Feeding our Family on Foreign Soil

For most people that know me, even just a little bit, it is pretty public knowledge that I love to cook.  Really, I love food, not just as something that satiates a need in your stomach, but as something that fuels your body and, often, your soul.  I love food as an experience, not just a daily requirement.  I also love how food brings people together – it’s often, if not always, at the center of any gathering I host.  People relax around a table of food, conversations develop, relationships feed off of the residuals as people eat, talk and connect.  I thrill at preparing a meal for a crowd of people and gain a deep satisfaction from their enjoyment of the food I have lovingly prepared for them and the community that is shared in the process.  It’s one of the ways I show my love to people – to the heart, through the stomach. 

Cookin in the desert, taking it seriously

All this to say, I take food seriously.  I have always been drawn to the process of how something gets from a garden or farm to a dish on a table.  I grew up on farms and in restaurant kitchens, watching and experiencing the journey food takes from creation to consumption.  I knew what a roux was before I could read and my hands understood soil and seeds from a very early age.  I respect and enjoy every piece of this process - tilling soil, growing food, preparing it and serving it.  My brain was oriented around farm to table movement eons ago.  Because of this, seldom do I embark on a meal without carefully considering all the factors: ensuring that it is exactly what I (or the people around me) want to eat, that it came from somewhere I can trust and that I am going to enjoy it.  For me, there are few things worse than walking away from a meal and saying, “Ugh, that’s not at all what I wanted" or worse, "That made me feel terrible!"  It might seem silly to some – I mean, you’ll get another go at it next meal, right?  But, to me, if food is fuel for our bodies and souls, I don’t want to waste time, energy and calories on something that I am going to either not enjoy, or worse, regret. 

For these reasons, I prepare a majority of the meals that we consume as a family.  I revel in grocery shopping, meal planning and preparation.  I get this from both my mother and my father, who have both spent a lot of time in kitchens along the way.  They share different experiences and they definitely go about the process in very different ways, but I've learned from all of it.  My mother, like me, doesn't always know what she wants to eat, but loves ingredients and grocery stores and could peruse the aisles for hours…and sometimes does.  My father is very direct and routine oriented – as is his personality – so, he knows exactly what meals he is preparing and has a list to match; I could probably even tell you exactly what’s on that list on any given day, right down to the brand.  He knows exactly where the items are located, grabs them in expedient time and is back out the door, onto the next task.  I fall somewhere in the middle – I could grocery shop for hours, I love perusing all the products and I love exploring new stores; however, with small humans in tow, time is of the essence and I usually need to be in and out as quickly as possible.  I don't always know what I want to cook, though, so I rely on the requests of others to guide me. Then, list in hand, I shop expeditiously.  But, I take seriously the ingredients I purchase to make the food I prepare.  I read labels, I check dates, I handpick my produce selectively; I like to know exactly what’s going into the bodies I so love and care for within my home. 

Life in Sri Lanka has made all of these things decidedly more interesting.  One does not just relocate to another country and expect all of her food practices to remain the same all the way around.  I had none of these illusions. I knew that I was going to have to make some concessions and figure out how to make Sri Lankan items work for me outside of my, sorry to say it, pampered American experience.  This starts with groceries, which was one of my biggest concerns before arriving: What would be available?  What should I ship ahead of time?  What can’t I live without that I don’t even know I can’t live without?  When someone takes food as seriously as I do, I had a list of questions that was multiplying rapidly.

There are a few different grocery options here in Colombo.  The two main stores are Cargill’s and Keell’s.  They are essentially the same and carry pretty much the exact same products, just in varying degrees of quality.  There is one other spot called Arpico, which is essentially like a Walmart – it has a full grocery section, but also carries household goods, office products, bedding, and a number of other items.  It’s much bigger than the other two, because of its diversity in products, but the grocery section works in much the same way as the others.  Now, grocery stores here are not nearly as large as those back in the states.  They stock just about everything, you might need, but usually with only 1 or 2 options per item; not like the glut that is the American grocery store, with 6 -10 options for every product on every shelf.  In a lot of ways, this is nice, because it limits the time you spend hmm-ing and haw-ing over which product to commit to; however, in the end you are stuck with whatever that product is, so you hope it will hold the quality you are looking for.  It took a few visits to get the lay of the land, but we soon figured out that eggs are kept on the regular, non-refrigerated shelves; milk can be found in the refrigerated section, but there is far more selection and variety in the boxed, non-refrigerated aisles; There are few if any pre-packaged meat items, you request all meat from the counter clerk; and, you must weigh your produce before you arrive at the check-out. 

Dairy

There is even disco lighting for the shelves of milk

Dairy products in general are quite different here than what we are used to.  Because of this, Little Boy went from drinking several glasses of milk a day to only having a little in his cereal from time to time.  I tried to call on my nationally ranked skills in FFA Dairy Judging to put my finger on the difference in flavor, but all I can really say is that the milk just tastes sort of…off.  It isn’t bad or impossible to drink, but it’s just not the same.  We were buying the stuff from the cooler section for a while, but after a few experiences of it going bad too quickly or even being sour right when I bought it, I decided to try some of the warm shelf options. Honestly, the kids like to drink the stuff from the non-refrigerated aisle much better than the ones in the cooler.    Those have been great so far – still a little different in flavor, but much more reliable and drinkable.  There is also always a huge variety of powdered milk boxes on the shelves.  Seems like a lot of people go for that instead of the fresh stuff. 

This is all powdered milk options

The cheese I've found so far has been decent.  You won’t find near the variety of cheeses in general, but it's easy to find the basic things you need.  Just as with the milk, there is sometimes a slightly off flavor to some of the local cheeses that you have to adjust to.  I've managed to find a few that are tasty in the Swiss and Cheddar department.  You do pay for it, though – cheese is definitely a top dollar item around here.  Except in the case of processed cheese, of which there is an abundance.  These cheeses all taste pretty similar to me and they are usually cheaper than the rest.  There is what we call American Cheese (sliced or burger cheese here), as well as several processed cheese snack products, akin to Laughing Cow cheese (actually called Happy Cow here).  Mozzarella has been a mystery so far, though.  We typically make pizza once a week.  I make a big batch of dough, we do a mixed bag of toppings – usually a few different pizzas with different options.  The first time we had pizza night I ran down to get some mozzarella from Keell’s.  When I opened up the package, both Ryan and I jumped back because it smelled really sour!  I couldn’t figure out if it was just a fluke or if all of the bags would be like that.  I tried another one a few weeks later, same story.  Fortunately for us, the Commissary in the Embassy typically has lots of shredded mozzarella, so we try to keep some in the freezer at all times.  But, a couple weeks ago I found fresh mozzarella balls, in water, at our Walmart like store while I was putzing around trying to come up with dinner ideas.  It was such a breath of fresh air.  Savannah claimed it tasted a little weird to her, but I think she was just being dramatic (can you imagine?).  It tasted just fine, if not even super delicious, to me! 

Cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and sour cream, which are staples in my fridge normally, are nowhere to be found here.  Actually, that's a lie, I have found cottage cheese at one small market that comes from a local farm and it works, but it comes in a very small amount and is not quite the same.  The closest thing to Greek Yogurt I have found is Curd, or yogurt made from buffalo milk.  It’s passable for Greek Yogurt, with a slightly different flavor and a more gelatinous texture.  The kids like it, especially with a little honey and some bananas and raisins.  I also found sour cream and promptly scurried home, anxious to open it and find out what was inside.  But upon opening the container, I snapped back after discovering that the contents were literally “Sour. Cream.”  I was crushed.  Curd has taken the place of sour cream as well, for now, which has worked just fine in most cases. 

Meat

Buying meat is a bit of a different experience here in Colombo.  There are almost no pre-packaged fresh meat items - everything available is displayed in a clear meat cooler in bulk and then a store clear weighs and bags whatever you select.  There is usually a selection of Chicken (mostly bone in, skin off or on, whole legs, breast on bone, legs, thighs, or ground); Pork (chops, roast, or ground); Beef (top loin, chunks, and ground); Mutton (same cuts as beef mostly); Prawns; and a variety of local fresh fish.  You can also get random parts like livers, beef tongue and that sort of thing - that's not totally my bag, so I don't pay too much attention.  What you won't find at the grocery store is turkey (in any form), ham, and many cut varieties of pork or beef.  You won't find turkey anywhere - it just doesn't exist on this island, I think.  A devastating reality for our family.  Deli meat in general is hard to come by, with the exception of different variations made out of chicken.  I have tried some of these - one was a chicken/carrot sliced deli meat that was surprising and delicious.  And if you are promised ham as an ingredient out in a restaurant, chances are you will get a white or pink colored sliced meat called "chicken ham," that tastes mildly similar to ham, but is definitely not the same thing.  Specific cuts of meat can be found if you find an actual butcher who specializes in that sort of meat - which I have heard exists and intend to explore, particularly for beef roasts and pork shoulders.  Sometimes there can be a "local flavor" to the beef, much the same as with the dairy products (which seems pretty obvious), but I've heard these local specialty meat guys have stuff that's legit and delicious.  Otherwise, I tend to steer (haha) away from beef in many cases, with the exception of the ground variety which I have found to be delicious, especially when mixed 50/50 with ground pork for meatloaves, burgers, and meatballs. 

Vegetables

The produce section has been a little less of an adjustment, but the availability of many things I am

Long beans, manioc, lady fingers, & aubergines 

used to has been a learning curve of its own.  Certain things are available on a strictly seasonal basis, unlike in the States where many things can be found any time of year.  In the vegetable section, you can generally find the following things with regularity: Carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, small red onions (no other color), garlic, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, small eggplant, sweet potatoes (not yams), mushrooms, leeks, celery and herbs.  There are also several local vegetables inherent to the region that are available, like aubergines (cousin of the eggplant), lady fingers (long, large okra), manioc (yuca), curry leaves in many varieties, white radish, and several others.  There are also many things that you simply can’t find.  Spinach and kale (and most other greens) are often nonexistent in the regular grocery stores, which was a big change for me.  At home we eat a LOT of spinach and different leafy greens, so that was a sad loss.  I have found both spinach and kale at some markets and farm stands, but the flavor is much more earthy and bitter, so just not the same.  Also, I used to rely on frozen vegetables a lot at home, which is something you can’t find here at all, with the exception of peas and French fries. 

Fruit

Sri Lanka definitely loves its fruit. If you dine out for breakfast, there is always fresh juice and a plate of fresh local fruit involved.  Sri Lanka has a lot of local fruit: pineapple, mango, coconut, papaya, guava, passion fruit, watermelon, and almost 20 different kinds of bananas. They also have some you probably haven't heard of, like rambutans, woodapples, mangosteens,  soursop, jackfruit, and the infamous durian.  Berries are one thing you can’t really find, with the occasional exception of strawberries.  No lemons, either.  That’s been a hard shift for me – I never realized how much I relied on lemons until I couldn’t have them.  Limes are available, although they are tiny – akin to the size of a key lime.   

The bread selection has been a revelation for us.  Of course the stores have a selection of processed and pre-sliced bread loaves on the shelves.  But, they also have a section of local, freshly baked, unsliced loaves of bread that are amazing.  They have a few whole wheat options that are all super yummy, usually with flax seeds and oats dusting the top.  There are also a few delicious white breads that I get on a splurge from time to time.  They all make such delicious toast with some coconut oil and honey - yum!  Also, you can buy hamburger and hot dog buns individually or in pairs!  What a concept!  Only buy as many buns as you need for an occasion – this was all the things to me. 

Now all this said about the grocery stores, there are open air farmer’s markets and other specialty markets around.  Lots of them, actually, roadside style both inside and outside of the city.  These markets and stands will often have good quality produce you might not find in as plentiful a supply at the stores.  For instance, there is a local market down the road where you can get spinach and kale regularly.  I have heard they also have lots of other good quality fruits and veggies that you don’t always see in the stores.  I haven’t been yet, but have been wanting to go.  It’s the kind of thing I want to do sans children, so I can really focus and look around.  Those moments are not always easy to come by.  There is a great farmer's market on Saturdays nearby that has some good produce.  That same market has a storefront right across the street from where the farmer's market happens where you can get local stuff all week long - that's where I found the cottage cheese. 

Honestly, the differences between here and home haven't been so difficult to adjust to.  I find it’s a lot easier to resist temptations here.  There aren’t as many junk food options staring me down in the grocery stores – no rows upon rows of delicious and devilish crackers, chips, cookies and treats.  Lowering our dairy intake hasn’t hurt us in the least, as a matter of fact I’m a lot less likely to make a late night chocolate milk these days.  We drink a lot more tea and water and eat a lot more straightforward, cleaner foods.  Food is also so much cheaper here, in just about every single category.  Opposite to the States, fruits and veggies are the cheapest thing you can buy, while boxed goods are the more expensive items.  Exactly how it should be, in my opinion.  You can get a bag of apples, oranges, carrots, or whatever for around $1.50 or so.  I can get out of the store with 2 full bags of groceries, chock full of fresh produce, meat, eggs, bread and necessities and spend less than $30.  That almost never happens in the States.  

