Casey

Leaving Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 —> Chiang Mai (round 3!)

Uhh la la! Leaving Sri Lanka, Kandewattha, and the Lazat’s with a heavy heart… I have really had an extra-magnificent month with friends and friends-who-feel-like-family galore. Starting 2019 exhausted by all we’ve done and excited for what’s to come! In 2 weeks we embark on a new iteration of this journey as we venture to Gold Coast, Australia and try our hand at citrus farming with a young family of five. Stay tuned…

As for the last few days, we swam and tanned and read and ate a lot a lot a lot we baked two cakes (one chocolate, one curd + lime) and had more dance parties than I can count… we celebrated a 23rd birthday!! and enjoyed the company of 3 grandparents nearing 90!! (Constance’s grandpere is quite possibly one of the most impressive people, let alone seniors, I have ever met! He does leg and core strengthening exercises every morning and does leg lifts and bicycles even when tanning by the pool! And he can touch his toes! At close to 90!!!) I was the only non-French speaker of the group, and none of the 70+ speaks any English, but all grandparents made every effort to crack jokes and help us bake and ask about my travels ❤️ another special thank you to Darshika and Mandu for endless, scrumptious food and ensuring everyone was comfortable and clean!

Back in Chiang Mai now with our small squad featuring Joe P (Coop’s friend from home), Jeff (Coop’s friend from study abroad in CT), and Jeff’s girlfriend Alexa (who couldn’t be any nicer!!! and makes a mean bruschetta).

Happy New Year to all!!! Sending my love 💛💛

I know I posted this in the last one, but the sunset was just so massive and beautiful I had to show you all again 
Beatrice, Denis, and Francois just before lunch on a marvelous, sunny day!
A bit choppier on this day — notice the horizon line from the picture above and this one here (completely straight versus a touch hazy)
Main house looking over the Indian Ocean (I think it is technically the Laccadive Sea IN the Indian Ocean, but if someone could fact-check me on that I would be very appreciative).
What a day!! December 28th.  Making a curd and lime cake with Eleanor, Constance’s older sister. The clay pot (top right) holds the yak’s milk yogurt (which costs about 180 Sri Lankan Rupee, or $0.98 and is delicious.  We had just the curd for dessert often with treacle from coconut sap… yum!) Anyway, we danced to Nigerian and French and Spanish rap and hip-hop while mixing and stirring and in all the excitement we forgot baking soda, but alas! the dense cake was still a hit.
Sunset yellow light over the master “bedroom” / structure 🙂 view from the main house
December 29th! Constance’s birthday 🙂 Beatrice and Coax (with some help from yours truly) made a moist chocolate birthday cake that we all enjoyed with celebratory champagne and over present-presenting-and-opening.
Coax! on her birthday! A brand-new 23 year old!
A great place to sit and read and look out onto the coconut trees and Indian Ocean (or Laccadive Sea… verdict is still out!) Finished two books while with the Lazats — Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit and The Defining Decade by Dr. Meg Jay.  All in all, I recommend both, but Men Explain Things was in a league of its own.  It is a series of essays (often satirical) about what it means to be a woman in the world… my favorite essay was “Woolf’s Darkness” if someone wants to read it and tell me what you think I’d love to have an overseas book club… y’all know how to contact me if you’re interested! Currently reading: The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy only 50 pages in if someone wants to catch up!
Listening to Rick Ross // dance parties all day, every day (keeps ya young, I think!)
Gosh darn those palms and coconut trees are just so nice!!!!!!!!! Peep the little smidgen of ocean in the middle 🙂
Darshika and Madu’s cooking… holy freakin smokes.  Starting from 6 o’clock and going clockwise we have: curried okra, aubergines and onions, curried pumpkins, sauteed shrimp and onions (not de-veined and I still L-O-V-E-D them), and curry dal with bay leaves… idk y’all Darshika and Madu make some of the best food I’ve ever had on the planet.  And they couldn’t be any nicer or warmer etc. etc. seriously A1 humans.
Choppppppyyyyy dayyy a little grey…. rained hard for a bit and the 30+ crowd played cards by candle light while the under 30s read in the comfort of the main house 🙂
steps to the roof of the main house
Sad! boarding at 7am.  The Lazats place is a 4 hour drive from the airport and, since I was flying international, I had to be at the airport by 5am… afraid of traffic and after my debacle getting to Sri Lanka I did *NOT* want to mess this one up…. I left at midnight (thank you Broom Broom taxi) and spent the first 20 hours of the last day of 2018 making the hajj from Tangalle to Chaing Mai where we rang in the New Year with our few friends (new and old!), attended a lantern festival watched fireworks over the walled city 🙂 more on all that in the next post!

2 comments

Leave a reply to Helene kushner Cancel reply