Benjamin's Mom's Recipe for Batu Moju (pronounced mahjew) Eggplant dish from the first night in Kandy 250g eggplant - cut into small strips ½ red onions - cut into cubes 10 green chilies - cut it from the middle (optional) 2 - 3 cloves of garlic 2.5cm x 1 piece of ginger 8 - 10 curry leaves 1 tablespoon coriander power 1 ½ mustard seeds 1-2 Tbs Vinegar 2 - 3 teaspoons Sugar Oil to fry Salt to taste DIRECTIONS: Heat the oil in a large frying pan i...

Monday morning was time to relax a bit. I slept in until nine. I said my good byes to Benjamin's sister Sarah the night before, she returned to work in Colombo before dawn. It was nice to have her perspective on things. I hope she travels to Portland some day and I can return the generous hospitality I have found from the Arumugam family. I spent much of the morning trying to convince Hoài Anh and Thắng the value in following Benjamin's advice and hiring ...

I was not aware I was in Sri Lanka during the traditional New Year's celebration. I knew about Poya, the monthly Buddhist holiday of the full moon, but the New Year's festival was a complete surprise. The night before, Benjamin's dad told me villagers were setting up for a festival, and when I went to bed I could hear workers singing drunk, so loud the neighborhood dogs howled in tune but I did not register how big a festival it was. By the time we returned fro...

Benjamin's family home lived quite high up in the jungle. Their home was on the site of the Kandy City Mission; there was a small church, a medical dispensary and a school that was no longer part of the property. The home was quite large, with remodeled rooms upstairs for guests. My room on the main was a bit more rustic as was the bathroom I shared with the rest of the family. My room consisted of a lone mattress on a laminate floor over concrete. I was hap...