Where in the world are the Jacksons--Sri Lanka

Where in the world are the Jacksons?

Folks have asked if I was still writing a blog for our adventures. Yes and no. In my head, yes; in actuality, we have been so busy living that we have not always taken the time to write. Even this blog on our trip to Sri Lanka is a few weeks later than I anticipated.

When Edna and I returned to Qatar in 2014, for our first year and a quarter our driver was Joseph, from Sri Lanka. Joseph was a wonderful man. We first came to know him as we asked him if he knew how we could get to the churches. He responded that he would take us. When he picked us up on that first Friday, he let us know that he, too, was a Christian. He took us to the Roman Catholic service. Since he was not a Westerner, he did not realize that when Westerners visit a worship service the first time (and often after that), we sneak in, find a seat in the back and hide. Not Joseph! Oh no, he marched us to the front section where he was certain that all of his peers saw us. He was not ashamed to bring friends to worship. For Eucharist, he again paraded us to the front station. We developed a rich friendship of joy and trust from that time onward.

Joseph would mention that he wanted us to travel with him to his homeland of Sri Lanka, meet his family, and see his country. He told us of the elephants and wild animals, and the greenery. He wanted to lead our tour of the country, because he did not trust other guides. He told us that they would try to rip us off. We promised that we would do our best to “someday” travel with him to see Sri Lanka. It was our intent to go.

Unfortunately, the following year, Joseph died in an accident following a heart attack, as he was driving from his morning prayers, from the same church that he had originally taken us. He was such a good and gracious man with whom we laughed, cried, and celebrated his oldest daughter’s marriage. He suggested trips for us, particularly when my mom visited, as well as with many of our Carnegie Mellon University Qatar friends and guests. He became so popular at the university that people simply referred to him as “Joseph.” Since his death, we have kept up with his family, his widow and three daughters, despite language barriers.

Some friends in Qatar have shared with us some of their great trips. Some have suggested that Sri Lanka is a great destination. Sri Lanka is a small island nation off the Southeastern coast of India on the Indian Ocean. Formerly named Ceylon, Sri Lanka is a poor country; it was under the British monarchy until 1948. They both celebrate their liberty, yet remember fondly their times under British rule. That anniversary occurred while we there. We flew 6 hours over night to arrive. Frankly, it was a bad international flight. The airline messed up our seats and did not have us in their system, despite our reservation. Edna discovered this a couple days before we were to leave. We were fortunate to get seats together on a packed airline. The air conditioning of the plane was not on, so we were exceptionally warm. My seat did not recline, which is rough on an overnight flight. Nevertheless, we arrived early on a Friday morning in the capital city of Colombo. We had booked a tour with a guide named Rohan, whose English was outstanding. He turned out to be an excellent guide. Our first ride was to the city of Negombo, on the west coast.  There we visited a fish market.  Fishing boats work overnight, then the fish dry out on the hot beaches in large groups for three days, becoming akin to dried beef.  The sellers throw rocks at the cats to keep them away.  I had never seen solid green oranges before!

The money exchange rate took time to get accustomed. 100 rupees is equivalent to approximately 60 cents. At times, sellers quoted us prices of thousands of rupees, which we would later realize was not dollars, but cents. Service attendees would be thrilled with our tips of 200 rupees.

Our first day was short, since we travelled overnight with a 2 and a half hour time difference. We arrived at our exquisite hotel. There was no swimming in the ocean due to dangerous waves. That afternoon, we met Joseph’s family who travelled about 4 hours to meet us in person. We had a wonderful visit. They brought their uncle, a tour guide, because of his excellent English. Joseph’s widow, his three beautiful daughters, his son-in-law, who we met in Qatar at Joseph’s death, and the uncle’s mother all embraced us. The daughters spoke English, but were not always comfortable with the language. Joseph’s widow understood what we said, but was not confident in speaking English to us. They hugged us, kissing each of our cheeks. We hosted them to dinner. I offered prayer and the uncle translated. We told stories about Joseph, and several times, we dabbed our eyes. Edna had asked one of our Sri Lankan friends what gifts we should take. We gave dates, nuts, chocolates, and other gifts to them. They brought us bananas, chocolate-coconut dessert with a texture similar to persimmon pudding, with similar taste, some fried treats with Nutella, clothes, a prayer rosary from their church for each of us, and Holy water. When it was time to leave, we took a group picture, followed by hugs, kisses on each cheek again, and Joseph’s widow kissed our hands very delicately. We watched them leave. It was a special moment for us.

Our second day began with an early alarm, breakfast to go, and travel toward the city of Kandy. Two and a half hours into our journey, we stopped at an elephant orphanage. Here we saw literally tons of elephants. Some folks paid to feed the baby elephants milk in bottles. Rohan took Edna and me to a store that sells paper products of all kinds. Can anyone guess from what the different colored paper is made? How about elephant dung! Really! We toured the factory. What other tour do manufacturers have you smell elephant dung on the fourth stage to verify that there is no odor! Edna stayed behind to shop as Rohan and I walked down to the river.

