat and Sun when the market is open it would take 2 months to see all the booths. I’m not sure I even want to go there but John and Jami said it is fun. Okay but no in 102-degree heat. Maybe in November…I’m such a magnolia blossom. I’d rather we sitting on the veranda in my porch swing sipping something ice cold….
We raced back to our hotel to catch our prearranged ride to Phetchaburi. Our friend Su who lives in Bangkok and is a dear friend of Nattawan joined us. Everyone worries that Ron and I will have a difficult time here so various friends and family members are assigned to take care of us and always spoil us. Jeap was our driver and lives about two blocks from our house in Phetchaburi. He is a professional driver and we are thankful to have found him. So we had a quick two-hour drive and arrived just in time for dear Su to present our lunch that she had purchased in Bangkok for us. It was khaao-man gai-boned chicken with rice. It is one of our favorites. While she got lunch on the table, we went to the big house and said hello to Nattawan’s aunt. She is 83 and recently fell and broke her hip. She then had hip replacement surgery and is recovering. She is an amazing woman and although she doesn’t speak English she always greets us warmly. She loves to ‘chat’ with us and we enjoy her company. Su had to leave shortly after lunch to go back to Bangkok as her work was plied up. She teaches agriculture in a university in Bangkok.
We spent the afternoon unpacking and getting settled. We walked to the store after a short rest (the heat demanded it) and got milk, water, and juice for breakfast. There was an open-air market across from the market so we walked through it. We are the only white people in the neighborhood so we got lots of friendly smiles and hellos. We got a small orchid bouquet for Nattawan’s aunt. Tomorrow we will go to a larger grocery store when we have use of a car and stock up. In the meantime, we decided to go out for dinner and had a difficult time finding anything open. As we were walking around the area, we passed a store where several people were eating outside. It is most common to cook and eat outside here due to the heat. They waved us over and started a conversation, with very limited English but it was great fun trying to understand one another. They were most curious as to where we were staying. Of course we have no idea of our address so couldn’t tell them the street name or number. Very few signs are written in the alphabet we use and we are clueless when it comes to reading the Thai alphabet. At last we found an outdoor restaurant. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear a word the waiter said to us and had to ask him to turn down the music. As we looked around (it was lit by fairy lights so it was hard to see much) we realized we were three times older than anyone there. No English and we couldn’t see the photos due to lack of light on the menu to determine what they were serving. After trying our Thai and not being understood, we whipped out our Thai language book and pointed to roasted chicken and sticky rice. No problem. Two women hopped on a motorcycle and went to some other restaurant and brought back our order! HA!! They didn’t serve water so I had my first Pepsi in about 20 years. Our dinner was delicious and we watched young people sing karaoke throughout the meal. We looked at each other and said, "We’re old". When we paid the bill, they asked us to wait for five minutes so we assumed they had to go out for change. Life here is different and we love it!
This morning we got up a little before 7:00 so we could get a little yard work done before the heat was unbearable. We went outside and started digging rocks out of the soil. I think I mentioned we had a landscape design done in Vancouver so want to get things moving to implement the design. We may get the soil in the front prepared and that may be all. It is filled with construction debris so it will take all week just to get the big rocks out and we will need to amend the soil in order to grow anything. But we have lots of time and no schedule. Noy, Nattawan’s cousin who lives in front of our house came out and helped us. He speaks a little English. We worked probably 45 minutes and stopped. The sun was up and not too kind. There is no need to kill ourselves on this. Noy looked at us when we said it was time to quit and commented ‘evening work’. I hate to tell him, it’s just as hot at night as early morning. We came inside and showered and had a light breakfast. We have weight scales here and we have gained weight. The hot weather should curb our appetite. We plan to eat lunch in the neighbor eateries and fix a light supper here at the house at night. That should help take some weight off.
Later today our friends Kay and Bill who live in Hua Hin, about an hour south of us, will come by and we are going out for lunch. They have always been a treat to be with. Bill is a retired contractor so he and Ron had lots in common. Well it is so hot at 11:00 I am sitting three feet from the fan and sweating. Time to wrap it up!!
WOW! We are here and it feels great to be in Thailand and even better to be at ‘our’ home in Phetchaburi. It is hotter than blue blazes but we have AC in the bedroom so we can sleep at night. During the day you move very slowly and don’t do anything that requires much energy!
We got up at 4:00 am in Colombo and left the hotel at 4:30. Our flight left at 7:15 and we were worried we weren’t going to make it as the line to the counter was soooo long and one agent was serving the line. So my brilliant husband got into the shorter line for Singapore and they served him even though he was in the wrong line. Such a smart guy! There was no time to grab anything to eat or drink so no java, nuttin honey! We survived as they did feed us on the plane unlike the US. It was a three and a half hour flight so we were grateful for the breakfast. We grabbed a cab into Bangkok and checked into our hotel that was conveniently located and quite nice for $47 a night plus VAT and taxes brought it up to $70. Such a deal in the heart of the big city. We went shopping for a resource guide to Bangkok, that tells you where to shop for whatever you need. We discovered from the resource guide that there were several lamp stores in our immediate area. That was good due to the heat. Oy! We checked out three places, one had pretty celadon lamps but the price was too high for the frugal Bergmans so we will continue to search. We passed a window display with a gorgeous wall hanging, a traditional Thai weaving and I couldn’t resist it. I think I paid way too much but it’s too late now. I fell in love with the color and knew it would fit right above the living room couch. I got to Phetchaburi and discovered the colors were all wrong so it will move to the day room couch and the painting in the day room will move to the living room most probably. By now (back to Bangkok) we were tired, very hot and sweaty so headed back to the hotel for a rest and shower. Around 7:00 we headed out to the Thai massage establishment next door. We had one of the best foot massages ever that ended with a head massage and shoulder/back massage. Calling it a foot massage was not exactly accurate but we were delighted.
We ate dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Yes that’s right, condoms. The man who started the restaurant wanted to do something to bring awareness to the need for family planning and the rise of AIDS in Thailand so he created a theme restaurant. His thinking was that condoms should be as easy to get as cabbages in the market. So there are mannequins through the restaurants in various forms of dress made from condoms and/or packets of birth control pills. Our table had a glass over rows of condoms. The place was packed and the food was good. That isn’t always the case with theme restaurants. A portion of the proceeds goes to help family planning clinics and AIDS charities. Instead of after dinner mints that usually come with the bill, you guessed it, you get two condoms! They also had a craft shop that is owned by the restaurants with funny t-shirts that continue the theme such as: Stealth Condoms-no one will see you coming.
On Sunday we met Jami Sachs and her husband John. He works for the US Embassy in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) and she works for ICMA, Ron’s employer for the SL project. They had come to Bangkok for the weekend to get away from the really bad pollution in Chiang Mai. You won’t believe this. In Thailand (this may be a global standard but I don’t know) 100 particulates per cubic ft is considered the threshold for safety (I may have the ratio wrong but hang with me on this) In Bangkok on any given day there are about 50. In Chiang Mai the current rate is 380!!!!!! You know it’s bad when you come to Bangkok for clean air!! That aside, they took us to a delightful restaurant called Crepes and Co. that was two doors down from where we had dinner the night before. It was delicious and they had good decaf so imagine how happy I was. Jami ordered a pot of Moroccan tea. It is a very light tea poured over fresh mint. It brought back a flood of memories as I had last had that tea in 1966 when I hitch hiked across Western Europe and Northern Africa. I guess there is something to that thing about cycles….
We had hoped to go to a famous outdoor market in Bangkok but it was just too hot and we ran out of time. We mentioned it to John and Jami and they gave us a very interesting statistic. The market, called JJ market by the locals and the Chatuchak for the rest of us has 6,000 booths. That’s not a typo. The statistic is if you visited each booth for one minute and did this for 8 hours at a time on Sat and Sun when the market is open it would take 2 months to see all the booths. I’m not sure I even want to go there but John and Jami said it is fun. Okay but no in 102-degree heat. Maybe in November…I’m such a magnolia blossom. I’d rather we sitting on the veranda in my porch swing sipping something ice cold….
We raced back to our hotel to catch our prearranged ride to Phetchaburi. Our friend Su who lives in Bangkok and is a dear friend of Nattawan joined us. Everyone worries that Ron and I will have a difficult time here so various friends and family members are assigned to take care of us and always spoil us. Jeap was our driver and lives about two blocks from our house in Phetchaburi. He is a professional driver and we are thankful to have found him. So we had a quick two-hour drive and arrived just in time for dear Su to present our lunch that she had purchased in Bangkok for us. It was khaao-man gai-boned chicken with rice. It is one of our favorites. While she got lunch on the table, we went to the big house and said hello to Nattawan’s aunt. She is 83 and recently fell and broke her hip. She then had hip replacement surgery and is recovering. She is an amazing woman and although she doesn’t speak English she always greets us warmly. She loves to ‘chat’ with us and we enjoy her company. Su had to leave shortly after lunch to go back to Bangkok as her work was plied up. She teaches agriculture in a university in Bangkok.
