14 years old, a French boy with no English, I was on the train, by myself, from Paris to Canterbury, England. My mission? To go and visit Barbara, the French/British girl I was enthralled with, who was away from Paris…
Postcards from France ~ Toulouse
We take a short flight from Paris to Toulouse, the center of European aerospace and HQ for Airbus industries. Toulouse is on the South West corner of France, a region that neither one of us has visited before. We have…
Postcards from France ~ Paris
Thanks to Ben’s work, we have an opportunity to be in Paris for a few days. Oh what a hardship! In Spring! In Sri Lanka there is no Spring of course, just eternal summer ~ with wet and dry seasons,…
A decade of nomadic birthdays
Retrospectives can be fun in that they provide a snap shot of life. Peta’s recent birthday, on April 1, seems like a good opportunity to trace back a decade of birthdays for a nomadic girl… Rewinding the clock to see…
Alms giving with Bandu’s family
It has been three months since our friend Bandu’s tragic death. As is customary in the Buddhist tradition, after three months, the bereaved family hosts a home based ceremony in which the local monks are invited for a meal, and to…
The animal kingdom in our garden
We never tire of the rich wildlife which surrounds us in our little house on the Southern coast of the island of Sri Lanka. After returning from travel in India, we are reminded by several animal kingdom visitors that our…
One last “shot of color” at our favorite Tamil Nadu Temple
Color, color, color! It is hard to explain to people who are not “color-blind” the thrill of being in a saturated-color environment. My (Ben) normal life plays out not entirely, but mostly, in “sepia”. It takes a lot of sh’bang,…
Our last morning in Guwahati
In order to go to the region of Aruchanal Pradesh, India’s Northeastern region, we need a visa. The visa may take 1-3 days to be ready. Worth the wait, from what we read and hear from locals. This region of…