May 21, 2015

Am continuing on with my root canal.  Went last Sunday to have the hole filled.  More anaesthetic, more x-rays, but thankfully, no more money.  I think I will be going to the dentist every week for a while.  He has to finish the crown and fill a bunch of potential cavities plus do a thorough cleaning.  He knows what he is doing, and it is cheap, so onward and upward.

Things are progressing with my visa application.  I needed a form filled in by the Grama Niladari who is the lowest community official.  He has to attest that I have been living at my current address and that he has not heard anything bad about me.  It took a couple of days to corral him, but finally Sonali did it and she and I walked down to his office which is quite close by.  He was very nice and completed the form with no difficulty.  It helped that I had a copy of my lease agreement and that he knew Sonali.

Then the form had to be countersigned by someone in authority at the katcheri, the city hall.  By all reports, this can be a zoo especially on Wednesdays which is public day.  I called Amal to see if he would come with me.  He has a real aversion to dealing with these government bodies, so instead, he called the City Commissioner and got the name of the Deputy Commissioner who I should see.  Apart from the fact that I got all the way to the katcheri and discovered that I had forgotten the form and had to go all the way home again, it was as easy as falling off a log.  I wandered in there looking lost and confused and sure enough someone asked me what I wanted within 30 seconds.  He directed me to the Deputy Commissioner's office.  She was very pleasant and signed the form so I was out of there withing 5 minutes.

Then it was on to the police station to get a police report.  I talked with the Chief Inspector who I had dealt with before.  He not only bought me a cup of tea and a snack, but he also had the necessary forms photocopied and arranged for the necessary to be done.  Lo and behold, a police office showed up at my door yesterday to check that I what I had told them was true.  Veenitha and I gave him a glass of water, a cup of tea and some biscuits and he merrily went on his way saying I could pick up the report by 1430 yesterday.  I am going this morning instead.

So now I have everything together to make the application.  Just have to wait and see how that goes.