Back to the tropics

Jan 9 2011

We are now in Paradise, our ‘home’ in Phetchaburi. Ron has the option of a four week R&R and chose to take two weeks and go to Thailand and Sri Lanka where we lived in 2005-06. We left ROG on Dec 31st at 5:00 a.m. and flew to Istanbul, which took two hours. We then had a 14 hr. layover. Turkish Air gives you a free room if your layover is more than ten hours so we checked into a hotel and rested a few hours, got up and had breakfast then went out in search of a shop we had visited about five years ago where we had purchased a beautiful textile that was used as a camel decoration with tassels, coins and patchwork fabrics. We actually found the neighborhood and the street without knowing the names of the shop or street. Alas the shop was no longer there but we had fun poking our heads into various antique shops along the way and a bit of pride with having found our way back to the shop area from memory. Afterwards we found a shop where I had bought a silk shawl five years ago and bought a couple of scarves for gifts. The owner noticed my surname on my credit card and asked if it was an Ashkenazy name? It turned out the shop was owned and staffed buy Sephardic Jews.

From here we ventured backed to our hotel area and had a late lunch before boarding our transportation back to the airport, all provided by Turkish Air. From Istanbul we had a direct overnight flight (nine hours) to Bangkok. We arrived about 9:00 a.m. and checked into our hotel where we have stayed many times. It is conveniently located next to the sky train. We went to our favorite breakfast place and discovered it was closed as it was New Year’s day and Bangkok was quiet and most shops were closed. We ate at another nearby place called Cabbages and Condoms. This restaurant was established by a man who wanted to help fight HIV infections by making condoms as common as cabbages in Thailand. A portion of the proceeds goes to help fight and treat HIV/AIDS. We have eaten here before as well. The place is artfully decorated with condoms: mannequins sport various outfits made of many different color condoms. It is artful and fun and serves an important cause. Later in the day I did my annual shopping for bras in Bangkok. Our friends who worked with Ron on a two year project in Thailand back in 2004-05 used to laugh at me for buying bras here but I discovered my favorite brand which sold for $50 at Nordstrom sold for $10-$20 here. I am a smart shopper. Ron explored a new hotel that we booked for our next stay the night before we leave to return home on the 15th. We had a great foot massage then headed to our favorite dinner place. It must have been an off night as it just wasn’t up to par. We dined outside which is always a treat. Bangkok is usually hot but not this trip. We lucked out. The next day we went to our favorite breakfast place and it was open. We had crepes and good coffee again dining outside which is one of the things that makes this part of the world so very special. We ventured to Wat Po taking the water taxi and had our fortunes read by the same man who has been doing it for us since 2005. Then we went to Nuch’s Salon, the mother of a Thai student who was in Portland for her senior year of high school We were good friends of Noone’s and now are good friends with her mom, Nuch. Ron had a foot massage while I got a mani/pedicure. Then we had a quick dinner with Nuch and a friend at a nearby restaurant before dashing back to the hotel to catch our plane to Colombo Sri Lanka. We arrived shortly after midnight but it took forever to get our luggage then we took a cab into town and stayed at a small inn called Havelock Bungalows, where we used to have breakfast and dinners when we dined out. We arrived late and woke up the night duty person who let us in. He was confused about which room was ours, showed us a reservation card with a different name, took us to the wrong room that had a baby crib and asked us if we had a baby. I think the last woman my age who had a baby was Sarah, Abraham’s wife!! It took a second person to iron out the mistake and finally we got to bed at 3:00 a.m. The next morning I woke up and Ron asked me what time it was. I told him it was 8:30. Since we were being picked up at 10:00 we thought we should start the day although both of us were quite tired. After we showered and dressed we realized I had not changed my watch for the local time which was 1.5 hours difference so we had gotten up at 7:00 not 8:30. Drat, we could have used that extra 90 minutes. Yes folks, Sri Lanka uses the same time zone as India and for whatever reason they are .5 hour different from the other time zones. The next day we had our friend Debra’s driver pick us up and take us to Debra’s house. She and her husband Roy are in the US and offered to let us stay in their home. What a blessing. We have five days in Colombo so had written friends to ask if we could get together in the time we had. Our first day we went to the grocery store for breakfast items and a few snacks. Then we realized we were quite tired so we rested for a couple of hours then did a little shopping as SL is a shopper’s paradise: you can get good quality at reasonable prices. We met friends for drinks at one of our favorite places and it was grand to see Don and Som who had gotten married recently. They were leaving for Bangkok the next day.

