10 Years...

Is that a really long time, or not really very long? A lot can happen in 10 years.

Then again, a lot can happen in 10 days.

Ten years often seems really short when we look at it through a rear view mirror.

But when we're looking ahead, ten years can seem like an eternity.

How strange is that!

photos by Bryan Smith ↓ →

The point of this philosophizing about time is to celebrate the thought that in ten years time I might be in Sri Lanka. That is if all goes as planned, insha'Allah.

(I hate that expression, BTW, but it sort of fits here... LOL.)

You know how so many people dream about going to America someday. I'm American and I dream about going to Sri Lanka someday. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. Or maybe I should say something like...

beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, or

to each his own.

---

10 years is a long time to wait.

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Only in Sri Lanka

The way I see it, a place like Sri Lanka has a lot more to offer a person like me, than a place like America.


guns & drums
Now it isn't just that thing which is the topic of this blog--the Sri Lankan male--that gives Sri Lanka its allure for me. There are other things that Sri Lanka has going for it, which one could list as follows:

• a beautiful, tropical setting
• a friendly, welcoming population
• a relatively crime-free environment
• the opportunity to enjoy a simpler way of life
  
  ← Odel's take on casual wear
  
  
• a uniquely colorful cultural heritage
• tasty and healthy local dishes
• a not-too-dense population spread
• inexpensive living and affordable medical care

That's the short list. I'm sure I could come up with more.

I lived in Sri Lanka for 2 1/2 years in the past, and these are the things I came away with.

I am still left with a favorable impression of the place. I suppose there are other places around the world with some of the same characteristics, but I believe Sri Lanka offers this combination in its own special way.


Kandyan music, dance and costume...
Sri Lanka's premiere contribution to world cultural heritage.
For example...

The way that Sri Lankans welcome and greet visitors to their country is uniquely pleasant. Indians stare suspiciously at foreign visitors to their land, while Sri Lankans make eye contact and smile. (I know it isn't right to generalize, but this is what I've found in my travels.)

There is nowhere else in the world to experience the magic of a fire-lit perahara or the regular adoration of the beautiful full moon, except in Sri Lanka.

iddiyappam with delicious toppings
There is no dish like iddiyappam with pol sambol to start your morning with. (The South Indian variety just doesn't have the punch of the Sri Lankan version.)

Follow that up with a fiery hot chicken curry and rice at lunch and you've got a perfect combination of taste sensations.

Galle Face Hotel, Colombo →

To be fair, like every place, Sri Lanka has got its minuses, too. And I can just as easily come up with a list...

• poor and unsafe roads and transport options
• poor sanitation in crowded areas
• relative poverty among large portions of the population
• a frustratingly slow pace of economic development
• (that pesky war is over finally, but political in-fighting continues)
• mosquitos, flies and ants... millions of ants!

So, the flip side is certainly there.

Land of the Free, but for a Price


remarkable ancient traditions survive in Sri Lanka today
Now I've compared (or contrasted) my dream of going to Sri Lanka with the dream of many to go to America. So, what then are the plusses and minuses of living in America--seen through eyes of an (estranged) American?

The biggest plus is freedom. Whatever its faults America is a place where one is genuinely free to at least think, if not always say, whatever he likes.

I can't say I have that freedom at all in the UAE where I live at present.

As in most Gulf countries, there is no freedom of speech or even thought.

← just another energetic youth

If you allow yourself really to think freely in a place like this (the Arab Gulf), it will inevitably infect your speech and action, and just get you into trouble. (See what's happening in Syria!)

So, you just turn off your brain a little, while you live the high life in Dubai... but I digress.

America's got... no, the word I'm looking for isn't talent, but FREEDOM. That's the big plus!

There are other things, too, like a relatively high standard of living and good public facilities. And one can take American straight-forwardness as friendliness. Multiculturalism is there, too, to be found in some places.

But America's Got a Complex

So, there are a number of minuses. The power of big legal, financial and corporate entities negatively impacts life for Americans. I sympathize with the Occupiy [your street or city here] -ers. The man on the street in America can literally become the man on the street, while big banks get bailed out of the crises of their own making.

Photos ↑ ↓ from a Sri Lankan surf camp
These powers basically run the government, which in turn runs people's lives through taxation and tedious regulation. I am not anti-government. Government in America is rhetorically said to be "of the people, for the people, and by the people", but it in fact appears to be "of the coporations, bankers and lawyers, by the corporations, bankers and lawyers..."

You get the picture.

Photos ↑ ↓ from Moving Images... blog
Those are America's minuses, and there's the excessive crime, too, and what the aforementioned powers will have you most on edge about... the fear of crime and ill health. In America, a good portion of your waking (and sleeping) time is likely to be haunted by the fear of getting mugged or stricken with a debilitating illness.
For instance, it used to be entertaining to watch commercials on American TV--songs about Coca Cola, questions about where the beef was and stuff to keep your clothes and teeth white. But nowadays, it's nothing but this or that wonderful medication, each with its 100 potential side effects.

just a handsome Sri Lankan guy ↓
It serves as proof that America is either really sick, or there's really BIG money in medicine.

Lest I belittle unfairly the land of my birth, the USA has seen the evolution of laws to protect people's rights and freedoms and look after their physical and financial well-being.

However, the progress made over its two centuries seems to be eroding rather than expanding now.

In the 1950's the US was coined by some a Military Indutrial Complex. Now it's a legal-financial-corporate juggernaut!

Finally, before I forget, there aren't nearly enough Sri Lankan men to happen upon on the streets of America. That's got to give one pause about going to America to make one's home.

In 10 Years

So, my plan is this. I just discovered that Sri Lanka offers a My Dream Home visa to retirees of age 55 and over. They require the candidate to have a monthly pension of at least $1500 and a $15,000 deposit in a Sri Lanka bank.

a handsome Sri Lankan beach boy (...and whoever warned you to stay clear of the beach boys!)

Sounds promising, and doable. All I gotta do is build a pension plan, and that's where the 10 years come in. Then, insha'Allah, I'll get to go back to Sri Lanka and make my dream home there.

What about you, if you're not from Sri Lanka...
Ever thought about making a home there?
Hey, I'm gonna be there!
The photos appearing in this SLM post are from a variety of sources (sometimes referenced) and have been edited to complement the theme of this post. I place no claim of ownership on any but original SLM images, indicated when such is the case. Original SLM images are free for use in any format, but I request a courtesy link back to this website.
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