Monday 20th February 2023

I wanted to use today to get on with writing up all my notes from a very busy week last week. I could have stayed at home, but there was a Central Team Management Meeting there, so I decided to go into GROW to work in order to catch up a bit with Donald and Ladushan. However, I got there only to find that it was completely closed up, so I walked into town as I had a few things that I needed to buy.

Val is keen to make some cushion covers for the lounge in our home in Cres, Croatia, and material is so cheap to buy out here compared to the UK that I spent a bit of time trying to find some. I was very successful (I think!), as I found a good choice of quality material for next to nothing. It will take up a fair bit of my luggage space on my return journey, but I think it will prove to be worth it.

I spent the rest of the day working in my 'office' at The Grand Hotel, an area of which became my office back in 2019 when I first came out here. I sat with a pot of ginger tea and some jaggery writing up my lesson observations from last week, and it was lovely. Shamira and her husband Naresh had invited me (and Daya) to a birthday dinner for her in the Grand Thai restaurant at 19:00, so I just carried on at the hotel until then.

Naresh's grandfather (Periannan Sundaram) was very influential in securing rights for the minority Tamil population in the 1940/50s, and his uncle, Jaya Peri Sundaram, wrote the following article that was published in The Times recently (05/02/23), as part of the celebrations for Sri Lanka's 75th Day of Independence (granted on 4th February 1948, with Periannan Sundaram passing away exactly 9 years later on 4th February 1957):

https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230205/75th-independence/lured-by-greener-pastures-and-then-exploited-510573.html

Today's photos show what a jolly time was had by all for Shamira's birthday party dinner at the Grand Thai restaurant.








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