The farm stands and markets are even cheaper than the grocery stores, too!  I went on a little overnight trip to Kandy with a group from the Embassy right before Ryan left for several weeks.  Our driver knew of a huge Sunday market happening in his hometown on the way back, so we stopped in.  It was enormous and flooded with so many vendors selling everything you could think of.  There were sections for clothing, home goods, dried fish (very common in local markets here), prepackaged food items, and, of course, local fruits and vegetables.  I wanted to check out what was available and also needed some stuff to make dinner when I got home.  I could have spent all day there!  After much looking around and wandering amongst the vendors, I knew it was time to go and had to pick up some items before the van left me in the dust.  I settled on a huge bunch of spinach, a butternut squash, a bunch of turnips and a big bag of potatoes and onions for 500 Rupees (less than $3.50)! Try buying even one of those items for that amount in the States.  Seriously.  

Our access to the Embassy Commissary keeps us stocked well enough in the occasional treats we crave – a bag of chips here or a box of familiar crackers there.  They also occasionally open up an order to everyone so if there are things you want, you can order a case when they make their big order from the States or Australia.  I recently ordered a case of frozen spinach, frozen veggie mix, mozzarella, string cheese, and Italian sausage to fill in some of the gaps we had been feeling. The things we can’t live without, or at least that make our lives a little easier, like graham crackers, applesauce pouches, and Annie’s mac and cheese can be ordered from Amazon, which is an easy option.  Otherwise, I try to make our familiar standbys for dinner, like tacos, chicken pot pie, spaghetti Bolognese, and just about anything else you can think of.  It can be done if you have the gumption to make it work.  I have a crockpot to make applesauce and chicken stock and the internet full of recipe ideas when I feel at a loss.  I like the challenge of not being able to find an ingredient sometimes and being forced to shift the recipe a little because of it.  It keeps my brain working and life interesting.

Dining out has been a challenge in and of itself.  I have devoted an entire post of its own merit to this topic, because there is a lot to cover. 

To Be Continued…

Getting the Hang of Things

Sweaty but happy!

Our first few days and weeks in Colombo were spent with our heads craned and our eyes opened, looking in all directions.  We spent a lot of time trying to get out locally, to keep it simple and to explore in small bits.  Every day we expanded our circle a little wider, including something new each time we ventured out.  Oh, and about the heat – the one thing we didn’t know how to anticipate or how we would deal with.  I have to say, it hasn’t been as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be.  Honestly, I have been trying to recall exactly what summers felt like in Florida or South Carolina for comparison and, for some reason, I can’t remember this being worse than that.  At worst, it’s about the same and at best, this is a tinge better.  It’s definitely hot, don’t get me wrong, and the humidity some days feels incredibly heavy.  But the temperature gauge doesn't get nearly as high and the ocean breeze cuts through a lot, it you happen to be near the water.  I’d say one of the major differences between here and the Southland is that you can’t always rely on every indoor space being air conditioned here.  But the kids haven’t complained nearly as much as I expected and take the strong sun and heavy air in stride most of the time.  While walking down Galle Face Green – the long expanse of open park that can be seen clearly from our apartment – the breeze

View from Galle Face - our building is the white high rise on the left

from the ocean makes it feel almost enjoyable outside.  In almost any picture we show of the ocean from our place, Galle Face is the wide open space running alongside it, usually populated by a fair number of people.  In the late afternoons street vendors set up tents along the sidewalk, selling

street food, kites, glow sticks, and other fun kid centered items.  By dusk each day, and definitely more so on the weekends, it’s a popular place for people to bring their picnic blankets and kids to watch the sunset, throw a ball or fly a kite.  There is a strong ocean breeze that makes this an ideal place to fly kites – we have yet to do it, but believe me, it’s on the list. 

We have also tried to master the art of riding in Sri Lanka’s favorite and most ubiquitous mode of transportation, the tuk-tuk.  Essentially, these taxis are three wheeled scooters on metal frames with roof covers, a bench backseat and are the quickest and cheapest way to get around town.  There are no seatbelts or windows (except the windshield), but each one is different, like a snowflake.  I’ve seen some stark on embellishment while others are

decorated like an office space at Pixar – movie themed posters, inspirational seatcovers, religious hangings, party lighting and even burning incense.  Also, a little detail we picked up on quickly – every tuk driver has a super large drink holder installed on the bottom right door jamb equipped, exclusively, with a recycled alcohol bottle full of…water?  At first, we were skeptical.  But, as it turns out from talking to local friends, this is actually a thing here.  They said that they grew up reusing liquor and wine bottles as water storage containers and didn’t know it wasn’t a thing everywhere else.  Regardless, when you see an Absolut bottle full of clear liquid in your driver’s drink holder, it’s only natural to take pause.  Anyway, a typical ride in a tuk-tuk will run you somewhere between 50-200 rupees – that’s about .35-$1.30.  Oh yeah, and it will run you that much only if you insist on the driver using his meter or you are able to really negotiate your price with a non-meter using driver.  Partaking in the fare negotiation dance is a ritual as old as time and one done at your own risk.  In the beginning, we figured, “what’s the harm in letting the driver overcharge by 50-100 rupees? It’s just a quarter or two and who wants the hassel of talking them down?”  But, we were strongly discouraged by our local friends to avoid giving way on tuk fares and to insist upon the meter. We promptly changed our practice, but sometimes it’s just easier to let it go. 

A blurry shot of our 1st tuk ride, also at night!

