BLOG FOUR

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Claire arrived on Monday…she was supposed to get here at lunchtime but didn’t arrive until nearly midnight! Her flight was delayed about four times and she was stuck in Kuwait!!
On Monday at the pre-school we had an “English Day”. We did some activities typical to an English pre school and made cucumber sandwiches! The little ones didn’t really like them that much! As I circulated the classroom they kept spitting them out and holding them out for me to take with a look of disgust on their faces!! They scoffed the bread though! The older ones and teachers seemed to enjoy them more though; only one or two got rid of their cucumbers!

On Tuesday I left Claire in bed as she was knackered - she had not slept for over forty hours! I went to work as I had to get everything ready for the home opening the next day. We mopped and scrubbed and rearranged and just made sure everything was ready. There are still things to do but they are minor details and the home is liveable now! There electrics are done and everything looks good. We just have to build the laundry outhouse and buy a few finishing touches but apart from that it’s all come together at the last minute…as I predicted it would!

The opening day was on Wednesday. Lots of VIP’s came down like the Doctor and his Judge wife who I met with last week (they didn’t bring their armed security guard thankfully; they did bring their servant!). He had a huge entourage with him of people we weren’t introduced to so we just had to guess who they were!
We met the assistant matron, cook, and one of the housemothers. Later on I had to go into a meeting with them to discuss the future of the home, which was a bit odd! At one end of the table I sat with the doctor’s wife and a couple of others discussing what needed to be done and at the other the doctor sat interviewing for the Accountants position! They appointed a young girl who is 22 and has really good English, so that’s a bonus. The children arrive next week…don’t know which day, I will probably just turn up to work one day and they will all be sat on the step with their suitcases! It has been decided that all the children will be female now and aged from babies to 18. The first children that come in are going to be about 5 years old and we could have 8 - 10 children at first. The maximum we will get is 16 kids, so its going to be a really small family orientated home, which is good. The home looks really good now it’s all ready, I’m quite proud of what we’ve achieved!
On Wednesday night Claire and I went out for the most amazing meal with my friend Shane. It was a place called Ilukatya Villa, past Galle and inland a bit. It was a really big, grand old house set in the most beautiful grounds, with little ponds, streams and ruins everywhere. We had to take our own drinks as it was Ramadan (Sinhalese celebrate every holiday going, it’s a Buddhist country but they celebrate every other religions holiday too….any excuse for a party!). We had a range of Sri Lankan cuisine - lots of different curries and sea food in little bowls we could pick and choose at. It was really fantastic; gorgeous food and a beautiful setting - one of the nicest places I’ve ever been in my life. How the other half of the Sinhalese live! I’ve seen only the impoverished regions so it was nice to get a balance and see the rich half of Sri Lanka! It must have been very expensive as there wasn’t even a menu! When Shane asked us out to eat, we said we wanted to pay for ourselves as we were independent western women! But Shane wouldn’t let us, he said he had invited us so would accept no payment and if we felt really bad we could take him out one night. That will be to the Rotti shop then!! I don’t feel too bad though he is very affluent; he has his own business and a servant! To stay at the Villa costs £300 a night, it was a beautiful place! Maybe one day…in my dreams!

On Saturday Claire and I went to the Sea Turtle Farm and Hatchery. It was amazing!!
There was a sandpit where all the eggs are buried in rows until they hatch; there were little signs next to them that told you what breed of turtle they were. Then there are tanks with different breeds of turtles in. In the first one there was an Olive Ridley turtle, which was extremely angry! He kept trying to escape from his tank by putting his flippers on the edge and hoisting himself out, but he couldn’t do it. He was snapping all the time, and the owner called him “angry boy”. He’s probably so angry because he’s stuck in a tank and wants to be out in the sea!! Next to him in another tank was a Green turtle; he was huge, and Claire and I got to hold him! In another tank were about 30 five day old turtles; they were tiny! We got to feed them; Nimal cut up some little fish and we dangled them in the tank for the baby turtles to feed off. It was really cool!! The turtles were knocking each other out of the way and fighting to get to the fish. When you let go one turtle would swim away with the bit of fish, and all the other turtles would chase after it. In another tank was another turtle called Victor. He only had one front flipper; a turtle amputee! He lost it in an accident and Nimal looks after him.
Now comes the best bit! Nimal said Claire and I could release a baby turtle back into the sea! It was well exciting! We took a five day old turtle from its tank down to the beach. We put it down on the sand near to the sea; it stood still for a little while figuring out where to go. Then it started making its bid for freedom, pottering of down towards the water. A big wave came and carried it out and we watched as more waves came and carried it further and further out to sea until it was out of sight. It was wicked! Nimal told us that the baby turtles only have a 50/50 chance of survival, so we could have just sent the poor bugger to its death! But in my opinion it’s worth the risk and better than being stuck in a tank for the rest of its life and trying to escape like “angry boy”!
Nimal told us that his father had started the turtle farm then his sister had taken it over. His sister, her three kids and his mother had all died in the Tsunami and the farm had been totally destroyed. Nimal had lost everything and built it back up since with the help of donations; he gets no funding form the government or any other sources. He pays people who bring turtle eggs to him; otherwise they would sell them to people to eat! He looks after the eggs until they hatch then releases them back into the sea, and also looks after injured turtles that have been attacked or got caught up in fishermen’s nets. It’s a perilous life for a turtle!
The turtle farm was amazing! I loved releasing the baby turtle back into the sea. Its something I will remember for the rest of my life.

