One Week's Gone!
- Nov 7, 2017
- 3 min read
Wow! I cannot believe a whole week has been and gone already. My time here has been so action-packed, with so many exciting opportunities for me, whilst at the same time, in true Sri Lanka style, I have experienced the 'slowly' pace of life, and the disorganised lifestyle of many locals.
My luggage, as told in my previous post, went missing when I arrived in Colombo Airport - and kudos to Emirates, I did receive it back within 24 hours. Bonus for me, however i did actually go out and buy enough clothes and toiletries to last me a couple of weeks! On the other hand, despite the set-back of having to buy additional supplies, I was not entitled to any compensation from the airline, so at a cost of 7,142 r/s (£35) to me I finally received my luggage - delivered straight to my front door.
Within this week, I have read the whole ACE curriculum teacher's manual, which I fear there is still a lot to learn. The system works amazingly well here in Wattala, but it is part of my job to assess how the system is being used and put into place in Jaffna. It has, apparently become rather relaxed, and therefore it needs me to go in and play 'strict'! I can do this no problem - I just will need to put on my teacher's cap and begin to learn this system in practice.
An unexpected adventure took place this weekend (3rd - 6th), where I was invited to a Tamil wedding, along with Jenny, Karen and Angel. It was such a privilege to be part of a wedding of a couple I had never met before. It was great to get dressed up in a Shalwa, and be a part of this magical celebration of love.
It was a great day, full of joy, happiness and most importantly: FOOD. I have learned this from my several trips here, that food always plays a huge part in anything. Including early car journeys at 3am! After the wedding, myself Karen and Angel spent the afternoon travelling around Jaffna to visit various projects, including Ranjini's house, potential land various charities and people are wanting to buy into, the DP store amongst various other things.
The weather here has been torrential the last few days, and especially in Jaffna. Ranjini's house is completely flooded, and she will be moving into the local church to find refuge soon. There will be her whole village in the one building, so you can imagine what problems may arise from this.
Being here for bonfire night was something I was rather intrigued about - seeing if celebrations took place like they do here in the UK, but unfortunately not! I guess the thing is, 5th November has no relevance to Sri Lanka, so no fireworks, bonfire or loud celebrations. Perhaps I could start a tradition here, and give Sri Lanka another bank holiday, not like they don't get enough.
It was great to reconnect to the Jaffna crew, and hang out with some old friends, and make new ones too. I thoroughly enjoyed playing card games with the teens living in the old church, and just spending time all together. Boy, I can't wait to get started working up in Jaffna teaching English.
My first day of teaching in Wattala took place this week, and it was great to get into the classroom. I am with Shalom class, which has a reputation for being naughty and difficult to manage, but I think I dealt with it fairly well. Whilst it was difficult to begin with to settle into the class and how everything works, the day went so quickly and the kids already have a place in my heart. Who knew I'd enjoy working with troublesome teenagers?!
If the first week is anything to go by, the rest of my time in Sri Lanka will be a blast.
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