Well, I'm back... Feeling very bad that it has been sooooo long since you've heard a word from me. I'll keep it brief: ferocious Sri Lankan infection made me bed-bound for 8 days. Talk about hitting rock-bottom. The whole episode showed me another aspect of Sri Lanka though; the healthcare system. After three days, with the fever showing no decline, I was told to go to hospital - you never know in this tropical climate, I guess. So I went, a little reluctantly, but I went. I didn't go to a public hospital. Apperently, these are only use be people who really have no other options. I havn't seen one for myself, but over-crowded is supposedly an enormous understatement! So, I went to a private hospital. Works pretty much as the public ones we know in Dk with an emergency room etc. I have to say that I was very pleasently surpriced by this whole healthcare encounter. Everything went very swift, no loooong hours of waiting, nice facilities and only a days wait for blod test results.
Being sick is one thing, it's boooooooring and it stincks when you're feeling like #!!*#!, being sick and having a trip to Bangalore in the very near future stincks EVEN more though. I had booked my flight loongago to go visit Bangalore where Savi and John live. I really couldn't bear the thought of having to cancel the trip and missing that reunion (and a chance to see some more of India - many things can be said about Goa, but being representative of the rest of India, it is not!)
Thursday, I left Colombo in a state of well.....feeling better than days before, but in no way feeling up to full speed, I headed to the airport and got on the plane.
Seeing Savi and John again was so nice, it's been 7 months since last, but really didn't feel like that :)
Bangalore was great. Friday it was so so with the exploring due to the crappy health condition. We did however, manage to go out for a VERY nice, typical Indian 'thali'. Otherwise, I had to lay low. Not my initial plan for Bangalore, but the way it was. This gave me the chance to read a very good book though, and I would really like to recommend to anyone, who feels like straying into the mid 1970's Goa: 'Goa Freaks: My Hippie Years in India' by Cleo Odzer. Easily read, and extremly entertaining.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling a lot better - YAY !!! The estimated population of Bangalore is 6100000, so of course I saw only bits and piece of the city, but I REALLY liked it. Had some similarity to Sri Lanka and Colombo, but it really showed that industrialisation has been a part of Bangalore for much longer than Colombo. That being said the city was still full of cows, pot holes and gravel roads, village areas within the city - all in close proximity to grand shopping malls all tinseling and glittering! The contrasts really work for me. I LIKE the cows, the chai wallas, the ironing wallas (men standing on the side of the street with almost antique looking irons - heated by coals - doing the neighbourhoods ironing), and all the other things that make it worlds apart from the west. That being said, I also realized the comfort of being in a place where you could get everything you would need. I don't really think about it in my daily life here in Colombo, but many things are not that easy to get a hold of here. I have, for example, been chasing a new mascara FOR EVER here in Colombo, with out any result. Sugarfree gum also VERY difficult to find here. But then on the other hand, I'm able to get great herbal products at a price where you wouldn't even be able to buy the container in DK!
Anyway, feeling almost all better Saterday, we went to 'Pebbles', which is a club in Bangalore where both Savi and John play. This particular saturday Paul Taylor ways playing. Bangalore has a 11.30 curfew, which means that everything stops and closes at that time! That doesn't really stop people from partying though, they just go to someones home and pick it up again :) Strange rule though - and even more strange is that it was only introduced a few years back.
I returned from yesterday, not fit as a fiddle, but much better than when I left. I also brought back 2 pairs of shoes (wouuuuppsssss) AND my first SARI, which the lovely Savi so generously gave me. I'm going to a traditional Sri Lankan dinner party next weekend, so that will be my first sari appearance. I see so many beautiful women on a daily basis wearing sari's, but when I tried one on in a store in Bangalore, my eye's almost rolled out of my head. I looked so alien to myself. Also, I felt very naked. Eventhough, we are no strangers to skimpy dresses etc, wearing the sari was naked in a totally different way. Don't know how I'm going to cope with sitting at a formal dinner with my stomach and waist not covered up! Now, I need to have a sari jacket (that's the name of the small shirt you wear under the sari). My sari is in pink organza with small silver threads in it, so I'm thinking maybe silver jacket :)
Bangalore was just GREAT, sickness or no sickness. I met the nicest people thru Savi and John, got an insider weekend tour of Bangalore and got to spend some quality time with S&J. One thing did occur to me during this weekend: staying away from Goa is not realistic ! Who am I kiddin' - it's so close by, and there are even more people to go see again. No one told that I shouldn't go, but in my mind, I was thinking maybe to travel for a few weeks to other parts of India, before I leave DK again. BUT....................... Goa is so close by- only a cheap 2 hour flight away. So I guess, chances are that I'll spend a little time there in January. No fixed plans yet though.