In jumping into a tuk you also put upon yourself the thrill and peril that comes with riding in such a fashion.  The rules of the road here are certainly not what they are back in the States.  Drivers, particularly tuk drivers, work with what’s known as “windows-forward” driving rules.  Meaning, every driver is solely responsible for what happens in front of their vehicle and nowhere else.  So, although everyone has side view and rear view mirrors, no one is looking over their shoulder to make sure they aren’t cutting someone off.  In most cases, you probably are cutting someone off.  In fact, every driver uses their horn as a third, and often primary, directional signal.  And not in    

an annoying way, like we do in America.  It’s not people laying on their horns in an annoyed or disgruntled fashion; it’s more of a light and gentle single or double toot to say: 1) I’m coming up behind you, don’t pull out, 2) Hey, I’d like to get around you, 3) You’re veering into my lane, be careful or 4) Excuse me, get a move on or get out of my way.  It’s all fairly polite and a lot less stressful than you might imagine.  Lane usage rules are up for negotiation, as well, which is largely when you here the most horn usage.  Although there are clear, nicely painted lines in the road, lane sharing is not just accepted, it’s a general expectation.  One two lane side of a street could have 3-4 vehicles across at any given time, with tuk-tuks being able to fit two per lane if they are really trying.  And not just motorcycles and tuk-tuks participate, EVERYone lane shares, merging in and out of lanes as openings arise and with little warning, except for a light tap on the horn.  Buses are (literally) the biggest perpetrators of these acts, using their size and speed to take over whichever part of the road they would like – oh, and their horns are the worst.  They are the only ones who really lay on the horns, while their horns are, at the same time, incredibly loud.  Buses are the Courtney Love of Sri Lankan driving – loud, pushy, unpredictable, and a little bit reckless.  In our safety briefing at the Embassy, we were

strongly encouraged to avoid riding the bus around town, even though it might seem fun and easy.  They are more dangerous to ride on and, from what I have gathered in watching them, a bit hasty.  Bus stops are more like Cali roll throughs – you better be prepared to jump on or off, because the “stop” is more like a generous pause somewhere near the sidewalk. Wow, that Courtney Love analogy really plays all the way through. 

All this said, I have been surprised by the low number of traffic incidents I have seen while here, so far.  I can only think of one off the top of my head, up to this point, and it was barely a fender bender that I didn’t even witness, I just saw the two drivers discussing it calmly on the side of the road.  I know they happen, because I have heard stories from other people, but I spend a lot of time out and about and have yet to actually witness one or even the evidence of one.  To be perfectly honest, despite the lack of adherence to general rules of the road, very little use of signal lights, relaxed seatbelt laws and almost no stop lights, except for those at crosswalks, I can’t say that I have actually felt unsafe as a passenger in any car or tuk-tuk as of yet.  I know, you are probably thinking, “Well, Heather, you are so laid back and adaptable, of course you’re fine with it.  I’d be a wreck!”  But, that’s not it.  There is a decided lack of ego or road rage on the roads here in Sri Lanka, which, I think, makes all the difference.  Some of the stuff that I have seen go down, in the way of cutting others off, pulling out in front, and stopping dead in the lane, would probably make almost any American release their road Kraken.  Here, though, I have never seen anyone shake a first, flip a bird, scream an obscenity, or even sigh dramatically over these offences – they might offer a slight nod of the head.  That’s all.  It’s amazing.  I don’t know if it’s patience or Buddhist calm or simply a learned ambivalence to driving practices they have experienced their entire lives, but either way, it’s incredible to watch. 

Something else that has been interesting for us to watch and experience has been the way Sri Lanka has received our children.  I can’t remember where, but around the time we arrived here I was reading something that said that Sri Lankans are incredibly child-centric.  They love kids.  Children are treated with an incredibly high regard and their comfort is often put in high priority.  That would explain why we received such incredible service on our flight to Colombo from London.  Even restaurants here are not only incredibly tolerant of children, but are overly accommodating to them.  I’ve found a number of places that have separate play rooms attached to the dining area of the restaurant so that kids can play while adults eat.  There is even someone usually staffed to hang out in this play room to keep an eye on them – with no sign-in process or fee.  It’s just an amenity to the dining experience.  It’s awesome.  I can’t say that the restaurants attached to these play rooms are always the BEST food in Colombo, but it’s often passable enough to warrant the visit, if for no other reason than a manageable, quiet, drama free meal.  Can I get an “Amen?”

A crowd gathers to take pictures with our tiny celebrities

The caveat and sometimes fall back of this high regard for children, though, is the heightened amount of attention we draw from people when we go out and about in public.  The kids are show stoppers, a lot of the time, gaining viewership far and wide.  I have had people step in front of my moving stroller, stopping us in our tracks to say “hi” to the kids, ruffle their hair, stroke their cheeks and even take selfies with them.  It happens all the time!  Sometimes it’s only one or two people in passing and sometimes it’s entire crowds of people, depending on where we are. 

Actually, this one time I was in the grocery store buying vegetables, with Little Boy in the Ergo on my back.  He was just hanging out while I sorted through the tomatoes and a frazzled looking British woman approached me with horror on her face.  She had just witnessed a store employee walk by me, stroke his face, kiss his cheek and continue walking.  I, apparently too wrapped up in the tomatoes and already accustomed to this behavior anyway, didn’t take notice or react in any way.  She assumed I didn’t realize what had happened and rushed over to let me know my child was just handled by a stranger.  I assured her I noticed and it was fine, much to her shock and horror.  I chuckled a little and reassured her that it was fine.  I let her know it’s a common thing and we don’t mind, so long as the “handling” doesn’t get TOO invasive (obviously).  She relaxed a little when she realized I knew it was happening, but she started tentatively chuckling at the whole thing too. 

“I’ve never seen anything LIKE that before!  And he didn’t even flinch, he just smiled at her!  I just wanted to come and let you know it was happening!” was her response.

I laughed too and just told her, “Yeah, that’s a pretty normal response.  Although I’m surprised he didn’t blow kisses or say ‘Buh-bye’ like he usually does.” 

She walked away shaking her head and continuing to laugh, clearly baffled by the entire scene. 

I have to say, I was shocked at what cool customers the kids were with all of this, in the beginning.  I knew Kiddo would be fine with it – let’s be honest, she loves the spotlight.  But, I thought for sure Little Boy would be more apprehensive.  Nope!  He usually smiles, waves, blows kisses and says “Hello” and “Buh-Bye” like a regular little ham.  He’s definitely not as participatory as Kiddo, but he doesn’t run away, cry or freak out either.  I attribute the attention they get to the idea that, for some, seeing the kids is like spotting a baby unicorn in the wild.  They are small, beautiful, fair-skinned creatures that you just don’t see too many of in these parts.  You can’t even believe it’s there, so you have to take a picture so your friends will believe you.  A guy actually said to me, once, “I’ve just got to send this to my girlfriend, she’s going to flip.”  Apparently she’s really into unicorns, too.  My friend Michelle more accurately compared it to being a walking petting zoo.  She told me that one time an older woman insisted on taking off her kids’ shoes to examine the bottoms of their feet.  That was a new one, for sure, and definitely a little more in the “petting zoo” category than I’ve seen before.  The kids do know their boundaries, though, which I think is a good lesson from all of this.  I am always on guard whenever people stop to “pet” my children.  I have seen it get a little out of hand a time or two, which is when the Mama Bear in me swoops in, scoops them up, says “Thank you, have a nice day” and goes along my merry way.  If Kiddo isn’t in the mood to give a hug or take a picture, she will say “no” politely and we encourage her to do so, of course.  One time, walking on Galle Face Green a group of guys in their early 20’s got a little over excited taking pictures with the kids, wanting to hold them for pictures, take shots individually, then

together, then trading off.  The kids got over handled and began to politely protest.  I could see it happening and quickly put an end to it before they could get uncomfortable.  We debriefed about it on the way home, where I strongly encouraged Kiddo to not feel shy about standing up and saying, “Ok, I’m all done, thank you,” while also walking away, which is what she was doing when I swooped in.  I don’t mind the interaction; I actually think it’s good boundary practice.  I want them to feel comfortable with people in general, but develop a healthy understanding of what’s an invasion of space, where their boundaries are and how to voice their protest directly, but at least semi-politely.   These are practical and important skills, both abroad and stateside.

