How to look like a tourist. Another tutorial by yours truly.

There are many ways to stand out as a tourist.  I will only go into two different ways that I commonly see and/or have done myself (perhaps did today).

Today Jack and I played tourist and went to the Gangaramaya Temple, here in Colombo.  

One:  Carry a guide book with you.  When in doubt, open it up.  Maybe in the middle of the road, stopping to make sure you are in fact supposed to be crossing the road.  Perhaps stopping traffic; creating another obstacle for the many motorists to go around (hopefully).  This may bring into mind a joke about a chicken and a road.

Step Two:  Wear a shirt that is from the place you are visiting.  Really.  You don't see many locals wearing shirts from their own city.  I mean, how many people from New York City wear the I (heart) NY shirts?  Very few, if any.  How many French people wear shirts with the Eiffel tower on it?  Pretty sure not many.  You want to look like a tourist, wear a shirt you have just bought.  

(Think of the movie "What about Bob?")

There you have it.  Two ways to look like a tourist.  

Now, like I said I have in fact done both of these things. (Well, I don't think I have opened a guidebook in the middle of the road, but I have seen it done.)  I don't think that looking like a tourist is always a bad thing.  In fact, I think being a tourist can be exciting.  

There are a lot more ways to look like a tourist.  What are some of your favorites?

Of course, when you are a tourist, you must, must, must take a picture of everything.

And...you must take pictures of everything your guide tells you to take pictures of.  Then when they ask for a tip, you can thank them for these little gems:

I would like to thank Jack for tagging along with me.  He was a little reluctant to come with me, but he was so good AND had a good time.  Win-win.

Just another Saturday in Sri Lanka.

One of the things I love about not having a car, is we end up walking a lot.  Sometimes the boys aren't really into it.  You know, it's hot outside, they are hot and sweaty, they are tired.  Sometimes though, we stumble on something interesting.  Today it was a building that was missing it's front wall; exposing a toilet. Then we walked along the train tracks.  It was a fun walk, and just as the boys were too tired to take one. more. step.  We went to Baskin Robbins.  

It was a good day.

Christmas Day.

Did you know that we have had "Hand, Foot and Mouth" disease running its nasty course through our family (and the whole of Colombo, as far as I know).  Well, everyone has had it at our house, except for me.  It really hasn't been that bad, but it is extremely contagious for an unknown amount of time, so we have been trying to avoid contact with anyone.  Luckily for us, there were a few other families that have been infected with this highly contagious disease, and so on Christmas day we had a Quarantine Christmas celebration.  It was perfect.  The kids ran around and played and the adults talked and played games.  Oh, and did I mention our gracious hosts are scheduled to leave two days after Christmas?  Wonderful (and impressive) people, they are!

Merry Christmas.  

What Ben built, and what I built.  Can you guess which is which?

Christmas Scavenger Hunt.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Colombo.  It is rather surprising considering that this is a Buddhist country, and the percentage of Christians here is rather small- someone told me like 2% (don't quote me).  

However, Christmas seems to be a big deal here.  It is fun to see all of the decorations up, cashiers wearing santa hats, and retailers referring to this as the busy season.

Ben and I decided to go on a Christmas Scavenger Hunt.

It was such a fun date!  

We wandered around the city in search of the items on our list, in fact, there was only one item we did not find.  

Here are the results of our scavenger hunt.

1.  Santa Claus.  We didn't want to pay for a picture with Santa.  (Sneaky, huh?)

2. Reindeer. 

3/4.  Christmas Tree and a Star.

5.  Poinsettia.  I thought this one was going to be difficult, but artificial poinsettias were abound.

6.  Snow/snowman.  We did not find a snowman, but this display had plenty of snow.

Ben told me this picture was not the most flattering, but I was trying to look cold.

7.  Baby Jesus.  This is the only one we could find.  I am hoping one of the churches will have something a little bigger, but not so far.

8. CocaCola Christmas ad.

9. Angel

10. The Grinch.  

We couldn't find him.  We even went to MANY video stores, with no luck.  

I hope that wherever you live, and whatever you celebrate, you are able to find a way to enjoy it.

What I did today. In pictures.

The other day, I read my friend's blog, and she had little snippets of her day, including some pictures.  I thought it would be fun to show my day in pictures.  

Breakfast.  

Those flowers are from the backyard.  

I took a picture of my outfit.  