By now, it's already early October...Find it hard to believe - time goes by SO fast. I only have to work 20 more days and Anker will be here. REALLY excited about that :) Can't wait to see him and show him everything. YAY
For now though, it's back to work. I havn't been here for 9 days, so I need to get back into motion!
Thinking of everyone - miss seeing you guys and talking to you on a more regular basis !!! Not missing fall one bit, but I'm in serious need of some quality time with all of you :) Would be much worse, if I didn't miss anything, no ?
Being sick is one thing, it's boooooooring and it stincks when you're feeling like #!!*#!, being sick and having a trip to Bangalore in the very near future stincks EVEN more though. I had booked my flight loongago to go visit Bangalore where Savi and John live. I really couldn't bear the thought of having to cancel the trip and missing that reunion (and a chance to see some more of India - many things can be said about Goa, but being representative of the rest of India, it is not!)
Thursday, I left Colombo in a state of well.....feeling better than days before, but in no way feeling up to full speed, I headed to the airport and got on the plane.
Seeing Savi and John again was so nice, it's been 7 months since last, but really didn't feel like that :)
Bangalore was great. Friday it was so so with the exploring due to the crappy health condition. We did however, manage to go out for a VERY nice, typical Indian 'thali'. Otherwise, I had to lay low. Not my initial plan for Bangalore, but the way it was. This gave me the chance to read a very good book though, and I would really like to recommend to anyone, who feels like straying into the mid 1970's Goa: 'Goa Freaks: My Hippie Years in India' by Cleo Odzer. Easily read, and extremly entertaining.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling a lot better - YAY !!! The estimated population of Bangalore is 6100000, so of course I saw only bits and piece of the city, but I REALLY liked it. Had some similarity to Sri Lanka and Colombo, but it really showed that industrialisation has been a part of Bangalore for much longer than Colombo. That being said the city was still full of cows, pot holes and gravel roads, village areas within the city - all in close proximity to grand shopping malls all tinseling and glittering! The contrasts really work for me. I LIKE the cows, the chai wallas, the ironing wallas (men standing on the side of the street with almost antique looking irons - heated by coals - doing the neighbourhoods ironing), and all the other things that make it worlds apart from the west. That being said, I also realized the comfort of being in a place where you could get everything you would need. I don't really think about it in my daily life here in Colombo, but many things are not that easy to get a hold of here. I have, for example, been chasing a new mascara FOR EVER here in Colombo, with out any result. Sugarfree gum also VERY difficult to find here. But then on the other hand, I'm able to get great herbal products at a price where you wouldn't even be able to buy the container in DK!
Anyway, feeling almost all better Saterday, we went to 'Pebbles', which is a club in Bangalore where both Savi and John play. This particular saturday Paul Taylor ways playing. Bangalore has a 11.30 curfew, which means that everything stops and closes at that time! That doesn't really stop people from partying though, they just go to someones home and pick it up again :) Strange rule though - and even more strange is that it was only introduced a few years back.
I returned from yesterday, not fit as a fiddle, but much better than when I left. I also brought back 2 pairs of shoes (wouuuuppsssss) AND my first SARI, which the lovely Savi so generously gave me. I'm going to a traditional Sri Lankan dinner party next weekend, so that will be my first sari appearance. I see so many beautiful women on a daily basis wearing sari's, but when I tried one on in a store in Bangalore, my eye's almost rolled out of my head. I looked so alien to myself. Also, I felt very naked. Eventhough, we are no strangers to skimpy dresses etc, wearing the sari was naked in a totally different way. Don't know how I'm going to cope with sitting at a formal dinner with my stomach and waist not covered up! Now, I need to have a sari jacket (that's the name of the small shirt you wear under the sari). My sari is in pink organza with small silver threads in it, so I'm thinking maybe silver jacket :)
Bangalore was just GREAT, sickness or no sickness. I met the nicest people thru Savi and John, got an insider weekend tour of Bangalore and got to spend some quality time with S&J. One thing did occur to me during this weekend: staying away from Goa is not realistic ! Who am I kiddin' - it's so close by, and there are even more people to go see again. No one told that I shouldn't go, but in my mind, I was thinking maybe to travel for a few weeks to other parts of India, before I leave DK again. BUT....................... Goa is so close by- only a cheap 2 hour flight away. So I guess, chances are that I'll spend a little time there in January. No fixed plans yet though.
By now, it's already early October...Find it hard to believe - time goes by SO fast. I only have to work 20 more days and Anker will be here. REALLY excited about that :) Can't wait to see him and show him everything. YAY
For now though, it's back to work. I havn't been here for 9 days, so I need to get back into motion!
Thinking of everyone - miss seeing you guys and talking to you on a more regular basis !!! Not missing fall one bit, but I'm in serious need of some quality time with all of you :) Would be much worse, if I didn't miss anything, no ?
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