One of the unexpected, yet sweet things of all of this kiddo hypervigilance is access to the “village”

School Girls at a temple, requesting an audience with Kiddo

mentality of raising kids.  When people are constantly seeing and watching your children, this means there are also that many eyes actually seeing and watching your children in case something goes wrong.  I have had so many people interact with the kids because they wanted to make sure they were safe, happy and alright.  Often this happens if Kiddo is having a meltdown about something – usually the unsuspecting stranger thinks something is wrong and they can help, even though I’m often standing right there.  It’s sweet, but in the middle of meltdown maintenance, it’s not helpful to supply Kiddo with victim status.  Just saying.  It’s not just that, though, people also constantly reach their arms out, expecting Little Boy to topple over at any minute.  I’ve seen people run, full sprint, to help him get down stairs that he is not only more than capable of tackling, but is often insistent about doing without help.  As if, walking just inches away from him I might also be neglecting him by allowing him to do it himself.  In some ways the hypervigilance could be misconstrued as people thinking you aren’t capable as a parent; but, in a lot of other ways it’s sweet because it is always clear to me that the concern comes from a place of pure care and love, not judgement.  I appreciate that. 

For example, I was out to lunch with the kids by myself when, true to form, Kiddo insisted on going to the bathroom mere moments after the food arrived.  Something that happens all. The. Time.  Little Boy was ravenous and so excited at the sight of food, I was frustrated by her request because taking her meant I had to unstrap him from his chair and remove him from his lunch, to haul us all to the bathroom while our food got cold.  A table of women had come in after us, clearly on their lunch break from a local office, and had had their eye on our table since they arrived, cooing at the kids and giggling about how cute they were.  They overheard the situation and chimed in that they would be happy to keep an eye on Little Boy while he ate and I took Kiddo to the restroom.  It was one of those moments you have as a mom, where an offer is made that is just so tempting and all you want to do is say yes, even though you

know it’s wrong.  Now, honestly, I knew that these women were completely sincere and just wanted to help; however, the American in me said “definitely, no!”  I knew nothing would have happened, but graciously and appreciatively declined anyway.  That kind of thing has happened to me several times.  People are genuinely kind here in Sri Lanka, in many respects, but when it comes to children, it’s on a whole other level.  And I kind of dig that. 

We have really been enjoying getting familiar with our life here.  I have a lot to say when it comes to the food question, which I know a lot of people are curious about.  Because of that, I intend on devoting an entire entry to it.  There are a lot of nuances to dining in Sri Lanka as an American and a lot of areas to explore.  More on that later.  Otherwise, stay tuned for some of our recent escapades around the country and even abroad, as well!  TTFN!  

New Day, New Digs

After 3 years of waiting, guessing and attempting to plan, the time had finally come for us to begin our yearlong adventure in Sri Lanka.  Standing in the airport, stretching our legs from the 10.5-hour flight and feeling a second (or third or fourth, I’m not sure) wind come on, we felt the energy of this exciting transition as it was actually happening.  The kids were just happy to be off of the plane, so they were bouncing around the gate area while we scanned the room for the customs line.  We were also looking for an escort sent by the Embassy who was going to help us get through immigration and help us collect our bags.  Finding our apartment in a new city where we knew nothing yet about money, taxis, travel, or locations would be a daunting task, so we were incredibly relieved that someone was scheduled to receive us.  We found him easily enough and made our way through the customs and immigration lines,

officially checking into Sri Lanka, collecting essential tea information pamphlets from the sari-clad greeters along our way.  Baggage claim was our next stop where, although it took some time, we were able to collect ALL of our many bags, feeling thankful that they were all present and accounted for. 

A few months back, the embassy hooked us up with another US military family living in Colombo, which was an incredible asset in preparing for our trip.  They became our social sponsors, acting as our in-country guides before (and even after) we arrived.  We were fortunate to be able to connect with them via email ahead of time so that we could ask all of our most pressing questions about what to expect, what to pack and what to buy ahead of time that would be hard to find or get while living in Sri Lanka.  This was a game changer and, unfortunately, not something that this family had available to them before they arrived in Colombo.  We learned that they also had 2 kids, ages 4 and 5, so we were excited that the kiddos would have some friendly connections once we arrived.  

Meeting us at the airport and waiting with the van, was another couple (Sara and Tyler), that Ryan had been in contact with before our arrival as well.  This couple has been stationed here for the past year, as Tyler has been the Army FAO representative here.  I hadn’t met or spoken with them before, but was so relieved to see them at the airport as I realized the number of questions I had was growing exponentially the longer I breathed Sri Lankan air.  We were so glad to see their friendly faces emerging from the van and, although I had no idea who she was at the time, Sara and I embraced - her in welcome and me breathing a sigh of relief for her presence.  We were being hurried to climb into the van while taxis, tuk-tuks, and cars whipped around us.  Our driver had loaded all of the bags into the car and we didn’t realize until we were already in that, in our rush to get out of the road, we didn’t grab the car seats out of their travel bags.  They were now at the bottom of our very big luggage pile and, ashamed though I am to say it, in my exhaustion I abused the lack of car seat laws in this country and agreed that we should just press on with Kiddo in a regular seat belt and Little Boy on my lap.  Welcome to South Asia.

