Just some rainy day pictures

Herman takes refuge from the rain in my bedroom.
Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain. Water in the "parking lot"...the place I have to walk through when coming and going.
Since everything is very open rain spatter tends to blow in so I thought I would protect my computer with an umbrella. It made it feel very tropically...then again...I live in Sri Lanka everything is tropically.

So I am back…yea for all of you. I’m feeling good…listening to the Police greatest hits…its good times. I saw in the news that western NY got a bunch of snow…its sunny and 80s here…man that still gets me…its just so not normal to me. Also, I still have to stop every once in a while and smile at the palm trees on my way to the office or pinch myself to make sure that I am not in some very strange dream. Good times though. On Friday I sat in the office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration (all the workers wear lanyards that have DIE written down the edges) for 3 hours waiting for my visa to be signed. It was awesome! With that note…I am very pleased at the sarcastic nature of my co-workers. I was so nervous that sarcasm would be socially unacceptable. Its not so YEA!!!!! Mr. Walker can take his “A-“ and eat it. (Mr. Walker gave me an A- in gym class one quarter b/c I was too sarcastic. It doesn’t bother me anymore and I have no hard feelings, but it makes a great story so I tell it like I am annoyed)
Wow, I wrote the previous paragraph a while ago. I however never posted it…or finished it. Hmm what has happened since last I wrote? Things are getting busy and that is ok by me. Last week I went to Kuranagala which is about 2.5hrs northeast of Colombo. I went to meet with the director of the Department of Animal Production and Health for the Northwest Province, Dr. Chandrasoma. There was an animal “expo” at a school there that the “Department” put on. On the way there we stopped for breakfast. String hoppers…yummy. A nice change from rice and curry…string hoppers and curry. Also, Surish bought some sweets that were very good. Anyway at the expo the “important” people were ushered in by the school band (middle schoolish grades) and some traditional Kandian dancers. It was very cool. At the expo we talked with Dr. Chandrasoma about what the government was doing for the farmers and then I picked his brain for stats and other cow things. There was also a manager from one of the model farms there and I talked to him as well. He didn’t speak English so Chandran translated for me. It was excellent…the talking not the having to have a translator.
On the way home I drove the car for a while. It was terrible!!!! Not that I did a bad job, just I was not fun. The car is a manual transmission, I was driving on the left side of the road, and the traffic here is…unlike what I am used to…completely!!! I would really like to just learn to drive in the middle of nowhere first…it just seems like too much right now. I don’t mind the bus even when it is crowded…ok that part about not minding the crowding may be a bit of an exaggeration. I deal with it but sometimes I want to scream.
Wednesday was Nimali’s birthday…I wasn’t there (the office). The boys decorated her space in a way that only silly boys can. Thursday was Shiloni’s birthday once again the boys decorated. Everything in her office was out of place. After about 5min of Jaykumma trying to tell me that it was Shiloni’s birthday and I should look at her office I went to look at it (Jaykumma doesn’t speak a whole lot of English so it sounded like it was Shiloni’s Workday not birthday). That evening I went to Shiloni’s house for a get together. She is part of the YFC English mission so the group gets together for birthdays. It was good. We played uno and told jokes. Very good. (Minus the fact that I didn’t tell Francis- the maintenance/night guard/everything else- that I would be in late and he got worried and called Chandran who then had to call me to make sure I was OK. Ooops!) Friday night I went out for Chenoa’s birthday. We had dinner at her flat and then we went dancing. I like dancing…it was good. On the way home though we got stopped 3times at checkpoints. Kind of annoying but so it goes.
This week will be busy as I will be visiting Madampe for the first time on Wednesday. I will be meeting the people at the office there and seeing where I’ll live and shop and stuff and I will also be meeting with the District’s veterinary surgeon to pick his brain on common diseases. Then Thursday-Saturday Ed and Joe from MCC Asia will be visiting and we will be taking them to Madampe on Saturday. Good times.
Ok one more thing. I tried cooking curry with coconut milk (I am not that daring so I just got the powder and didn’t do the whole break, scrape and squeeze thing that most do. I just got the instant ) It was terrible but I will keep trying.
Prayer requests I have:
· Financial stability (some loans I thought were taken care of and consolidated are now apparently not and it is hard to work on that stuff since I am overseas and don’t have internet in my flat)
· Mental Stability (Things are getting a bit crazy now and I am having a lot of self-doubt)
· Sri Lanka (it is a lovely country with kind people and the conflict here makes me sad)

I needed a mental break

Me...I am having so much fun at the beach...don't you want to come and visit me. We could go to the beach.

We could laze in a hammock or text someone on my phone.

You could use my bathroom and I would even supply TP!!

