Week 27 - A Birthday in Jaffna

After returning from Dubai earlier this week, and having such a fantastic time with my sister, there was only one way to continue the streak of ‘greatness’: my birthday celebrations!

I wanted to be in Jaffna for my birthday, as some of my favourite people were there: Esther, Angel, Sweette amongst various others, and so I had an incline it would be a fantastic day of celebrations. Plus, it was the start of the Summer Term here for our school, so I would be back with all the school children.

Pre-birthday duties for the start of the school term included a deep clean of the building, which is still falling apart: mopping, sweeping, office organising, photocopy checking, all the usual fun and games, which in Sri Lanka never run smoothly. I am already betting that next term’s photocopying and organising will go to pot 4 months before we are there!

I woke on my birthday to warm wishes from Komatha and Reena, and then, as I was already running late (nothing changes, even with age!), the two of us ran to school. School was enjoyable, I ran assembly, welcomed the children back, asked them all about their holidays, what they did, and encouraged them to continue working hard until the end of the school year. Only three months of studying left, and then another break! At break time, after the morning prayer for the local village people, Sweette and Angel came into school with a HUGE chocolate cake, where they ran a little ‘Sri Lankan Birthday Ceremony’, where they prayed for me, cut the cake and shoved it into my mouth whilst also attempting to pose for photos. Crazy! As a birthday treat, I gave the students extra play time, and allowed them all to take a piece of my cake, instead of eating it all myself.

Esther gave me the cutest gift: a mug and a teddy and an egg shell encasing a promise word for me. She is so creative and kind, it makes my heart burst. After school I headed to Sweette’s house for lunch, where we ate the most incredible chicken curry, and then I headed to MC to play with Reena for a couple of hours. Sweette and Angel gave me two beautiful blouses for my birthday, one of which I wore for my birthday evening: Rio’s and Pizza Hut. Buzzing would be an understatement.

My birthday evening was spent on the phone to the parents, and then spent replying to messages to everyone across the sea, who had wished me. I have such great friends and family – even the distance doesn’t stop us.

After the relaxing and enjoyable day celebrating my birth, it had to be followed by, in true Sri Lankan fashion by a crazy and hectic day at school, fully supported by a whole day of electricity cuts, water shortages and moaning children. A perfect welcome back to reality.

The rest of the week seemed to flow by as usual, with evenings being consumed of ESL lesson planning, marking essays for Wattala school children, and in my spare moments, watching films.

My weekends as usual go very quickly, and are always full of new ‘adventures’ – this weekend was exploring the local stationary shops, tiling companies and cafes. I got a Milo, so of course I was happy! My afternoon on Saturday consisted of meeting the new resident pets in the church grounds: four ADORABLE puppies. I’m yet to name the fourth, but so far we have Charlotte, Charlie and Charles. A perfect fitting.

Sundays as usual are always a blast, full of joy, happiness and of course time with Esther. Beula began translating for me at church this morning but was taken ill during the service, so Angel took over. I feel so bad people give up their Sundays at church in order for me to be a part of the service. After church there was food given out, so the whole community sat together and shared a meal of rice, vegetable curry, dhal, popadoms and chilies. Perfection – this is just one of the many reasons I love Jaffna.