Keith in Sri Lanka

Razeena's monkey (rescued as a baby, so kept on a chain) was looking rather sad this morning, but perked up later in the day. We had the great pleasure of returning to the Pre-Primary Department this morning for their Diwali celebration event, where we experienced the chanting of a Hindu priest, and two traditional dances - although one was to a rather inappropriate (for children) Ed Sheeran song - Shape of You - fortunately, the words weren't in English!).  We were driven back to the Junior School, and I had a lovely time co-teaching a Maths lesson on multiplication. I say co-teaching, but I actually taught the lesson with the class teacher, the co-teacher, and two other ladies observing me. I knew exactly what I was doing, so I didn't feel under any pressure at all, and simply enjoyed demonstrating a skill that I feel very fortunate to have acquired in my life, and accepted that my love of teaching has never diminished. We came back to the apartment, and I had another onl...

We started off the day today with the Junior School's Diwali Assembly, which was held outside in the huge space between the Junior School and the Senior School. Obviously, the climate here allows for such events to be in the open air, which is just as well, as there isn't really a space big enough inside the building to accommodate everyone, as there are 1,544 students in the Junior Department, which is quite an astonishing number to see amassed outside! The main features of the Diwali Assembly were the acting out of the story behind Diwali - Lord Krishna's victory over the powerful demon king Narakasura, with the very clear message that darkness is overcome by the light - or good triumphs over evil; and a rather beautiful dance performed by a group of boys and girls, which was rather intricate, with gymnastic elements to it that were very impressive. Sadly the photographs I took don't quite do it justice! More lesson observations and co-teaching experiences followed th...

It was time to say goodbye to Batticaloa this morning, but we had one last walk to visit the Indian Ocean before our final breakfast. It was very poignant, as Boxing Day this year will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrible 2004 tsunami that claimed the lives of more than 35,000 Sri Lankans. We walked past a small home destroyed in the tsunami that has never been rebuilt, and onto a very peaceful shore lined with fishing boats and fishermen mending a net. A small fence surrounded the surviving remnant of a catholic church that was destroyed, with an identical structure to be seen in the new building that they replaced it with. A lone tree surrounded by a low stone wall acts as a memorial to those who died in the tsunami. The devastation was enormous, but time has now moved on, and the fishermen peacefully mending their net in the early morning heat was a reminder of how Sri Lanka has recovered from the disaster. It was an emotional experience, and also an extremely hot one, as I was...

We had a final swim with Ragu today, then enjoyed breakfast together, before he had to set off to get the bus back to Colombo. He has made a huge effort to travel to Batticaloa and back, so we are very grateful to him for that, as is Daya, who went with him to the bus station. We walked to Kallady Bridge for the Sunday Market, only to find a tiny handful of stalls, so we weren't able to browse around the market for a while until Daya joined us, as there was nothing to see! We decided to have a look at the church that was built to look like a whale, but it was already closed by the time we got there, so we took a tuk-tuk to the main market in Batticaloa, which was very interesting, and where we bought a couple of thin, white sheets to act as covers for our beds in Kurunegala. The heat was really intense today, so when Daya joined us we stopped for a drink at a tiny cafe, where we drank a large bottle of water and cups of tea. Feeling much refreshed, we took a tuk-tuk to the 'Lit...

Ragu did arrive overnight, and it was so lovely to see him this morning. Of all the people I have met in Sri Lanka, my heart has gone out to these three brothers - and particularly to Daya - more than anyone. I think I established a closeness to Daya during my first trip to Sri Lanka in 2019 that has endured anything that circumstances or time have thrown at us, and my loyalty to him and his two brothers is undiminished, and will remain so. We enjoyed a swim in the pool together before a good breakfast in the restaurant. Ragu had then arranged for Mithun, a friend of his in Batticaloa, to drive us to Pasikudah Beach, which I have to say was a completely sensational experience, and hard to describe in words. It was possibly the highlight of my visit to Sri Lanka this time. Sadly, as we were relaxing in the beautiful, shallow waters of this amazing bay, we have few photographs of this experience - only beautiful memories! A trip to Batticaloa Lighthouse followed, and we got on a boat for...

It was an early start today with Daya, as we had breakfast together before he then went into work for a while. We took full advantage of the swimming pool at that point, which is in a lovely setting. We swam for a long time and lay under the shade of a bamboo tree, which was just so relaxing! Daya came back just after 13:00 to pick us up to take us to St. John's Centre, where he is currently working, and it was great to meet a number of staff and students there. We had a great circle discussion with a group of students, talking about some key life issues, such as the economy, politics, and marriage, which I think turned out to be the most interesting one! After this, Daya still had some work to do, so we took a tuk-tuk into town, getting off at Gandhi Park, where there was an art exhibition of students art work produced as an assignment in their final year of study. We also did a bit of shopping before Daya joined us. We were already well into the evening by then, so we went out fo...