A Note About Receipts

Written in India

This post is long overdue. It's a bit geeky, but it's still worthwhile. More importantly, it's short. Asia does not appear to have the same powerful privacy lobby that we have in the States. How do I know that? Because when we got our first ATM receipt, I looked down and noticed my credit card number. The whole thing. No X's politely obfuscating the digits of the account number. Then we noticed it again when we paid for Starbucks with a credit card in the airport -- our whole credit card number right there, for anyone to copy down. Clearly, we can't just throw them away. We spent about 20 minutes one day tearing them into tiny and tinier shreds. And then we just started saving them to throw away or shred when we get to Lizzi's Dad's house in Philadelphia. A moment of brilliance came when Chris and Amanda suggested that we burn them. Um, DUH. Except that we never stay in smoking rooms, so for the time being at least, they're still cluttering up the bottoms of our packs, waiting for the day when they meet their fateful end in a shredder. The point behind all of this is to say that even though identity theft in the US is on the rise, it's really easy to do from India. Let us know if you need some quick cash and we'll hang out by an ATM and send you some receipts!

Civil War Aside, Sri Lanka is Pretty Cool

Written and Posted from Kandy, Sri Lanka

It's been a long time since we've had the chance to post anything. Sorry about that. We were chugging along in Cambodia, posting to our heart's content, and then there were those few wonderful days back in Bangkok, and then we got to Sri Lanka and it's been go, go, go, with no internet connection of which to speak. Until now, obviously.

So here we are. In Sri Lanka, where the time difference is 10.5 hours different than the east coast (gotta love the .5, eh?). And yes, there really is a civil war going on. But we're fine, I promise. And so far, we've been largely unaffected by the conflict. We're doing our best to keep it that way. In the meantime, you should all know that Sri Lanka ROCKS. It's beautiful and warm and lovely, and the ancient religious sites are just amazing. So far, everyone has been unbelievably friendly and smiley. Also? The food is amazing. And I'm not just saying all of this because I happen to know a particularly sweet girl from Sri Lanka, either. It's all 100% true. Hopefully, within the next couple of days, there will be pictures and posts in greater detail to prove it.

I hope everyone at home has a great Superbowl Sunday. There's a teeny tiny part of me that wishes I could be there, eating hoagies and picking a team to root for. But there's this other part of me, the part that's totally stuffed on rice and rotti and curry, that's really happy to wake up tomorrow and just check the score!

Not a Problem...Yet

Lizzi's dad sent us another public service annoucement with an eye toward our upcoming travel to Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka ends cease-fire with rebels

Of course, the State Department hasn't updated its travel warning yet, but that's ok, we're not concerned. It may make things a bit more exciting when we fly into Colombo in a few weeks. Don't worry we'll keep our heads down.

On a completely separate note, we arrived in Chiang Mai this morning on the night train from Bangkok. More about the night train to come...

Ra Ra Sis Boom Bah!

Well, it's finally one month before we are wheels up and headed for our Asian adventure. Frankly, there's not a whole lot left to do. We've been to the doctor; we've got our shots; the last of our visas arrived earlier this week. We've purchased any new gear that we need. All that's left to do is to pack and get excited. We're already excited, but in this next month, a lot of things can happen. Second-guessing, doubt, and last-minute freak-outs are quite likely. Last-minute details like "should we treat our clothes with Permethrin?" may overshadow our excitement.

The packing thing we can handle on our own, but here's where we'll need your help. We need cheerleaders. We need you to help remind us that we are doing something brave, wonderful, and adventurous. So, please, drop us a line, leave a comment, wish us well.

In other news, Lizzi's dad has sent us another safety announcement. We'll add this one to the collection.

Monkey injures several people during rampage

Don't Drink The Water

Every single time we go on a trip, my dad starts sending warnings of what we should avoid, oh, about 4 months before we go. It's sweet and endearing, and I like it, because it's really nice to know that someone looks out for me that way. His advice is usually pretty spot-on, because he reads about a million health newsletters a day, and because he's generally knowledgable about global politics and war-torn nations. I don't always take the advice, but I always listen to it, and when we're on that trip, I can hear his voice in the back of my mind, warning me against being too friendly, too optimistic, too American, too vulnerable.


By way of example, when Matt and I went on the cruise to Cancun, it wasn't long after the September 11th attacks, and my dad became solidly convinced that our ship, OUR SHIP!, was the very next target of terrorism. He managed to convince me too, albeit briefly, and for a few days I contemplated asking Matt if we could change our plans. We didn't change our plans, and we got engaged on that boat, and we came back in one piece, sans food poisoning to boot.


When Julie and I went to Ireland, even though we had no plans of going to Northern Ireland, my dad spent a good 30 minutes on the phone with me, explaining the long-standing conflict between Ireland and the UK, warning me that "Lizzi, this is serious. Do NOT go there. Promise me." I promised, and we didn't even go much farther North than Dublin (mainly because we didn't have enough time) and we came back in one piece. Also? We ate no beef while we were there, just in case.


This trip is different. It's bigger. There are a bunch of countries to worry about. There are millions of people, literally the world-over, who could harm me, according to my dad. I don't know why he lets himself worry so much, but I think it's something that he can't turn off, now that he's been a parent for over 35 years. Today I got the first official "Don't Drink the Water" memo. There've been other, verbal warnings, along the lines of "be careful in India because you don't want to offend people." Or, "maybe you shouldn't let people know that you're Jewish." Or even, "please don't eat chicken in southeast asia. Only vegetables. COOKED vegetables because you're going to get sick from the water. Oh honey, don't drink the water."


Today's warning was an actual article. The first of many, I'm sure. It was about a really disgusting-sounding parasite in Thailand. The parasite, fluke, works its way into freshwater fish, which are then ingested by humans, who get the parasite and find themselves at an increased risk of developing liver cancer. LIVER CANCER! He didn't have to tell me twice that "it's serious stuff." I got that from the Liver Cancer part of the article. You only get the parasite if you eat the fish raw, and there's a special dish in Northern Thailand that we should avoid. So basically, in Southeast Asia, we are being warned to eat only vegetables. COOKED vegetables. And fish that comes from the ocean that's also completely COOKED and not even a little bit raw. Got it. Cooked vegetables. Really cooked fish. No water. No chicken.

Should be a good time!