Soon, we strategically decided to get off the road as a herd of mammoth elephants came down the road to the river for their baths. It was interesting to see them lay submerged in the water with only their trunk exposed. I had my first picture ever with a baby elephant. Its tusk is rough and its hair on its back is wiry. To my memory, I had never before touched an elephant. We returned up the road where we reunited with Edna. This time, a man draped my shoulders with his Boa Constrictor snake. I reasoned, “Why not?” The man explained to me how to hold the snake. It is surprising how closely one listens to instructions on how to hold a snake. It was my first time ever holding a snake. It felt similar to the alligator purses and shoes that I have touched in stores. It felt similar to hard vinyl. Edna told me later that she would have bet money that I would agree to hold the snake when the man offered. Rohan, our guide, asked me if I was frightened to hold the snake. Surprisingly, no, but then again, being told that it is not poisonous is a major consideration. He told me that while he is a native Sri Lankan, he has never touched an elephant or a snake. Next, Edna and I rode an elephant. This was Edna’s idea. She rode her first camel a couple weeks previous with her nephew Doug, and her great nephew, Harrison, when they visited Doha. They did a desert safari then. Now she was moving to bigger creatures. I was impressed. The elephant is an uncomfortable ride. We felt every step. A co-worker told me that she rode an elephant with a seat on it, and yet, could not stand touching or seeing the elephant. We enjoyed our experience immensely. You really have a sense of how high off the ground you are, and if you were to fall, it would be a tough landing, followed by a skull-crushing experience. Elephants have two poses. When the elephant lifts its leg and pulls its trunk up into a curl, it means good health and prosperity. The trunk down means protection. Besides the elephant’s lifelong trainer, a guide walked with us and took pictures and videos of our ride. He laughed in disbelief when he learned that in our 42 years of marriage, this was Edna and my first elephant ride. I replied that we had never rejected the opportunity to do one before either.

Our next stop was a spice farm. We learned how different leaves, branches, nuts, bark and other items used for healing spices, medicines and the like. We saw the smallest pineapple in the world, used for medicines. After learning that elephant dung, bark, leaves and the like are recycled, I wondered if Sri Lankans wastes anything! Later, we went to a store that makes wonderful carvings from single pieces of wood, Tables made from tree trunks, small decorative items, and all sized items in between are made and sold (even shipped). The work was artistic, beautiful and impressive. This day was one of our most adventurous of any vacation we have experienced.

We ended the day visiting a Buddhist Temple, “The Temple of the Tooth,” or the “Tooth Temple.” Temperatures were super-hot, we climbed many steps, and we were behind many people, but the worst part was that we had to take off our shoes and socks to walk barefoot across hot pavement. I had difficulty walking on the hot sidewalk. I actually got blisters on my feet. Even those more attuned to walking barefoot more than I, had difficulty walking the hot pavement. I watched various folks and families pray in front of the area where supposedly Buddha’s tooth is. No one ever sees the tooth. Guards comb the area. Seventy percent of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, and Christians and Muslims each make up 8% of the population. Rohan is a Christian. The constitution of Sri Lankan specifies that the president must be a Buddhist. The city of Kandy has a giant statue of Buddha overseeing the city on a strategic mountain.

On the third day, we visited a botanical garden paradise in Kandy. This garden specialized in various kinds of flowers, birds, bats, monkeys and the like. A special flower, called the “Holy Ghost Flower,” contains the shape of the flower within the flower. We rode Tuk-Tuks, which are small, covered cycles with a back seat-bench seat. Technically, they are Auto Rickshaws, but folks call them “Tuk-Tuks,” because of the passing sound they make.

We drove into the high country of Sri Lanka, to a tea plantation.

 We received a tour of the tea plant and learned how different colors and types are produced.  We learned the meaning of the initials FBOP in teas mean. (Flower Broken Orange Pekoe). All teas originate from the same plant. Black tea is fermented, which among other things, gives tea its caffeine. Green, white and silver teas are not fermented. They have no caffeine. Gold tea is especially for the British monarchy. Gold and silver teas are Pekoe, or high-grade tea. We learned that most American have never tasted pure tea. Lipton buys tea at auctions, owning no tea plantations of their own. At auctions, teas are blended and mixed. England and other countries buy and sell quality teas. Ceylon teas are so good that they do not need sugar. They are neither extra sweet nor bitter. After tasting them, we were convinced that Sri Lankan teas are the best. Glen, Ceylon, Silver Tips, and Royal Flush teas are Sri Lankan pure teas.

That evening, our hotel held a Scotch taste test. A Scottish expert introduced me to 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old scotch whiskeys and demonstrated how to drink scotch. He told me that Americans ruin their whiskey by blending them with Coke and Sprite. I thought, “How churlish, uncivilized, barbaric and vulgar can one nation be?”

We learned that Sri Lankans eat three different varieties of bananas, a red one; a long yellow course one, which a friend said that many use mostly for cooking and baking; and a small fat one, like the ones that Joseph’s family brought us. The smaller ones seemed the tastiest.

Sri Lanka has a reputation for gems. I purchased a couple for Edna to remember Sri Lanka. I think that it probably says something about the two of us when she values gems, but I value an elephant ride and wearing a boa constrictor for a necklace. She received a massage and got her hair done the last day. I swam 25 laps in an Olympic size pool in the hot sun. Saying goodbye to our tour guide Rohan was difficult. We shared a lot. He became like family to us. He was surprised to learn that the USA has poor people. However, American poverty does not compare with that of Sri Lanka. We saw the truly poor. We saw people with broken bodies. We witnessed a man with a glass dip water out of a puddle that would sicken us to see a dog drink. We also learned of traditions, such as men wearing sarongs, a type of tribal male skirt, many of whom went shirtless. Several people did things for us that we did not request, that we could do for ourselves, desiring tips. Signs in the airport stated, “No Tipping.” Evidently, many people have done that to passengers, such as getting them their paper towels, and turning on the sinks in restrooms, with their hand held out for a tip. We limited our tips to those who actually served us a real service, even when they did not request it. On a couple occasions, workers in hotels exclaimed with surprise, “For me, sir?” when they realized that I was not giving them money for my bill of service. In such a poor country, we determined to be generous, but to be real. Nevertheless, we left Sri Lanka realizing that it holds a beauty seldom, if ever, matched in other parts of the world. If given the chance, we would enjoy returning. We would also recommend it to others.