We spent the afternoon unpacking and getting settled. We walked to the store after a short rest (the heat demanded it) and got milk, water, and juice for breakfast. There was an open-air market across from the market so we walked through it. We are the only white people in the neighborhood so we got lots of friendly smiles and hellos. We got a small orchid bouquet for Nattawan’s aunt. Tomorrow we will go to a larger grocery store when we have use of a car and stock up. In the meantime, we decided to go out for dinner and had a difficult time finding anything open. As we were walking around the area, we passed a store where several people were eating outside. It is most common to cook and eat outside here due to the heat. They waved us over and started a conversation, with very limited English but it was great fun trying to understand one another. They were most curious as to where we were staying. Of course we have no idea of our address so couldn’t tell them the street name or number. Very few signs are written in the alphabet we use and we are clueless when it comes to reading the Thai alphabet. At last we found an outdoor restaurant. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear a word the waiter said to us and had to ask him to turn down the music. As we looked around (it was lit by fairy lights so it was hard to see much) we realized we were three times older than anyone there. No English and we couldn’t see the photos due to lack of light on the menu to determine what they were serving. After trying our Thai and not being understood, we whipped out our Thai language book and pointed to roasted chicken and sticky rice. No problem. Two women hopped on a motorcycle and went to some other restaurant and brought back our order! HA!! They didn’t serve water so I had my first Pepsi in about 20 years. Our dinner was delicious and we watched young people sing karaoke throughout the meal. We looked at each other and said, "We’re old". When we paid the bill, they asked us to wait for five minutes so we assumed they had to go out for change. Life here is different and we love it!
This morning we got up a little before 7:00 so we could get a little yard work done before the heat was unbearable. We went outside and started digging rocks out of the soil. I think I mentioned we had a landscape design done in Vancouver so want to get things moving to implement the design. We may get the soil in the front prepared and that may be all. It is filled with construction debris so it will take all week just to get the big rocks out and we will need to amend the soil in order to grow anything. But we have lots of time and no schedule. Noy, Nattawan’s cousin who lives in front of our house came out and helped us. He speaks a little English. We worked probably 45 minutes and stopped. The sun was up and not too kind. There is no need to kill ourselves on this. Noy looked at us when we said it was time to quit and commented ‘evening work’. I hate to tell him, it’s just as hot at night as early morning. We came inside and showered and had a light breakfast. We have weight scales here and we have gained weight. The hot weather should curb our appetite. We plan to eat lunch in the neighbor eateries and fix a light supper here at the house at night. That should help take some weight off.
Later today our friends Kay and Bill who live in Hua Hin, about an hour south of us, will come by and we are going out for lunch. They have always been a treat to be with. Bill is a retired contractor so he and Ron had lots in common. Well it is so hot at 11:00 I am sitting three feet from the fan and sweating. Time to wrap it up!!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Yesterday (Saturday) we had lunch with Priyanthi. She is on maturity leave from the Asia Foundation and worked as a clerical person when we lived here. She is due in two months. To give you a flavor of life in SL, Priyanthi lives about two hours out of Colombo and rode a crowded bus into work everyday M-F. Her husband works in Dubai so that they can build a house. They house has been under construction for four years and this is her husband’s second year of working in Dubai. This is not uncommon here for people to work abroad, often in the Middle East in order for families to survive here. It is also a way to be able to build a home. The mortgage rates here are double digit around 15% and loans must be paid off fairly rapidly, I think it is 8-10 years. That makes owning a home very difficult given the wages in SL. Years ago Mr. Kularathna worked in the Middle East in order to build his home. The good news is your cost of living is low when you own your home free and clear. The bad news is people make incredible sacrifices in order to own a home. Most Sri Lankans own their homes although they are quite humble by our standards.
Later we had dinner with Chandini and Lakshman. Chandini was our language tutor and is a trustee at Shilpa Home. I asked her why Shilpa was having financial difficulties and she said inflation is running about 14% now. I asked her if raising the cost of a sponsorship was possible. She said most of the sponsors are Sri Lankans so $250 a year is an enormous amount of money. One of Shilpa’s major fund raisers is a sale of home made items such a clothing, table linens, embroidered towels and handkerchiefs. This sale is held twice a year. Unfortunately I will miss it as it occurs the week after we leave SL. When I met with Pushpa, the executive director, this week to give her the money from our friends in the US, she told me that in April the girls leave Shilpa for about a week (spring break) and visit family members/relatives and about ten girls stay at Shilpa, as they have no living relatives. Many girls at Shilpa were orphaned by the civil war or by the tsunami. Some are there due to family problems such as addiction or abuse.
At dinner I asked Lakshman if he could help we understand some behavior I have observed here that appear to be inconsistent. SL people are passive, they avoid confrontation yet they drive in an aggressive manner and any time they should be a line like at the drug store or post office, they consistently cut in front of people, much the same way they drive. It is sort of a ‘me first, me first’ attitude. He said he didn’t think it was aggressive so much as insecurity that they would get their turn. That made sense for me and helped me put the behavior in a context that is consistent with the culture.
As many of you know Ron and I have a St Patty’s Day tradition of a big party where we serve baked potatoes and guests bring toppings. Well last year we were in SL so we baked potatoes and invited our two neighbor’s over for dinner. This year we are in the hotel here in SL so we went to a restaurant that used to serve baked potatoes with toppings. No such luck this year so we ordered French fries to keep the tradition alive.
Gosh it’s Thursday. Where goes the time go. Ron’s Vancouver team arrived Tuesday and we have had dinner together every night since then. I tagged along with Pat and Ahmad when they were off on Wednesday and needed to do some gift shopping. Pat and Ahmad leave tomorrow and Ron and I head to Thailand on Saturday. In the meantime, we will have lunch with Veena and her mom on Friday and dinner with Suba who Ron works with and his family on Friday night. We fly out at 7:00 am so we will be getting up at 0 dark hundred. We will have the afternoon to goof around Bangkok, which is hotter than blue blazes about now, and head out Sunday morning for our ‘home’ in Phetchaburi that is two hours away by car. We are looking forward to working around the house and visiting friends there. We will have use of a family members car while there so will be brave and try driving in Thailand. The heat here hasn’t bothered me this trip. I can’t tell if it is because I am just resigned to it, acclimated or because in between outings, I live in an air-conditioned environment. At any rate I haven’t whined about the heat this trip. I think it is hotter in Thailand however. I just checked. It is 97 her with humidity factor and 102 degrees in Bangkok. Like I said, hotter than blue blazes. Perhaps the whining will start when we arrive in Thailand….
Later we had dinner with Chandini and Lakshman. Chandini was our language tutor and is a trustee at Shilpa Home. I asked her why Shilpa was having financial difficulties and she said inflation is running about 14% now. I asked her if raising the cost of a sponsorship was possible. She said most of the sponsors are Sri Lankans so $250 a year is an enormous amount of money. One of Shilpa’s major fund raisers is a sale of home made items such a clothing, table linens, embroidered towels and handkerchiefs. This sale is held twice a year. Unfortunately I will miss it as it occurs the week after we leave SL. When I met with Pushpa, the executive director, this week to give her the money from our friends in the US, she told me that in April the girls leave Shilpa for about a week (spring break) and visit family members/relatives and about ten girls stay at Shilpa, as they have no living relatives. Many girls at Shilpa were orphaned by the civil war or by the tsunami. Some are there due to family problems such as addiction or abuse.
At dinner I asked Lakshman if he could help we understand some behavior I have observed here that appear to be inconsistent. SL people are passive, they avoid confrontation yet they drive in an aggressive manner and any time they should be a line like at the drug store or post office, they consistently cut in front of people, much the same way they drive. It is sort of a ‘me first, me first’ attitude. He said he didn’t think it was aggressive so much as insecurity that they would get their turn. That made sense for me and helped me put the behavior in a context that is consistent with the culture.
As many of you know Ron and I have a St Patty’s Day tradition of a big party where we serve baked potatoes and guests bring toppings. Well last year we were in SL so we baked potatoes and invited our two neighbor’s over for dinner. This year we are in the hotel here in SL so we went to a restaurant that used to serve baked potatoes with toppings. No such luck this year so we ordered French fries to keep the tradition alive.
Gosh it’s Thursday. Where goes the time go. Ron’s Vancouver team arrived Tuesday and we have had dinner together every night since then. I tagged along with Pat and Ahmad when they were off on Wednesday and needed to do some gift shopping. Pat and Ahmad leave tomorrow and Ron and I head to Thailand on Saturday. In the meantime, we will have lunch with Veena and her mom on Friday and dinner with Suba who Ron works with and his family on Friday night. We fly out at 7:00 am so we will be getting up at 0 dark hundred. We will have the afternoon to goof around Bangkok, which is hotter than blue blazes about now, and head out Sunday morning for our ‘home’ in Phetchaburi that is two hours away by car. We are looking forward to working around the house and visiting friends there. We will have use of a family members car while there so will be brave and try driving in Thailand. The heat here hasn’t bothered me this trip. I can’t tell if it is because I am just resigned to it, acclimated or because in between outings, I live in an air-conditioned environment. At any rate I haven’t whined about the heat this trip. I think it is hotter in Thailand however. I just checked. It is 97 her with humidity factor and 102 degrees in Bangkok. Like I said, hotter than blue blazes. Perhaps the whining will start when we arrive in Thailand….
