Tuesday 31st January 2023

It was back to the KNH Proposal today and we did it! I say 'we', but it was very much Yadharshini Selvaraj who completed it, with me playing a very minor supporting role. I have to say I have enormous respect for Yad in completing an extremely intimidating document, which most native-English speakers would have considered incredibly challenging, in a language that is not her own - she is quite simply an amazing woman!

Apart from being an amazing woman, Yad is also great fun to work with, and the intense few days we have spent together have been a pleasure from the point of view of working so well with a colleague. I must admit I am enormously grateful that Kindernothilfe doesn't insist on their paperwork being completed in German, as I think it would have finished off both of us. It was certainly an achievement Yad should be very proud of!

I had worked so hard and so intensely over the past few days that I felt quite numb when it was over. I know Yad was going to take some time off and sleep, as she has been dreaming about this wretched document. Thankfully, I certainly haven't let it spoil my sleep, so tired as I was, I wandered off through a rain-soaked Blackpool to catch a tuk-tuk into town, and my favourite go-to place to relax - The Grand Hotel.

Putting my feet up with a pot of tea and some jaggery was absolute bliss! I even treated myself to dinner today, as I decided I deserved it! So, today's blog has been written in the comfort of the Tea Lounge, with gentle piano music wafting through my ears, and a panoply of guests from all over the world!  I am so obsessed with this place that on my last visit to Sri Lanka in 2022, I bought a beautiful book that tells the history of this hotel.

Today's photos highlight Blackpool in the rain, with the main photo of a grave I pass each day in the corner of Blackpool Cemetery - a young lady, Nishani, who sadly passed away soon after her 23rd birthday. She rests, even on the wettest of days, in a beautiful spot. You can also see a view back to the house, and two fabulous photos of the beautiful terraced slopes that I never tire of here - somehow even more beautiful in the rain.






Comments

  1. CharlesFebruary 1, 2023 at 12:26 AM

    Good to see photos of the lush green landscape of the hill country dampened by the mist and rain which support the tea plantations growing on it.

    ReplyDelete

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