lizard check!

varakam! (hello!)

i'm here! i'm happy! i'm writing this on a dial-up connection! (did you even know those still existed?) so, i don't have much time because life's too short to wait for these websites to load!

today i had one of those days where you end it thinking, "i could do that every day for the rest of my life and be completely happy." i awoke with the sunrise (schedule's still a little off from traveling), did some morning yoga and dancing, peaceful breakfast, and then ALL DAY with the young people in the program here. i started by going to the hindu temple, where the girls led me around the weekly rituals. back at the residence, i played a checkers type game with the boys, then sang and danced and played drums with them. then, i had a tamil lesson with the girls (i'm up to about 5 words now--thank you, mother, father, sister, brother--and i did learn how to write my name, Frank, and Terre in Tamil!). after that was lunch, and then a couple of hours of horribly cheesy indian movies with the girls. we always seemed to laugh at opposite times...the afternoon/evening was volleyball (the ball was like a rock, causing me to try to undo nearly 10 years of playing and try to hit it only with my fists...). i can't tell you how wonderful the day was. to be honest, after a couple days in the craaaaaziness and chaos of colombo when i first arrived, i was a bit worried about my time here. i really wasn't a fan. i'll try to write more about that when i have time and accessibility. but since i've left colombo and settled in here, things have been wonderful.

a few firsts of the last few days:
--having to give the toilet seat a little kick before sitting down to make sure there aren't any lizards underneath (their loss if they are, i guess.) my first night, one of the few times i got up to go to the bathroom in the night, i flipped on the light and saw a small lizard chilling in the bowl of the toilet. 'it's cool,' i thought, 'there's another bathroom right here. i'll just go in there.' i kid you not, i switched on the light in the other bathroom and saw another little lizard scurry behind the toilet on the wall. hopefully no one else in the building heard me yell out, "son of a bitch!"
--being in a hindu temple
--petting a baby elephant
--eating a mango straight off the mango tree in the yard
--drinking from a coconut and then eating the inside
--eating rice with my hands! (here, they eat their meals with the right hand--everything! it's actually more difficult than you might think. they usually bring out silverware for guests, but when i'm eating with someone else, i do my best to do whatever they're doing.)

that is just a taste of some of the highlights. thanks for reading! and thanks for all the emails i've recieved already! even if i don't respond (which i probably won't considering my limited access), i LOVE getting them! i'll try to write more and maybe even post a couple pictures if i ever get internet on my computer.

love to all!

disappointment comes from expectations, while peace comes from taking one moment at a time

this title is an idea i have studied and thought about a lot over the past six months or so. and even more so over the past few weeks as i prepared for this summertime adventure. when i (i can speak only for myself) take the time to really think about it, i think it makes a lot of sense. only when we are expecting something very specific can we be disappointed that it doesn't turn out that way. however, if we choose to take each moment as it comes and to (try to) be fully present in those moments, we cannot be disappointed by a future to which we have not attached expectations.

as i prepare to leave tomorrow, i recognize that of course i have certain expectations for the summer. i expect to be hot. i expect to learn a lot. i expect to be challenged in many ways. and i expect to be really, really hot. but beyond that, i'm trying not to be too specific. rather than be in a state in which i'm constantly evaluating how things are different than what i expected, i hope to be constantly evaluating how things are beautiful, new, ancient, terrifying, life-giving, challenging, and part of a part of me that i have never known and yet known forever.

but, of course, i do expect to learn some new dance moves.

i will try to post when i can. thank you for reading. and please be in touch!

love and peace to you and yours and all.

3 days

until this:



(photo by Deshan Tennekoon)