It is terrible when something you started out for fun becomes a chore. That is how I am feeling about this blog at the moment. It is starting to feel like work; something I am trying to avoid. However, if for nothing else than my own record, here is an update.
Starting with school activities. We did a second intake of admissions on January 21. All in, we now have 48 students divided up into 4 classes: stages 1, 2, 4, and 6. My partner, Lalindra went off to Australia for 6 weeks on March 4, so I am on my own. We just passed mid-term evaluations and our first parent/teacher conference. All went well. We also have our first official corporate gig starting as soon as Lalindra gets back training 40 managers for the Ceylon Electricity Board. Should be fun and the real money maker of the operation. Word is spreading and it looks like we may be able to double our registration in the second term, starting May 5.
Film and Book Club continue on apace. The films are always interesting. Unless I am doing the selection, they are always something I would not normally watch. Two very intriguing ones we have seen are Gone Girl in which Rosamund Pike gives a stellar performance. She did not get an Oscar nomination, but should have. Another is Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams. Interesting, but is one of those that leaves you hanging at the end. Very dissatisfying. Another one with Amy Adams that I have seen is Arrival. Very thought provoking and one of those that has to be seen more than once to grasp it all.
On the book front, I am reading the Dr. Siri Paiboun series by Colin Cotterill about the national coroner of Laos after the communist takeover. They are lovely. Humorous, mysterious, charming, with a smattering of history mixed in. There are 10 of them so far. I am on number 6, The Merry Misogynist. Keep writing Mr. Cotterill.
There have been two hair cuts since I last wrote. I only recorded one hair tattoo. It was something different for sure, but as it grew out, it looked like I had scars on the side of my head. Oh well, it is just hair and grows back.
This is the view from my hairdressing salon in the Grand Kandyan Hotel.
Uduwattakele Forest Reserve
The forest reserve is right in the middle of town. So beautiful except for the buildings.
The rains have arrived 2 months late, so the top of the hill is shrouded in mist.
Yet another example of man's terrible handiwork.
The buildings are encroaching on the forest. Can you say urban planning?
My landlord, Hu, celebrated his 90th birthday on February 13. They gave a nice party with old planter friends and family. At long last, I met their daughter. It was a lovely time spent with charming people with old fashioned ideas of behavior. They had all been planters or planter's wives during the Raj and still had that gentility about them. The birthday cake was made to look like a tea estate with tea bushes and shade trees. It was very well done. They had placed the names of all the estates he had worked on with icing plaques. Overall a great event.
On February 18, I was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Trailblazers 2017 conference sponsored for AIESEC at the University of Peradeniya. AIESEC is the largest student run, university based organization in the world with 70,000 active members from 2,400 universities in 126 countries. I was speaking on business etiquette.
Trying to impress the importance of time management and punctuality to a Sri Lankan audience is not easy.
With two volunteers from the audience, we had a short session in telephone manners.
The guy in the pink shirt was a disgruntled SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom) customer.
The guy in the striped shirt was the SLT customer rep.
Unfortunately, the scenario was all too familiar to everyone as SLT is one of the worst service providers on earth. The volunteers did everything right, which is never the case in the real world.
On March 3, it was the Trinity College Senior Class Drama Competition which I had been invited to judge along with two other women. Despite the trepidations of the Principal, it went off quite well with 4 of the 5 houses competing. Dinner after at the Principal's bungalow rounded off a lovely evening. I must have done alright as I have been invited back to judge the Middle School competition .
My friend Weston Stickler from all over but currently residing in Chicago and Kokomo, Indiana arrived on March 3 for what was to be a couple of months, but will end up being only 5 weeks. Despite his jet lag, he came with me to the Trinity College event and seemed to enjoy himself, although he says he zoned out for a couple of the plays. It is nice to have company, and of course, he came armed with much needed necessities from the west like a battery for my MacBook, toothbrush heads, and at long last, cast frying pans. It felt great to get rid of the horrible teflon thing. Ironically, Weston's in-laws both worked for Dupont and helped to develop teflon. I won't hold that against them. It works great on irons, I just don't want to eat it.
The monsoon has arrived 2 months late but with a vengeance. Lightening struck just across the street from me the other afternoon and knocked out the main house breaker. Plus, my new veranda is leaking like a sieve again. So frustrating.
The late rains meant a long and damaging drought which hit the rice growing areas hard. A lot of the rice crop has been destroyed, and the country is importing rice. Some of the creatures loved it though.
A Common Leopard butterfly hiding among the plants on my steps.
The birds have been building nests and laying eggs. We have a sunbird nest which I thought was in disuse and cut down only to discover 5 minutes later that the female was trying to come home. I hanged it back up and surprisingly, she flew right in. The rains have soaked it now, so they really have abandoned it. The bulbuls have nested as well and have hatched a couple of babies. The crows were out of sorts because the monkeys broke their bird bath. Donning my mason's hat, I fixed the bath, so hopefully, the crows will be back soon.
As always, I close with pics of my lovely Patches, who has started sleeping with me every night now.
