HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
Well what an unromantic day I had today. It's like doom and gloom here. Last night I really felt like packing it all in and coming home. I even dreamed that Wanni told me I could go home if I wanted to. I think he feels that I am being treated bad. It is a little strange having my food arriving in little newspaper parcels every day and not waking to a table laid out for me. But i'll get used to it. As long as I get fed I'm OK! Everybody in the Wanninayaka family is feeling the strain right now. Sosilla, Ram and Wannis sister has improved her English in the last 24 hours! Her hands are tied too. She feels bad for me too. Everyone feels bad for me even Anne! Though, good news for Anne, she actually took a shit today!!! The bowels are clear! Wanni has been pretty down as well. I got emails from him this morning - he sent it to the girls as well - saying that he coudlnt' accept the clothes they had bought him and that he didn't want any celebration of his birthday. BAH HUMBUG!!! I was furious. So I jotted it down on a mail and told him in no uncertain words that he was acting like a spoilt child and a drama queen. And that a gift was a gift and should be accepted and that wallowing in self pity was not an option. To his ban on birthday celebrations...i answered with "no comment". I know he's really down right now. It must be shit. Anne and I both think that he may be suffering from a mild case of depression. But I won't allow him to wallow. And though I felt bad for kicking a man when he's down, he needed a kick!
Anne and I spent the morning correcting Deepals text for the e-village website and listening to Madonna and the Cranberries on top volume. It's made me realise how much I do work on my own out here and though I am happy to do it, I much prefer working with people. Tossing ideas back and forth, kicking back for 5 minutes for a gossip, singing in harmony together. She's amazed that I have survived so well working on my own. I have become a self motivated person. I've had too. Wanni's motivation is at an all time low so I have to keep myself going. Many emails have been flying back and forth with my Pops today. He's the richest man I know. I'm trying to convince him to sponsor Horizon 125 quids a month for the next 2 years. That will cover the cost of their internet, electricity and transport every month. Dad pointed out that 1500 was alot a year and when he retired he couldn't afford to do that. I then pointed out again that it was only for 2 years and that the cost of his holiday to Barbados probably came to the same amount as 2 years overheads at Horizon. My points have been noted.....he's gonna see what he can do. It's the hardest thing getting people to part with their cash. I think abut how much I would spend on cigarettes a month....it equates to about 100 quid in a good month! maybe I'll have to begin a sponsored cigratte quitting scheme. For every pack I don't spend I put away a fiver and then for every month, I get you lot to sponsor me a fiver....what do you say. I'm trying to think up hair brained schemes. Anne is considering doing her next triathalon for Horizon. So if any of you are doing a 5km run or any kind of sponsorable event...think about doing it for Horizon.
Morning over, we waited for dinner to arrive! Ive got so used to having my plate brought to me, that it's a shock to the system to have to go find it! And I don't even know the words for dishes and spoons in Sinhala so it makes things tough when I have to ask Archie or Sosilla for a dish! It's an awkward position to be in. But Anne and I have been soldiering on. Lunch over and our work for the mornign complete we thought we'd settled down for a movie! So out came CAMP! This is without doubt the shittest movie in the entire world. It was so terrible Anne and I had to watch the entire thing. I can't even describe the movie to you.
Dinner this evening was to be at Radhika's house. So we had to bath early. I missed my slot in the bathroom as Wanni sneaked in after Anne. But you can imagine the smiles on Anne's and my faces when he re-appeared wearing one of the t-shirts the girls had bought him. It was a proud moment for me. I knew he wore it because of the mail I sent him but i was proud because i think he realised he possibley was wallowing a bit and this was his way of saying that he wasn't and that he would accept the gift. I knew the girls would be ecstatic. So how were Anne, Wanni and I to get to Radhikas? Turns out all three of us had to cram onto the Bajaj motorbike in a Marissa sandwich! It was hysterical. I can now see how whole families can fit on these things!!! We had a pleasant journey obviously stared at by every passer by. The girls appluaded us when we drove into Ruvini's driveway and you should have seen the happiness on their faces when they saw that Wanni was wearing their gift. He thought the t-shirt was too small for him. In actual fact it fitted him and didn't hang on him like a dress. It made him look his age. The girls were laughing because they too thought the t-shirt was too small but thats because they too are used to seeing him in sacks! They too thought he looked great. It's easy to please people out here and Wanni made those girls day.
