Week 22 - Another Six Months

My new week began with an emergency phone call from the CEO of The Paalam Project during school time, to inform me I had to make a rushed journey to Colombo from Jaffna that same night. On Wednesday, only 20 minutes from getting in from school, tuition and my usual rounds in the evening, my van arrived, causing me to pack in an absolute frenzy in an attempt to not annoy the van driver, which I have discovered is a very easy thing to achieve!

I headed down to Colombo at 7pm, on the night van, which does not hold dear memories for me, after my first experience was one of total anguish, terror and road kill… On my first trip in one of these vans in September with Angel, we witnessed the killing of a stray dog via our vehicle, complete with the bang on the front bumper, yelp from the dog and gasps amid the passengers. Alongside this, I also have the sweet memory of a close encounter with the windscreen from the back seat of the van – this is Sri Lanka; no seatbelts! Luckily, I survived this solo trip to Colombo no problem, and had a rather relaxed journey in comparison to my first. I arrived in Wattala, Colombo around 2:30am, and then headed straight for bed. Needless to say, I was shattered!

Unfortunately, I had no time to relax or to take the morning easy on Thursday, it was straight to business; heading to immigration to renew my Residency Visa in Sri Lanka for an additional 6 months. So many prayers were being prayed across the globe for my visa, including the NLM churches in Switzerland, Canada and France, which totally blew me away. Alongside this, my family, and friends from my church in Lincoln, and Vineyard St. Albans were praying too! A massive thanks to all, as my visa was successfully renewed! We had lots of sitting around, waiting and running from office to office, but it finally happened. It’s official, I’m a resident of Sri Lanka until October 3rd 2018. I’M SO HAPPY I COULD BURST!

After some consideration, myself and The Paalam Project team decided we would celebrate the only way we knew how; McDonalds. After a calorie consuming day, through nerves and excitement, we needed to have a huge meal to make up for the loss of calories. I would say it was borderline the best meal I’ve had in Sri Lanka in the last 5 and a half months. It was a rush back to the house I stay at in Colombo, to make the night van back to Jaffna. Less than 24 hours in Colombo, and 16 hours in vans and the rest in offices chasing a visa. All in all, a fantastic time. The most important thing; I was heading back to Jaffna with great news.

I was also back in Jaffna in time to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday with my favourite people. Despite the lengthy travels, I still made it to church early on Friday morning, hung out with two cheeky monkeys and then some quality time with Angel celebrating my visa win.

On Easter Sunday at church in Jaffna, we had a pastor/worship leader from Tamil Nadu in India come to speak, which was a very enjoyable service. He was a practical preacher, using his words and knowledge and how to put them into action in our day to day lives. All from what happened over Easter, Jesus’ sacrifice and the spiritual gifts we have been given as a result. Luckily Angel was my translator, and explained his message well. I am beginning to pick up a few phrases and am beginning to be able to follow bits and pieces without translation. Not well, but I can get the gist of things if I have to!

As it was the last weekend of the month, the church puts on a fasting/prayer and end of fasting meal on the Sunday after church. As usual, I was surrounded by my favourite kiddos, including Esther, Reena, Roshani, some of the home girls and school kids. As I was walking my chair to a clear space, I felt like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, picking up children as I walked along. I looked behinds and it was an endless sea of children following me – and no Pipe required to get them to follow me. After we ate, I sat with Esther for an hour reading more of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is beginning to get HOOKED on it, and doesn’t want to stop reading, which makes me SO happy. It’s amazing how she is understanding and really grasping the English storyline. After we finish, it’s onto The BFG, The Witches or Matilda. I wonder which one will be her next choice?

Monday was Easter Monday, and as a Christian School this means we got the day off! Not an official Sri Lankan holiday, but as an independent school, we are able to set our own term times and insect days. It was rather a bore for me, as all I did was head to school, complete some marking, organise MERIT SHOP and begin organising for next term. I had a few Dust Project odd jobs to do; a job description, photos for social media and checking up on sponsorship letters, as well as some Paalam bits and pieces, but it was safe to say, I was ready to return to school on Tuesday!