feldmanlarry

My guide is named Lal and he’s a great companion. He’s a fearless driver but I feel safe. He bends over backwards to take care of me, even blocking me from crossing the street until it’s safe. His English is not bad but I have to listen carefully. Sometimes when he doesn’t understand me he laughs or just says yes. We’ll be together for close to three weeks. It’s going to work out really well.

Today was advertised as the Colombo city tour. Lal picked me up at 9:30 AM. He said any earlier than that would make the traffic problems much worse. The highlight of the city sites for me was the Gangaramaya Temple, which is a very beautiful but strange temple. It’s filled with lots of gifts from all over the world. Everywhere you go there are more sculptures and unusual objects.

The main Buddha statue in the temple and three women among dozens.

If I lose the little bit of hair I have left, I could be a monk.

An elephant tooth

A Jewish menorah. Buddhists seem to be very respectful of other religions. There are many other items mixed in the same case.

Retouching some of the ancient art.

I can’t do justice to the size of this Bo tree. Lal told me the story of Buddha sitting under a tree such as this one without moving for weeks.

Our next stop was Independence Plaza where Sri Lanka declared its independence in 1948. My brother and sister were in a primary school in Sri Lanka, possibly dressed in uniforms like these. These are 3rd graders, similar to Dick’s age at the time.

While my brother and sister were in school, I spent almost every day at the Colombo Swimming Club. It was a real treat to be here again after 49 years. One of the few very distinct memories I have of that time was running around the pool with a friend and jumping off the diving board that was several stories high. The diving board is gone now.

Both my sister and brother remembered that crows would sweep down and steal food off people’s plates. I asked about this and they said they brought in cats to scare off the crows.

They had a one week membership but they told me I would need to be recommended by a member since they didn’t want riffraff like me (they didn’t say that part). It would have been fun to swim there but the little tour they gave me was enough. This is the view of the Indian Ocean from the swim club.

Today reflects my two goals in going to Sri Lanka. One is to see the sights of this amazing country. The other is to revisit my past. Revisiting the past through the swim club was today’s biggest highlight.