another wedding, another funeral and one step forward two steps back

The logo of the organisation in Tangalle

 18 June 2013 - its been a while since my last blog (sounds like AA doesn't it ) .  I got another opportunity to wear my sari - this time ata Hindu wedding in Colombo.  I traveled up there in a van full of Sri Lankans who work in the organisation down the road - we set off an hour later than expected (although why I expected anything different I don't know) after they had to make sandwiches for the trip - these were butter and sugar sandwiches which they ate as it it was caviar.  I managed one slice - such a wuss but the sari was tightly bound and pinned (this time by a different dresser) .  Anyway we got to the wedding and there were some of the other volunteers and it was in full swing - a lot more ritual this time - we had missed the giving each other of presents and the bride being taken off to dress in the sari that the husbands family had provided .  Then there was the signing and the photos - people lining up to have their photos taken with the happy couple, including us  - please see picture and if you are observant you will see the happy volunteer couple of another wedding  featured in theses pages.  .  Then there was some of the usual  sitting around to loud music and we got to meet the groom who has lived in England for 12 years so was quite anglicised - even had a cockney accent.  He seems nice - this is an arranged marriage so lets hope it all works out for them.  They seemed happy.  The meal was fantastic - one of the best curries I have eaten in Sri Lanka so far.

they looked happier than this - really!

the VSo staff - note the same sari!

The funeral in the title was today - it was of somebody who was the brother-in-law of one of the directors at the Chamber so we, the staff, went on mass to pay our respects.  The house was bedecked in white flags and the flags of all the local organisations and businesses who were paying their respects .  The front garden was full of white draped chairs and a few people reading the newspaper.  We went in and were ushered into the house where the body was lying in full state - no coffin .  Good lord - that was a bit of a shock - I have never met this person and here he is dead.  After that we sat in the white draped chairs exchanged greetings with the family had a cup of tea and left.  No pictures to accompany this story.

The English class with the staff continues and something of a  breakthrough occured when I was doing session on meetings - it was hard and I wa convinced that they wouldn't be able to understand a word but not only did they understand and participate fully but they all came on time , dead on 2.30  (a first) and we did a brainstorm on planning a staff trip which we fully intend to carry out in July!  Hoorah I though - I've made it at last I'm getting through !
The following week we had a review test and not one of the men showed up !  They were aftraid of looking foolish or something but I was so annoyed !  But I did it with the women and they were great and at the staff meeting the following Monday I told them exactly what I thought - the chairman says he will stop their increments if this continues - no labour laws here apparently!

I have been doing the tourism project which entails going out to the tourist places in Matara , so I have been having a great time visiting all the temples, beaches , tea estates and even a snake farm and a blow hole with various members of staff.  They can speak really good English on a one to one basis away from the rest and they try too. They just love to  have their photo taken and they are all closet models and film stars - talk about pose! and that includes the men.  Miss Mary is the most photographed foreigner in Matara!  A selection belos  On one of the occasions we stopped off at someone's aunty's house for tea and she proudly showed me a certificate for an english class she had taken at the university - she didn't understand a word I said and what she had learned seemed to consist mainly of phrases like ' come again another day' which she said many times.  the tea was sweet enough to kill you but hey it was nice to be invited!

I am doing some work for an orgnaisation supporting stabilised mentally ill people in Tangalle - it was a long and hot bus journey but worth it.  They are great - so enthusiastic , they wanted help with  marketing .   We devised their logo above and I came up with the strap line - Ok not exactly riginal I know but it says what it means.  The butterfly is the symbol of mental health in Sri Lanka and all over the world.  They aare going to be selling their home made goods - pickles and dried fish , mosquito nets and clothing - in the 'Good Market' in Colombo - which means them getting the overnight bus with all their prducts and staying there till 10pm and then returning home.  It is a very trendy market selling wonderful shoes and exotic smoothies and cup cakes so I don't know how their dried fish is going to go down but we shall see . I am going back next week to help therm do their business plan .  

