Eternal Bosom of Hot Love
...according to Harper's, that's one of Kim Jong Il's titles. Yeah baby!

I am breaking with precedent to blog live from Colombo. I wrote a giganti-mungous post the night before leaving and then a bloody internet crash destroyed it. I have three paragraphs left. I will reconstruct (right after I write about Nikaweratiya, ha ha) and repost (riposte!) but for now, be tantalized: it's about Jewishness, and Passover, and the new pope, and heavy stuff like that.

For now I'll just say that I love Passover, and have had two lovely seders with the miniscule Yid gang here at the lovely ambassador's lovely house, led by his lovely Jewish wife, supplied with fantastic food. Not much more to ask for there. I made Sri Lankan charoset, too. (Recipe below: oh my gawsh is it good.) Would like to extend some love to the Goodmans, and the Dinkins, and the other Jews and non- of the world with whom I've been lucky enough to share seders. As much as I enjoyed them here it just wasn't the same without "I've Been Working on the Pyramids" (Goodman tradition) and sanctifiable Kosher Coca-Cola with real sugar (Dinkin must-have). I miss old traditions and faces at times like these: other people's tunelessness isn't quite the same charming disaster that one's own family's. Likewise other people's semi-humorous stories of weird afikoman disaster (crumbling, wetting, ad nauseam). Did you know that the word afikoman is from Ancient Greek and might refer to the ancient practice of post-dinner partyhopping?

In the coffee shop of the Colombo Plaza today, I was eating breakfast (cappuccino, overpriced OJ, cream cheese and veggies on matzo) when a nicely dressed lady stranger hustled across the lobby to bat her mascara-crusted eyelashes at me and trill "chag sameach!" while winking promiscuously at my big ol' box of matzo. It doesn't make me feel that way, but hey. Enjoy your holiday, everyone.

Sri Lankan Charoset/Chutney
1/2 fresh pineapple
1/2 c dates
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c cashews
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp whole cloves, ground and filtered
1/2" piece of ginger, finely grated
sweet wine to taste
Reduce fruits to tiny bits with big knife (or roughly food-process I suppose). Roughly chop cashews. Mix everything together, allow to stand overnight to meld its flava.