Thursday, April 06, 2006
News from our Man in Sri Lanka #5
Hello all.
This trip is turning into a mixture of the wonderful, the hilarious, the emotional, the frustrating, the heartbreaking and the plain bizarre.
The elections were interesting... the Blue Party (the ruling party) gained control of the council in Tangalla, beating the opposition Green Party, who have been in power in Tangalla for about 10 years. So there was lots of unease here over that and one man was shot dead in Beliatta - a town not far from Tangalla. However, one Green Party supporter said maybe it was a good thing that the Blues got in as now Tangalla wouldnt be overlooked by government as it now held power in Tangalla. How terrible is that - you're pleased that the party you dnt support wins, because you know thats the only way your town will get help. So corrupt here.
Had a lovely weekend in Mirissa - met a wonderfully wacky man called Dizzy who originally hails from Plymouth, though you wouldnt know that if you looked at him. Our group went to a Sri Lankan beach party on Saturday night - good fun. Lots of music and dancing and Arrack. Though the police arrive about half 12 and stopped it - apparently the music was too loud. I'm told that happens quite frequently in Sri Lanka.
Job continues to be enjoyable. Am really loving the fact that every day is so different and am really looking forward to Chris arriving on Friday and then my parents on Monday. As the schools are off until the end of April, we shall all be doing some traveling, which will be fun.
One of the great things is the different sort of people you get to talk to - lots of different kinds, because everyone wants to talk to you because you arent Sri Lankan. And the vast majority of people are so interesting and have so much to say and just talking for five or ten minutes can give a glimpse into their world - and thats always so different from mine, or any Westerners.
Was one of the guests of honour (!!) at a school show/exhibition today. The children demonstrated their gardening skills, their arts and crafts skills and their cooking skills. There were speeches and then all the guests were taken around the exhibitions (which I had to open by cutting a ribbon) and we got to sample some of the food, which was absolutely lovely! Sri Lankans certainly know how to run an event and welcome visitors.
On a similar vein, I was invited to a New Year Festival at one of my schools today which was really interesting. The pupils dance traditional dances and take part in different competitions, with many of the games resembling the sort of games you might find at a Sports Day in a British school such as the wheel-barrow race. But there were some stranger ones too, including a beauty contest, a crying competition and a laughing competition. They also have a game they played which involves the contestants being blindfolded and trying to smash a pot with a huge great stick which is hanging from a net… health and safety would not allow in Britain methinks… I enjoyed it a lot – I guess it’s an event that I’m unlikely to go to again in my lifetime. I gave out some prizes, was given a VIP seat and was generally treated very well.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Keep in touch.
Love,
Humph
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