On the 45-minute drive from the airport, Ryan and I pelted Tyler and Sara with questions, while they simultaneously offloaded information that we didn’t even know to ask about.  Sara was awesome, having even brought juice boxes and applesauce pouches for the kids that she had picked up earlier at another Embassy worker’s moving out sale.  She and Tyler live in the same building as us and worked so hard to make sure that the place was in order before our arrival.  Again, this was something that they did not have available to them prior to their arrival last year.  They even pre-stocked our fridge and cupboards with essentials like milk, bread, peanut butter, cereal and snacks for the kids since we came in on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, when the Embassy would be closed through Monday.  They also schooled us on all of the finer points of Sri Lankan money, Colombo taxis and travel, cell phone usage, and grocery shopping, among a variety of other very important topics.   We picked their brains all the way back to our building, where they helped us get upstairs to our amazing new digs.  I could quickly see that these two people would be an invaluable resource for us as we settled in. 

Along with our in-country contact information a few months back, the Embassy

also kindly sent us an email with pictures of our new place.  At the time, we were relieved to see that we would be living in a nice building, near the coast, that had modern amenities, including air conditioning and a modern kitchen.  The pictures that were sent, though, also showed a beautiful apartment with spectacular views of the Indian Ocean from almost every room.  At the time, we thought for sure that these images were just stock footage that they send to every new tenant.  We were wrong.  They were actual images from our actual apartment in Colombo and as we walked through the front door and realized this fact, we were blown away.  We were looking at an amazing, spacious, open layout with a full view of the city and the ocean from every room.  Oh, and 4 balconies overlooking the ocean.  The space had been furnished by the Embassy, which is why we left almost every piece of furniture we own in storage in California.  They were also sweet enough to send a couple boxes of toys for the kiddos, which was vital to our survival upon arrival.  The kids had been playing with the same suitcase of toys for over a month now and the promise of new playthings (even if they were on loan) was so exciting to them.  We also soon discovered that the building has a gym, dry cleaner, café, squash courts, pool and play structure.  Not too shabby.

Sara and Tyler soon broke the bad news to us that they were actually set to leave late that night for a 3-week trip to Nepal.  Although we were excited for them to go on this trip, we were also selfishly bummed that our new friends, cultural buffers and towers of stability were about to fly away, literally, into the night.  So they wasted no time and jumped right in to help us get settled.  Tyler took Ryan down the street to get a SIM card for his phone and set up with an understanding on how the currency works around here.  Sri Lanka uses its own Rupee system (different from that of India) and the current exchange rate is about 100 LKR(Sri Lankan Rupees) equaling $.68.  So, 1000 Rupees is roughly $7 and so on.  They left a few helpful notes around the house concerning metric temperature translations for the oven, Rupee to Dollar calculations for reference, and some notes on using the local form of taxi – the tuk-tuk.  More on that later.  Meanwhile, I looked around our place taking an inventory of the furniture and the room layout, noticing that we did not have a crib or small bed for Little Boy.  I was immediately absorbed by this problem, since him not having his own fenced in space would wreak havoc on our ability to get any kind of rest until our shipments arrived in 2-4 weeks.  Sara was amazing, jumping on the phone (let me remind you this was Friday in the late afternoon, before a long holiday weekend) trying to find someone who could solve this problem for us.  I had little hope of an answer and began the MacGuyver mental aerobics of how to fashion a crib style bed out of the available pieces of furniture in the apartment.  Much to my surprise, Sara was able to get a hold of someone who thought they might be able to find someone to help us out.  Within the next 2 hours, we had a crib rolling through our front door and set up in the room nearest ours.  *Phew.  Dodged a bullet there.  Thank God for Sara and Justin, the helpful Embassy friend on the other end of the line.  I sent Ryan to work with a thank you note and a loaf of banana bread on his first day at the Embassy for Justin, the great crib crisis resolver. 

Anyway, after about an hour or so, Sara and Tyler headed back downstairs to get themselves organized for their flight out and let us get settled in to our new space for a while, inviting us down for dinner a little later.  We unpacked a little, let the kids run around and I closed my eyes on the couch for what felt like (and what may actually have been) 5 minutes.  I will remind you that neither Ryan nor I have had almost any sleep since our 4-hour nap in London, which was now almost 24 hours and lots of kiddo wrangling and road weariness behind us.  It was just about time to head downstairs for dinner and I think, right about then, is when we felt the exhaustion begin to creep in.  We needed to eat, though, and these would be our last moments with our Colombo touchstones before they left, so we soldiered on downstairs. 

Sara and Tyler were kind enough to lend us the keys to their apartment, in the event that we needed any kitchen items or whatever, while they were away and while we waited for our shipments to arrive.  This was incredibly kind and generous of them, especially since we were, essentially, strangers.  I made a mental note to have them over for dinner the second they came back from Nepal.  We also met our social sponsors and email pals, The Greuel Family, invited by Sara and Tyler for us to get to know in person.  We excused ourselves from their presence around 7, after dinner and some more conversation, and made our way back up to our apartment, where we all promptly changed into pajamas and crashed into our respective beds. 

I wish I could report that we all slept soundly for 12 hours, but I would be lying.  Instead, Little Boy woke up around 1:30 or 2 in the morning, ready and raring for action.  I got up with him, got him a snack and we played out in the living room for a few hours, until he was ready to go back down a little before 5.  I was just crawling back into bed when Kiddo came out of her room, ready to wake up for the day having slept 10 straight hours, so up I stayed with her as well.  Needless to say, we all spent the next couple of days lying around, watching dvds and trying to adjust our bodies to this new time zone.  There was a lot of napping through that weekend.  We did manage to get out though!  That first Saturday morning, we walked down the street to one of the nearby hotels, which we heard had several restaurants, in order to find some breakfast. 

Sri Lanka had just celebrated Vesak a couple of days before we arrived – which we were pretty sad to have missed – and there were still lantern decorations everywhere.  Vesak falls on the full moon in May and commemorates the major events in the life of Buddha, essentially.  Sri Lanka is a largely Buddhist country and every month the full moon, or Poya, is celebrated as a national holiday – meaning no school or work on these days, if they fall during the week.  Each Poya signifies something different in the Buddhist tradition, some being more heavily celebrated than others.  May’s Poya is called Vesak Poya and is celebrated for several days leading up to the actual Poya, which culminates with a huge lantern festival and parade.  We missed this celebration by a day.  Bummer.  Anyway, the hotel we walked to, The Cinnamon Grande, still had their lanterns hung and I was fascinated to see that they were made out of recycled water bottles – they were beautiful!  Aside from the view from our apartment, this was our first real introduction to Sri Lanka and as we walked past the immaculately manicured lawn and recycled water bottle lanterns, I grew more excited to learn about this new place that we would be calling home. 

Up, Up and Away!

Grant's Farm!

After 3 weeks of road tripping, I think it is safe to say that the 4 of us were relieved to be back in St. Louis for a week of rest and preparation.  Even though we were planning on doing some visiting while there, we also planned on getting some rest, finding a normal schedule again, and taking time to organize ourselves for the coming journey. 

