Week 7

School’s out for Christmas, and I’ve never been so excited about what’s going to happen in the next few weeks! No school, not too early starts and time to relax.

The plan at the moment stands that I will be heading up to Jaffna on Saturday with The Dust Project Team who are here for Christmas, to help with the Children’s party which is run annually. I’m so excited to see Esther and give her a massive hug, she has been trying to contact me whilst I have been here in Colombo, and I think the feeling is mutual!

Whilst school has been out for Christmas, I have been running additional lessons for some of the kids who are behind in their studies. Thankfully there has been no requests for me to help with French, but I have been wrapped up in Maths and English tutoring every morning – the same as the standard and usual working hours at school. As the week has gone on, fewer students have been coming, where today I was left with only one student, who has been working tremendously hard to finish his studies by the Easter/April break.

As I have been presented with slightly more free time than other weeks, it has given me a chance to plan additional English lessons for my non-Paalam International School students, which I hope to be starting when I get to Jaffna. I think this is possibly one of the things I am most looking forward to about heading up to Jaffna. Whilst it is daunting to say the least to be heading somewhere where the only people who I will be able to hold a conversation with will be 14 years old, it is such a great opportunity to use this time to productively use my TEFL qualification in practice. Whilst at school I will be teaching in English, and broadening the language and vocabulary sets the children have, they are all fairly advanced with their language skills.

Alongside this additional free time, I feel I have been able to use it to spend some time, alone just having down time. This has included reading books, listening to music and also the odd bit of sitting in the sun, trying to tan (which failed). I am beginning to get t-shirt lines from wandering around school and being out and about, but the humidity does make it near impossible to just sit in the direct sunlight. Shade, and a breeze is where the party’s at.

I managed to head out into a new district of Colombo this weekend, and saw Pettah – apparently famous for its markets. For me, when the tourist book says it is a large market, which floods of tourists come to see, I was expecting streets and streets, full of little market stalls, selling super cheap clothing, shoes and knock-off jewellery, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Whilst yes, the products sold are knock-off, and cheap, but they are in fully kitted out shops, with music blasting, air-conditioning, functioning electronic tills and pushy shop assistants. There was definitely no room for bartering (sorry Dad!). Whilst it was a nice experience, and I managed to pick up a few outfits, I probably wouldn’t head back. I think all tourists had been advised by their hotels, it isn’t a place to go to, and there only seemed to be a few lost-looking Europeans trying to find their way back into the city centre.

My first spout of knowing my food limits happened this week, and after treating myself to street-food, in the form of a “roll” (they are truly majestic) from a dodgy looking café I have decided only respectable places I shall be eating from going forward. At the time, I was wary, but it was a treat from a friend, and I felt as though I couldn’t say no. I gave her a telling-off at Church on Sunday, and told her she is never allowed to take me to a similar place again!

As mentioned above, Christmas is fast approaching, and with school out, the community here is now focused on the church celebrations this coming weekend. I spent Sunday afternoon helping wrap, sort and gift items to the children who attend the church in Wattala. There were truly some wonderful things which will be given away on Christmas, and I wish I could be here to see them. Unfortunately, I will be in Jaffna by then, so photos will have to suffice. Grandma and Grandpa – the soft, cuddly toys, with the silky fur you gave me in February had been saved for this moment. They had two names on, and a ribbon wrapped around them waiting specifically for their Christmas gifts – the parents of these children are so poor, they do not pay school fees and the families are fed by members of the church. This will be a magical Christmas for them all.

A side note to family, friends and anyone else reading this blog – if you have any clothes, cuddly toys, shoes, dolls etc. that you no longer want or need, please do not throw them away! If you can keep them until I return from Sri Lanka in October 2018, I would happily take them off of you. I have seen the number of packages, gifts and blessings The Paalam Project is doing this time of year (whilst also throughout the year), and anything that can be given to support them in this is hugely appreciated. Whilst I cannot promise the gifts will be given out immediately, they will always be used and loved by the receivers, helping to make seasons or times of struggle seem hopeful, knowing there are people out there who care and love them enough to bless them.

Whilst my previous blog post was titled New Experiences, I feel that my new experiences this week may well top those of last week! I was invited by my friend, and colleague Nisha to an 8th day of mourning celebration. Her ‘uncle’ died last week, and as per tradition, on the 8th day (exactly 1 week after the death), the family comes together to celebration the life of the person who died. I was not told this was where we were going, but that it was simply a celebration party. We arrived and begun helping prepare food for 50 people, playing card games and wandering around the block of flats to enjoy the view of Colombo from 14 storeys high – it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take photos, but I think the fact I didn’t, made me appreciate and enjoy the view so much more. After having eaten twice within the space of 3 hours, everyone stood up and left the flat. They told me to put on my shoes and carry a plastic bag. After 15 people squeezing into a tiny lift, we all headed for the van. It was only at the van when I was told we were going to the uncle’s grave to light candles. As a complete stranger, and having never met this man, nor his family, I felt particularly out of place and not at all prepared for this outing. When we arrived, I was asked to pray for the family and was later then told they were so happy I had come to this celebration – this uncle used to say he had “family in London, who would appear after he had died”. They explained I was the family in London, and the uncle would be smiling down from heaven knowing I was at his celebration event. A strange day, lots of food, and another experience. I asked for the raw and real Sri Lanka, and it’s safe to say, this is exactly what I am getting.

As this has been leading up to my last few days in Wattala, I treated my housemates to Pizza Hut to show my thanks and appreciation for them caring for me, looking after me and generally being all-round awesome. These last 7 weeks have just flown by, and without them I definitely wouldn’t have settled here so easily. I wish I could package up their humour, friendships and love (or maybe just the both of them) and take it with me to Jaffna!