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Tuesday I went to Shilpa. The trustees were having a meeting and I asked if I could come to the end of their meeting as I had a story about Shilpa I wanted to share. I arrived and waited in the foyer to be called into the meeting. While I was waiting a young woman sat beside me on the couch. I think she is a matron at Shilpa. She looked over at my arms and said, “ You are a little fatty, aren’t you”. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but agreed with her that indeed I was a fat American. How humbling. She had arms about the size of a curtain rod.
I went into the meeting of seven women: the executive director of Shilpa and six trustees. I introduced myself, as I wasn’t sure if all of them knew who I was and what my connection to Shilpa was. I told them the story about Jeri Holt suggesting that our book club sponsor a girl. They were thrilled at that point in the story. I then told them how one of the first donors gave me the $25 I had asked for and another $250 to sponsor a girl. They gasped at that point. When I told them I had $1500 for them, they were almost speechless. Chandini, my friend who is a trustee, said, “I can’t believe this. We were just looking at our financial reports and were quite worried about the status of the home. We were trying to figure out what kind of fund raiser we needed to do.” I gave each person present a list of donors and the amount contributed. So thank you again to all who made this gift possible. I also told them I was willing to ask again in a year but I could not guarantee the same results.
The newspaper had a report on kidney problems in SL. The statistics are horrifying. One in ten Sri Lankans has some form of chronic kidney disease while one in 35 have serious kidney failure. One in every three women and one in every ten men suffer a bladder infection. One in every 15 women has kidney stones. We were astounded by the figures. “The research has failed to determine the direct cause. The suspicion that drinking water contaminated with aluminum and eating freshwater fish with cadmium in the NCP has not been proven.” Keep in mind that nowhere on the island can you drink the tap water without first boiling it. People do but you shouldn’t. We drink bottled water when we are here. Also keep in mind that only in Colombo is sewerage collected. It isn’t treated but rather dumped into the ocean untreated. Oy. The rest of the island has cesspools that will at some point probably poison the ground water here. Also keep in mind that many people do not have water in their homes. They walk to a water source and carry water in vessels, often aluminum or plastic, to their homes.
Denial is a wondrous thing. Yesterday the Export Development and International Trade Minister gave an address to the American Chamber of Commerce in Colombo. He ‘reiterated the government’s stance that the conflict (civil war) has no bearing on the economic progress of the country’. Really? Tell that to all the people here in the service/tourism industry: the hotel staff, the trishaw and taxi drivers, and the retailers. Each of them will tell you that every time there is a bombingh, attack or suicide bomber, their trade is affected.
Today I picked Geetha up after work at the Asia Foundation. We greeted one another with warm hugs and great joy. It was 11:00, too earlier for lunch so I suggested we go shopping. She was shy about the idea but I told her it would be fun and she could buy whatever she wanted: a sari, clothes for her grandkids, household items. We started at House of Fashion where Sri Lankans shop. She picked out two outfits for grandkids, and some items for the new grandbaby that is expected next month. Next we went to several sari shops. She wouldn’t even consider looking in one shop when they told her the price. I have no idea what the price was but know that if you are buying a synthetic material here it isn’t expensive by our standards. She found one she liked in the third shop we visited and it cost $6.75! The stepped next door to get material for the ‘blouse piece’. That cost $2.00 and she thought that was too much but I insisted that we get it. Lunch came next. I took her to a rice and curry restaurant that is near the Asia Foundation. I went there because I know Sri Lankans eat there. We ran into Ron and two staff members so we joined them.
Then we went to another clothing store and found an outfit for the third grandchild and a dress her pregnant daughter could wear. Geetha deliberated over it a long time and was about to put it back when I took it out of her hand and said, ‘let’s get it’. I told her to stop worrying about the prices but she checked the price of every item and was quite concerned that the outfit for one grandchild cost $4.50. We ended the spree by going to a grocery/variety store where she found two backpacks for two of the grandkids, a Tupperware container and I insisted we get a few grocery items. In addition I talked her into some basics like shampoo, talc, and hand cream. Each time she would choose the smallest size container and I would insist she get the largest size. I had never been to her house and knew she was somewhat reluctant to take me there. On two previous occasions I had taken her to lunch and she always got out of the trishaw before we got to her house. Respecting her needs, when we got to her house today, I stayed in the trishaw and handed the bags to Mr.Kularathna who in turn handed the items to Geetha who took them inside. After we unloaded the trishaw, she invited us into her home. Her home was lovely, as she is. It was small and all I saw was the living room. I had not known what to expect but was surprised at how well furnished the home was. She had a couch and two side chairs as well as a china cabinet. On top of the cabinet was the photo I had given her of Ron and me. She was very proud to show it to me. Her grandson was there and her daughter who is expecting next month. We stayed about 30 minutes and her daughter shared the photo album of her wedding two years ago with Mr. Kularathna and me. Her grandson served us a cold glass of juice. All is all it was a fun day for both of us. It was interesting to see that she only bought one item for herself and everything else was for her family. I wasn’t surprised knowing her as I do. Most of all it was fun to be together for some time.
Thursday
Today was ATM day. Shilpa preferred cash so I have used two of my accounts and two of Ron’s accounts to extract $1500 in cash. The largest Sri Lankan bill is 2000 rupee note (about $20) and usually you get 1000 rupee notes from ATMs here so I have a stack of cash!. Many machines here limit your withdrawals to 20,000 rupees, about $183. By tomorrow morning I will have the $1500 and can take it to Shilpa. It got hot today, 91.5 with lots of humidity. Then it rained for the first time since December. We had dinner at friends house tonight. They don’t have air conditioning and we had forgotten how hot it is without it. Oy.
Well somehow it got to be Friday and I haven’t posted this. Ron is on the road today but will return after visiting two cities his program is working with.
That’s the latest from paradise five degrees above the equator.
I went into the meeting of seven women: the executive director of Shilpa and six trustees. I introduced myself, as I wasn’t sure if all of them knew who I was and what my connection to Shilpa was. I told them the story about Jeri Holt suggesting that our book club sponsor a girl. They were thrilled at that point in the story. I then told them how one of the first donors gave me the $25 I had asked for and another $250 to sponsor a girl. They gasped at that point. When I told them I had $1500 for them, they were almost speechless. Chandini, my friend who is a trustee, said, “I can’t believe this. We were just looking at our financial reports and were quite worried about the status of the home. We were trying to figure out what kind of fund raiser we needed to do.” I gave each person present a list of donors and the amount contributed. So thank you again to all who made this gift possible. I also told them I was willing to ask again in a year but I could not guarantee the same results.
The newspaper had a report on kidney problems in SL. The statistics are horrifying. One in ten Sri Lankans has some form of chronic kidney disease while one in 35 have serious kidney failure. One in every three women and one in every ten men suffer a bladder infection. One in every 15 women has kidney stones. We were astounded by the figures. “The research has failed to determine the direct cause. The suspicion that drinking water contaminated with aluminum and eating freshwater fish with cadmium in the NCP has not been proven.” Keep in mind that nowhere on the island can you drink the tap water without first boiling it. People do but you shouldn’t. We drink bottled water when we are here. Also keep in mind that only in Colombo is sewerage collected. It isn’t treated but rather dumped into the ocean untreated. Oy. The rest of the island has cesspools that will at some point probably poison the ground water here. Also keep in mind that many people do not have water in their homes. They walk to a water source and carry water in vessels, often aluminum or plastic, to their homes.
Denial is a wondrous thing. Yesterday the Export Development and International Trade Minister gave an address to the American Chamber of Commerce in Colombo. He ‘reiterated the government’s stance that the conflict (civil war) has no bearing on the economic progress of the country’. Really? Tell that to all the people here in the service/tourism industry: the hotel staff, the trishaw and taxi drivers, and the retailers. Each of them will tell you that every time there is a bombingh, attack or suicide bomber, their trade is affected.
Today I picked Geetha up after work at the Asia Foundation. We greeted one another with warm hugs and great joy. It was 11:00, too earlier for lunch so I suggested we go shopping. She was shy about the idea but I told her it would be fun and she could buy whatever she wanted: a sari, clothes for her grandkids, household items. We started at House of Fashion where Sri Lankans shop. She picked out two outfits for grandkids, and some items for the new grandbaby that is expected next month. Next we went to several sari shops. She wouldn’t even consider looking in one shop when they told her the price. I have no idea what the price was but know that if you are buying a synthetic material here it isn’t expensive by our standards. She found one she liked in the third shop we visited and it cost $6.75! The stepped next door to get material for the ‘blouse piece’. That cost $2.00 and she thought that was too much but I insisted that we get it. Lunch came next. I took her to a rice and curry restaurant that is near the Asia Foundation. I went there because I know Sri Lankans eat there. We ran into Ron and two staff members so we joined them.