We spent a little over a week in St. Louis after our road trip, which gave us a lot of time to make the rounds to Ryan’s friends and relatives in the area.  It also gave us a chance to have some St. Louis fun with the kiddos.  We tried to fit something fun in each day.  We took Kiddo to the Science Center one day, where she got to not only experience her first ever movie, but her first ever IMAX movie.  Looking back, it feels like maybe we set the movie bar a little high…

Anyway, we took the kiddos to get sandwiches and milkshakes at Crown Candy another day.  Followed the next day by a trip to Grant’s Farm to check out the Clydesdales and the other animals they have there.  Kiddo has a few St. Louis themed books that she reads at home, so she had a whole list of places she wanted to see and experience based on these books.  We knew we couldn’t do it all, but we gave it a pretty good shot.  She was even quoting the books while we visited certain places, saying things like, “I want to enjoy some mouthwatering eats at Crown Candy.”  That one caught me off guard.

Aside from our field trips, we also got to stop in and visit plenty of people in the area, including Ryan’s 2 grandmothers, who are 96 and 99.  Between them and my 92-year-old Grandfather I think the kids have some pretty solid genes to work with.  We also got to spend a lot of time with Ryan’s local friends, who all together have quite a brood of children that the kiddos were stoked to play with.  We had a BBQ one day and a pool party another, gathering our 4 families and 11 children all together.  The kiddos made fast friends here, even vocalizing a desire to quit our move to Sri Lanka and move to St. Louis instead. 

Traditional trip to The Hickory Log, Dexter, MO

In between visiting and field tripping, Ryan and I had a lot of last minute organizing and purchasing to do.  We both had lists of things we wanted to acquire before leaving the states.  I wanted to stock up on clothes and shoes for the kiddos, as I was noticing them grow out of much of what we owned – thankfully we were leaving close to Memorial Day, so sales abound!  We also needed some odds and ends in the way of gear for Ryan’s expeditions and trips. 

After all was said and done, we managed to get everything we needed and also managed to fit it all in our allotted bags and had it packed by the day of our flights.  Since we had already done a trial run of this process in leaving Monterey, getting ready for the airport felt routine at this point.  Our flights were also at a reasonable time of 1 in the afternoon, so it wasn’t too hard to get up, get organized, get everyone fed and to the airport with lots of time for baggage checking and security screenings.  We loaded up the RV and felt pretty proud of ourselves for getting out the door with little drama or stress and lots of time, just in case.  Grandma Jan walked us into the airport, did a few rounds of hugs goodbye and watched us proceed to the ticket counter.  Watching her leave as we waited for our tickets was one of those moments that, for some reason, started to make this whole thing feel a little more real.  She had been with us for the previous 2 months, helping us get ready and watching the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.  It seemed very fitting that she was the one releasing us on our journey. 

Thanks a million Grandma Jan!

Our flight itinerary started in St. Louis, of course, with a short jump to Chicago.  This first flight was pretty easy – Little Boy had his own seat with his car seat in it, which was a dream and a treat for all.  He slept most of the way to Chicago while Kiddo colored and read books in her seat.  When we got off the plane, we had a few hours to kill – long enough to grab some lunch, take a walk and let the kiddos play in this really awesome play structure O’Hare had in the next concourse over.  This gave us a chance to stretch our legs and run around, preparing us for our 8-hour flight to London.  Ryan and I were a little nervous about this one, as it fell in the dinner/evening play timeframe, but we had snacks and entertainment on our side, so we hoped for the best.

We boarded our next flight to London around 3:30, for a 4 pm takeoff.  This was a much bigger plane – definitely the biggest plane I have ever been on.  We had to walk through 3 sections of large, plush, leg accommodating seating before we got to our row.  We were hoping to all be put in the large middle row of the plane.  Unfortunately, the airline was unable to pull that off.  We decided the best split would be two and two – one of us with each kid.  It was a crap shoot over who would be the bigger problem on the flight.  I voted to take Little Boy and the two of us had seats on the end of the long middle row of the plane, while Ryan and Kiddo were one row ahead and to the left of us, by the window.  I had braced myself for the worst, but honestly, this flight also went off without a hitch.  We flew through dinner and bedtime, so where I thought the kids would be really squirrely, they were pretty chill.  Little Boy was back in his car seat again, ate some dinner and watched Kung Fu Panda.  He did get a little antsy a couple of times, so I took him on a walk around the plane a time or two, which was fine, because it allowed me to go to the bathroom and make sure he had a dry diaper for sleeping time.  He wasn’t stoked to get back in his car seat, but I turned on The Good Dinosaur to get him seated and buckled and within a half hour or so, he passed out. 

I knew that I should shut my eyes to get some rest, but starting with dinner and carrying on through the flight, the flight attendants were serving free wine.  Coupled with the free in-flight movies and my interest in beginning work on the blog, I couldn’t help but soak up the quiet with my plastic cup o’wine.  Kiddo was content in her seat with her ziti pasta and the cartoon movies that were offered, as was Ryan with his own setup.  Ryan cut her off after The Good Dinosaur, around 9, and she put her head down on him and fell asleep.  We landed around midnight our time, which was 6 AM in London. 

English Cottage and Tea Roses will suffice

Our next flight wasn’t until 9:30 that night, so we had an entire 15- hour day to kill.  In our original plan, we were going to go out for some breakfast, come back to the hotel we booked for the day for a few hours of shut eye, then pop back out to see some sights and have dinner before heading straight to the airport.  This is not how our day turned out.  When we got through customs, we found out that since our flight was not until later that night on another airline, whose counter didn’t even open up until 5:30 in the evening, we would have to collect ALL of our luggage at baggage claim instead of leaving it at the airport like we originally planned.  This meant we had to haul all of our luggage to the hotel, instead of the easy in and out we thought we were going to have.  It took us a few hours to get through customs, collect our bags, and find our hotel shuttle bus.  By the time we got all 13 bags, 1 carseat, 1 stroller, 2 kids and us on and off the bus and into our hotel room, we were all done for.  The 4 of us promptly passed out around 9:30 in the morning and didn’t stir until around 2 in the afternoon.  We jumped up, took a look at the map and realized there was no way we would be able to go anywhere in London from our hotel and still make it back in time to collect all of our bags, get to the airport, recheck them all and get through security.  We were pretty bummed about this, but in a way, a little relieved.  The impetus was off of us to overdo it and the decision was made for us to just take a nice walk in the neighborhood to a local pub around the corner for a bite and a pint.  It was perfect.  We got some fish and chips, a steak and kidney pie, and some cider and Guinness.  It was all so delicious and we were able to just relax and enjoy the beautiful breeze that was blowing through the outdoor patio of the restaurant.  We took a leisurely stroll the long way back to the hotel, collected our things and rolled our 13+ bags back out the door, back onto the bus and back into Heathrow to get checked in for our final flight. 