Before dinner the girls and Anne and I took a stroll around Manor Junction. We popped to the local temple where Anne baffled us all with her in depth knowledge on Buddism. The girls went a little mad picking flowers again and insisted on putting them in Anne's and my hair. I think the girls think Anne and I are Sindy dolls that need dressing up. So we wandered along, trying to refrain Anne from greetting everybody down the road. Little Lahiru rode past on his bicycle and wished me a good morning before realising it was actually after 6pm! We then walked on to Radhika's house, where she plucked fresh pomegranate from the tree and we all tucked in. And then they went off to cook some peanuts and we sat around chatting. The girls are really in their element now. They joke. They no longer feel embarassed to talk. I asked if they had received any Valentine cards. No was the answer all round and Radhika added that girls of their age were not allowed to have boyfriends. Maybe she was trying to throw me off the scent that she and Isuru are supposedly courting. Ruvini, who I'm realising has a wicked sense of humour, piped up with "If we lived in London, we would all have boyfriends". They amaze me.
Dinner preparation took Anne's attention. She's been dying to know how they grate coconut so as Radhika's mum was grating away i got Anne over and asked Radhika if Anne could have a go. Radhika's mother was so happy. We then sat in on her mum preparing a salad and a sudoo sambol. It was a sight. Kitchens here are like something from the dark ages. But they have everything they need. I can't describe the knife/seat combination thing that she was using to chop everything up with . I would have been great to see what Gordon Ramsey would have to say! Dinner was fab as usual. Saddest part was that they don't eat with us. This whole hierarchy respect thing is so fucked up. These people are spending their hard earned money to cook for us and then have to stand there and watch us stuff our faces. It's all so wrong. We are all equal.....
All these mothers are so like Aunties to me. I have to give them all the traditional Sinhala sniff on both cheeks before leaving. It's like leaving a mother behind! Radhika said that her mother has for so long wanted to see me. She thinks I am lovely. Maybe my own mother might say that one day!
So dinner done, we returned home with a little less room on the bike - our stomachs now full! Another day down. Lord knows what tomorrow will bring...but in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara...."Tommorow's another day"
Happy Valentines Craig!
Good night all!
mx
Anne and I spent the morning correcting Deepals text for the e-village website and listening to Madonna and the Cranberries on top volume. It's made me realise how much I do work on my own out here and though I am happy to do it, I much prefer working with people. Tossing ideas back and forth, kicking back for 5 minutes for a gossip, singing in harmony together. She's amazed that I have survived so well working on my own. I have become a self motivated person. I've had too. Wanni's motivation is at an all time low so I have to keep myself going. Many emails have been flying back and forth with my Pops today. He's the richest man I know. I'm trying to convince him to sponsor Horizon 125 quids a month for the next 2 years. That will cover the cost of their internet, electricity and transport every month. Dad pointed out that 1500 was alot a year and when he retired he couldn't afford to do that. I then pointed out again that it was only for 2 years and that the cost of his holiday to Barbados probably came to the same amount as 2 years overheads at Horizon. My points have been noted.....he's gonna see what he can do. It's the hardest thing getting people to part with their cash. I think abut how much I would spend on cigarettes a month....it equates to about 100 quid in a good month! maybe I'll have to begin a sponsored cigratte quitting scheme. For every pack I don't spend I put away a fiver and then for every month, I get you lot to sponsor me a fiver....what do you say. I'm trying to think up hair brained schemes. Anne is considering doing her next triathalon for Horizon. So if any of you are doing a 5km run or any kind of sponsorable event...think about doing it for Horizon.
