Tea and Crackers....

Hello all,

Life here continues and I am actually finding myself settling into life in Sri Lanka more and more as the weeks pass. I especially feel that way when I find myself bumping into local people that I have meet. Today is a market day.....and what a spread. Veggies, clothes, every type of plastic item you can think of, colorful spices, mysterious fruits etc.

I have also become friends with a local Muslim family here. A week ago I got a ride back to Rocky Point in a tuk-tuk (three wheeled taxi) and the driver spoke great English. He had lived in Saudi Arabia for 13 years. He went there for 10 months each year to work so that he could support his family here. He would come home for 2 months and then return.

So, yesterday a friend and I can to town on poya day....aka full moon day. Everything is closed and it was cool to see the town center quiet. You could actually walk across the street and not have to dodge various moving objects following completely random trajectories. As we walked around we suddenly heard our names being yelled. It was Haafeel, the tuk-tuk driver. We started chatting and then a tremendous rain storm began. So we cruised with him in the tuk-tuk and did a few things and then went to his house. We spent several hours having tea and teaching them how to play dominos and backgammon....he had games that other visitors had given him as gifts.

The pictures....first a shot in a National Park....then my outdoor bedroom in the men's dorm, third a river shot with some people bathing, and lastly the jeef in the national park.

More stories soon......

Jacob