Then we went to another clothing store and found an outfit for the third grandchild and a dress her pregnant daughter could wear. Geetha deliberated over it a long time and was about to put it back when I took it out of her hand and said, ‘let’s get it’. I told her to stop worrying about the prices but she checked the price of every item and was quite concerned that the outfit for one grandchild cost $4.50. We ended the spree by going to a grocery/variety store where she found two backpacks for two of the grandkids, a Tupperware container and I insisted we get a few grocery items. In addition I talked her into some basics like shampoo, talc, and hand cream. Each time she would choose the smallest size container and I would insist she get the largest size. I had never been to her house and knew she was somewhat reluctant to take me there. On two previous occasions I had taken her to lunch and she always got out of the trishaw before we got to her house. Respecting her needs, when we got to her house today, I stayed in the trishaw and handed the bags to Mr.Kularathna who in turn handed the items to Geetha who took them inside. After we unloaded the trishaw, she invited us into her home. Her home was lovely, as she is. It was small and all I saw was the living room. I had not known what to expect but was surprised at how well furnished the home was. She had a couch and two side chairs as well as a china cabinet. On top of the cabinet was the photo I had given her of Ron and me. She was very proud to show it to me. Her grandson was there and her daughter who is expecting next month. We stayed about 30 minutes and her daughter shared the photo album of her wedding two years ago with Mr. Kularathna and me. Her grandson served us a cold glass of juice. All is all it was a fun day for both of us. It was interesting to see that she only bought one item for herself and everything else was for her family. I wasn’t surprised knowing her as I do. Most of all it was fun to be together for some time.
Thursday
Today was ATM day. Shilpa preferred cash so I have used two of my accounts and two of Ron’s accounts to extract $1500 in cash. The largest Sri Lankan bill is 2000 rupee note (about $20) and usually you get 1000 rupee notes from ATMs here so I have a stack of cash!. Many machines here limit your withdrawals to 20,000 rupees, about $183. By tomorrow morning I will have the $1500 and can take it to Shilpa. It got hot today, 91.5 with lots of humidity. Then it rained for the first time since December. We had dinner at friends house tonight. They don’t have air conditioning and we had forgotten how hot it is without it. Oy.
Well somehow it got to be Friday and I haven’t posted this. Ron is on the road today but will return after visiting two cities his program is working with.
That’s the latest from paradise five degrees above the equator.
Monday, March 12, 2007
3-11-07
We are in SL. The ICMA travel agent for some unknown reason had scheduled us on a flight out of Frankfurt to Dubai then to SL. That is sort of like going around your elbow to get to your hinny…so when we got to Frankfurt we managed to get it changed and get a direct flight to SL saving us about 10 hours on our weary bodies. The bad news is our luggage hasn’t shown up. We arrived at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday and it is now 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
We fell into bed upon arrival at the Cinnamon Grand around 7:30 and woke up promptly at noon. Then we showered, grabbed a bite to eat and went shopping for SL clothes. Heavy jeans and turtleneck shirts don’t cut it in this climate. We had been given a $90 allowance. The deodorant at $4.00 cost more than the cotton shirt Ron bought. We got sandals, shirts, pants for me and shorts for Ron and spent a total of $75.
It is good to be back. The air smells of fragrant flowers, the tropical birds are singing, we see beautifully colored saris flowing as women walk down the street and of course the sun is out and not too hot. Lucky us. We had lunch with friends today and last night just the two of us went out for great Indian veggie food. Does life get any better? Of course if we had our luggage that would be better. There are some noticeable changes in Colombo. There seems to be less garbage strewed about. Maybe because of the Chikungunya fever epidemic they were forced to clean up their act. The other major noticeable change is many roads have been made one way as a security measure. Our friends told us today that sometimes they change the direction of the one-way streets and any time a diplomat or other VIP is on the road, they close the roads to all traffic and pedestrians, sometimes causing delays of 90 minutes. OY! One-way traffic makes it more difficult for suicide bombers on motorcycles or in trishaws to attack their target.
Monday
Ron’s luggage arrived at noon today but mine is still in some other place than SL. Bummer. I have worn the same blouse for three days now so this afternoon I bought another one. If the luggage doesn’t arrive tomorrow I will need to get another pair of pants. I only hope I get my luggage. I started a list of contents should I need to make a claim. Our landscape design for the Thai house is in my luggage and I will be so disappointed if it gets lost.
Ron started work today. The chief of party (program director) returned to Canada on a family emergency so our friend Don is filling in. I had my manicure/pedicure at the hotel then ran errands: getting a razor for Ron, snacks for the hotel room, another blouse for me and a little shopping for my sister. I had rice and vegetable curry for lunch and ran into two guys from the Asia Foundation at the restaurant that is near the office. I discovered that they eat there everyday. The price is right. My lunch was less than $1.20 and .40 was for bottled water.
Now I need to iron clothes since Ron’s luggage arrived. Tomorrow is a big day. You may remember from my previous SL blog, I volunteered at Shilpa, a home for 50 girls, ages 5-22. When I came home, I was telling my book club about Shilpa and how Ron and I had sponsored one of the girls. We made a financial contribution that pays for 80% of the girl’s educational, food and medical expenses for a year. One of the members of my book club said our club should sponsor a girl. Since all members weren’t present I decided to send out an email with information about Shilpa and sponsorship. Then I realized I should send it out to the women on my email list, seeing if I could get ten women to donate $25 each, giving me enough to sponsor a girl for a year. Well I was overwhelmed with the response. One of the first responses came from Bruce and Donna Cross, good friends who recently moved to Texas from Washington. They sent me $275, the $25 I had asked for plus a full sponsorship. I was sent $1280 in all and Ron and I will kick in another $220 to round it up to $1500, enough for six sponsorships. A great big thank you to those dear friends who were able to contribute. So tomorrow I am going to Shilpa and arriving shortly before the trustee meeting ends. I have asked if I could come to their meeting as I have a story to tell them. No one at Shilpa knows that I have this grand gift for them. I plan to tell them what happened then present them with the money. I am thrilled to be able to make this gift and could not have done it without the generous participation of many friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Yippee, I just got word that I will have my luggage tonight!! Life is good. That’s it from paradise five degrees above the equator. The men are still quite handsome here…
We are in SL. The ICMA travel agent for some unknown reason had scheduled us on a flight out of Frankfurt to Dubai then to SL. That is sort of like going around your elbow to get to your hinny…so when we got to Frankfurt we managed to get it changed and get a direct flight to SL saving us about 10 hours on our weary bodies. The bad news is our luggage hasn’t shown up. We arrived at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday and it is now 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
We fell into bed upon arrival at the Cinnamon Grand around 7:30 and woke up promptly at noon. Then we showered, grabbed a bite to eat and went shopping for SL clothes. Heavy jeans and turtleneck shirts don’t cut it in this climate. We had been given a $90 allowance. The deodorant at $4.00 cost more than the cotton shirt Ron bought. We got sandals, shirts, pants for me and shorts for Ron and spent a total of $75.
It is good to be back. The air smells of fragrant flowers, the tropical birds are singing, we see beautifully colored saris flowing as women walk down the street and of course the sun is out and not too hot. Lucky us. We had lunch with friends today and last night just the two of us went out for great Indian veggie food. Does life get any better? Of course if we had our luggage that would be better. There are some noticeable changes in Colombo. There seems to be less garbage strewed about. Maybe because of the Chikungunya fever epidemic they were forced to clean up their act. The other major noticeable change is many roads have been made one way as a security measure. Our friends told us today that sometimes they change the direction of the one-way streets and any time a diplomat or other VIP is on the road, they close the roads to all traffic and pedestrians, sometimes causing delays of 90 minutes. OY! One-way traffic makes it more difficult for suicide bombers on motorcycles or in trishaws to attack their target.
Monday
Ron’s luggage arrived at noon today but mine is still in some other place than SL. Bummer. I have worn the same blouse for three days now so this afternoon I bought another one. If the luggage doesn’t arrive tomorrow I will need to get another pair of pants. I only hope I get my luggage. I started a list of contents should I need to make a claim. Our landscape design for the Thai house is in my luggage and I will be so disappointed if it gets lost.
Ron started work today. The chief of party (program director) returned to Canada on a family emergency so our friend Don is filling in. I had my manicure/pedicure at the hotel then ran errands: getting a razor for Ron, snacks for the hotel room, another blouse for me and a little shopping for my sister. I had rice and vegetable curry for lunch and ran into two guys from the Asia Foundation at the restaurant that is near the office. I discovered that they eat there everyday. The price is right. My lunch was less than $1.20 and .40 was for bottled water.