We could watch the sun set....

while relaxing on the beach with some friends.

Short Rant

So...life here just got A LOT crazier. There has been some corruption with NGOs and a struggle of the government to say that "they [the government] can handle themselves w/o the aid of NGOs" so it has been...a "process" getting my residence visa. The Department of Animal Health and Production and the Ministry of Social Services gave the thumbs up quite easily unfortunately the District Secretary was a bit of a....well she was strict. Anyway, she agreed to give me a 6 month resident visa on the condition that now every month me and my work associates must present her with results only then will she give consideration to extending the visa. So instead of taking time to learn language I will be thrown into working................CRAP...not only working but having to get measureable results....crap crap....
it is good in a way I guess...I was getting board with not having much work. Now I am a bit overwhelmed that I should have to get firm results right away and every month at that. Crap crap crap. I think I am ok with the technical aspect...the administrative aspect is a bit fuzzy to say the least....poo.
I don’t question that God has sent me here....I do however wonder if S/He made a mistake...Maybe in all of history and all that will come to be I am God's only mistake...naaaa, that’s just nonsense....probably.....I hope....Well crap I just need to hike up my skirt and deal with it. As my life philosophy goes "Shit'll buff out".

Just more random banter...but with pictures

Hello Puppet
Lets see now…where did I leave off. Ok I’ll start with Thursday. Nothing much really. Kiru was late to pick me up so I thought maybe he wasn’t coming. Well anyway as the story goes I left and he came later…Oppps. I got to work and saw to my dismay he wasn’t there…crud. I texted him and told him I was already at the office and gave many apologies when he reached the office. Oh well…I am now taking the bus to work on my own. Yea for me.
Anyway, Friday was a Poya day so I didn’t have to work. (Poya is a Sri Lankan holiday that comes once a month…Yea for holidays that happen every month) I did nothing that day.
Saturday I went to Unawatuna which is down south near Galle. It has the most fabulous beach with the warmest and most turquoise ocean anywhere. I have pictures but they don’t really do any justice. We went by train on the way there. It is fairly cheap (roughly 1.50 US$ for the 2.5hr express train) but we spent half of the very bumpy journey standing. Seats are first come first serve but with people getting on and off eventually everyone in our group got to sit down. I went with Dan and Jen who I know through R&N and Tristin and Munir…friends of friends. It was a good group.
We swam in the ocean and read and just were lazy on Saturday and Sunday. It was good…I NEEDED to get out of Colombo for a while…relax.
On Saturday night we ate with some of the “Swedes” who were also there for the weekend. I’ve learned one thing about the Swedes so far and that is if you eat with them, prepare to pay. However they pick out the places with the best food. That evening my group of 5 shared 3 orders of the “catch of the day” which was jumbo prawn. Ha…me and fresh just caught seafood. Well there’s a first. Tristin had to give me a rundown on how exactly to eat prawn as it came with head, tail, legs and all. It actually tasted quite nice with lots of garlic and a little butter. Way better than the lobster tail I had once in Chicago when Jill and I went with Dad on a Nat. Dairy Board trip.
Later that evening we went to a very western beach party and I realized that I don’t miss American culture at all. Really, not at all. I still had fun however. I do a mean sprinkler and all were impressed with my lawnmower (dance moves).
On the way back we were waiting for the bus and got sequestered by a van driver. Same price…no stops…and I got dropped off right at my junction. So what if we were 10-13 of 13 people in what in the states would be a 9 person van. The van driver was even pretty decent fast but in control…
Anyway that is all for now. I think…yup that’s all.
Peace

I am an ass!

