Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well as you can tell by my lack of posts, things are starting to roll. Work has really picked up and most of my life is consumed by it now. But that is ok b/c I like the people I work with. I have been in Madampe now 3-4 days each week. Suresh interpreted last week. It was finishing up our sub-sample group of farmers with a general survey. It was a good week only that on Tuesday night the electricity went out at 4pm and didn’t come on until 6am…YUCK. Sleeping in Sri Lanka without a fan is not easy…even for me who can sleep in very hot conditions (Jill you know this…ha ha). Anyway to pass the time I took pictures and I am posting them along with some others. On Wednesday night the electricity went out on the whole island but only for about 4hours. I made cookies…oh I have a story about that…MOM DON’T READ THIS SECTION!
So I wanted to make some cookies…chocolate chip…the pudding kind…very moist and yummy. I cleaned out my oven in Madampe and checked the underside for rats. (I live in a rural area…rats are inevitable) SERIOUSLY MOM YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THIS! I saw nothing so turned on the oven. After a bit it smelled very bad. I had cleaned the oven, but maybe I had not gotten it all…well. Anyway about 5min after I turned the gas on… out runs a very angry rat. It got out somehow…I have no idea how but it was gone in a flash. And that is the story of the rat I now refer to as Ashy. Anyway, the cookies were a big hit at the Colombo office. Only, no one knew what they were. I still don’t understand how you could possibly not know what a chocolate chip cookie was…I don’t understand…I have done a great service for Sri Lanka by bringing the idea of the chocolate chip cookie here. Maybe that is God’s purpose for me…OR NOT. Also they were a bit too fluffy b/c I don’t have a cup measurer only a gram measure… Yea for CHRISTmas…hint hint. Oh, for those of you disappointed in non-american brown sugar, it is not the same here either. I am starting a petition to make brown sugar america’s national symbol, because it is done so well there. Anyway.
I did not go to the Elephant Orphanage b/c in the end all my friends including me were too busy. Oh well I got some work done. Sort of…I am having a lot of trouble with project planning right now. I don’t know how to do it and that is a problem…people are helping but it is still a little shaky and will be for a while. Like the start of any new job.
This week we are getting into more meat and potatoes stuff with Koul Wewa. Yeah…and they like me!!! Double yeah…even if I can’t speak much. Oh and I will never have to go grocery shopping again. Every time I visit a farmer there is always tea and some sort of biscuit (that is British for cookie…Sri Lanka was under British rule for a while) Oh there are these pancakes (crepes really) that are filled with coconut and coconut honey…ay yo! bohome rasay (very tasty).
Oh another thing, pray for my meeting with the District Secretary. It actually has already happened and it went well. (God is above time so I am sure s/he heard the prayer you may pray after the meeting before the meeting) Anyway, she made sure to let me know that she only reluctantly gave me the visa and that she thinks I am unnecessary. Instead of giving her the pleasure of arguing with her, I simply sat with a rock solid face completely unscathed by her comment. I handed her the 6-month plan and a cover letter that I had written. It was kind of a brown nose letter…I am humbled to work with you crap. Upon meeting her I realized maybe not the best type of letter for her personality, but my presentation of the plan and demeanor at the meeting was good. She is very cut to the point and get rid of the fluff kind of person. Although she seems hard and mean, she is judicious and cares for her district. For those Archboldians, she is a Mrs. Thatcher. I like her. We’ll just have to see what she says in April. It may have gone well but prayers are still welcome.
I am starting to drive the car around now. I get a lot of looks…White Women drivers are very uncommon here. Oh well, being that I am so attractive I am used to stares.
Hmm there’s got to be more than that…
Oh, some small amusing thoughts:
Sri Lankans are the only people I have found able to pull off the "manpri" sucessfully. Yea. (the manpri is just 3/4length pants...called capris when women wear them but I guess that was too femanin so when men wear them they are called "manpris"
Sri Lankans however CANNOT pull of a mullet. but then agian no one can...if anyone has seen my families christmas pix from last year you will agree with this point. None of us looked good in the mullet wig. Anyway, the Lanka Mullet as I call it is one of the worst b/c it is a mixture of "jerry curl" and mullet....not good.
Ok then I must off
Peace and Love
Jodi

GO TEAM

13/11/2006
So so so. It has been a while since I posted anything. Things are going well. I am busy and sometimes have to stop and pray this prayer repeatedly.
“Dear God, I think I am going to throw-up”
Maybe not the most eloquent prayer but I think the point gets across.
Last week I went to Madampe on Tuesday-Thursday. It went well. I interviewed some farmers and will finish with the majority of the farmers next week. It was good…I have to have an interpreter which is kind of annoying, but I will learn eventually. I have 3 years. Well, 6 months according to the current visa, but they are going to extend it. Why you ask? Because I am awesome, that’s why. Some have expressed to me that what the district secretary is asking for is ridiculous and it wouldn’t be failing if my visa was not extended. I respectfully hear what they are saying, but really that is a bunch of crap. It may be an unreasonable request. Unfortunately for that crazy Provincial Director, I majored in verbal-culinary-arts….I like to make people eat their words(yes that phrase is copyrighted so don’t even think of stealing it…you know you want to)…so, “stand back you old nag! You don’t know who you are messing with!”
Anyway, I forgot my camera last week but hope to post some pictures if I take them this week.
It is still a beautiful place and one evening Shiloni and I walked around the camp part of the estate. There is this weed there called “needy kumba” which translates to “sleepy head”. It folds up when you touch it. Larry Armstrong was growing this or something similar one time when I was younger. Deb and I would go and touch it…hours of amusement…and I am glad to say that it still amuses me.
I also spent some time with Shiloni learning all the last names of people in the central office. There are some really not easy names.
Oh, on Thursday when we were visiting farmers we got the van stuck in the mud. They all laughed at the thought that it was a new experience for me. They seemed amused so I let them think that that was a new thing for me.
Anyway, Friday was back in the office. No one was there and I got a lot of work done. Tony, Shiloni, Kiru and Jaykuma were all at a wedding; Nimali is on study leave; Esther was gone; and Chanaka had a lot of errands to run. It was weird.
Today, I worked on some stuff in the morning and then in the evening was Micah’s 2nd birthday party. Micah is Dorthy and Probo’s son. I go to a Bible study that D&P also attend. All is well and next weekend I am going to the Elephant Orphanage. Yea!!!!
Peace
jrc