So today my friend Sally is coming to stay for a few weeks - she liked it so much the last time she had to come back.  It will be great to have someone here and she is going to help me with the english class (should anybody turn up in the next few weeks ) and with a workshop on interview skils so that is excelent. 

So I am settled enough to be tired of the monsoon rain and to be irritated by certain things but still loving and looking forward to integrating further - I am going to have the staff round to lunch  soon which will be interesting ..........

 

A cobra at the snake farm

Flowers for Buddhad caption

very big Budha - he liked the flowers

temple statues

The famous blow hole at Dickwella

Posing with Miss Mary

Elephant at Dondra

paintings at Dondra Temple

A grey Buddha

Dondra Lighthouse

posing - Miss |Mary had had enough

Add caption

lanterns, a peace march , a wedding, a wake and a sari

Thursday 30th May 2013

The Matara chamber staff with Miss Mary 

Its been a busy couple of weeks.  Start off with Vesak, this is the festival when Buddha was born, gained enlightenment and died - all on the same date.  The festival is big and it goes over three or four days.  Lots of lanterns and alms giving usually in the form of food -  rice and curry, icecream, drinks .  People line up for the free food and the lines are very long.  I got offered rice and curry by the army in Matara but declined but they insisted I took a few pictures.  I went to Galle with my new American friends who work at the university . We had a great time - the lanterns were unbelievable althoug the Fort was pretty empty by the time sunset came that had changed and there were thousands of people flying kites and just wandering - it was amazingl The lanterns are very elaborate and quite often made out of things like plastic bottles or bits of twig or newspaper .  It took a long time to get home because of the traffic but it was fairly good natured.  The bus driving was unbelievable I can tell you - bad I mean not good.  I went to brunch the next day with Jenice and Margaret  and we had a feast and real American coffee too .That night I went to see the lanterns in Matara, all made by prisoners around the country - some prisoners were singing and some were cutting hair and later some escaped! The pictures at the end give some idea but don't really do it justice. 


On Tuesday I attended a march against violence against women and children .  It was marvelous - 300 plus mostly women all dressed in white.  There were hardly any men which is a shame as it is them we were trying to reach!  I even got on the news apparently!

300 women in white - quite a sight.

rebel with many causes- Tamil sign about children

the happy couple

A couple of days before I had to buy a sari for a wedding of a woman at work .  it was a hoot ,  My friend Sureka came with me and it's lucky she did - we went to three shops and saw hundreds of saris, some silk, some not , some very gaudy and some very beaurtiful .  All were modelled by the male assistants who loved winding themsleves up in the silk of all colours.  In the end I bought one in blue with beautiful embroidery - silk and with jewels.  Little did I know that that was not the end of it . Then I had to get the sari jacket (blouse0 made and the underskirt in poplin.  So off I went to get measured - they measured every part of my body including arms but when I went for  the fitting I think they must have used someone else's measurements as it certainly didn't fit me.  The women were fascinated by my ribs which do stick out - they would prod them and say 'its hard; it's bone I replied ,  Sri Lankan women don't have them apparently or not like mine anyway.  Basically Sri lnkan women are small with tiny frames!  It fitted in the end and the next day Sureka came to put it on for me - OMG what a palaver.  10 pins later and i was already sweating but looking rather wonderful if I may say so.  Luckily I haed managed to persuade my boss to pick me up and we went to the wedding where we were in time for the ceremony .  Lots of chanting, tying them together by their little fingers , then the groom wraps a white cloth round the bride (later I was told this was for them to use later and then present back to the husband;s family as proof that she wss a virgin ! ) , then there is the giving of a gold necklace and finally the giving og presents to the bride's mother and father and then rings and then lighting some candles and then signing - the witnesses are suitably important people who are not necessarily friends or even know the couple but they are important.  This all happened at 9.03 - all worked out by horoscope and then there were cakes and juice and then a lot of sitting around to loud pop music,  we left and came back for lunch where there was more sitting around and more even louder music until the bride came out in her going away clothees and then everyone gives money and goes away.  No speeches, no dancing, no drinking (or not by anyone I was with anyway) but everyone looked fantastic - the saris were quite beaurtiful and I am glad I made the effort although I tell you that is a hot and restrictive garment!

later that day when I had got home and wrenched the pins out and got in the shower I was invited to another alms giving - this time it was the 7 days after my lanlord's grandfather had died alms giving - more rice and curry and more sitting around . 