Ok I will explain the title a bit later. First I would like to say that I went swimming last night in a pool, outside, unheated, in October and it was warm. To all of you…Ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha. So anyway the day started out with devotions from 8:30-11:30. Every Tuesday the Y Gro staff and the YFC (youth for CHRIST) staff get together and have a devotion/service time. Singing, tea, sermon and then prayer group time…This week the service was in Tamil with a Sinhala translation. Nimali sat next to me and translated some to English. I was also able to pick up some words. I know numbers up to 39 in Sinhala so whenever a verse was said I knew where to look. YEA for me!!! I also picked up sometimes on what few other words I know. (Every day I learn a few more b/c Prema the maintenance lady at the office REFUSES to speak to me in English. I don’t mind though b/c I want to learn. So I know mainly things that are involved with her bringing me tea.) Anyway the songs for worship were put on an overhead. However they were written only in Tamil and Sinhala so I just sang a mean back-up harmonizing “oh” or “ah”.
After work Nimali and I went to get me a swim cap. I chose a silver one (the only other ones were bright multi-coloured and reminded me of clown wigs). I just have to say that I looked super-hot. I would have included a picture but I forgot my camera. Anyway swimming was nice. On the way home there was a man on the bus staring at me. Now, this is not an uncommon occurrence…at all. It is quite obvious with my blue eyes, blond hair and light skin that I am not a native. Thus I am interesting. Anyway, most of the time I am fine with staring and what not but a combination of the bus being packed (not even a centimeter of personal space) and me being tired just made me really annoyed. I didn’t do anything or even let my feelings show on my face…Now I am over it. One time when I was walking down the street a younger gentleman did a few double-takes at the sight of me. One the forth take I smiled and waved. Feeling a bit foolish, I assume, he stopped looking and went on his way.
Oh OK now the “I am an ass” part. Ok so Kirupa picks me up in the morning so we can ride the bus together. Neither of us being very good conversationalists (which may be due to the fact that English is not his first language and I speak no Tamil) I decided to ask him to tell me an interesting story about himself. After a bit of thinking and a statement that there were “too many stories” he began to tell me a story. It was a story of his time in Jaffna and all that he had seen and lived with. It was... I could never even beging to understand.
After the story, there was the inevitable return request for a story. Well crap! I don’t have anything that comes within a million kilometers of that. It was like a wooly mammoth asking a naked mole rat to tell him stories about the troubles the naked mole rat has had with hair. I had absolutely no story to tell. Nothing…me with no story…there’s a first. I told some story...I don't even know what I said but whatever it was...I felt like an ass.
Ok side note…YEA!!!! I got a 6month residence visa. So some might not know b/c I haven’t communicated much b/c I hate to worry people about things…Anyway, the government here is becoming very restrictive with NGO’s. After the tsunami there was an overwhelming and perhaps ill controlled influx of INGOs. Now they are cracking down in efforts to make sure…umm…basically they don’t what a bunch of pushy people religiously harassing the population pissing everyone off and causing even more “breaks” …tension…anger between peoples. So, they have been banning many “western”…Christian organizations…
So yea that they have concluded that this shy westerner has come to help families by helping develop their agricultural skills and not to “convert the population by condemnation” Wooo hooo. Go Me I win.
Umm anyway, I think that I am done now…yup I’m done.
Peace

Only read if you need to waste time!

Some days are great…today is one of them…not really I was just hoping that writing that would make the day better. It’s not altogether horrible. I just don’t feel well. I haven’t all weekend. I should really lie on the ground and charge people Rs1 per min to have them put their feet on my abdomen. There is enough rumbling that it would be like a footsy-wootsy at the Ohio State Fair. (For those of you unfamiliar with the GREATEST FAIR IN THE WORLD and its podiatric perks, a Footsy-wootsy is a machine where you put a quarter in and set your feet on a panel that vibrates. Good times…yes…good times). I love the state fair. Mmmmm, fond memories.
Anyway, this weekend was slow and kind of lazy. On Saturday, I went to a “town meeting”. It was a time for Americans to meet the ambassador and get briefed on the security situation. The meeting part was actually a big waste of time.
North and East are “unsafe” don’t go there.
We can renew your passport.
Carry a first aid kit.
So much great information!
However I did get a chance to meet some more people and there was food and free drinks. So, it wasn’t a total loss. I say “free” but really I paid for it…taxes and all.
Anyway, we (Jen, Chenoa and I ) stayed there talking to some Salvation Army workers (Chris, Adam and Mindy) until most of the doors were locked. We also got to take some of the leftovers…sweet…I’m going to parties at the consulate more often! After that we went to dinner with “the Swedes” at Tao a very posh restaurant at the very posh Cinnamon Grand Hotel. There were 21people there in the end 3 Americans and 18 Swedes. None of which I knew at the time. As the evening progressed (that’s code for as I waited the 2hours it took to get my food) I was able to get to know Jonahs and Ann Marie. They were very nice and we had a good conversation. Jonahs has a IT company here but will be going back to Sweden soon. His daughter is starting preschool there. It was cute to see how much he missed her. His wife and she had gone back to Sweden a few weeks earlier. Overall, a very nice chap. Ann Marie works for a economic development NGO in Jaffna. She was in Colombo when the cease-fire broke and has been unable to return since then. However, the main office is here in Colombo, so she has been able to work.
That was pretty much it for my weekend. Oh…Sunday night the power went out for like and hour. This was the first time it had gone out for a “long” period of time while I was awake. Without the fans it was hot, but I amused myself with shadow puppets and candles and tried to ignore the sweat running down my face. (Really I’ve gotten quite proficient at ignoring sweat)
Anyway…I never had a lot to say, but I seemed to have said a lot anyway…hmm.
Alright, peace out word to your mother.