Keith in Sri Lanka

Friday 29th November 2019 I had a more relaxing day today after the excitement of Gobi and Kavi’s wedding yesterday, as I felt very tired today. It has been an exhilarating 3 months, but also quite exhausting and I find myself looking forward to returning home more than ever now, although I know I will miss Sri Lanka enormously. I had a relaxing morning at the Guest House, then i n the afternoon, I went to the Tea Leaf Vision School in Maskeliya and worked there for a little while. I gave them the ‘Welcome’ banner I had made for them and Daya helped me put it up in the entrance. All too soon, it was time to say my final goodbyes to all the staff there. I have enjoyed my trips to Maskeliya very much and it is certainly somewhere I am looking forward to returning to next time I come to Sri Lanka. I left in a tuk-tuk with Daya in order to go home with him to meet his family and have a bit of food. We ate something called iddly, which Daya told me was a favourite meal for him. ...

Thursday 28th November 2019 Today was all about Gobi and Kavi's wedding and this is the longest post I have made, with the most photographs (all from the wedding), but I felt it was worth giving you all the full description in words and pictures of what was an extremely special day for Gobi for Kavi and for me attending it! I woke up excited to be attending my first Hindu wedding today, having even had a lovely gold-coloured top made in Nuwara Eliya to wear for the special occasion! I arrived at the Sri Ambal Cultural Hall, where the wedding was taking place, around 10:00, having been picked up on route by Carol, who was in a tuk-tuk, dressed in a beautiful sari. We entered the building and our foreheads were anointed with a special coloured marking, which they believe is a ‘third eye’, the centre of a person’s nervous system and the area in which a person can see spiritual truths. We sat down well away from the stage where the ceremony was taking place, but were immediatel...

Wednesday 27th November 2019 Last night was my last one where I have been staying, as I am away for the next 4 nights and then spending the last 3 where I hope to be staying when I next return to Sri Lanka. I felt a little sad, but I was too busy washing sheets and sorting stuff out to be too maudlin! I will return on Sunday evening or on Monday to finish cleaning the house and pack all my things. The Sri Lankan Air Force guys reappeared briefly today, but this time they were not in civvies, but fully dressed in uniform and carrying rifles! At least it was obvious who they were this time, so I steered well clear of them, as I didn’t want to get caught up in a dangerous hostage scenario! Later in the afternoon, Reggie picked me up in his tuk-tuk to take me to Maskeliya, where I am staying for 2 nights at the wonderfully named Butterfly Mountain Lake Side Guest House! I am there for Gobi and Kavi’s wedding tomorrow and I am quite excited about it, as it will be my first ever ...

Tuesday 26th November 2019 I spent the whole day at home today, which is a rare thing for me, as I normally don’t like to do that. However, I needed to complete my Youth Reconciliation Centres Visits Report and then continue finishing off a lot of things before I leave next week.  Halfway through the morning, the AMMA ladies popped round bearing a Christmas gift for me, which was very sweet of them. In response to me making a banner for their entrance, they made me a Christmas banner, which I shall be taking home with me! The most exciting moment of the day came when a group of youths appeared right outside where I have been staying, which is the last house at the end of a very quiet lane and a dead end for traffic, although there is a pathway for pedestrians to get through. They were hanging round outside for more than two hours and I was getting more and more concerned about what they were up to. I wondered if they were taking drugs or ‘casing the joint’ for a burglary la...

Monday 25th November 2019 I had a very enjoyable day today, filled with lots of goodbyes. I started the day with a WhatsApp catch-up call with Tim Pare, who started Tea Leaf Vision off and it was lovely talking to him. I have chatted to him many times now, but I have yet to meet him and I hope I do at some point in the future! He has created something quite wonderful out here in this part of Sri Lanka and I am so pleased that I have ended up playing a small part in that. Moving on, I then went to collect and pay for some Christmas presents that the AMMA ladies next door have been making for me. I took them a banner that I had made for them as a thank you and I ended up putting it up for them. I am such a perfectionist, so I am very critical of anything I make, but even I thought it looked lovely and they posed underneath it for me so I could take a photograph of them all! My next stop was a final visit to The Grand Hotel in order to have a bit of lunch and do some work, but...

Sunday 24th November 2019 It was another quiet day in an extremely quiet weekend. I got up very early and did some washing and then I spent most of the day making a banner for Gobi and Kavi’s wedding, which I am going to on Thursday. I get completely absorbed in this when I am doing it, so I forget that I am on my own! I did go into Nuwara Eliya for a while though, just to break the monotony, partly to get a few last minute gifts for Christmas (it is great to be able to do all of my Christmas shopping here), but mainly just to have a walk around the town, as I will miss doing that once I am gone. I came across the usual horse wandering around the town and I will miss that too – you don’t get many horses trotting through Milsom Street back home! I have been able to tell people a great deal about what I am doing here in Nuwara Eliya, but it is impossible to convey the sounds, the smells and the general atmosphere as you walk around the town. It has become a very special place...

Saturday 23rd November 2019 I bumped into Ladushan this morning, as he had been staying with Donald and Ramesh, which was lovely as I hadn’t seen him for a while. I got a lift into town with Donald and him in the school tuk-tuk to do a bit of shopping, mainly a few bits and pieces for my craft-making day today! I spent most of the day making a banner for the AMMA ladies next downstairs, as I told them I would make something in return for the things they are making me, which I am taking home as Christmas presents. I also caught up on some paperwork for Tea Leaf Vision – lots of loose ends that I would like to tie up before I finish. It was very quiet today and I would have liked a bit of company. I am fine during the day, but once it gets dark and I am home alone in the evening I miss having someone around to chat to. I certainly wouldn’t like to live on my own for any length of time. I am sad that my time here is drawing to a close, but I am also looking forward to getting ...

Friday 22nd November 2019 I didn’t wake up until 11:00, having not gone to bed until 05:00 this morning! I then just worked from home, starting the report on my visits to the Sri Lanka Unites Regional Youth Reconciliation Centres. I have really enjoyed visiting them and I have particularly enjoyed working with Daya, who is a very intelligent young man and a great character. However, the travelling has not been at all easy and each time I have visited a new Regional Centre it has left me feeling exhausted, so I am relieved that there are no more Regional Centres I can visit on this first trip to Sri Lanka. In the afternoon I went into Nuwara Eliya to do some shopping and I then popped into The Grand Hotel to say goodbye to the staff, as I may not go there again. They have all treated me with such kindness there and I particularly wanted to say goodbye to Pradeep and Sajeevan. Pradeep was there, but it was Sajeevan’s day off, so I will try to pop in again before I go if I have ti...