So it was a good week in all and I really felt a bit more like I belonged - or at least a bit more accepted.  Work continues to be frustrating - the internet doesn't work after the 22nd of every month until the end of the month becausse they run our of giga bytes or whatever.  I stamped my feet and wrote to the chairman and he agreed we had to go for unlimited etc but it is now 30th and it still doesn't work because no-one has done what they are supposed to do.  The board have approved my proposal for a tourist information centre so the research starts next week.  Whether it will actually happen I really don't know but we shall see! 

All in all I am loving it here, its great to have met Jenice and Margaret and to have Sureka living justa couple of doors away but they will all be gone by August but by then Iwill have another lot of visitors and may even have made more friends   In the meantime having emails and skypes with people really helps.  Going to \Colombo for an engagement next weekend - might weat the sari again if I can find someone to help me put it on but I might just buy a shalwar - so much easier,,,,,,,,,,,

a big lizard - just because it was there!

the shrine at the end of my street

lantern outside a bank

kites high in the sky

lanterns orsidea school damaged by rain and wind

a l;otus lantern

and another lantern

curry and riice courtesy of the army

The Buddha story board

made entirely from plastic bottles

prisoners singing - later some escaped

I have a house guest and work looks more sorted .

it has to be said - we've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

 13 May 2011.  Sally, my friend from school was just visiting .  She came for only 5 days - a kind of stopover on her visit to her brother in Singapore .  It's not long enough but we certainly packed it in.  She came in the pouring rain - yes the monsoon has really kicked in - it rains solidly for an hour or two but then it is still quite cloudy and that is not so good - it reamins hot and sweaty so you know you are in the tropics.  Anyway she arrived having braved the train from Colombo all alone and we went out to eat in Matara Rest House , the only place to eat in Matara - we sat on white silk covered chairs tied with big gold  bows - and we were the only ones in there ! Nice food though and not surprisingly very good service.  We went home and had a couple of g and ts with passion fruit (my new cocktail of choice - I have to think of a name -Sri-Lanka Sting or Matara Magic perhaps) to celebrate her arrival.  The next day I took off work as there was still not much doing there.  We walked to the beach and the temple and then went to Weligama to meet my Sinhala teacher who didn't show up so we wandered around there - it was a pretty old seaside town with not much going on.  We got led a merry dance by a tout promising us a giant iguana but delivering a gem stone place and a long walk to it.  He said it was a 'gaaament' shop and I thought he said garment but what he actually said was government but what he actually meant was gem shop !  We got out without buying anything at all - result!  Then we went to Mirissa but it was pretty dismal being out of season - waves too strong for swimming .

off season in Unawantuna

Sally in Matara

on the terrace at Sea Green

little gitls having fun with kites at play time

at a 'gaaamnent' shop

  The next day we both went to work - two foreigners for the price of one - we got the train to Galle in the afternoon .  Galle Fort is really beautiful and the Sea Green Guest House is fantastic.  We had a room at the top which looked out over the sea - it was amazing - highly recommended.  The Galle Fort is an old Dutch built fort town with lots of little shops and restaurants and hotels - a bit touristy but as it was out of season it wasn't full of tourists and we had a great time exploring and walking and sampling different Sri Lankan breakfasts - string hoppers or egg hoppers with Dall and Sambol - yum yum.  We went to Unawantuna in hope of a swim but again the waves were so strong we both got knocked off our feet and so gave up on that idea and had a beer instead!

egg hoppers with Dhal and sambol - beats a frull english

Sally on the terrace at Sea Green

 And that was that for Sally's visit - we went to Colombo the next day and didn't have much time to do anything else except go to Barefoot the best shop in town where Sally bought material and such like . Then she had to go . Missing her already.  She says she will be back - I hope so - we used to travel together when we were 18 and it was quite like old times.

