Sri Lanka adventure continues

Hi everyone and greetings from Sri Lanka.

This was our first full 5 day teaching week and we were pretty wiped by the end

The first official month has come and gone and seems quite a milestone. We are still wondering where the next 7 or so weeks will see us. Officially we have to be out of the country by 25^th of March and we will need to start planning in the next month for our possible departure. If we do have to go we will be sure to have a holiday here and see the country before we go. It is expected that we will be summoned to Colombo sometime in the next few weeks. We are hoping it is only me that is required and Pastor Sam and I will travel down by the overnight bus for the interview. Pastor Sam had the church congregation in a frenzy today praying for a positive outcome. Quite impressive to see but the only words we understood were “visa” “ Australia” “Garty” and “Allehluiah” yelled out a lot.  It seems Sri Lankan sound systems only have one setting. The volume is well beyond the threshold of pain and in some quiet calm waters on the other side. It is something akin to an internal organ massage and reaches some frequencies and pitch that makes certain body systems feel quite distressed.

Deneesh and daughter Ashley

Deneesh's family home

Saturday last week we went for a meal at one of the staff’s home. His name is Daneesh and wife Ronni.  It is something we need to sort out but when people invite us to eat, they don’t eat with us. We mentioned it a couple of times at the meal before Daneesh would sit with us at the table and eat but the rest of the family were spread round the house. Daneesh is a very kind and capable individual who looks after the support staff at the school. We ate at his uncles house where he lives with his wife’s family but walked a short distance to see his family home (not liveable now) and to meet his mother. His mother is very frail and unable to walk. Daneesh’s father passed away last year and she has gone downhill rapidly since. 

All houses in the area get water from wells like this

 Her home had bare dirt floors and an open fire for cooking. We stayed with her a short time, she just clasped our hands and rubbed our hands gently while swaying back and forth. We did not say a word that either side understood, but the communication was still strong, there and clear. It was a humbling experience and just a little sad.

Wide load!

On Sunday last week we went “western” again at the Green Grass hotel. This time we walked the few hundred metres to the hotel from the church service (an act of defiance on our part perhaps, but we need to do things for ourselves without our “body guards”) and swam and ate (got to remember when we order hot chips to say not to put very hot chilli powder on them, Oh what a waste!!!) and were picked up but the driver at 3pm to come home.

A swim made us feel less home sick.

See, we really are in Manipay!

During the week I decided to make a break for it! I told school staff I was going for a walk. This was the first time I had been unescorted in Manipay. I only went up to the bakers and back, probably less than 1 km round trip but was significant none the less. As I returned with all limbs attached, the next day Jacinta and I and the girls all went for a walk up to where we do our weekly shop. It was a wonderful experience of freedom and it will be a start of more short excursions by ourselves.

the thriving CBD of downtown Manipay

Yesterday we had some retail therapy in Jaffna at the “Fashion House”. Does not sell clothes but it must sell nearly everything else. A virtual Alladin’s cave. It did a lot to lighten Jacinta’s mood. She now has an egg whisk and a wok but it appears that measuring jugs are non existent in this part of Asia. Quite an interesting experience given I know exactly 8 words in Tamil, which consist of Hello, thank you , mother, father, grandmother and grandfather on mothers side and grandmother and grandfather on fathers side. Not a lot of help as I don’t think they had a sale on elderly in-laws, but we did not make it up to the upper floor so you never know? The miming for egg whisk was really good I felt but I to draw the line a pantomiming a chicken.

"Children Park", a real oasis in a scarred city

We also spent time in a pleasant area called “Childrens Park”. Girls had a ball. Cost equivalent of 50c to enter and worth every Ruppee.

Jacinta’s main worry now is cooking. She is really frustrated with cooking healthy meals all the family will eat that is not brown! She is starting to really miss her own kitchen back in the Bay and I am concerned she is starting to even have fantasies about her much disliked oven from Jacobsen Outlook!

Take care everyone. We have been thinking of our fellow Queenslanders during the floods. The coverage over here, particularly on BBC news channel, was very detailed and painted a fairly dramatic picture. Hope all your feet are drying out and the sun is shining.