You Know you live in the tropics of South Sri Lanka When....

1.One of your primary neighborly relations issues is whether you take the banana's down before the monkeys come
2. You almost drop your tea as you hear an almighty crash outside... then realize it is just a king coconut dropping (you then make a mental note to stop the coconut climber next time he drives past your gate)
3. You are not sure how to get to the high-up mangos in the mango tree...a hook won't work as too high up... but there is a division of labour and coconut climbers do not "do" mango trees... you sigh and put it on your to do list
4. You wish for the first time you had no leather bags...as every 3 days they have grown grey and white fur...MOULD has never played a part in your life before...now it is your nemesis
5.You get woken up from your mid afternoon nap to hundreds of people outside your gate...dance, elephants in silly costume, swirling tops, drums and people dressed as peacocks just outside your gate...(see below)
6. You ask your man every night "where are we going?" - because yes the ceiling fan is on such a high speed and so bloody loud it feels like a helicopter has arrived to whisk you off somewhere VIP style (if only!)
7.You seem to find a new type of fruit in the garden every day...(correction -  half a fruit, the squirrels get there first!)
8. you are not sure if the strange little animal poos kindly left on your keyboard is from a mouse,a gecko or a mutant sized spider... but you nonchalantly lift it off with a tissue and get started with your day in the office regardless ;-)
(you know, going to leave it at 8, it is my lucky number!)

Losing my Virginity

I have been talking about this for months now but here is me taking the plunge, exposing myself publicly (oh la la) and admitting that Yis dammit (said in STRONG kiwi Accent)  I have some interesting stuff going on and I am going to write about and share it. It seems like a rather grand thing and my ego is screaming "who do you think you are" !? Next step will be actually sharing this blog...yikes!

So throwing yourself out of your comfort zone has got a lot of benefits, pretty steep ol personal growth is a good side effect... you also get pretty good at seeing value and meaning in lots of little things...
Take yesterday - biking back from a beach bar in the afternoon light i realized 3 things....

1) If you are stuck where you are "doing" your work, move... leave your desk - find a place with a view (ideally a glass of wine... or strong espresso)...essentially change your geography, move your body... a different perspective can unlock where you were previously stuck. Staying put when you are stuck and frustrated just makes you a victim

2) Small bugs are a pain in the ass at the best of the times but when they fly in your mouth at 15 km an hour they are even more so... lesson - you can still enjoy life by keeping your mouth shut (aka being silent)... sometimes it is you know just better to keep your mouth shut

3) You can enjoy the finer things in life if you seek out and find what I have coined the chip-to-cycle ratio. I have had a plate of fries every second day for the last week i think ( i get sick of curry ok!!) and still have managed to stay the same weight... I cannot say what the ratio is exactly but god damn happy i found it!Its about balance - don't be a purest... purists are boring but do keep your noticing switched on in order to find your magic chip-to-cycle ratio ;-)