spiders , beaches, meetings and more temples

the preferred method of travel

20th March and all is well after my first month here.  I am settling in I think but have had  giant spider scare which rather unnerved me!  I tell you this spider was huge and it was on the bedroom wall.  I had to run downstairs for help - no -one in so I had to run next door to the Peace Alliance who I know and one of them came to save the day by knocking it off the wall and then spraying it !  I think is was  a huntsman spider which are not poisonous but are they ever big!  A few days later its child came looking for it and I had to deal with that myself!  Since then an eerie no show until I found its body on a chair next to where I usually sit - it had probably been there all along - it makes me shiver - not so brave now you may be thinking and you would be right - there are limits .  I took a picture but it looks pathetic to say the least - it wasn't believe me . 

That aside - I went to Hanbantota to visit the chamber of commerce there - there are a couple of volunteers who live in Tangalle which is just before you get to Hanbantota.  One of the volunteers works in the Chamber of Commerce there so I went to pick her brains.  I stayed overnight in Tangalle and swam in the sea and had dinner with them.  One  night we had Toccu (?) which is roti cut up and mixed up with vegeatables and chilli sauce and garlic and such like - Sri Lankan fast food - it was really good and defintely one to remember. Have you ever seen a cashew tree and did you know that there is such a thing as a cashew apple?  You saw it here first. 

Now is this what a beach should look like?

The visit to the Chamber was interesting too - they are a very well set up organisation with big plans for Tourism .  Hanbantota is the President's home town and as such has received a huge amount of investment - a new airport opened on 18th - planes from India, China and Singapore are landing there at present but it is likely to become the main airport when the one in Colombo is closed for refurbishment.  It was a big deal - I wonder if it was on the news in the UK.  There is also a  massive harbour project and a conference centre etc - most of this is paid for by South Korea, China and Russia.  The best thing was though a botanical garden - one of three in Sri Lanka - it is to be opened in August and is amazing - it has an area for flowers, for trees , for cacti and it has a big glass house (no glass in it yet) - it has crocodiles and all manner of birds in the lakes.  We were lucky enough to have  walk round with one of the gardeners .  I was most impressed - please see the pictures.

its an elephant

its a flower

the oujtdoor classroom

The beginnings of something wonderful

Another power cut on Sunday - all day which is a bit annoying but I went in search of a beach nearby - I found it, Polhenna, but no other foriegners there and certainly no one in a bathing suit - the women seem to swin fully clothed so I didnt go in.  It was a nice ride on the bike though away from the buses and lorries.  Last week was  the board meeting at which I got  to  do  a presentation.  It was like no other meeting I have ever been to and I have been to some terrible meetings.  It started one hour late and then sort of began - no opening and everyone shouting over each other , carrying on conversations with people accross the table or down the other end. taking phone calls, sleeping etc and all in Sinhalese , I just sat there amazed.  Then I did my presentation which was probably a bit over ambitious but they politely listened and were suitably impressed - well that's my take on it. They did clap.   Then I was 'excused ' I tell you it was different but now some real work to do but not till after the new year which is around 14/15 April.
I am getting my first visitor , Joe,  on 7th April in time for my birthday.  I have organised a tour which will be very interesting taking in temples and hills and tea and relics as well as wild animals and whales  so should be good.   Next weekend I am going to the wedding of the pople who live in Tangalle which will be held in Unawantuna - so  a few diversions for me in the coming weeks.  Spiders aside it is good - on birthdays in the office people bring in snacks and cake but with the cake they always serve a little banana - how good is that! So I have had fish pastry twice, fish bun yesterday , cake and bananas three times  , egg roti and more much more -  so much for losing weight eh! My brother told me I was becoming verbose so signing off till next time .........

can you see the elephant ?

