Where am I? Still at the University Hospital in Ponnekara, Kerala, leaving early tomorrow morning for Sri Lanka
How am I? I’m doing great. I even got my Boarding Pass printed out so I’m set for tomorrow morning.
My Buddhist friend came through for me. My Dear Good Friend Upala sent me his full name and the address to use so he could be my reference for the Indian Visa. He doesn’t have a phone number but I just typed in None and it worked.
Check this out-
Website: http://sridaladamaligawa.lk/perahera-2013/index.html
There’s a big festival going on in Sri Lanka and you can watch it in same time! I’m watching it now. As my parents would say, “I’m glad I’m not having to pay the electricity bill!” All the buildings must have thousands of lights on them.
Now if you go and look remember the time difference because there may be nothing going on if it is 6:00 a.m. It’s 8:00 p.m. for me right now and I’m not sure if there is a time difference between India and Sri Lanka or if it’s the same time. But it has dancers and drummers in some kind of parade. People are sitting watching it go by.
I wonder if the Boy Scouts who just walked past the camera know they are being seen all over the world?! The festival will be going on until I leave so I’ll see how it impacts me. I have never seen elephants so dressed up like this, with electric lights on them!
I think it must be an “auspicious” time because I hear fireworks going off outside. That means there are weddings or other occasions for celebrating and usually that doesn’t happen unless the astrology says it’s a good time. If they are having a festival in Sri Lanka, I think it must all tie in together.
My Biorhythms are looking real good. I also found out from the website that I am 23,306 days old. I didn’t know that. If you want to check yours, go to http://www.bio-chart.com/ It’s free.
I’m going to close now and relax for the rest of the night. I have to get up early tomorrow, like 5:00 a.m.
I am bringing my computer so if there is wifi available, I’ll be in touch. Otherwise, you’ll hear from me when I get back.
Love,
Marie
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
#66 Before I leave again
Where am I? No change, Ponnekara, Kerala, India but I leave Monday, August 12th for Sri Lanka
How am I? Doing well, but I really wish it would stop raining. (Wrote this on 8/7)
I was told today that the airport is closed, flooded out. I don’t think it should affect me on Monday, or at least I hope it won’t be still closed by then! I am starting to appreciate what it must have been like for Noah in the bible. They say the rain here is the worst it’s been in 23 years. Now those terrible floods in northern India last month were brought about by 4 days of constant rain. I know because I was up in Simla, not far from there, and I asked what happened and was told by the locals. Four days of constant rain on areas that have been built on when they shouldn’t have been, kind of like the building in CA on the cliffs so that the land gives way and you get the mud slides.
For me it’s the sound of the constant rain and the barometric pressure that makes me feel tired. I just want to sleep or see the sun! And it is funny seeing the Indian men with their inventive way of handling it. A lot of them carry their umbrella with the ? on the end of the handle hanging from their shirt collar from the back of their neck. Doesn’t look comfortable to me.
I have no idea what it is going to be like in Sri Lanka. (I checked the weather online today and it looks like it has about the same temp but we’ll see if it rains as much?) I go to Colombo, the capital when I arrive and as soon as I put in my application at the Indian Embassy I will leave Colombo and go to Kandy or there is another town that looks interesting. I’ve only made reservations for the first day and the last 3 days. I go to a hostel when I get to Colombo because I can’t take my baggage to the Embassy. Everyone is afraid of bombs, now these days. So I have to drop it off at the hostel before I put my application in. And the last 3 days will be at a Buddhist Ashram, very pretty looking by the photos on the website, very quiet, no electricity, vegetarian for me. So all I have to do is figure out what I would like to do for the 4 days in-between.
I have been reading a lot lately, not only books but magazines. Do you find that you are not as happy after you spend time on Facebook? It seems that 60% of the respondents to a survey about Facebook (this is from Time Magazine) said they do not feel better about themselves when they are done. And 76% of them believe that other people make themselves look happier, more attractive and more successful than they actually are on their Facebook page. So three out of four people think that their Facebook “friends” are indirectly lying. No wonder I don’t want to be on Facebook, if you don’t believe what is written there!
I have been reading a real “feel-good” book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. He’s a baby-boomer and reflects on growing up in American during the 1950s. Now I understand why America was so successful after World War II. I recommend this as a must read.
And I also read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers about what happened in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina and now I know how a society can go down the tubes. The system can break very easily. I had thought about this before after the earthquake in Haiti. Picture a situation where there are no supplies to buy, I mean basics for living – food, water, shelter – it doesn’t matter if you are a millionaire, there is NOTHING to buy. And your money if you have it is worthless, and if you don’t have it, how do you get it? There are no banks open. You need to prove you are who you are but your wallet has been destroyed or lost. All records have been destroyed so how do you get your insurance to pay, if you had insurance.