New post- same old

Ok so what is new with me? Well last week was crazy…but I stayed out of trouble…sort of. Wednesday (the 25th) I went to Madampe for the first time. It was lovely. I will post some pix eventually. I got to visit the first village that was created by Y Gro called Koul Wewa. I visited some cows…it was so so so cool. I am a bit disappointed in the scientifically designed barns that the government has put up. I think they are great except for 2 things. 1) they are tie stalls and most farmers don’t let the producing animals out…so the want of increased AI s is tough b/c they cant show heat well (jump). 2) there has already been a small increase in laminitis…cement floors…no bedding…laminitis…
It was good and I gathered some more baseline knowledge of what normally goes on.
After that we visited my future home and the office where I will work. Good and good…I met my neighbors Bandula and Nirosha and others that I will work with...Ruan, Roshan and Dilani. On the way back into Colombo we stopped at a Hotel/Restaurant where we were planning to take Ed and Joe (MCC Asia). It was nice and right by the ocean. After we ate we were able to go to the beach for a bit. That was nice. The ride home was nice except for the fact that Colombo traffic doubled the normal time it would take us to get back….blah. Plus there were torrential rains…yea! So while sitting in the van being very bored Shiloni and I decided to be crazy and do motions to all the songs on the radio. It was amusing to say the least. We captivated our audience- who were also probably bored from sitting in traffic.
After we had dropped Shiloni off, I tried sleeping again…it didn’t work. Anyway, I had my eyes closed and I felt something hit my arm. I opened my eyes but there was nothing. Then Jaykummar who was sitting beside me started to thrash a bit. Knowing he is prone to be a bit odd, I just kind of ignored it. But in a short while I figured out what had hit my arm and what Jakummar had been thrashing for…giant flying cockroach; walking just to the left of me…ready to strike…going right for the jugular no doubt. Fear occluding my throat; I grabbed Jakummar with one hand and pointed with the other. He was able to sweep the gigantic bug down and out of the window. I don’t know if I will ever get used to large bugs, but at least it makes an interesting story.
Thursday Joe and Ed came to the office and we gave presentations on Y Gro as an organization and then a presentation on the dairy villages and one on the tsunami relief. Tony did the presentation on the tsunami and part of it was just music and pictures and it was moving. Tony is the office’s quiet sensitive guy (or so I thought). That evening then Rachel, Nigel, Ed, Joe and I went to dinner. It was nice and we got to talk about lots of things. A very good evening, I would say.
It rained more that evening.
Friday was normal but VERY rainy. It is the first day that I have been here where I did not see the sun at all. I had a Sinhala lesson that evening. Unfortunately I got off a bus stop too early and got caught in a downpour; arriving at the lesson a bit drippy. But Oh well what can one do to stop the rain? After the lesson I was going back to the office. We were leaving early in the morning to take Ed and Joe to Madampe, so Shiloni and I were going to spend the night at the office (there are some living quarters downstairs…Tony resides in one bedroom and there are two others for the use of…others. Also I may be staying there on the weekends after I move to Madampe) and maybe watch a movie using the projector that we had rented for the presentations on Thursday. Anyway, on the bus ride back to the office I hit Friday evening traffic. There were so many people on the bus that I was stuck. Really I couldn’t move. I wanted to scream…cry…something. It was terrible. I eventually got off about 2km after my stop. I am now very cautious where I stand/sit on the bus. Anyway, I got to the office eventually. Very tired and annoyed. So the evening was truncated after a bit of cricket watching and dinner.
On Saturday we picked up Ed and Joe and set off for Madampe. Unfortunately, the rains on the previous days had caused flooding so the trip was very slow and we didn’t end up going to Madampe anyway. The roads near Madampe were passable but we chose not to go b/c we thought they would get worse as the day went on. God’s hand was truly guiding us b/c we found out later that the waters had risen to over 3ft and the Y Gro staff in the Madampe center had to be evacuated by tractor. Still on the way to the Hotel where we were to have lunch, Tony drove the van through 2.5ft plus. It was crazy… We made it there and remained there for meetings and meals. Here also is where I found out that Tony is not exactly the nice quiet sensitive guy I had made him out to be. He threw Shiloni into the ocean; skirt, nice blouse and all. I think I stared at him with wide eyes and gaping mouth for a good minute. I am usually such a good judge of personality. She had other clothes so it was ok…but wow…I normally pick personalities up right away.
Anyway the ride home was good and full of water…lots of fun driving through it.
Sunday was youth service at Nugegoda Methodist…probably my church of choice I think. It went well. (Youth here are from like middle school up to like 30 or married) That evening we went swimming at St. Peters. Ha ha ha. Almost November and I am still swimming outside. Good times.
On Monday I got the news that 2 of the dairy villages were flooded and grass for feeding was nil to none. Grass is now being chopped at the Madampe center and being sent to the villagers. Nothing like starting out on the right foot.
Also, the peace talks in Geneva have failed.

Please thank God for family, faith, keeping you safe and pray for Sri Lanka and its people and my financial situation.
Peace
jrc