My Buddha Belly [Part I of II]

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...and I ain't referring to some devout mediation regiment i've taken up here in the land of Buddha's footprint, Buddha's tooth and who knows what other bodily claims this island likes to make.

...and I ain't talking about dharma, his brother karma or his other brother karma.

i'm talking 5 extra pounds in 5 short days.

i'm talking
.
.
.
vegetarian paradise.

and s-p-i-c-y!...a thousand andales andales from little Mr Gonzalez dancing in my eyelids...


the colors.
the peppers.
the names.
the peppers.
the dishes to pass.
the peppers.
the very british desserts (one digestible aspect of colonialism, the brits have made the dessert table unavoidable)
the peppers.


even simple english results in waiters assuring me,
<no meat no fish
yes madame>>

i'm not a freak here. at least not culinarily speaking.

and better yet, I get to eat with my hands.
and wash my hands before meals with others' hands.
and share local food with locals.
and pass communal dishes without wincing or apologetically passing it like a hot potato to a neighbor...
....something I so missed in senegal, that keeps me that much further from integration.

here, i'm a regular native.

waiters laugh as my jaw drops every time they bring another curry to the table. a few times I actually started drooling as one of my favorites - which I adoringly call <> came out.

'hoppers' - (and not my pet name for them either), not my fave --
but as I feel obliged to inform my readers, hoppers feel like spongy ethopian bread, but they are made one by one, and land in your plate steaming hot.

the normal hopper (and sri lankans swear the name existed before the british) is just rice, I think the novelty is in the shape - bowl-like...then comes the the egg hopper. a sunnyside up inside the hopper concave. then comes my favorite, string hopper. feels like little clumps of very, very thin rice noodle. apparently the rice is unhusked for string hoppers, making them super nutritious...hm...maybe that's why they're my favorite (And don't get me started on my discovery of red rice....not the san fransisco treat, folks.)

onwards to dessert...

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ring of fire
rock around this clock. veggie paradise.

are those mrs field's?
after 10 days in sri lanka, i still was fooled by these little poppers - delicious while they are (fried potato with hot chilies inside), given their ambient porcelain tea set, salivary juices prepared for mini choc-banana muffins...ah, you can take the german out of germany...

curry boats, my favorite ship
schmecky schmecky.

native valencias
u still paying attention? i had to laugh. even in little villages - they import fruit from west coast usa. in the land of asian oranges and papayas and mangos and pineapples and lovis and jackfruits oh my!

curdish rebel enzymes
buffalo milk curd - sold as a roadside/pitstop snack. have not gone there, yet...tho without the indian joghurt to cool one's mouth, it may one day be tempting...one day...

yes vanessa, there is a best for last
ladies and gents....baaannnaaana mush! [hint, the yellow gunky stuff in foreground]

blissfully exhausted
look Ma - familiar pose?! from rails to riches in just 16 years...