I have been keeping track of what I wear so I can decide if I like an outfit or not.  I bought this skirt locally.

Tuk-tuk ride to meet Ben for lunch.  Tuk-tuks are our transportation these days.

Lunch at Cheers Pub.  

Caesar salad.  

Those are anchovies, although they weren't bad, the salad was not that great.   As in, I will not order it again.

This was a wall of stone at the hotel where our restaurant was.  It seemed to go on forever and I wanted a picture with a person to show how ginormous it is.  I tried to get Ben to pose, but he doesn't like having his picture taken as much as I do.

After lunch, we walked through the mall. 

This is where I experienced "threading"(you know, for removing my unwanted facial hair) for the first time.  Ouch.  No one could prepare me for that kind of pain.

After getting home, I wanted to wear something a little more comfortable, so I changed.  

Outfit number 2.

I came home from lunch to find that Jack needed to go to the Medical Unit at the Embassy, so we headed back out.  

Jack putting his arms up because the tuk-tuk feels like a ride.

For dinner I made lasagna. 

I was able to find all the ingredients locally, and it was pretty good.

(When I say locally, I also include the market at the Embassy that we have access to.)

Dessert.  

Flour-less chocolate cake (which I made myself) with fresh whipped cream (I whipped it myself).  Don't you love how I have way more whipped cream than cake?  I like it that way- the whipped cream was SOOOO good.

That was my day.  

It was a pretty good day, which made me really happy. 

If you were worried about Jack, no need.  He is fine, and we all were able to get our rabies shots.  

Win-win.

I hope you had a good day as well.  What would your day look like in pictures?

As soon as you are ready.

Okay friends.  I am going to help you out here, because, as you know, I am a very helpful person.

I know that several of you are going to be coming out here (right?), and in order to prepare, I have come up with ways to make the trip a soaring success.

Since we have lived here OVER three weeks, this makes me an expert.  An extremely helpful expert.

Let me start of by telling you that I am totally in the honeymoon stage of living here.  Almost everything fascinates me, and the novelty of the inconveniences has not yet worn off.  For example, not having a car, and riding in tuk-tuks as our main transportation.

I am guessing that if you come to visit, it will not be more than three weeks, so you too will stay in the fascination stage while you are here.

First thing to prepare, it is hot and humid here.  People told us that Colombo is like Virginia in August, but I think it is more extreme than that.  (It is the hottest time of the year however, and I have heard this year has been particularly hot.)  You will want to wear cotton and sandals.  Men wear shorts here, women wear mostly skirts (knee length and longer), and both women and men wear flip-flops and other sandals.  Bring lots of deodorant, and something to wipe the sweat from your brow (Ben calls it a sweat rag).

Second, this is a huge cash-only place.  They take credit cards, but cash is the best way to go.

Third, you will want bug spray.  I get bit ALL the time, although the rest of the family does not seem to attract the bugs like I do.  I wear bug spray nearly from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed.  I smell horribly, but I really don't care.  I could use some smell good products (lotion, perfume), but I am afraid of attracting more bugs.

Forth, prepare for some yummy food, and some amazing adventures.  We haven't left the city yet, but there are so many things to do and see!

Perhaps after awhile, I will have more advice, but for now, this should suffice.  I think I have written enough.

Here are some pictures to enjoy.  These pictures were taken on the same day.  Cows in the middle of the road and the Indian Ocean.  It was awesome.

To tell or not to tell? That is the question.

I say tell.  We know what our next assignment is.  Both Ben and I wanted to wait a little longer before sharing, since nothing is ever certain until your plane lands and you put your suitcases in your home.  (Even then, there is always room for something to happen.)  However, I have a hard time not sharing when I am excited! 

Our next post is going to be Colombo, Sri Lanka.  We didn't think that we would be able to go overseas again, and some days we weren't sure we wanted to, but both Ben and I are really excited. 
An exciting thing about this post- the Maldives are included in the Embassy's responsibilities, so I am really hoping for Ben to have to go on a business trip so we can stay here:

A girl can dream.

If everything goes according to plan, we will be going there when we leave Tijuana next year.  It is a good thing we have awhile, I we have a lot of planning to do.  You know like figuring out what to take in a consumables shipment, what to wear in monsoon season (I am thinking really great rain boots!), preparing to drive on the left side of the road, and learning how to cook non-prepared/frozen foods.  Oh, and I can't forget a dress for the Marine Ball- I can't wait to get all fancy.