Unawutuna

Finally I got to spend time with the husband. We went to Hikkaduwa beach and then Unawutuna. Two totally different beaches. Hikkaduwa is a popular surfing beach frequented by backpackers and hippies. Hence there are multitudes of touts, as they are called. Anoying people walking up and down the beach calling out their wares (king coconuts, dirty massages from old men, cheap jewelry, sarongs), they really get in your face when all you want to do is sun bathe half naked with a book in private. You get used to it. I insisted on a strict no-tout policy that Richard had a hard time sticking to.

We treated ourselves to Lobster feasts followed by my new favorite dessert - Banana fritters with ice cream and treacle. Yum.

A little further down the coast is a bay - Unawutuna, just south of Galle Fort. The beach here is protected by the bay making the water a lot calmer. Perfect for a poor swimmer like me. DId I mention that Hikkaduwa beach is the same place I almost drowned after being caught in a rip two years ago when Richard first brought me there. Needless to say i didn't venture too far out in the water. Unawutuna was a more private beach, less frequented by those annoying touts.

The Galle Literary Festival was on while we were there. My impression was that it was a pretentious summer camp for writers. Didn't get too into it. A little disappointed. We did enjoy the cooking workshop with Australian/Sri Lankan chef Channa Dassanayaka. ( i think thats his last name). He made us the food he served to the Dalai Lama and a few hundred monks when they visited Australia in 2007. He is all about peace and goodness through food (and Yoga). Sounds like a good philosophy to me.

A quick week at the beach and then back to work. Too much driving for my tastes. Road rage has a new meaning here. I want to do horrible things to tuk tuks, trucks and pedestrians when I am on the road. No wonder the country is at war with each other, everyone is filled with rage when they simply get into a car.

Richard has pictures on his camera

A Typical Kandy day

Its raining in Kandy, Again. Its always raining these days. Keeps things cool. I'm freezing in fact. I'm not complaining because it could be much worse - hot, humid, mosquitoes...

My days are spent in the office starting at 9AM. The office is generally quiet, a research environment. Everyone is very nice and friendly/helpful. Can get kind of boring though. Otherwise my head is full of HIV research questions and technical applications for this project. But what do I know really? The project is fascinating, its just slow going these days. I watch lots of $2 DVDs at night on my computer. Flatmate, Sanji is nice to have around to talk to and toss ideas around with. Together though, we are not so inspired.

In the meantime I am pining after my husband. Finally I will see him tomorrow after a 1 month separation and we will go to the beach and eat lobster. Phone and Skype conversations are driving me nuts.

Not a very exciting post, but life is not so exciting these days. I need to do something about that. I'm in Sri Lanka for crying out loud.

New Year 2008

What a great start to the New Year. No Family, No Husband, and now Sri Lanka decides to gear up for war. Argh!. Kenya erupts in violence, Pakistan is in political unrest as well with their elections... The world is going nutty - people just can't figure out how to get along. Makes me sad to think that after all these years little improvement has been made in the development of human relationships. Kindness and respect for human life - the most basic of behaviours, remains a challenge. Makes me mad. To think that some people believe they have the right to take another person's life.