This is when we got nervous.  Now that we weren’t in America dealing with American airline companies, we didn’t know how it was going to go with all of our bags, their weight and the extra costs involved therein.  In America, particularly because we were traveling on military orders, all of our baggage was free.  When you split it up, it came out to about 2ish suitcases per person/ticket, which isn't SO bad when you look at it that way.  But because American military status doesn't necessarily equate the to the same things in other countries, we weren't sure what would be the outcome here.  It was our turn at the counter and the eyes of the ticket agent grew exponentially when she saw all that we brought with us.  The weight limits were different on Sri Lankan Airlines, with prices based on total luggage weight not numbers of bags.  So, she weighed it all, subtracted from the total allowed, and we were given a receipt to take to a new line, where we paid for our extra baggage weight - which was considerable.  She wouldn’t print our tickets until Ryan returned from this payment line with a NEW receipt confirming payment.  This was when we found out that, again, we were not all seated together.  THIS time we had 3 seats together and 1 seat alone.  Who gets to enjoy THAT seat?!

We shrugged this off in the moment and made our way to security, which was pretty easy to get through.  I have to say, the London security experience was an eye opener – they have that system running like a well-oiled machine.  Instead of many separate lines, there was one line that led to a conveyor belt with individual stations that rolled the empty bins along and straight to a radar machine.  You just filed through, while people on the other side of the conveyor helped get your things into the boxes and through the machine.  It was like a little security factory, with everyone at different posts making things move along at a reasonable pace.  We were in and out of that security line quicker than anywhere else I’d ever been.  Easy Peasy.  From here, we knew we were going to need to let the kids run for a little while, grab a quick bite then get to the gate.  Fortunately, the international terminal had an entire play place on the 3^rd floor – it was super hot in there, but there was a set of rooms with play structures and coloring tables, among many other things for the kiddos to play on for an hour or so.  This upcoming flight was a 10 hour job, so we had our work cut out for us. 

Our flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka was set to leave at 9:30 London time, with a flight time of 10.5 hours and a time jump ahead 4.5 hours, we were set to touch down in Colombo around Noon the following day, Colombo time.  We weren't sure how the timing was going to work out with the kiddos, so we grabbed a pizza to go on our way to the gate and the 4 of us consumed that delicious pie as we waited for them to call our row.  Excitement was definitely mounting, especially for me.  If you have ever traveled internationally (which, before this, I had not), as you walk through the airports you see all of the different flight attendants in their different uniforms.  The Air Emarites crew is a good example.  Seeing the red hats and white scarves, matched with the red lined beige skirt suits moving as a group through the airport presents such a striking image.  Sometimes just the beauty or intrigue of the uniforms makes me want to fly with that airline to see what it's like.  I suppose that's the idea.  Anyway, I was excited to see what this airline would be like.  After we boarded, I felt like a little kid taking in all of the sights.  The flight attendants had beautiful teal saris on and everyone was so accommodating and helpful getting us seated and situated.  We were toward the back of the plane (which was quite large) so making it back there with our carry-ons, children and Little Boy's car seat was quite a spectacle.  Then, we had to figure out how to make the seating work.  Eventually, the man in front of our 3 given seats, switched with Ryan, so he sat with Kiddo, while Little Boy and I sat sandwiched between two gentlemen in the middle row.  I prayed, for their sake, that I was able to feed him and get him to go to sleep soon and without much fuss.  As it turned out, they were both fathers of littles and ended up trying to help us throughout the flight.  The kindness of strangers has not yet been lost. What I didn't expect was how much this airline was going to cater to the kids on board.  While we were still getting situated, the flight attendants brought coloring books, pencils, and even a baby kit with diapers, wipes and bibs.  Then, within minutes of the cabin doors being shut, they came around again and offered apple juice to each of the children.  Once we were in the air, the flight attendants came around again to bring out the kids' meals - which Ryan admitted, made him think his meal was coming as well, and was disappointed when it took another hour for them to bring our meals.  I was impressed, though, with the thought that went into their decision to care for the kids first. Little Boy fell asleep before they ever brought the food around, though, which I was also grateful for. 

The rest of the flight went very smoothly, I am happy to report.  They served us free alcohol again, except this time it was any alcohol.  I went ahead and had a tall rum and Diet Coke, then some wine with my dinner.  There were a bevy of recent movies on the screen that I hadn't been able to see due to our crazy schedule, so I saddled up with my cocktail and delicious meal and watched a few.  I was about to doze off for a while, but Griffin woke up instead, which totally threw off my mojo.  I fed him some snacks, took him for a walk or two, then set up another movie hoping that maybe he would settle back down.  He stayed up for a couple hours and, it took some doing, but I finally made it happen.  I cat napped here and there, but ultimately didn't get much sleep on that flight despite how long it was.  I think I had just fallen asleep, actually, when they turned on the cabin lights to bring around breakfast.  We were happy to find that all of the food was so delicious.  I wish I was able to take a picture of the intricate detail that went into these plates of food.  Individual bowls of delicious bites, real silverware and china teacups - in economy class.  Made me wonder what life in first class looked like...

10.5 hours is a long time to do anything or be anywhere, particularly seated on an airplane.  So, needless to say we were all a little antsy when they announced we were making our final approach and would be landing in 30 minutes.  It felt like a very long 30 minutes.  Once we landed, though, and parked at the gate we were able to make it off the plane quickly and easily.  The kids were happy to run around the airport, while we were more focused on finding the customs line.  We finally made it to Sri Lanka!  Despite my travel fatigue and jet lag, I was suddenly filled with the excitement and reality of our new life.  Something about being in the airport gave me a second (or third or fourth) wind and I was filled with a new kind of energy.  I had so many questions occur to me that I never thought to ask before as we exited the gate area.  What is the exchange rate?  We need to refill our water bottles - but can we drink the fountain water?  Should I have applied bug spray and sunscreen to the kids already?  My mind was flooded with questions I wasn't sure how to answer and now that my phone's SIM card was inactive due to our relocation, I didn't even have Google as a reassuring back up.  For all of the many months that this move has felt like a story I was telling people about something happening to some other family, it all suddenly became unimpeachably real.