 Lilies for sale

Another big Buddha

First week at work

My bike

March 11 - I have been in Matara just over a week and it's been an interesting week where I have gone from despair (Ok a bit of an exageration) to total joy to a bit of clarity!  The despair part was not knowing what I was going to be doing.  After the first day of dancing and buying a bike I rode said bike to work and that was fine but then there was nothing to do!  We set a meeting for Friday and for the next two days I went to a peace and reconcilliation event  which is the joy part and which is the subject of most pictures.  This event was over 2 days - 53 Tamil families came from the East and joined up with an equal amount of Singhalese families.  They stayed with host families and they had 2 days of cooking together and going to different temples and building fences (literally) and singing and dancing.  These were poor people and the age range varied from young to old.  There were men and women and they just got on with it.  They were divided into mixed group on the first day and each group given a cooking task - this was all outside and they set to work.    the women mostly did the cooking and the men lit the fires and carried the water.  They produced a lunch for 200 people which consisted of all sorts of different veggies, fish, rice,special dried coconut something. I saw them splitting up jack fruits which were huge, scraping coconuts, wringing the milk out of coconuts. Its was amazing.  the next day we went to a school where we were met by a little troop of bearded boys - see picture- and had a litle procession .  Then we were presented with bundles of sticks and some string and told to build a fence round the school.  I didn't hold out much hope but hey just got down to it again and that fence got built - I helped but they found it a bit disturbing that I should do anything manual.  As I said these were simple, village people and I dont think they had seen too many white people so they were fascinated and I had my picture taken many many time   Now I know what the queen feels like.  One rather tiny, bent and wrinkled old lady kept coming up and holding my hand, smiling and laughing all along - someone then told me 'isn't she wonderful - and she is 63 years old' - I was stunned - I felt like some big white, overfed giant next to her. She looked twice my age -really , ok well she looked much much older than me!  Never let me complain about hard work again!  The fence got built with not such an obvious division of labour between men and women - but the women wielded the axes and split the coconut palms and the men took their turn at the string part.  Then there was the inevitable 'cultural event' lots of children and some adults singing and dancing  after the budhist monks had done their chanting and blessing .  It was so hot and I was exhausted.  I really believe this event made a difference to how the different groups perceive each other , there were some very emotional speeches by people who had been affected and it was, all in all,  a fantastic event. I think they have done something like it in Northern Ireland and if they haven't then they should!

The bearded dancers aged about 7

the dragon - cultural

the children - singing

more children - singing and dancing

ok  here are the sticks

I told you the women did the hard work

Look at that fence - it grows leaves eventually

 Back to work with a bump on Friday when I finally had a proper meeting with the CEO and we devised a plan of sorts .  So I will be doing some fund raising , refining some project briefs for women entrepreneurs and for young people in the plantations, looking at how to increase the membership and doing an analysis of the chamber and its staff !  So enough to keep me going for a while
  At the weekend the CEO took me to Mirissa and I actually got to swim - the waves were strong though it was warm.  You can go whale watching there but I am saving that for later.   So things are looking up all round . I am going to visit Hambantota to see another volunteer his week and will try out another beach there at the weekend .  I tell you its all go in the tropics .....

temple at Dongra - the most southernmost tip of Sri Lanka -

Arrival in Matara

cows at the seaside surely not??

March 4th  - so this is going to be it for the next 12 months - all alone in the southernmost city of Matara in a compact 2 bedroom flat with a rather nice terrace.  A very big extended family live downstairs and 2 swedish guys who never seem to come out of their house.  The first night I encountered a huge cockroach - OK no big deal but it jumped out at me from a bag I was removing from the cupboard and I thought I had trapped it under a can of coconut milk but 2 days later it disappeared - I am sure its still lurking although I am being meticulous about sweeping up all food etc .  Also that first night there was a power cut - they said 30 minutes, which turned into 14 hours - the family below were very solicitous and gave me an emergency light and I had two wonderful torchesfor christmas but they couldn't do anything about the heat.  I slept fitfully under a bright pink mosquito net !  The next day  I ventured to the shops and to the beach - you will see that Matara is not the most beautiul of beaches but the sea is warm - the waves are too big to swim or the current is too strong - anyway people do not swim there so I will have to wait.  I met my boss who called in to see me on Sunday - he said three o clock and he came at half past then he left after a rather uncomfortable 2 hours to get curry and beer, coming back at 7 which turned into 8!  You see what I mean about time.  I managed to get a sea walk in before he came back.
Actually he is a nice guy - young and very enthusiastic - he speaks very fast and with a very heavy accent and so I don't understand a word he says and he doesn't seem to understand me which I am sure will improve.  He seems to want me to do fund raising - i.e. writing funding proposals and a bit of mentoring with the staff  and to promote the academy they have running .  They seem to have the management covered.  At the moment I don't think either of us has quite got the other sussed and neither of us know who is in charge of who - it will work itself out I'm sure. 
Went to work this morning - the driver was due at 8 and came at 25 past - and I have my own room and it has air conditioning and they have wi fi - so that's good . I met the staff -they are young and don't speak huge amounts of english - they seem to think I am American.  That first morning there was a TV show being shot at the academy which involved about 30 students - equal numbers young men and women - probably aged between 17-20.  They were all interviewed and then they sang some songs had a little dance , there were some traditional dancers too and all that lasted 3 hours - like being in a karaoke bar without alcohol.  The students loved it and so did the staff - at the end I was forced to dance - lets all laugh at the old white lady try to dance you might be thinking but they genuinely seemed to love it that I would even try.  Interesting culteral note - the girls and boys kept separate - they all giggled and postured a lot in a good hearted and quite respectful way - they seem so much more innocent than English 18-20 year olds.
 So I did some dancing and I bought a bike - not bad for a first day at work!  No idea quite when I am going to start doing some work.  I am going to a peace an reconcilation day on Wednesday which will be good .  I am sure  that things will progress and it is only the first day ...................

One of the many Budhist temples - it is cloudy but its still hot!

No bikins here !