Now I need to iron clothes since Ron’s luggage arrived. Tomorrow is a big day. You may remember from my previous SL blog, I volunteered at Shilpa, a home for 50 girls, ages 5-22. When I came home, I was telling my book club about Shilpa and how Ron and I had sponsored one of the girls. We made a financial contribution that pays for 80% of the girl’s educational, food and medical expenses for a year. One of the members of my book club said our club should sponsor a girl. Since all members weren’t present I decided to send out an email with information about Shilpa and sponsorship. Then I realized I should send it out to the women on my email list, seeing if I could get ten women to donate $25 each, giving me enough to sponsor a girl for a year. Well I was overwhelmed with the response. One of the first responses came from Bruce and Donna Cross, good friends who recently moved to Texas from Washington. They sent me $275, the $25 I had asked for plus a full sponsorship. I was sent $1280 in all and Ron and I will kick in another $220 to round it up to $1500, enough for six sponsorships. A great big thank you to those dear friends who were able to contribute. So tomorrow I am going to Shilpa and arriving shortly before the trustee meeting ends. I have asked if I could come to their meeting as I have a story to tell them. No one at Shilpa knows that I have this grand gift for them. I plan to tell them what happened then present them with the money. I am thrilled to be able to make this gift and could not have done it without the generous participation of many friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Yippee, I just got word that I will have my luggage tonight!! Life is good. That’s it from paradise five degrees above the equator. The men are still quite handsome here…
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Our friend John told us a funny story that had happened to him. The story involved a Jewish couple that was visiting him in Croatia. The husband was telling about a difficult task and he described it by saying ‘it was like squeezing juice out of a rock’. His wife was somewhat indignant and asked him what he had just said. He repeated it; she laughed and said, “I thought you said it was like squeezing Jews out of Iraq.” We laughed so hard we were crying.
So on Monday we drove to Porec, a coastal town and had dinner before putting John on a bus to return to Zagreb. We spent the night at the house then packed up on Tuesday and drove to Venice in John’s car.. We made four or five wrong turns so it took us much longer to get here than we had anticipated. After arriving, we parked the car as close as possible to Venice and took a vaporetto (motorboat bus) into Venice and got off at the Rialto Bridge, a famous tourist area. We then had a short walk to our hotel. After checking in we set out to explore Venice. I was last here in 1970. Venice hasn’t changed other than there are a lot more tourists, and things are more expensive. We bought a good map and haven’t gotten lost yet. We wandered over to San Marcos Square where the basilica has some of St Mark’s remains. They wouldn’t let me in since I had a large purse and they had no means to check it. So we wandered around for hours and stopped and had café latte and a pastry.
We did a lot of window-shopping but didn’t see anything we wanted to buy. We were amazed at the prices here. We saw ties for $250 and a nice man’s suit for $2,500. Oy! Later we ate at a restaurant that was a tourist trap. The meal was overpriced, mediocre and the seating was claustrophobic. Tonight we will go further away from the Rialto Bridge and hopefully have a better meal. After dinner we roamed some more. Venice is such a great place for walking around, as there are no streets, only alleys, squares and walkways. And of course canals. Neither of us slept well. I turned out the light around 12:00 and a young couple next door was having a bath. The woman giggled a lot and the man ‘s voice carried well right through our walls. After a long bath, they pulled the plug and went to bed. By then the hardness of our bed was bothering me. I got up and searched for a sleeping aid but couldn’t find them. Then at some ungodly hour a construction crew started assembling scaffolding. If that wasn’t enough I was just starting to get accustomed to the rhythm of the clanking of scaffolding when a seagull started screeching reminding me of my dear friend Kathy Burkey who can imitate a screeching seagull to perfection.
So we got up and started our day. The breakfast was bread, jam and coffee. Delicious Italian coffee. Starbucks doesn’t stand a chance here. You can’t improve on perfection. We headed out and spent the morning at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Art. What a treat to see so many pieces of artwork by artists that she helped to get their start. There was a room of Jackson Pollack’s paintings, Mark Rothko, Motherwell and other important abstract expressionist artists. She had a fabulous home and sculpture garden. Next we took a vaporetto to the Jewish ghetto. We discovered that the Italian word for foundry was geto and the Ashkenazi Jews pronounced it ghetto. In the 1500’s the Venetians required the Jews to live in the area where the foundry was and hence the term ghetto was coined. We visited three of the five synagogues in the area and learned the history of the Jews in Venice. Since the Christians were not allowed to lend money with interest, the Jews were required to be the moneylenders. Commerce was such a vital part of the Venetian economy that having money available for loans was essential. The fact that they were forced to be moneylenders led to the stereotype of Jews being moneylenders. Each night they were locked in the ghetto and they were four guards to ensure they did not go out after dark. We were surprised to learn the Jews were required to pay the guards salary. When Napoleon captured Venice he liberated the Jews and later he sold Venice to Austria. Once Austria ruled Venice the discrimination against Jews resumed. Today there are about 30 Jews who live in the ghetto. During its height there were about 4,000 in the ghetto.
We came home and napped. How delicious. And then to the Internet and out to dinner. Tonight was fine dining. We had seen the restaurant on our walk last night. We had an exquisite meal with excellent service. I had sea bass and Ron had a pumpkin gnocchi. YUM! More walking into an area whew we hadn’t ventured before. What an absolutely lovely place Venice is. We saw more lovely shops with Murano glass. The artwork is of such a high standard that we never tire of seeing it. We passed lots of designer clothing shops where you can buy a pair of pretty underwear for $80. We meandered home and were glad we had such a great visit, a relaxing time and a feast for our eyes.
So on Monday we drove to Porec, a coastal town and had dinner before putting John on a bus to return to Zagreb. We spent the night at the house then packed up on Tuesday and drove to Venice in John’s car.. We made four or five wrong turns so it took us much longer to get here than we had anticipated. After arriving, we parked the car as close as possible to Venice and took a vaporetto (motorboat bus) into Venice and got off at the Rialto Bridge, a famous tourist area. We then had a short walk to our hotel. After checking in we set out to explore Venice. I was last here in 1970. Venice hasn’t changed other than there are a lot more tourists, and things are more expensive. We bought a good map and haven’t gotten lost yet. We wandered over to San Marcos Square where the basilica has some of St Mark’s remains. They wouldn’t let me in since I had a large purse and they had no means to check it. So we wandered around for hours and stopped and had café latte and a pastry.
We did a lot of window-shopping but didn’t see anything we wanted to buy. We were amazed at the prices here. We saw ties for $250 and a nice man’s suit for $2,500. Oy! Later we ate at a restaurant that was a tourist trap. The meal was overpriced, mediocre and the seating was claustrophobic. Tonight we will go further away from the Rialto Bridge and hopefully have a better meal. After dinner we roamed some more. Venice is such a great place for walking around, as there are no streets, only alleys, squares and walkways. And of course canals. Neither of us slept well. I turned out the light around 12:00 and a young couple next door was having a bath. The woman giggled a lot and the man ‘s voice carried well right through our walls. After a long bath, they pulled the plug and went to bed. By then the hardness of our bed was bothering me. I got up and searched for a sleeping aid but couldn’t find them. Then at some ungodly hour a construction crew started assembling scaffolding. If that wasn’t enough I was just starting to get accustomed to the rhythm of the clanking of scaffolding when a seagull started screeching reminding me of my dear friend Kathy Burkey who can imitate a screeching seagull to perfection.
So we got up and started our day. The breakfast was bread, jam and coffee. Delicious Italian coffee. Starbucks doesn’t stand a chance here. You can’t improve on perfection. We headed out and spent the morning at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Art. What a treat to see so many pieces of artwork by artists that she helped to get their start. There was a room of Jackson Pollack’s paintings, Mark Rothko, Motherwell and other important abstract expressionist artists. She had a fabulous home and sculpture garden. Next we took a vaporetto to the Jewish ghetto. We discovered that the Italian word for foundry was geto and the Ashkenazi Jews pronounced it ghetto. In the 1500’s the Venetians required the Jews to live in the area where the foundry was and hence the term ghetto was coined. We visited three of the five synagogues in the area and learned the history of the Jews in Venice. Since the Christians were not allowed to lend money with interest, the Jews were required to be the moneylenders. Commerce was such a vital part of the Venetian economy that having money available for loans was essential. The fact that they were forced to be moneylenders led to the stereotype of Jews being moneylenders. Each night they were locked in the ghetto and they were four guards to ensure they did not go out after dark. We were surprised to learn the Jews were required to pay the guards salary. When Napoleon captured Venice he liberated the Jews and later he sold Venice to Austria. Once Austria ruled Venice the discrimination against Jews resumed. Today there are about 30 Jews who live in the ghetto. During its height there were about 4,000 in the ghetto.