On Sunday Claire and I went to Asian Jewel Boutique Hotel. It’s just off Baddagamma Road in Hikkaduwa so it’s inland a little bit. It overlooks a lagoon and has the most amazing views. The place is really nice, and the owners are great. They are an English couple, Dale and Tania, who have been out in Hikka since August 2004. We had a really relaxing day; they are so nice and friendly and really look after you so you feel completely chilled out. We sat by the pool all day then in the late afternoon we had traditional English Sunday dinner! Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mash, veg, and onion gravy - the works! Tania was a chef for ten years and the food was amazing! They do all sorts of English fodder, sausage and mash, fish and chips, Sheppard’s pie; we’ll defiantly be going back, in fact we’re going on Saturday for Claire’s birthday! Full English in the morning then all day pool session then evening meal followed by (lots of) drinks! Perfect! Sunday at Asian Jewel was a brilliant way to round off the week; total rest and relaxation. I think that will be my new Sunday retreat from now on!

More random observations about Sri Lanka and the Sinhalese people now!

I think I’ve mentioned before that they are very tactile. At work the teachers are always hugging me, putting their arms round me and holding my hand. It’s not uncommon to see friends walking down the street holding each other hands; even men! It’s a bit odd at first seeing men walking or sat about with their arms round each other, but you get used to it after a while! Even though they are so tactile, public displays of affection between couples is still not common so if you’re walking down the beach you can sometimes see couples hiding in the bushes just to talk in privacy!

The Sinhalese are also very inquisitive. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been asked “where are you going?” or “what are you doing?” they are just curious, so you often end up just stood chatting to a complete stranger about your plans for the day!

In the shops you can buy single cigarettes like you used to be able to do in some corner shops in England in the past. A fag and a match!

As you’re sat at home, fishermen come round selling fish on their push bikes. They’ve just caught them, and then peddle through the villages selling them shouting “fish” in Sinhalese, so you can just come out of your house and buy it, instead of going to the market. I’ve not bought any though; don’t fancy gutting a fish myself!

Men on bikes also come round selling coconuts. There are coconut stalls and sellers everywhere. They slice the top of it, stick in a straw and you drink the juice straight from the straw. It’s pretty nice and refreshing, but a pain in the arse as you can’t put it down as its round and falls over or rolls away!
I’ve blogged about the buses before….but I’ve noticed something else as well. If someone gets on and all the seats are full barring one near the window they don’t shuffle along to make room, you have to climb over them to sit down! Same when you get off, they just sit there so people sat next to the window have to climb over them instead of making it a bit easier for everyone by just standing up for two seconds!!

There’s a war going on in Sri Lanka. Of course I knew this before I came, but where I am in Hikka, you would never know about it. Nothing ever happens down here, it’s all concentrated in the north, with the odd bomb blast in Colombo. There was a bomb blast in Colombo the day I arrived but I didn’t know about it until about two days later when someone told me. When I went up to renew my visa I noticed lots of military on the streets. On some streets they were spaced about 50 metres apart covering the whole area. There are sometimes military checkpoints down here, but not many. The only reason you hear of the war down in this area is due to the newspapers. Not that I read them but if I see one its always front page news. Before I came here I didn’t realise it was such a big deal but there is always fighting in the north and the papers are always going on about which side has captured which territory and different campaigns and military losses etc. it’s a proper civil war! But down here there’s no mention or sign of it, it’s odd. I suppose it’s exactly the same situation as Northern Ireland in the 70’s and 80’s. Some places were affected others weren’t. I chose the right place - the Tamil’s don’t give a damn about Hikka and the south, thank God!

PEACE.

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Photos

the pre-school teachers
Gothami, Dilsha, Nadeeka, Shani, Nadeesha