The precipitation wasn’t constant; it’d come in fits and then rest for an undefined period. It did, however, take up pretty much all of the morning. The routine of the start of the day was affected for us as well as the creatures around. No parrots or squirrels awaited the bread crumbs, rice, and peelings at the feeder at their prescribed times this morning. They did show up belatedly. Prior to our breakfast of pitu, we drank a concoction of back yard plants sure to cure most maladies. The antioxidants I’ve had over the course of the past week have surely undone any dietary failings of the last several months.
I continued reading The Jewel Trader of Pegu today. I was wise enough to load several e-books on my netbook before departing. My Acer, Adobe Digital Editions, and the BC library system combine to eliminate my need for pages with a spine. The specific title on my screen fits excellently on a trip such as this. I nearly always find myself capable of much deeper thought when travelling abroad. One has to question one’s habits and often even throw away beliefs that act as constraints when visiting other places.
This is why I insist on doing this. We both live for travel. I could be richer in belongings but poorer in understanding were I to forgo such copious amounts of vacation time. The book which I mentioned recounts though letters and missives the travels of a Jewis trader from Venice on a business trip to the far east in the late 1500’s. I must set aside time to read more historical fiction. If well written it can help one grasp the true global experiences of another time. So often our day is taken up with the mundane minute-to-minute concerns. This causes us to come to understand little of the greater picture of humanity. Americans, possessing some of the greatest financial assets and technological wherewithal to learn of the world, know little of it. Stupidity is a forgivable sin; yet to me, ignorance is not.
This brings us to the final R from the title: readiness. The rain eventually lessened. The reading could be marked by the passage of dozens of pages. And finally, readiness is simply a reference to the planning which took place. I am always happy to come back to Sri Lanka. Although the island is small there are so many sites to discover. On every single trip we try to get ready for potential places to visit and things to see. I can say with confidence that over the last two visits, we’ve covered much more ground than many Sri Lankans ever get a chance to do. The exact plans come to fruition after our arrival. Jay likes to bring family to important sites as well. We generally do that by renting a van and staying at hotels. On other journeys around, he and I hit public transit and travel with just a single bag each. These methods have allowed us to go just about as far as there is land in every compass direction. I think over the next ten days or so, we’ll nearly always be somewhere else or another. The only firm point is we’re going to be ready at 6:30 am tomorrow to hit the roads heading east. You can follow the trail in entries during the preceding days.