Tuesday 30th January 2024

I have found that I often have a dip during my times in Sri Lanka, where I feel a bit down, and a bit homesick, and yesterday was one of those, as it was my son Ben's 35th birthday, and although I had a lovely chat with him in the afternoon, I later saw photos of my wife, Val, and my daughter, Hannah, celebrating his birthday at his flat, and I missed being there, although I was also pleased that Val was able to be with them both, and it was lovely to see them having a good time together.

I did have a lovely chat with James from Tea Leaf later on last night, which my phone told me was 47 minutes long, as he 'interviewed' me for his newsletter after he had chatted with me, and the interview helped me to reaffirm why I am out here! For the most part I love being out here, but there are inevitably moments where I feel a bit lonely, and I miss the comfort of being with family. James is great to chat to though, as he is always so positive, and so affirming and encouraging.

Today was so much fun. I watched a couple of lessons, one of which had me in stitches, as a group of lads were singing 'The Wheels on the Bus go round and round' with real gusto, which seemed so inappropriate, and yet so wonderful at the same time. I then had a lovely chat with Isabelle about our thoughts on the English programme here at Tea Leaf, and found we were very much on the same page in terms of where we would like to see it developing further.

Tim popped into school with his daughter, Hadeeqa, and received a very warm welcome from the staff, and I grabbed a photo of them. I went into town after school to do a bit of shopping, and later went to Nuzi's home for dinner. She was working for Tea Leaf when I first came to Sri Lanka in 2019, and I have always got on very well with her and her lovely sister Nazreen. I ended up playing carrom with their much younger brother Shakeel, before enjoying a lovely dinner that Nuzi had prepared for me.

Today's photos encapsulate all of the events from my lovely day mentioned above.


                                                                    






Comments

  1. CharlesJanuary 31, 2024 at 12:13 AM

    It is interesting that the dip in your mood coincides with the hallway point of your trip, and good to hear how your engagement with the TL project continues to buoy you along. Lovely photos!

    ReplyDelete

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