 I met up with a couple of volunteers the next day and we had the usual therapy session about the vagaries of Sri lanka - mostly the weather and the lack of understanding about timekeeping.  I met up with the same people later at a bar called Cheers - very western and we even had burgers! Sometimes I just crave western food.  The next day I went swimming with another volunteer and then met Diane who came at the same to Sri lanka at the same time as me. We ate Thai food.  It was mothers day here and I think Diane was missing hers. 
The next day I met with Ruvanthi the programme leader and overall boss at VSO to try to sort out my work situation.  Everybody had assured me that she would have ideas and wouldn't be suggesting I go home and sure enough she had ideas.  It may be that I can do some work at Hanbantota Chamber of Commerce too and we are going to sus it out on Friday.  I feel altogether more positive about it.  I have gone off Colombo - its so hot and so noisy and so busy and I was actually glad to get back to my little flat in Matara - despite getting into third class on the train by mistake and ending up standing in the bit between carriages pressed up against an ardent 20 year old who was whispering place names in my ear!  I got a seat eventually!  It is always good to catch up with the volunteers - most have been here longer and all have similar experiences so it is very reassuring.  It rained hard in the night and I woke up to a flood in my living room - my passport got wet again!  It made me late for work too.; The new CEO has started and he seems good and we might actually get something done now.  Things looking up all round and it's Vesak next week (the day when Buddha was born, came to Budhahood and died ) so lots of celebrations and a daysoff.  I might go and do some yoga..
My English  classes with the staff are going well , they are hilarious - I really like doing it.  The  chairman is advertising english classes for women entrepreneurs taught by a 'real English lady' - yes that's me! So that will start in June.  We are looking at a couple of other projects  too - toruist information and an education fair.  I also got invited to a sri-lankan wedding in Matara and to an engagement party in Colombo so things are definitely looking up.................

a quieter time .....

the one I saw was 5 feet ong and in the water - ghastly. 

2/5/13 I saw this lizard - well OK not this actual one but one very like it in a kind of drainage ditch in the middle of town.  It was swimming along and it was at least 5 feet long.  It is a water monitor and it is disgusting !  I didn't have my camera so hence this is one from google to give you an idea.  Then I went home and there in my kitchen was a tiny frog and an even tinier gekko - It was about half an inch long clearly a baby.  the next day sadly it turned up dead on the living room floor - maybe I inadvertently stepped on it.

It has been a quiet time - trying to save  bit of money!  I havn't been anywhere of note but it's been hotter than hell here - they say the monsoon is coming - I think it might have come and so far its only rained in torrential downpour style at night which is good and it does get a little bit cooler. I went to some Youth Games on Sunday organised by Sureka from next door at Peace and Community Action.  They had about fifty 13-16 year olds from different districts and yes, you've got it they played games.  The games were great , they had to dress up members of their group as a bride and groom using only the few resources they were given - I judged that competition of course.  they had to lie on the gound and make a longest line using only the resources they had on them - so they used their hair, their belts, their shoes their phones anything .  The great thing about it was that they all got involved and I mean really really involved - they are very competitive and it's quite amazing how they throw themselves into it.  I just cannot imagine British teenagers doing this.  It was all held in the groounds of a kind of hostel by the river and the kids were warned not to go too close as there had been a crocodile seen there recently.  The pictures are Sureka's - again I didn't have my camera or my phone!

what a sweet couple!

Add captionall this made from paper and bits of plant !

rice and curry - it;s hard work pretending to be a groom!