The next day Ron went to the Asia Foundation and I took Geetha and her daughter out for a marathon shopping spree. Geetha works at the Asia Foundation and was our housekeeper when we lived here and I had promised to take her shopping when I came to visit. She asked if her daughter could join us and I am thankful she did as she seemed to know the needed sizes better and didn’t worry about the prices. Geetha and Dineshia took me to a store that had items for $4-$5. When I realized Geetha was looking at the prices of everything she picked up I told her to stop it. I had a budget in mind and realized we would not exceed my limit at this store. We managed to buy clothes for everyone. Geetha has her two married daughters and four grandchildren living with her. Everyone got something new. We finished around 2:00 and I offered to take them to lunch. As we were driving to a restaurant we got a call that lunch was ready at Geetha’s house so we turned around and went back to the house and had a feast of curried chicken, crab, rice and greens and fresh fruit for dessert. Afterwards I left and went back to the house where we were staying and hooked up with Ron. That night we went out to eat at Mango Tree, one of our favorite Indian restaurants.

Wednesday is a bit of a blur. I went to see Ajith, a jeweler whom I used when we lived there. He has been a manufacturer for about 15 years. He operates in a small container. It is about six feet across and maybe 12 feet deep and windowless. Three men work at a work bench and Ajith is usually standing. He is always immaculately dressed and his workers are often shirtless. I recognized his workers from before and he told me they had been working for him for 15 years. It speaks well of Ajith’s fairness to his employees. I ordered some pendants for gifts and treated myself to a pair of earrings. At lunch Ron and I went to Agra, another Indian restaurant, where we were joined by 10 people who had worked with Ron when we lived here. All were Sri Lankans. You cannot imagine how much it meant to us that these friends took the time to meet us. Most had moved on to other NGO’s, some had been promoted to more responsible positions. It was great to catch up with each one and to tell stories about when we had lived here. There was lots of laughter and many good memories. We went away from the luncheon with more fond memories and a grateful heart.

In between meeting friends for lunches and dinners I did a lot of shopping and Ron did a little. I mostly bought gifts as I need next to nothing. I bought some wonderful shirts for several men friends as Barefoot has beautiful hand dyed, hand woven cotton shirts. Later we went to Shilpa, the orphanage where I volunteered when we lived here. There are 50 girls here, ages 6-20. Some of the young women I worked with in teaching career development and job search came by to see us as well. These women are now working and successful. It was a thrill to see them and to know they had found their way in the world. The older girls at Shilpa put on a dance performance doing a dance depicting reconciliation after the end of the 25 year civil war. Then the entire group of 50 girls sang a song in English at which point I burst into tears. Oy! It was very touching and very sweet.

That night we met Veena and her family for vegetarian Indian food and had hot chili masala dosas, a large thin pancake filled with potatoes, onions and who knows what else. Veena was our former landlady and her brother, sister in law, two nieces and her sister joined us for the reunion. More great memories and super food.

Thursday I got some of my prescription drugs at a fraction of what I pay in the US, same manufacturers. Ron had a meeting that day so we worked around his schedule. He is trying to drum up some business so we can return sooner rather than later. After finishing up in the ROG he hopes to do short term assignments. I failed to mention that all week we used our former trishaw driver, Mr. Kularathna, to get around town. It was a thrill to be with him again. He remembered where some stores were that I couldn’t remember the name of but could describe the general area and what they sold. We had lunch with Herath who works at the Asia Foundation and who helps me communicate with Geetha via email. Geetha has limited English skills and Herath translates her messages to me. He has helped also by getting her a birthday cake each year to celebrate her birthday at work. When I lived there I got her a cake and she told me it was the first time she had ever had her birthday celebrated. Since then I have sent a check to Herath who carries out the deed for me. I wanted to thank him so asked if I could take him to lunch. He picked out a nearby restaurant which happened to be a place where Ron and I ate when we lived here. We had our cheapest lunch ever there one day: $1.10 for a hot meal and bottled water…. for both of us! Herath was a delight and I was thankful to get to know him better as I had never met him before this trip. That night we had dinner with Chandini and Lakshman, her husband. Chandini had been our language teacher and was the person who got me involved with Shilpa. The four of us had dinners often when we lived here and I have always enjoyed our time together as the conversation is always stimulating as we often talk about Sri Lanka and the US.