For those of us who have never faced situations like this, we are so blessed. I have always had enough to eat, even if it is just peanut butter sandwiches sometimes. I have only spent one night on the street, in Barcelona, Spain, last August and that was by choice. I could have gone to a hotel but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for less than 6 hours.
Getting my Visa is going to be interesting because the Indian Government wants people to do their application online and they want a Sri Lankan Reference. I don’t know anyone there. I wrote to the Buddhist Ashram asking if they would be my reference since the man/woman? wrote to me a couple of times signing “Your Good Friend Upala”. So I sent an email saying My Dear Good Friend Upala would you be my reference? If I don’t hear from Upala my backup plan is sending an email to the Indian Consulate telling them I don’t have a Sri Lankan Reference and see if an American or Indian reference would be ok? But this all has to be done tomorrow because Monday I will be on the plane.
Wish me luck everyone. The adventure continues.
Love you all,
Marie
How am I? Doing well, but I really wish it would stop raining. (Wrote this on 8/7)
I was told today that the airport is closed, flooded out. I don’t think it should affect me on Monday, or at least I hope it won’t be still closed by then! I am starting to appreciate what it must have been like for Noah in the bible. They say the rain here is the worst it’s been in 23 years. Now those terrible floods in northern India last month were brought about by 4 days of constant rain. I know because I was up in Simla, not far from there, and I asked what happened and was told by the locals. Four days of constant rain on areas that have been built on when they shouldn’t have been, kind of like the building in CA on the cliffs so that the land gives way and you get the mud slides.
For me it’s the sound of the constant rain and the barometric pressure that makes me feel tired. I just want to sleep or see the sun! And it is funny seeing the Indian men with their inventive way of handling it. A lot of them carry their umbrella with the ? on the end of the handle hanging from their shirt collar from the back of their neck. Doesn’t look comfortable to me.
I have no idea what it is going to be like in Sri Lanka. (I checked the weather online today and it looks like it has about the same temp but we’ll see if it rains as much?) I go to Colombo, the capital when I arrive and as soon as I put in my application at the Indian Embassy I will leave Colombo and go to Kandy or there is another town that looks interesting. I’ve only made reservations for the first day and the last 3 days. I go to a hostel when I get to Colombo because I can’t take my baggage to the Embassy. Everyone is afraid of bombs, now these days. So I have to drop it off at the hostel before I put my application in. And the last 3 days will be at a Buddhist Ashram, very pretty looking by the photos on the website, very quiet, no electricity, vegetarian for me. So all I have to do is figure out what I would like to do for the 4 days in-between.
I have been reading a lot lately, not only books but magazines. Do you find that you are not as happy after you spend time on Facebook? It seems that 60% of the respondents to a survey about Facebook (this is from Time Magazine) said they do not feel better about themselves when they are done. And 76% of them believe that other people make themselves look happier, more attractive and more successful than they actually are on their Facebook page. So three out of four people think that their Facebook “friends” are indirectly lying. No wonder I don’t want to be on Facebook, if you don’t believe what is written there!
I have been reading a real “feel-good” book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. He’s a baby-boomer and reflects on growing up in American during the 1950s. Now I understand why America was so successful after World War II. I recommend this as a must read.
And I also read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers about what happened in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina and now I know how a society can go down the tubes. The system can break very easily. I had thought about this before after the earthquake in Haiti. Picture a situation where there are no supplies to buy, I mean basics for living – food, water, shelter – it doesn’t matter if you are a millionaire, there is NOTHING to buy. And your money if you have it is worthless, and if you don’t have it, how do you get it? There are no banks open. You need to prove you are who you are but your wallet has been destroyed or lost. All records have been destroyed so how do you get your insurance to pay, if you had insurance.
For those of us who have never faced situations like this, we are so blessed. I have always had enough to eat, even if it is just peanut butter sandwiches sometimes. I have only spent one night on the street, in Barcelona, Spain, last August and that was by choice. I could have gone to a hotel but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for less than 6 hours.
Getting my Visa is going to be interesting because the Indian Government wants people to do their application online and they want a Sri Lankan Reference. I don’t know anyone there. I wrote to the Buddhist Ashram asking if they would be my reference since the man/woman? wrote to me a couple of times signing “Your Good Friend Upala”. So I sent an email saying My Dear Good Friend Upala would you be my reference? If I don’t hear from Upala my backup plan is sending an email to the Indian Consulate telling them I don’t have a Sri Lankan Reference and see if an American or Indian reference would be ok? But this all has to be done tomorrow because Monday I will be on the plane.
Wish me luck everyone. The adventure continues.
Love you all,
Marie
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