We came home and napped. How delicious. And then to the Internet and out to dinner. Tonight was fine dining. We had seen the restaurant on our walk last night. We had an exquisite meal with excellent service. I had sea bass and Ron had a pumpkin gnocchi. YUM! More walking into an area whew we hadn’t ventured before. What an absolutely lovely place Venice is. We saw more lovely shops with Murano glass. The artwork is of such a high standard that we never tire of seeing it. We passed lots of designer clothing shops where you can buy a pair of pretty underwear for $80. We meandered home and were glad we had such a great visit, a relaxing time and a feast for our eyes.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Wow, we love Croatia. Zagreb is beautiful. We arrived around 5:30 and our friend John picked us up and we checked into our hotel then headed for his apartment. We met his lovely wife Jen and the cutest kid ever, Harper, not quite one year old yet. Fruit trees were in bloom as well as the early spring bulbs. We ate a great meal at the Craig’s home-chili, cornbread and salad. We were so ready for a lettuce salad and so grateful to have one after two weeks in Vranje with no lettuce.
After dinner we walked around old town, our favorite, of course. We wandered through six connected two squares that are very pedestrian friendly. Our hotel used to be a refugee hotel. It looked as though it has been recently updated and we found it totally adequate although somewhat spartan. The breakfast buffet was good with cabbage salad, multiple breads, cheeses (goat cheese and feta were my fave), sausage, good coffee, yeah. The scrambled eggs had a ladle as a serving spoon so I skipped the eggs!
Croatia is expensive. Internet costs $6.00 an hour, meals are as expensive if not more expensive than the US. Zagreb is also a modern city with scads of development. Croatia is graduating and going off the developing country list so there will be no more aid such as USAID. Bummer, Ron won’t be able to get work here. What a sweet post this would be. The infrastructure is great here: excellent roads, drinkable water, solid waste collection, etc.
On Saturday we went to the fresh market. Beautiful fruit and veggies and beautiful homemade cheeses. I spied some lovely needlework and couldn’t resist buying a small tablecloth. Everything closes at three and stays closed until Monday in Zagreb. Sunday Ron and I got up and went out to take photos around old town since we had forgotten the camera on Saturday. We retraced our steps and found everything and were proud with our sense of direction.
Around noon we loaded up the car and John drove us to Istria where he and Jen have restored a 200 yr old stone house. We visited Motovun, a hilltop village where Mario Andretti was born. This area of Croatia was part of Italy until 1945 when it became part of Croatia (Yugoslavia at the time) so most people here speak Italian. Motovun was one of the most picturesque villages we have ever seen. Istria is one wonderful sight after another. There were so many villages to see that are hundreds of years old, all constructed in Istrian stone, a light colored stone indigenous to the area. We passed several medieval castles along the way.
People drive crazy here, I mean really fast. Motorcyclists raced between cars at unbelievable speeds. We went through a number of tunnels as we drove through Istria. There were narrow canyons, small rivers and deep valleys. It was sunny all day. We saw lots of olive trees, vineyards.
The Craig’s home in Istria is in a village of nine homes, all stone houses and no other buildings. All villages have names and city water. We were astounded because these little villages are in very rural areas. They live in the village of Boscari. Their home is four floors and they gutted the interior of the building and started from scratch. They had to re-point the stone walls that are TWO feet thick! They have done a grand job and are still hard at it. John had spent the week buying IKEA furniture and kitchen cabinets in Austria and then trying to get it through customs in Croatia. It took four days!! Oy…so we spent Sunday evening assembling cabinets before heading out for a fabulous meal at a restaurant that specialized in truffles. Ron had gnocchi with truffles and John had steak and truffles. I opted for venison and pasta. YUM, they had bread that had been grilled on the open hearth and served it with a variety of olive oils each with a different flavor. My favorite was truffle oil. John’s steak was also grilled on the hearth. We have eaten well in Croatia.
On Monday we spent the day assembling cabinets and furniture with some tense and some very funny moments. But the team of three got all twelve cabinets assembled and one very complicated day bed. We took a lunch break and went to another charming village. It was an artist’s colony although we only saw one studio, as it is the off-season. We only found one place serving food. A woman was mopping the floor in her bar/café and offered to make us a sandwich. We decided to eat outside since her floors were wet. She made some thick sliced bread with very thin single slices of cheese and ham. We didn’t care because we couldn’t believe the ambience of the village. We were charged $6.00 for one bottle of water…ouch.
Time to head out to the Internet café so will continue this later today or tonight. We arrived in Venice yesterday so there’s a lot to exclaim in Italian.
After dinner we walked around old town, our favorite, of course. We wandered through six connected two squares that are very pedestrian friendly. Our hotel used to be a refugee hotel. It looked as though it has been recently updated and we found it totally adequate although somewhat spartan. The breakfast buffet was good with cabbage salad, multiple breads, cheeses (goat cheese and feta were my fave), sausage, good coffee, yeah. The scrambled eggs had a ladle as a serving spoon so I skipped the eggs!
Croatia is expensive. Internet costs $6.00 an hour, meals are as expensive if not more expensive than the US. Zagreb is also a modern city with scads of development. Croatia is graduating and going off the developing country list so there will be no more aid such as USAID. Bummer, Ron won’t be able to get work here. What a sweet post this would be. The infrastructure is great here: excellent roads, drinkable water, solid waste collection, etc.
On Saturday we went to the fresh market. Beautiful fruit and veggies and beautiful homemade cheeses. I spied some lovely needlework and couldn’t resist buying a small tablecloth. Everything closes at three and stays closed until Monday in Zagreb. Sunday Ron and I got up and went out to take photos around old town since we had forgotten the camera on Saturday. We retraced our steps and found everything and were proud with our sense of direction.
Around noon we loaded up the car and John drove us to Istria where he and Jen have restored a 200 yr old stone house. We visited Motovun, a hilltop village where Mario Andretti was born. This area of Croatia was part of Italy until 1945 when it became part of Croatia (Yugoslavia at the time) so most people here speak Italian. Motovun was one of the most picturesque villages we have ever seen. Istria is one wonderful sight after another. There were so many villages to see that are hundreds of years old, all constructed in Istrian stone, a light colored stone indigenous to the area. We passed several medieval castles along the way.
People drive crazy here, I mean really fast. Motorcyclists raced between cars at unbelievable speeds. We went through a number of tunnels as we drove through Istria. There were narrow canyons, small rivers and deep valleys. It was sunny all day. We saw lots of olive trees, vineyards.
The Craig’s home in Istria is in a village of nine homes, all stone houses and no other buildings. All villages have names and city water. We were astounded because these little villages are in very rural areas. They live in the village of Boscari. Their home is four floors and they gutted the interior of the building and started from scratch. They had to re-point the stone walls that are TWO feet thick! They have done a grand job and are still hard at it. John had spent the week buying IKEA furniture and kitchen cabinets in Austria and then trying to get it through customs in Croatia. It took four days!! Oy…so we spent Sunday evening assembling cabinets before heading out for a fabulous meal at a restaurant that specialized in truffles. Ron had gnocchi with truffles and John had steak and truffles. I opted for venison and pasta. YUM, they had bread that had been grilled on the open hearth and served it with a variety of olive oils each with a different flavor. My favorite was truffle oil. John’s steak was also grilled on the hearth. We have eaten well in Croatia.
On Monday we spent the day assembling cabinets and furniture with some tense and some very funny moments. But the team of three got all twelve cabinets assembled and one very complicated day bed. We took a lunch break and went to another charming village. It was an artist’s colony although we only saw one studio, as it is the off-season. We only found one place serving food. A woman was mopping the floor in her bar/café and offered to make us a sandwich. We decided to eat outside since her floors were wet. She made some thick sliced bread with very thin single slices of cheese and ham. We didn’t care because we couldn’t believe the ambience of the village. We were charged $6.00 for one bottle of water…ouch.
Time to head out to the Internet café so will continue this later today or tonight. We arrived in Venice yesterday so there’s a lot to exclaim in Italian.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wednesday
Well it’s another sunny balmy day in Vranje. Hooray! The hills (low mountains?) that surround us are covered with a dusting of snow. The landscape here reminds us of Grants Pass because of the mountains and the rural areas remind of us rural southern Oregon-Applegate, Williams area.
I took a walk this morning up the hill behind our house. There is a narrow road with houses on each side. Some of them are farmhouses with barns. The only animals I saw were chickens but I am assuming there are some pigs or other four-legged type given how strong the manure smell was. There were a few huge lovely homes on the brow of the hill. I took some photos that we will post when we have access to high speed Internet, either in Zagreb or Colombo. While I was walking two neighborhood women were walking towards me. They stopped in their tracks and looked at me. I guess they know everyone in the village so I greeted them and they asked me in Serbian who I was (I assume that was what they were saying). Any way I said a few things and was on my way.
Speaking of Colombo I went online today to see what is happening there. The Tigers fired on a government helicopter that was carrying eight diplomats from donor countries. They were landing in Batticolola on the east side of the island when the Tigers fired on them. The government condemned the Tigers for such action but the Tigers blame the government because they didn’t tell the Tigers there were diplomats on board. You gotta love this mentality of “It’s not my fault”. War is so stupid!
I got an email from Veena and she still hasn’t found a tenant for ‘our house’. She said there was a couple that wanted it but she didn’t like how aggressive they were so declined to rent to them.
