February 20, 2013

New name for the school.  Julia's School for Maids.  Hooray, my maid arrived.  Her name is Sashi.  Hard to tell her age as she is Tamil and therefore quite dark skinned.  Tamils always look far younger than they really are.  I think she is in her early twenties.  She has worked for foreigners before so she knows our peculiar ways.  But the big thing is she can speak quite good English.  Finally, someone I can communicate with.

Of course, the first weeks will be a little tricky as I train her to do things the way I want and what to cook.  But at least she is here and I am enjoying a cup of bed tea that she made for me.  No more having to make meals or clean the house.

Today I have to go and get provisions.  The big thing is that although you pay the servants next to nothing, SRs. 10,000/month which works out to $80, when they live in you have to provide everything else for them.  They are like a dependent.  So I will be off today to get her the things she needs.

I am also going to try to flog some feta cheese to the high end hotels and restaurants.  Jez brought me some feta and  mozzarella samples yesterday so I am going to talk to the executive chefs at the high end places to see if we can get orders.  One of the big advantages of being a foreigner is that you can just walk in and they will talk to you.  Plus they seem to think that foreigners know a lot more then the locals.  If a foreigner recommends something, they are much more likely to accept it.  Plus the quality of the product is exceptional.  So my dream of making cheese in Sri Lanka has come true.

We are producing chèvre, feta, mozzarella, holloumi, bocconcini, mascarpone, cheddar, ricotta and eventually stilton.  The big news is that we have been offered factory space on the dairy farm from which we get the cow and goat milk.  So the milk literally comes out of the animal and is mixed with the rennet within 1/2 hour.  Raw, out of this world cheese.  People in Canada would be mad for it.

The gardener is also coming today to put in the bamboo plants so the garden will look a little better.

After a couple of days of doing nothing, it is all action today.  Such is the uneven rhythm of life here.  I am much happier when I am busy though.