Our last day was a day of tying up loose ends. I went by Ajith’s and another store to pick up items I had ordered. We had lunch with two friends who still worked at the Asia Foundation then went by Suba’s home to see his family. He presented Ron with a beautiful shirt and sarong from Jaffna, a region in the north that we were never able to see when we lived here as it was part of the war zone. Ron hopes that we will be allowed to go there our next visit as it is supposed to be beautiful. Right now no foreigners are allowed there. We did some last minute shopping then went to Mr. Kularathna’s home. Mr. K has an exquisite yard filled with tropical plants and many, many orchids. Since we were last here he had built an addition on his house: two bedrooms and a bath. He said he did this so that when he dies it would give his wife an income to rent out this space. The suite is located behind the house up a set of stairs and includes a small patio where the tenants could sit outside and enjoy the garden. It reminded us of our little apartment over our garage. Mr. K has a heart condition and needs surgery. We offered to pay for it two years ago but he refused to take the money. He is very proud. Then he sold his vehicle to build this addition and had not worked in a year. While we were here he borrowed a friend’s vehicle so he could squire us around. He recently bought another vehicle and is now trying to get it registered. We were treated to an elaborate meal and I forgot how many dishes there were: two kinds of fish, rice, rice with veggies, chicken curry, and I cannot remember what else. Dessert was four kinds of fresh fruit. Yum!

We went back home and finished packing and Debra’s driver, Mahalingam, took us to the airport where we caught a 1:15 a.m. flight to Bangkok, a three hour flight, arriving here at 6:30 given the time difference. We were met around 8:00 by friends: Nuch, her daughter Noone who was an exchange student in Portland three years ago and Noone’s sister, and Suraporn. We piled into a van and one car and off we went to Phetchaburi where we have use of Nattawan’s house, a dear friend’s who lives in the Portland area. We spent the day with our friends at the house. They left in the late afternoon to return to Bangkok. They refused to let us pay for the van and driver. Su left us her car to use and we went to the grocery store to get some essentials. Our house is on a family compound. Nattawan’s aunt, Pa ChaAn, her two sons and their wives, a granddaughter and her son and a former daughter in law live here. Pa ChaAn sent us a dinner of pad Thai and the next morning we received breakfast: rice with sliced chicken and yummy soup and sauce for the rice. Later lunch arrived. This is an amazing family who cannot do enough for us. We are always treated like royalty here. Our first night we were visited by Pear and her mother Timm, Nattawan’s cousin. They told us Tui would be here later that night so we walked up to where the internet café is and checked our email. We were so tired we went to bed around 9:00 and missed seeing our friend Tui who is Nattawan’s cousin. She had come to Phetchaburi that night to see us and no one told us she was leaving early the next day to go back to Bangkok. We were so disappointed to have missed her. Tui is a nurse practitioner in Bangkok. Pa ChaAn has four sons and four daughters. They are a very beautiful family and so kind to us.

On Monday we tried to find a hardware store we had seen on one of our trips but we were unsuccessful. We came home and went down the street in search a massage parlor but it had moved on. We stopped by the internet café and checked email and came home. Again a hot meal was delivered to our door. I have not cooked once since we have been here. Ron brought a TV and DVD player here that we had in ROG. When we came to ROG we bought the electronic equipment that was in the house where we live. This included two TV’s and DVD players, etc. We never use one of the TV’s so brought it here. We watched a DVD we found here and realized we had watched it on Ron’s computer once before two years ago. HA! Old age has its benefits: you can watch the same DVD twice and near the end realize you have seen it before!!

It is now Monday and we had planned to go to a town, Hua Hin, about an hour and a half south of here to see our friend Bill, a former contractor from Bend Oregon. However we are waiting for a satellite TV rep to come by to see about getting a dish installed this trip. They were supposed to be here yesterday and never showed up and now they are late by 45 minutes. All this has been arranged by Noi, a cousin of Nattawan’s. He speaks no English and we speak no Thai. Ron is at the big house now trying to find out what is going on so we can leave. Ron and Noi went to town and discovered it isn’t practical to get a satellite dish at this time. We decided to wait and go to Hua Hin to see Bill tomorrow so we took off for ChaAm, another beach town about an hour south of here. In 2004 when Ron first started working in Thailand we went to ChaAm and spent a few days at a hotel right on the beach. We ate outside on a little raised patio with a thatched roof and walked down the beach a short distance and got a foot massage under another thatched roof on a raised platform with the surf crashing at our heads. We repeated both activities today, holding hands while lying down on the massage pads. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. Life is indeed good!

