Sri Lanka

We landed in Colombo today around 12 midnight, traveling from Hong Kong via Bangkok. The flight was smooth. Service on Sri Lankan Airlines was good. The flight attendants all seem to be dressed more scantily than most airline personnel I've seen, but maybe that's because midriffs are standard in South Asia women's wear.

We waited an hour for the bus that would take us to the Blue Oceanic Hotel. Many folks were waiting as well. A group of Marines walked through the terminal with equipment. Two guys sat at a table outside customs registering for http://www.volunteersrilanka.org. It was set up partly by Microsoft, evident by their logo on the banner. Signs directing aid workers for the tsunami disaster were posted everywhere.

Blue Oceanic Hotel is next to the beach. Though we couldn't see it, we could hear it. The hotel staff were quite helpful, as well as the driver, but I was unsure whether to tip. We ended up not tipping.

It is about 1:30 am now. I'm in a pensive mood. I can't help but ponder about being in a country where only two weeks ago, such horrific tragedy befell and from which they still reel from. I can't help but think of the ocean waters just outside my window and the carnage those very waters wrought on the people of Sri Lanka. It is sobering to say the least. I say a prayer for the dead, dying, and living before going to bed.

Bon Voyage

Well, we leave today...next stop Tokyo :) No, it's just a layover, we're landing in Hong Kong...and then it's off to India, via Bangkok and Sri Lanka. (This wasn't planned recently...we'd already bought our tickets weeks ago.) Can't believe next week this time we'll be with my parents and I will be S's tour guide for a change.

We've spent the last week packing like mad, especially the last couple days. S and I took turns sleeping for an hour last night...i'm pretty bushed right now and i'm pretty sure S is too. If we can make it through the next few hours, we hope to sleep well on the plane...but even that is a pretty thin hope.

S's mom and sister and our neices came down to see us off and with the help of a few friends we've been doing pretty well on the "getting things done" bit. A HUGE blessing has been giving to us by a friend who is willing to stay in our apartment...D, you have blessed us, man! Thank you!

Well, that was a fun break...better go get the last minute stuff done...so it doesn't wait until the last minute...

See you on the other side...

...and a Happy New Year

Well, it's 2005...

Seems like Y2K was much farther than just 5 years ago...

We brought in the New Year with friends and watched fireworks at the Space Needle from a distance. It was lovely and very nice with the small mist falling over the city. (It got much colder soon after).

This next week is going to be all about packing...we have less than one week now and we're in the midst of a chaotic flat...

See you all soon...

3-month anniversary

Merry Christmas! I hope this was a wonderful time with friends and loved ones.

Since you might not hear from me until later, a very Happy New Year as well!

reunion

I, L. am in Cleveland, OH as i write this and S. is back home in Seattle. I've been here this weekend on a reunion with some of my friends from college. It's been wonderful, except for the weather. (As i write this the wind is howling and the snow is pelting down mercilessly outside).

We have about three weeks before we depart for HK and are in the full swing of wrapping up this part of our lives. S. has been in full gear getting stuff ready to either sell, giveaway or store. We're trying not to store too much, but packing up is still always a pain.

There won't be much to write in the next few weeks except lovely packing stories...but we'll try to keep you posted. Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season thus far

Some definite news...

Well, we have finally bought our tickets for Hong Kong. We're leaving January 7 (a few weeks after our original December 12th date). We're in the process of buying tickets to India and will hopefully finalize those pretty soon.

School starts February 21st, so we hope to be there a little before that for S. to go to orientation and to give us some time to clean the flat - i'm sure there's loads to do in that area.

Now that we have a specific date, we'll be in the process of packing up our lives here (unless someone takes over). It's a much bigger deal for S. since he's been here for over 8 years...i think a part of him feels like he's packing up that part of his heart as well. Please keep him in your thoughts in this area. And for me - that i will be the suitable helper to him that i am called to be.

Thank you

2 month anniversary

Well, we've just gotten back from S. parents after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend there with his family. It was so nice. It's strange (and awesome) to be part of a family with my parents/siblings being so far away - but i have family here now.

There's really nothing exciting to report, except that we had a wonderful time and hope you all have too...

Happy Thanksgiving

So, S and i are driving somewhere (don't really remember) and i notice a guy taking a video of a barber shop a couple blocks down from our flat. It didn't really hit me as strange, until i saw the same guy still there a few hours later when we were driving back. Near him was a van, what looked to be from a TV station...but still nothing connected...until we heard the news.

For the news story, go to: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/200337_raid19.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=25
For our story, read on...

There's not much to tell really...about a dozen men were arrested for bank and immigration fraud. They were under FBI surveillance for a number of months under suspicions of terrorist activity...and the barber shop (a couple blocks from us) was used as a training center for Anti-American propaganda. They were teaching 11-17 year old boys how to fight Americans, using videos and other media by Al-Queda and other such groups.

Ironically, S. has dialogued with a few of them about Christianity vs. Islam. They tried to convert him...it didn't work. Every time we drive by the barber shop we talk about going to eating at the Somalian restaurant below...

For me, it's been exciting...my street has never been on the news this much...

busy week

This week has been the busiest week for us yet - not that it would be considered busy to most people, but considering our lifestyle for the last month - this was busy.

S and i have decided to bring some order into our lives (although i love sleeping in) so that the regimentation of going back to work won't blind sight us. It was mostly S' idea - i don't think i've slept in this much since forever and i KNOW we'll never have this time once we get back into "real life." Having said that - we've decided to volunteer at a few places, which we started this week. A couple days at Operation Emergency Center doing some data entry and setting up their database into an easier format. We got a call from a women's shelter asking for more computer help, so we did that. We also opened up the apartment for a game night, since the kids were off, so most of them didn't have homework - that was crazy. I think we had around 20 kids in the apartment for two hours - crazy but fun...although i think one of our games decided to pick a kid and walk out with him. Oh well, it's back to homework time next week. We're also scheduled to help out at a men's shelter next week and at OEC...so, it seems like we've got some sort of schedule (i think it makes S feel better). I don't mind so much, since i know this isn't going to last very long.

Update on our departure: we've reserved tickets to Hong Kong from Seattle, Dec 12 - a month from today. Seems very soon, but at least we've got something concrete to work toward. Please keep us in your thoughts as we start working toward leaving around that time. The tentative plan is that we go to HK and work on Sam's visa to India and then off to India for several weeks before we start school in February. This might not stick, but we'll keep you updated.

Thanks for your thoughts, L

imm. status update

We have finally finished as much of the paper filling process as we can, with a few questions. Yesterday, we went to a support center, only to find out that it had moved across town and we weren't going to get there on time. So, we went today... found out that not only do they close at 2:30, but you also HAVE to have an appointment. We did look into making appointments, but they said that we couldn't. When we inquired at the office today, they said that they only give out appointments for two weeks out of a month and if we weren't able to, then all the slots are full. So, we're stuck!!! Please keep us in your thoughts. We've made an appointment for the next available time, November 18th - IMPORTANT DATE...we're hoping to have EVERYTHING (including all questions answered), so that we can actually file on that day, without having to come back. This is much later than we were planning to file papers, but it is all out of our hands and in hands much greater than ours - and there is our hope.

Thank you all for thinking of us - please continue to do so...and remember Nov. 18th in case you have some time one your knees.