My Sinhala lessons are going slowly - the teacher likes to speak English more than Sinhala it seems.  I might have to find another one !  Work continues to be very slow - we do not have a new CEO yet and that is a problem but my english classes with the staff start tomorrow and I am really looking forward to that .  I had a workshop for the board yesterday - out of 24 members 8 turned up.  It was supposed to start at 3 - it started at 4.30 and at the beginning there was a power cut !  Do you see a pattern emerging here!
My friend Sally is coming to visit next week - my first house guest so I will have to make sure the spiders and snakes and dead lizards are gone.  We are going to go to Galle and stay in the green sea guest house, second most popular on Trip Adviser or is it Lonely Planet?  Then its to Colombo for the weekend and then I get to see the boss at VSO to sort out my future - lets hope she has some ideas .....

a wedding, a holiday and a street festival

Hello sailor

18 April  ..... its been a while because I have been quite busy.  Lots to report on.

First of all I went to the wedding of a couple of volunteers from Hackney in Unawatuna.  it was simple and stylish and very very hot.  There were lots of volunteers there which was good as I got a lot of reassurance from them that all placements start slowly and that you have to learn to go with the flow - its just hard when the flow is so slow .  The wedding was held in a kind of villa in the jungle - it was amazing , the food was excellent, the drinks flowing and the dancing (yes dancing again) got pretty wild, you should have seen as all doing Gangnam style at midnight!  No, no pictures.  Lots of people wearing saris , beautiful saris and shalwar kameez.  The sari wearers must have been seating to death as I was wearing a simple cotton dress and the seat was rolling down my back (Too much information? sorry ) the bride was wearing a beautiful dress from San Francisco.  It was the first time I drank pinot grigio for a very long time so I was a bit hung over the next day.  I was staying in a retreat which was lovely if a bit mouldy.

the beautiful bride and groom

in the garden of the retreat

volunteers at play

So then I had a week to prepare for the coming of the only son - no not Jesus , Joe.  I actually had a lot of work to do and the boss was acting a bit strangely, disappearing for long periods , anyway I got in the two bids for funds for projects and organised a workshop but I don't think the invitations went out because the boss disappeared on the last afternoon .....more of that later.

mother and son at the gangaram temple

I went to Colombo on the 6am train and checked in to the Galle Face Hotel ,  a lovely old colonial hotel right on the ocean and with a beautiful terrace for sundowners and a pool right on the shore.  Check it out , I would highly recommend it - it's a bit down at heel in some parts but the new wing is marvellous and the food is good too.  They even gave me a birthday cake on my birthday and fruit.
So I met Joe and we had sundowners on said terrace and then the next day we walked to the old dutch hospital for dinner - we went to a crab place but I don't really like crab so we had giant prawns - yum.

on the pelican lake in the middle of Colombo

The next day was my birthday and Joe had brought me not only Sipsmiths gin (made in Hammersmith) but also season three of Breaking Bad.  What gifts.  We wandered around Colombo went to gangaram temple and pedalled in a swan boat on a lake full of pelicans.  We went to Barefoot for lunch and for me to lust after the beautiful clothes and materials they have there and then we went to the pool by the ocean and relaxed..




Next day was the start of our tour.  We were The Next day was the start of our tour - we were picked up at 6.30 sharp by Claude Anthony De Silva (a catholic Sri lankan who runs Tony's tours).  and we headed off to Sigiriya which is a long drive .  Sigiriya is the site of an ancient palace built on a huge rock , there are cave paintings and lions paws and monkeys and hilarious signs all over the place.  We climbed the rock in the heat up some very dodgy iron steps but it was worth it .   The view was amazing and it felt like an accomplishment .

ancient wall paintings half way up

Ok I know he looks like a giant - us at the top

This is Sigiriya and we went up it !

luckily we didn't see any roarming elephants that day

The next day we went to Kandy, the home of the Budha Tooth relic which of course we went to see - you cant see it actually as it is in a box - but it is very holy.  Kandy is very busy and we walked by the lake and pushed through the crowds to find somewhere to eat.  Later we went to Kandian dancing (more dancing but I wasn't required to take part)  which consisted of lots of men leaping high into the air and lots of women doing graceful things with their hands and feet and lots of drums.  It was finished off by a man walking on fire.   After that we discovered Arak and Kotu.  Arak is a local spirit a bit like whiskey but without the burn made of coconut but not tasting of coconut .  Kotu is the Sri Lankan fast food - roti , chicken , vegetables all chopped up.  Both very tasty (as Tony would say).