Morning over, we waited for dinner to arrive! Ive got so used to having my plate brought to me, that it's a shock to the system to have to go find it! And I don't even know the words for dishes and spoons in Sinhala so it makes things tough when I have to ask Archie or Sosilla for a dish! It's an awkward position to be in. But Anne and I have been soldiering on. Lunch over and our work for the mornign complete we thought we'd settled down for a movie! So out came CAMP! This is without doubt the shittest movie in the entire world. It was so terrible Anne and I had to watch the entire thing. I can't even describe the movie to you.
Dinner this evening was to be at Radhika's house. So we had to bath early. I missed my slot in the bathroom as Wanni sneaked in after Anne. But you can imagine the smiles on Anne's and my faces when he re-appeared wearing one of the t-shirts the girls had bought him. It was a proud moment for me. I knew he wore it because of the mail I sent him but i was proud because i think he realised he possibley was wallowing a bit and this was his way of saying that he wasn't and that he would accept the gift. I knew the girls would be ecstatic. So how were Anne, Wanni and I to get to Radhikas? Turns out all three of us had to cram onto the Bajaj motorbike in a Marissa sandwich! It was hysterical. I can now see how whole families can fit on these things!!! We had a pleasant journey obviously stared at by every passer by. The girls appluaded us when we drove into Ruvini's driveway and you should have seen the happiness on their faces when they saw that Wanni was wearing their gift. He thought the t-shirt was too small for him. In actual fact it fitted him and didn't hang on him like a dress. It made him look his age. The girls were laughing because they too thought the t-shirt was too small but thats because they too are used to seeing him in sacks! They too thought he looked great. It's easy to please people out here and Wanni made those girls day.
Before dinner the girls and Anne and I took a stroll around Manor Junction. We popped to the local temple where Anne baffled us all with her in depth knowledge on Buddism. The girls went a little mad picking flowers again and insisted on putting them in Anne's and my hair. I think the girls think Anne and I are Sindy dolls that need dressing up. So we wandered along, trying to refrain Anne from greetting everybody down the road. Little Lahiru rode past on his bicycle and wished me a good morning before realising it was actually after 6pm! We then walked on to Radhika's house, where she plucked fresh pomegranate from the tree and we all tucked in. And then they went off to cook some peanuts and we sat around chatting. The girls are really in their element now. They joke. They no longer feel embarassed to talk. I asked if they had received any Valentine cards. No was the answer all round and Radhika added that girls of their age were not allowed to have boyfriends. Maybe she was trying to throw me off the scent that she and Isuru are supposedly courting. Ruvini, who I'm realising has a wicked sense of humour, piped up with "If we lived in London, we would all have boyfriends". They amaze me.
Dinner preparation took Anne's attention. She's been dying to know how they grate coconut so as Radhika's mum was grating away i got Anne over and asked Radhika if Anne could have a go. Radhika's mother was so happy. We then sat in on her mum preparing a salad and a sudoo sambol. It was a sight. Kitchens here are like something from the dark ages. But they have everything they need. I can't describe the knife/seat combination thing that she was using to chop everything up with . I would have been great to see what Gordon Ramsey would have to say! Dinner was fab as usual. Saddest part was that they don't eat with us. This whole hierarchy respect thing is so fucked up. These people are spending their hard earned money to cook for us and then have to stand there and watch us stuff our faces. It's all so wrong. We are all equal.....
All these mothers are so like Aunties to me. I have to give them all the traditional Sinhala sniff on both cheeks before leaving. It's like leaving a mother behind! Radhika said that her mother has for so long wanted to see me. She thinks I am lovely. Maybe my own mother might say that one day!
So dinner done, we returned home with a little less room on the bike - our stomachs now full! Another day down. Lord knows what tomorrow will bring...but in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara...."Tommorow's another day"
Happy Valentines Craig!
Good night all!
mx