Feet

For the most part, people here wear either cheap plastic flip flops or bare feet. It is so interesting to be a foot watcher (different than having a foot fetish, mind you). Feet on people here, like anywhere, come in all shapes and sizes, but mostly smaller than we are used to in North America, at least in length. The width of feet here is another story. Feet that have not been bound by shoes tend to spread very wide. Toes splay over the sides of the flip flops. Huge spaces exist between the toes. The feet tend to have lost the arch and take on a flat footed appearance.

Besides the toes, the heels are worth mentioning. Men's heels are deeply cracked and some must be very painful. The other interesting thing about feet, particularly heels, and one doesn't seem noticeable in white skinned people, is that there is a strong demarcation between dark pigmentation and white pigmentation about the middle of the back of the heel. However, this is not prominent in all people, just some. It is so interesting. I wonder if we also have this demarcation, just that it is not so noticeable in white skinned people?

Men and women run along rough roads in bare feet without the usual grimacing that we see in Canada when adults have to run on stones. Many people seem to prefer bare feet. Even the Catholic nuns kick off their flip flops in church and pad up to the communion rail in bare feet.

Bill and I wear flip flops as well. We love the freedom of living in flip flops and revert to our canvas shoes only when the weather is extremely cold at night. Living in flip flops has only one problem. The problem is evident only when I take off my toe nail polish. I am filled with shame! The dirt embedded along and under the nails is revealed. I do my own pedicures as there is a) no pedicure place in Nuwara Eliya and, b) I don't want anyone to see the grout under my nails.

Feet are so interesting. By the way, people are fascinated by the feet of my husband. "Mr., you got little feet"!