Its the Buddha in the background

The next day we went to a tea plantation and a spice garden which were both fascinating and we were supposed to take the train to Ella to check out the view but the weather had turned and so we didn't do that we went to Ella by car.  Ella is a calm small village in the hills surrounded by mountains and waterfalls and full of massage places offering Ayurveda treatments.  We climbed mini Adams Peak - a relatively small hill - got caught in a terrible rain storm and then we had a massage.  It was the first proper massage Joe had ever had and i think he was a bit phased by it - especially when they tried to have us both in the same room !  That was sorted out and the massage was great , full body with head and face and then they put us in a wooden box with a round top for steaming.  I didn't like that much as it was a bit claustrophobic even though you had your head out.  Joe liked that bit best funnily enough - I guess at least no-one was touching him for that bit! So after Ella and more Arak we headed to Yala the next day for animal watching via large Buddhas and more cave painting

here he is again, lyingdown this time

Kandian dancing

fire walking

red pineapple - good for something I forget

tea plantation

its not always sunny in Sri Lanka

We went on a jeep safari which was so bumpy it felt as if your internal organs were being rearranged, but that aside, we saw elephants , mongooses, water Buffalo, wild boar, hundreds of birds including a green bee eater with an amazing blue breast, crocodiles , deer , elk but no leopards.

This is what Riki Tiki Tavi looked like

This elephant tried to attack us later
 

And that was it the tour was over - it was great - Tony organised everything , he booked the accommodation, did all the driving and was a mine of information - if we had tried to do it ourselves we would never have seen so much.  I really enjoyed in - I forgot what good company Joe is .  We still had the weekend and we were off to Mirissa to do whale watching.  We stayed at apparently the best place in Mirissa, The Paradise Beach Resort where we had a great cabana overlooking the sea but it was somewhat marred by the terrible service!  Anyway the whale watching was amazing - we went out to sea for about 1.5 hours and then low and behold there were one two or three blue whales.  We couldn't get close as the they don't like to be disturbed.It was amazing we could see them clearly - they are huge , the biggest mammal on the earth - fantastic to see them.  The camera didn't do justice to them and we saw dolphins chasing tuna fish who were jumping out of the water.  What a sight.  I will post some more photos on my face book maybe as I need to get this done.  The guys in the boat were really good - they knew a lot about whales and were really responsible - they went as close as  they could but not too close and they were always aware of the safety - forget all those bad reports of whale watching in Sri Lanka - these guys were good and we had a fantastic trip.

there he is - the camera just doesn't do justice !

Then it was up early again to say farewell to Joe - I was so sad to see him go.  Felt quite bereft.  But the next day there was a street festival in my street and that was sooooo good.  The whole community was involved .  Old, young , male, female.  They threw themselves into it , they thoroughly enjoyed all the games like egg throwing, three legged race, slow cycling, singing and palm weaving.  They were having great time - they welcomed me with open arms , found me a seat to sit on and just left me to it .  It was great - simple pleasure! 

oh the simple life - a bit of coconut palm weaving

The singing competition - they all won

 During the week of the holiday my boss emailed me to tell me he had  resigned.  He would no longer be coming to the chamber - that's it,he was gone.  personal reasons and money apparently - nothing to do with me and my rather bullish approach honestly!  So I was left wondering if I would be going for an early bath back in England but I met the chairman yesterday and he assured me they wanted me to stay and carry on with the plan such as it is so we will see.  They need to get someone else in that is for sure.  I am just going to bide my time and do my thing and see what happens.  I think I can hang on for another 10 months or so. .................