Our landlady here told me she was going into Vranje if I wanted a ride. So we rode into town together, ran our errands separately and met up two hours later to return home. Neither of us speaks each other’s language but it is amazing what you can communicate. Her car is old and every time you go up the hill into Vranje it starts sputtering and acting like it isn’t going to make it to the top. I discovered this on Monday, our first full day here when I rode into town with her daughter who works at UNDP. Today the mother starts really going fast in an effort to get up the hill but alas the car sputtered and we crept along for several blocks until the car regained its strength. The house we are staying in is a cash cow. We rent the downstairs apartment for 50 euro a night, the upstairs is now rented to three Italians. I don’t know what it rents for but is has three separate bedrooms and I think two baths plus a full kitchen (with refrig) and a washing machine so I would guess it rents for 75-100 euros a night. The owner lives in another section that I haven’t been into. Meinke, her daughter, is staying in town this week. The owner has the most unusual hair color, sort of maroon. I have seen it and several strange variations on red here.
So today I got breakfast rolls, a take out pizza thing for my lunch and mailed a package of two books to myself to lighten my load before heading to Ivan’s place. He was out so his girlfriend who works in the dress shop called him and he walked her through getting me online. I was grateful since I had limited time today.
We went out for salad tonight – just the two of us. Eating in restaurants is a drag after a while. We are feeling stuffed and like we have gained weight. The light dinner of salad was just the ticket.
Thursday
Ron and I actually managed to get up and go for a walk this morning before breakfast. It’s another lovely day here. We are trying to make our dinar last so we don’t end up with a bunch tomorrow when we leave or worse run out before we leave. Like Sri Lanka the dinar can’t be exchanged once you leave the country. We leave from an airport in Macedonia, not Serbia. Since we still don’t know if Ron will get any more work on the project beyond tomorrow we want to spend down the dinar. Otherwise we would just save them for the next trip. So last night we calculated how much we would need between now and when we leave, including paying for our lodging in cash since we are paying a private party.
Today we saw our landlady after we had finished breakfast so Ron went out to pay her. She used a higher exchange rate (the lodging had been quoted in euros). So much for our careful planning. I am eager to be somewhere where I can read a newspaper or see news in English on the TV.
I ate my last lunch here at Kybura where we have eaten so many times. We have yet to see a lettuce salad. Most salads are chopped tomatoes, cucumbers with grated white cheese on top or a platter of roasted peppers, cabbage salad, feta and pickles. Today I had the chopped salad and chicken soup with bread that warmed me right up. I had been at Ivan’s shop for over an hour on the Internet and my hands had turned to ice as the shop is rarely heated. Striking the keyboard became torture after about 45 minutes. Somehow blowing on my fingers didn’t seem to have any impact. The sun darted in and out behind clouds all day. I hadn’t worn my coat to town so anytime the sun disappeared I felt chilly. On the sunny days I can do just fine with my light wool jacket I brought with me.
When I got home, our landlady asked me a question and then came into the house. She was inquiring as to whether we had any heat. The answer was nope. We haven’t had any today so now the house is a wee bit cool. I should have had an espresso before I left town. I have since fixed myself a cup of decaf and am now warm. Hopefully she will get us some heat before nightfall.
Today someone was playing loud but pleasant music in the pedestrian square. It really felt and sounded like Europe. The music was tambourines, violins and I’m not sure what else but I felt like I was in some European movie set. Ivan told me today that his brother Igor owns the clothing shop that is in front his computer shop. I thought their mother owned the shop. She and Ivan’s girlfriend staff the shop most of the time.
When I was ready to leave town I walked to the taxi stand and looked for Goram. When I couldn’t find him I called and he said he would be there in 10-15 minutes so I told him I would wait for him. When he showed up he had his two kids with him. I think he picks them up from school and keeps them until his wife gets home then he goes back to work. At any rate, they are beautiful kids and Gorem got his six year old daughter to say something in English because she is studying English in school. It was very sweet.
We head tomorrow for Croatia so this is the last blurbia from Serbia.
Well it’s another sunny balmy day in Vranje. Hooray! The hills (low mountains?) that surround us are covered with a dusting of snow. The landscape here reminds us of Grants Pass because of the mountains and the rural areas remind of us rural southern Oregon-Applegate, Williams area.
I took a walk this morning up the hill behind our house. There is a narrow road with houses on each side. Some of them are farmhouses with barns. The only animals I saw were chickens but I am assuming there are some pigs or other four-legged type given how strong the manure smell was. There were a few huge lovely homes on the brow of the hill. I took some photos that we will post when we have access to high speed Internet, either in Zagreb or Colombo. While I was walking two neighborhood women were walking towards me. They stopped in their tracks and looked at me. I guess they know everyone in the village so I greeted them and they asked me in Serbian who I was (I assume that was what they were saying). Any way I said a few things and was on my way.
Speaking of Colombo I went online today to see what is happening there. The Tigers fired on a government helicopter that was carrying eight diplomats from donor countries. They were landing in Batticolola on the east side of the island when the Tigers fired on them. The government condemned the Tigers for such action but the Tigers blame the government because they didn’t tell the Tigers there were diplomats on board. You gotta love this mentality of “It’s not my fault”. War is so stupid!
I got an email from Veena and she still hasn’t found a tenant for ‘our house’. She said there was a couple that wanted it but she didn’t like how aggressive they were so declined to rent to them.
Our landlady here told me she was going into Vranje if I wanted a ride. So we rode into town together, ran our errands separately and met up two hours later to return home. Neither of us speaks each other’s language but it is amazing what you can communicate. Her car is old and every time you go up the hill into Vranje it starts sputtering and acting like it isn’t going to make it to the top. I discovered this on Monday, our first full day here when I rode into town with her daughter who works at UNDP. Today the mother starts really going fast in an effort to get up the hill but alas the car sputtered and we crept along for several blocks until the car regained its strength. The house we are staying in is a cash cow. We rent the downstairs apartment for 50 euro a night, the upstairs is now rented to three Italians. I don’t know what it rents for but is has three separate bedrooms and I think two baths plus a full kitchen (with refrig) and a washing machine so I would guess it rents for 75-100 euros a night. The owner lives in another section that I haven’t been into. Meinke, her daughter, is staying in town this week. The owner has the most unusual hair color, sort of maroon. I have seen it and several strange variations on red here.
So today I got breakfast rolls, a take out pizza thing for my lunch and mailed a package of two books to myself to lighten my load before heading to Ivan’s place. He was out so his girlfriend who works in the dress shop called him and he walked her through getting me online. I was grateful since I had limited time today.
We went out for salad tonight – just the two of us. Eating in restaurants is a drag after a while. We are feeling stuffed and like we have gained weight. The light dinner of salad was just the ticket.
Thursday
Ron and I actually managed to get up and go for a walk this morning before breakfast. It’s another lovely day here. We are trying to make our dinar last so we don’t end up with a bunch tomorrow when we leave or worse run out before we leave. Like Sri Lanka the dinar can’t be exchanged once you leave the country. We leave from an airport in Macedonia, not Serbia. Since we still don’t know if Ron will get any more work on the project beyond tomorrow we want to spend down the dinar. Otherwise we would just save them for the next trip. So last night we calculated how much we would need between now and when we leave, including paying for our lodging in cash since we are paying a private party.
Today we saw our landlady after we had finished breakfast so Ron went out to pay her. She used a higher exchange rate (the lodging had been quoted in euros). So much for our careful planning. I am eager to be somewhere where I can read a newspaper or see news in English on the TV.
I ate my last lunch here at Kybura where we have eaten so many times. We have yet to see a lettuce salad. Most salads are chopped tomatoes, cucumbers with grated white cheese on top or a platter of roasted peppers, cabbage salad, feta and pickles. Today I had the chopped salad and chicken soup with bread that warmed me right up. I had been at Ivan’s shop for over an hour on the Internet and my hands had turned to ice as the shop is rarely heated. Striking the keyboard became torture after about 45 minutes. Somehow blowing on my fingers didn’t seem to have any impact. The sun darted in and out behind clouds all day. I hadn’t worn my coat to town so anytime the sun disappeared I felt chilly. On the sunny days I can do just fine with my light wool jacket I brought with me.
When I got home, our landlady asked me a question and then came into the house. She was inquiring as to whether we had any heat. The answer was nope. We haven’t had any today so now the house is a wee bit cool. I should have had an espresso before I left town. I have since fixed myself a cup of decaf and am now warm. Hopefully she will get us some heat before nightfall.
Today someone was playing loud but pleasant music in the pedestrian square. It really felt and sounded like Europe. The music was tambourines, violins and I’m not sure what else but I felt like I was in some European movie set. Ivan told me today that his brother Igor owns the clothing shop that is in front his computer shop. I thought their mother owned the shop. She and Ivan’s girlfriend staff the shop most of the time.
When I was ready to leave town I walked to the taxi stand and looked for Goram. When I couldn’t find him I called and he said he would be there in 10-15 minutes so I told him I would wait for him. When he showed up he had his two kids with him. I think he picks them up from school and keeps them until his wife gets home then he goes back to work. At any rate, they are beautiful kids and Gorem got his six year old daughter to say something in English because she is studying English in school. It was very sweet.
