Bacteria and Festivals go hand in hand!

Well, since my last post I have been a bit under the weather, something didn’t like me and needed to come out and out it came. I am sure I don’t have to paint too vivid a picture for you, however in case you don’t get it, all ends were on full alert and active. I have been house bound and bed ridden for the past 3 days, I finally crawled out and rejoined the living for the festival that began today (today being Poya Day or Full Moon). Anyway, I had forgotten how bad it really is when you are so sick you can’t think straight and all you want is the comforts of home. Bec bought me some traditional medicines, one from Chami being ½ cup tea with a lime squeezed into it. It tasted pretty bad but at least I managed to keep it down. Everything here is fixed with limes! For example, Jo from Tangalle was bitten by a scorpion and as she ran screaming to a house nearby about being bitten, a lady grabbed her, pinched her toe and squeezed lime juice on the bite and she was fine, no pain!

Also, the local Elephant Ginger beer is reputed to have medicinal qualities, so have had some of that too!

Now the festival! Well, it goes for 7 days, it started today with a Perehera (dancing parade), apparently on 7August there will be elephants all dressed up in full regalia and some thing happens on the last day, not sure what as yet. The streets are lined with vendors selling all manor of plastic wares, from beach balls to cooking items, bucket and pots. Loads of nuts and sweet stalls and many other plastic and rubbishy items.

It is akin to the Royal Easter Show, plenty of crap things to buy that will last the day if you are lucky, sugary foods to make you sick and plenty of animals (more the human kind jostling you about than elephants).
But, the worst thing is the constant wailing over the loud speakers which have been strung up all over the village just for the event. It is painful to listen to and it is relentless! But hey, this is their festival, they only have it once a year and they love it!

---

---