On Wednesday we drove to Hua Hin. As we were turning into Bill’s drive, a right hand turn, a truck passed us on the left (they drive on the opposite side of the street here) and sideswiped the front side of the car we had borrowed. The bad news is we are not covered by the insurance. The good news is the damage is not bad and repair is not expensive in Thailand. We only hope we can get it repaired before we head back to Bangkok on Friday so Suraporn is not inconvenienced in any way for loaning us her car. We were bummed but life is good regardless of what comes our way! We had a wonderful visit with Bill, a great guy. Kay, his wife was in Eugene OR with her businesses, a Thai restaurant and hotel so we were sorry to have missed her. The three of us drove to our favorite beach restaurant and had a delicious seafood lunch. On the way back to Bill’s house we stopped by a huge shopping center in search of lamp parts. Ron is making two lamps for our Thai house from two celadon vases but alas, you cannot buy lamp parts here. He has everything he needs at home but when we left for Georgia in 2009 we did not anticipate coming here. Those lamps will just have to wait. They are for the guest room so it isn’t critical at this point.

On the way home we stopped by an outlet mall. There are many in this region with some brand names that we know well. As we were looking around I spied my favorite shoe store, Ecco. I found two pair of sandals my size which is not easy with my large feet. I was thrilled to get two pair for $10 more than I pay for one pair at home!

When we got home, we walked to the internet café. Again it was filled with young boys (it is always filled with them) playing violent video games and the one next to me wasn’t using his earphones so I was listening to grenades exploding, automatic pistols and rifles firing, etc. That lasted about 60 seconds and I asked the attendant to require the boy to turn off the sound and use his headphones. It was just too much for this old girl who doesn’t much care for violence. I wonder how many men these boys kill each day on the computer. Oy! I wrote Nattawan about our auto mishap and she called shortly thereafter with a solution. She suggested that her cousin’s husband take the car in for an estimate/repair. She said if we took it in there would be a language problem and that we would be charged a much higher rate because we are foreigners. She told us to not worry about it that these things happen. Ron was really upset but calmed down later in the evening.

Wednesday we got up and after breakfast we put on our work clothes and got some bleach water and scrubbed the outer walls of the house that had developed mold. Tomorrow Ron will do some touch up paint. Noi jumped right in there to help us without being asked. He is Nattawan’s cousin and he is our caretaker when we are not here. He maintains the gardens. Noi doesn’t speak English but we manage to communicate. He is also the one who most often runs out on his motorcycle and gets our meals. It is so cheap to eat in restaurants and take away many Thais dine out often. We do as well when we are here. Later in the day Ron said he didn’t feel well. When we compared notes we discovered both of us felt ‘something between hungry and sickish’. Later Ron was sick to his stomach and I called Bill to see if he had been sick. Turns out all three of us had felt icky but only Ron got sick to his stomach. That will teach us to eat at our favorite seafood restaurant without Kay!

The weather has been perfect, with cool days and nights. The air quality is awful however. They are burning the cane fields according to Bill and this really messes up the air. Reminds me of the grass field burning in the Salem OR region. A good rain would help but I don’t think any is predicted.

It is now Thursday, our last day in Phetchaburi. Ron finished his outside painting while I did our daily laundry and ironing. We wash everything by hand here. We hope to get a massage in today as we spied a massage place a little further down the road than we went earlier this week. How great to have a place nearby. We got a quote to repair Suraporn’s car and it is a fraction of what we would pay at home. She wants to have it repaired in Bangkok, not here, so we will give her the money to do it there. We are lucky that it wasn’t a bad accident and that only minimal damage was done. It was an international incident however as Nattawan who lives in Tigard OR called us three times to convey what was going on and her former husband, Chong, who lives in NE Thailand called as well as he speaks perfect English and helped us to understand about the plans to pick us up on Friday and how we would get the car back to Suraporn.

Every time we come to Thailand there are many people who go out of their way to ensure we are comfortable and that every need is met, usually without us even asking for help. We are grateful for their attentiveness but go away feeling awkward as it is difficult to reciprocate.

Today we ran errands: filled up the gas tank, Ron got a haircut ($2.00), got cleaning supplies for Linn who cleans the house for us, had lunch at our favorite noodle shop, and got a massage. The internet café is closed so we can’t check email. We started covering the furniture with sheets, just like in the movies. We are sad to leave but have had such a wonderful R&R. Tomorrow we head to Bangkok and will have dinner with Auem, one of the Thai students who lived in Portland a few years ago. Her parents will join us as well. Saturday we fly to Istanbul , have a six hour layover and then a two hour flight to Tbilisi. We arrive at 4:00 in the morning and have a massage scheduled for 1:00 in the afternoon.

December 26 2010
It is the day after Christmas and my geraniums are still blooming in the pots on our front porch. What ever happened to winter here? We continue to have warm sunny days in the mid 50’s and cold nights in the low 30’s. We have had two days of rain in about 12 weeks.