We head tomorrow for Croatia so this is the last blurbia from Serbia.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tuesday
It’s a gray, cold, rainy day in Vranje. I had assumed it would be this way everyday so have been pleasantly surprised to have had dry weather until today. It has been gray since Saturday. Yesterday I discovered I could put damp freshly washed clothes on the bathroom radiator and they would dry much sooner. Given that there aren’t dryers in this part of the world, I was pretty darn happy. Otherwise I wasn’t sure if our jeans would be dry before we leave on Friday!
I have been going to town daily for fresh rolls for breakfast and sometimes dark chocolate (my new health food) and water. I stand by the roadside and usually within five minutes a taxi comes by and flashes his lights, as a way to ask if I want a lift. These taxis pick up as many passengers as possible to increase their fare. It saves me money, is quicker than the bus and cost just a wee bit more than the bus. I am impressed with how honest people are here. I wasn’t sure how much to pay the driver today because there were only two of us in the car. So I held out 60 dinar and he gave me 10 back. He could have easily kept the extra given I was a foreigner. Ron called me today to say he had lost the flash drive to his computer. I looked outside to see if he had dropped it in the drive. Gorem, the taxi driver called me to tell me he had found it. Hooray for honesty!
I have been finding more places to eat and observe Serbians. I notice that men mostly patronize restaurants and cafes. They sit together, drinking shots of whiskey or vodka and visit. I don’t usually see them eating except at Kykyra. But all restaurants and some cafes have a full bar of hard liquor as well as beer and wine. Often I am the only woman present. I see older people on the streets that look like characters out of Zorba the Greek. They wear dark clothes, the men with berets or similar head coverings and the women with headscarves. There are a few beggars here, mostly children and occasionally women. They are all darker skin people so I assume they are Roma, people who originated in India and we use to call gypsies. There is a section of town populated by Roma and are said to be the poorest of those here.
There are no public restrooms here. Some cafes and all restaurants seem to have restrooms. For those of us with tiny bladders this is a major concern when you live five miles out of town. Today I discovered that Ivan has a restroom in the space between his shop and his mother’s clothing shop in front. What a relief, literally. I told Ivan I had been reading the history of Croatia and Serbia and was struck by how often there have been wars in this part of the world where each country fought for independence. He told me he lived in Croatia when the war broke out in the early 1990’s and his best friend stabbed him because he was a Serb. Ivan wasn’t expected to live but after 40 days in the hospital he was released and left Croatia to return to Serbia, where his mother’s parents lived. It is hard to imagine such an incident yet it happens all over the world, where we kill one another because of our differences rather than celebrating those differences. We are a strange breed indeed.
Last night we found out that the average salary in Serbia is 300 Euros, about $420 a month. Salaries are higher in Belgrade, the capital but so is the cost of living. Income taxes are about 50%. Ouch!
Gorem, the taxi driver is one of the three Serbs I have met who doesn’t smoke. Because I eat in restaurants, my clothes reek of smoke. I even noticed that when I use my handkerchief, it smells of smoke. Yuck!
I can’t remember if I have already mentioned this but Serbs don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Wow, that’s pretty great after being in Sri Lanka where chemical fertilizers are subsidized by the government. What is really sad is that 80% of SL’s garbage is compostabe! Oy!!
This weekend when we were driving in the rural areas we spied small flocks of sheep attended by shepherds. Macedonia had lots of vineyards and we saw dead cornstalks vertically stacked in conical shapes. About 60% of the houses here are unfinished. They have the basic structure but no windows and no stucco covering on the exterior making them quite drafty. Window openings are covered with boards. We are assuming this is due to a shortage of cash and that they complete construction as they can afford it. We saw two houses with asphalt roofs in the 10 days we have been here. All the others have been terra cotta. I wish we had more access to people who speak English to explain some of these things. Then again it would be really swell if we spoke the language. Barbara who is working on this project with Ron speaks German, her native tongue, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Swahili! It is humbling to say the least.
Two of the Serbian consultants brought us two books from Belgrade this week. They are by the Serbian author Ivo Andric who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1961. I am reading The Bridge on the Drina. I have also started Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje who is the Sri Lankan author better known for his work, The English Patient. I am so grateful to have more to read but am anxious about how heavy my suitcase will be. Ron and I always share books but I am two ahead of him at this point since I have all the time in the world to read while he is working.
Ron came from work and had inquired about the unfinished houses. It turns out that you pay a fraction of the property tax on an unfinished house. Pretty darn smart but seems that you pay with your discomfort!
That’s the blurbia from Serbia!
It’s a gray, cold, rainy day in Vranje. I had assumed it would be this way everyday so have been pleasantly surprised to have had dry weather until today. It has been gray since Saturday. Yesterday I discovered I could put damp freshly washed clothes on the bathroom radiator and they would dry much sooner. Given that there aren’t dryers in this part of the world, I was pretty darn happy. Otherwise I wasn’t sure if our jeans would be dry before we leave on Friday!
I have been going to town daily for fresh rolls for breakfast and sometimes dark chocolate (my new health food) and water. I stand by the roadside and usually within five minutes a taxi comes by and flashes his lights, as a way to ask if I want a lift. These taxis pick up as many passengers as possible to increase their fare. It saves me money, is quicker than the bus and cost just a wee bit more than the bus. I am impressed with how honest people are here. I wasn’t sure how much to pay the driver today because there were only two of us in the car. So I held out 60 dinar and he gave me 10 back. He could have easily kept the extra given I was a foreigner. Ron called me today to say he had lost the flash drive to his computer. I looked outside to see if he had dropped it in the drive. Gorem, the taxi driver called me to tell me he had found it. Hooray for honesty!
I have been finding more places to eat and observe Serbians. I notice that men mostly patronize restaurants and cafes. They sit together, drinking shots of whiskey or vodka and visit. I don’t usually see them eating except at Kykyra. But all restaurants and some cafes have a full bar of hard liquor as well as beer and wine. Often I am the only woman present. I see older people on the streets that look like characters out of Zorba the Greek. They wear dark clothes, the men with berets or similar head coverings and the women with headscarves. There are a few beggars here, mostly children and occasionally women. They are all darker skin people so I assume they are Roma, people who originated in India and we use to call gypsies. There is a section of town populated by Roma and are said to be the poorest of those here.
There are no public restrooms here. Some cafes and all restaurants seem to have restrooms. For those of us with tiny bladders this is a major concern when you live five miles out of town. Today I discovered that Ivan has a restroom in the space between his shop and his mother’s clothing shop in front. What a relief, literally. I told Ivan I had been reading the history of Croatia and Serbia and was struck by how often there have been wars in this part of the world where each country fought for independence. He told me he lived in Croatia when the war broke out in the early 1990’s and his best friend stabbed him because he was a Serb. Ivan wasn’t expected to live but after 40 days in the hospital he was released and left Croatia to return to Serbia, where his mother’s parents lived. It is hard to imagine such an incident yet it happens all over the world, where we kill one another because of our differences rather than celebrating those differences. We are a strange breed indeed.
Last night we found out that the average salary in Serbia is 300 Euros, about $420 a month. Salaries are higher in Belgrade, the capital but so is the cost of living. Income taxes are about 50%. Ouch!
Gorem, the taxi driver is one of the three Serbs I have met who doesn’t smoke. Because I eat in restaurants, my clothes reek of smoke. I even noticed that when I use my handkerchief, it smells of smoke. Yuck!
I can’t remember if I have already mentioned this but Serbs don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Wow, that’s pretty great after being in Sri Lanka where chemical fertilizers are subsidized by the government. What is really sad is that 80% of SL’s garbage is compostabe! Oy!!
This weekend when we were driving in the rural areas we spied small flocks of sheep attended by shepherds. Macedonia had lots of vineyards and we saw dead cornstalks vertically stacked in conical shapes. About 60% of the houses here are unfinished. They have the basic structure but no windows and no stucco covering on the exterior making them quite drafty. Window openings are covered with boards. We are assuming this is due to a shortage of cash and that they complete construction as they can afford it. We saw two houses with asphalt roofs in the 10 days we have been here. All the others have been terra cotta. I wish we had more access to people who speak English to explain some of these things. Then again it would be really swell if we spoke the language. Barbara who is working on this project with Ron speaks German, her native tongue, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Swahili! It is humbling to say the least.
Two of the Serbian consultants brought us two books from Belgrade this week. They are by the Serbian author Ivo Andric who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1961. I am reading The Bridge on the Drina. I have also started Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje who is the Sri Lankan author better known for his work, The English Patient. I am so grateful to have more to read but am anxious about how heavy my suitcase will be. Ron and I always share books but I am two ahead of him at this point since I have all the time in the world to read while he is working.
Ron came from work and had inquired about the unfinished houses. It turns out that you pay a fraction of the property tax on an unfinished house. Pretty darn smart but seems that you pay with your discomfort!
That’s the blurbia from Serbia!
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