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
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
posted by Jodi Crossgrove at
12:22 AM
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