International

My dad's immigration file is a stack of photocopies of photocopies of forms and typewritten letters. Halfway through the pile is his application for permanent residency, followed by another sheet that's blank except for this picture. ID photos for the application. I love the look on his face and the quality of the image.

I requested his file during my attempt to get Italian citizenship, an effort which proved unnecessary, since I've apparently had dual citizenship all along. Since I got my Italian passport a couple of summers ago, I haven't really thought much about taking advantage of it. Moving out of the country has been a hazy, unforeseeable future daydream. I started thinking about it more concretely today, though. While I was looking up information about binding, I found a book arts program in London. Of course the tuition for international students puts the program completely out of my reach. But tuition for UK and EU citizens is only a third of that. I've already started my application.

Bring Me Soymilk

On my flight from JFK to Atlanta I was completely surrounded by children. The kid behind me was practicing her tap routine on the back of my seat while her baby brother pounded on the window like some sort of tiny Dustin Hoffman. The third sibling was literally up to her elbows in bangles so that her every move was distinctly audible. Another little girl peeked between the seats in front of me and then slowly and deliberately licked the window from bottom to top. From across the aisle, the stench of Cool Ranch Doritos engulfed me and I wished for death.

I finally got back to Birmingham at 9:15 this morning after missing my connecting flight in Atlanta and then sleeping through the flight I was rebooked on at 7:30 this morning. I can't say the travel portion of my vacation was particularly awesome, but it's over now. I can quietly avoid my responsibilities from the comfort of my living room. At least until tomorrow, when I'll probably have to deal with various inconveniences, including the fact that my car was hit while I was out of town.

Until then, I refuse to go anywhere, even the grocery store, though I'm in serious need of soymilk (I could probably also use some food). Publix is just too much at the moment. Instead, I'm going to take an ill-advised nap and then stay up too late watching movies.

Horror-scope

I'm not going to go into all the details, but the important predictions are the following: shit is going to continue to suck for me until May 4, 2010, at which point things will start to get better. I have a window from March 2011 to July 2011 during which to get married. If I don't do it then, I've missed the boat until I'm forty! The guy I marry is going to be foreign and slightly younger than me, and I'll probably live outside the US. So, I guess if I make it through the next six months or so, it's smooth sailing. No major health issues or other problems. Just have to deal with another nine months of crap.

Tourist Shots

I've done most of my actual sight-seeing in the last two days. Elephant safari yesterday and primarily Buddhist 12th century ruins today. The Buddhist site has what I think might be the largest reclining Buddha in the world. Could be wrong about that, though. Back to Colombo tomorrow, the land that the internet forgot.

Sri Lanka Pt. 2

Because I know you're on the edge of your seat, I'll go ahead and tell you straight off that my pants, after a couple of washings, are ok. You can exhale now.

We spent the entire weekend shopping and running errands, including dropping my birth info off so I could have my chart done. Apparently by Saturday morning I'll know all sorts of things about my present and future including when and to whom I will finally get married. Please, someone sort it all out, because I'm clearly incapable.

My downfall here has been fabric. I have bought no fewer than five saris and I'm afraid that if I go anywhere near a fabric shop, I'll buy more. But they're soooooo pretty, and they're all different and amazing and I could really just spend the rest of my life looking at them. Clearly I need to find a Sri Lankan dude so it won't be weird for me to wear them around the house (yes, I realize that it would still be weird).

We arrived at the beach yesterday and are going to some historical sites tomorrow. I think we're going to see elephants after that, and then back to Colombo for Ami's 80th birthday party. I'm glad my last few days will be in town and not full of travelling. I'll have plenty of that on the way home.

I must leave this internet point before I steam to death. More when I return to Colombo.
I won't be able to really post any photos until after I get back, so you'll have to survive for now on these fisherman pulling in nets.

Sri Lanka: Part 1

Friday night. After a couple of missteps, I end up at the bar of the Colombo Hilton listening to a Sri Lankan Eagles cover band. I shit you not. I'm the only westerner in the place, and almost the only woman. The waiter stood inappropriately close while giving me the bill for my Lion beer, so I shifted away to let him know that I am not, in fact, a prostitute. Awkward as it is, this is the first time I've been alone since I arrived and I'm enjoying it. Bonus points for seeing an ad for Step Up 2: The Streets on the bar television.

I can't even remember what we did on my first day here except go to a jewelry store where I coveted gold earrings that were out of my price range. The next day we left for Kandy where we attended the next-to-last night of the Perahera, a festival celebrating the Buddha's tooth-relic (which may or may not actually have been destroyed by the Portuguese in the 17th century.) Awesome fire-dancing and costumed elephants quickly turned into the longest, most repetitive parade of all time. Also, giant bats. Enough said.

On Wednesday we drove up to the hill country. Don't ask me where, because I don't know. Everything is already arranged, so I'm not paying much attention to those things. What I do know is that 1) we toured a tea factory and I bought some sort of ridiculously expensive tea; 2) we drove up 8000 ft. on windy and sometimes scary, but always amazingly beautiful roads; 3) we stayed two nights at Warwick Gardens, which is the sort of place where an Englishman would have gone at the turn of the 19th century to convalesce.

Yesterday back to Colombo where my only pair of pants was mildewing in our apartment's washer. Not sure yet if they survived.

Summary of the trip so far:

• interesting foods eaten: rambutan, mangosteen, avocado "juice," curd with treacle.
• monkeys sighted: four
• live performances: innumerable by other members of the group, one by me (coroner's speech from The Wizard of Oz)
• Times almost killed by a motorcycle: one
• Incidents of crying by myself or others: at least three
• Common features of Sri Lanka: saris, tuk-tuks, curry, Buddha shrines with flashing LED halos, roadside cows, wild dogs, cricket matches, military check-points, freezing-ass air conditioning
• favorite business name: Moxie's Chicken and Chicken Parts
• internet points found: 1

P.S. There's a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf here. I'm getting an Iced Blended before I leave.