Alexi & Gigi



Last weekend we were invited to go to the wine region called Kakheti east of TBS with Sophie and Gigi who used to work with Ron at the ministry and now works for a small city outside of TBS as a Deputy Mayor. We were later joined by Alexi, the finance director from Telavi, another small town and by Tina and Dato, the former finance director for the City of Tbilisi, and lastly by Paata, the interim finance director for TBS. Our first stop was about two hours out of TBS where we visited Akhali (New) Shuamta, a 16th century church and monastery for nuns. The church had beautiful frescos that were being restored. As I have mentioned before, the Soviets in their infinite wisdom and fear of religion, white washed all frescoes in the Georgian churches during their regime here.

From here we stopped briefly in Telavi to view a 900 year old tree that appears to be on its last leg. Onward to see Gremi, a citadel that stands on a small hill about 19 km outside of Telavi. We visited a very small museum, church and palace. From 1466-1672 Gremi was the capital of Kakheti. The church of the Archangels was built in 1565. The ground floor of the palace contained a small museum of local archeological items. We climbed very steep stairs in the tower. At times I had to put my hands on the next step in order to pull myself up. My quads felt it the next day. It was a fascinating place to still be standing and in as good a shape as it was. Restoration continues here. They hope to have the wine press working in the next six months. This is a large stone vat requiring pressing with your feet and then draining the grape juice into subterranean vats, the traditional method of Georgian wine making. By now all our group had joined up and we headed for our last tour stop, the Nekresi Monastery with churches from the 4th and 16th centuries. This was a large complex with several buildings and churches, one with murals. We had to park at the bottom of the hill and take a minibus to the top where the structures were. This was a very steep and narrow road. We had a grand view of the valley below including the foundation of a ruined pagan temple.

Afterwards we drove back to Telavi where we were Alexi’s guest in his home for supra. We arrived around 4:30 and ate until 8:30 when Ron and I had to get back to TBS for a Skype call with Sonia, Ron’s mom. It was a pleasure to be invited into someone’s home. Alexi’s house had a large dining/living room on the first floor as well as a den and kitchen and half bath. Upstairs were three bedrooms and a full bath. The balcony off Alexi’s bedroom had a panoramic view of the Upper Caucasus Mountains. I am not sure I would get anything done if I had that view on a daily basis. It was spectacular.

One member of the party who joined us at the house played his guitar and sang Georgian songs. A fire in the fireplace was used to cook the barbeque or shish kabobs. I lost count after 24 different dishes. I will try to recall some of them now but it has been a week. We had fish, beef meat balls in a rich red sauce, fried chicken, chicken salad, pork shish kabob, mushrooms sautéed, mushroom caps baked with cheese, cottage cheese bread, plain bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, eggplant with walnut paste, chicken with walnut sauce, spinach with walnut paste, three kinds of cheeses, fresh fruit platter, three or four kinds of dessert pastries/cakes. Wine, more wine, more wine…fruit juice and carbonated mineral water. I have obviously forgotten some of the dishes but this is what you eat at every supra. The menu is identical whether you eat at a restaurant or at someone’s home.

My life has been hectic for the past two weeks. I volunteer at Tbilisi State University and we have been planning a reception with high profile government and business people to announce the alumni office. Georgians do not plan so imagine hand delivering invitations two days before the event. There is no viable postal service here. In addition, Georgians require coddling so you MUST call to remind them to come and assure that they are coming. As I said it was hectic. The good news is the event was Thursday and it worked well in spite of some ups and downs. And I do hope my life will not be so hectic. My contract ends Dec 31st but I offered to help when we return from our R&R in mid January. We leave Dec 31st for Thailand and Sri Lanka. We are so excited. We will be seeing friends in Colombo and staying at a friend’s house all but the first night. We plan to take an empty suitcase to do some serious shopping there. We never shop here as things are more expensive than the US but Sri Lanka is heaven for shopping. We have a favorite store that sells beautiful men’s shirts that are hand woven, hand dyed. So very colorful in the tropical rainbow. They also sell placemats, tablecloths, women’s clothes and jewelry. There is no shortage of things to spend our money on! We have arranged to meet friends for dinner two nights while there and will see more during the day. I want to go to Shilpa children’s Home where I volunteered when we lived there. After Colombo we fly to Bangkok and go to Phetchaburi where we have the use of a house of our friend Nattawan. Phetchaburi is a small town and a much slower pace than Bangkok. We can walk to the end of our street to an internet café that is usually filled with kids playing violent video games and a few who play non violent games. Fortunately the owner makes them use headphones as the noise was intolerable before: sounds of rapid gunfire, grenades, tanks etc. Oy! If their mothers only knew!