Keith in Sri Lanka

We were up fairly early at Selyna's house and, after a quick breakfast of pancakes and coffee, we said our goodbyes and Sandra gave us a lift to The Swimming Club. We were far too early to check in, but we were able to leave our bags and take a cab to One Galle Face, which is a huge shopping mall, that is on the expensive side, but it does offer a huge variety of shops to purchase a few last minute items - especially one or two Christmas gifts for people back home. We had arranged to meet Menaka and Manika, twin sisters who volunteer on my native English-speakers team, at House of Fashions at 12:30, so we went there by tuk-tuk, and did a bit more shopping whilst we waited for them. 12:30 came and went, and it was close on 13:00 when they said they had arrived. but I couldn't see them anywhere, as unfortunately they hadn't told us that there were two House of Fashions in Colombo, nowhere close to each other! We ended up getting another tuk-tuk to the House of Fashions where ...

We had a late breakfast at 09:00 this morning, our final meal at Razeena's, and she treated us to egg hoppers - my favourite - with lots of plain hoppers besides. Sandra has looked after us so well during our 2-month stay here, but providing breakfast and evening meals at Razeena's home next door to us has to rank up there as being one of the most generous things that she has done for us, along with the lovely 2-bedroomed apartment that we have enjoyed staying in. Valerie found it fairly easy to pack, but it took me a while this morning, as I needed to decide what I was leaving here in Kurunegala, and pack that up before I packed my stuff to take home. In the end, there was a large suitcase full of clothes, and a good-sized cardboard box filled with bits and pieces that I am leaving here in readiness for my return to Sri Lanka in January. I will collect it on my way from Colombo to Nuwara Eliya in the Hill Country. Liyanage arrived around 15:30 and it was time to load up the ca...

With some sadness, we reached our final day at the Royal International School, and out last full day in Kurunegala. We hadn't been in school for that long before Valerie was whisked away on Sandra's instructions to go for a pedicure, to which I was also invited, but I already had a meeting booked with Ravi to chat about starting up a School Council. That took priority for me, of course, and I really enjoyed chatting to Ravi about his plans for this. Val returned in time for lunch, and we were then visited by the Grade 1 teachers, followed by the Grade 2 teachers, and then 3 of the Maths teachers. They all wanted to say thank you and goodbye to us, which was very kind of them. At the end of the day, we also had a small leaving ceremony with Sandra, Ravi and senior staff in the conference room. We were able to convey our thanks to them for the fabulous welcome we have been given here by the school staff and the students. I had an online meeting for Tea Leaf at 16:00 with Tim Pare...

The heavy rain is not abating just yet, although there was a little bit of a respite this evening. My friend Daya is okay though. He waded out to the middle of the road in waist-high water, but there were snakes in the water, which freaked him out, as he is petrified of them, so he retreated back to his lodgings. Fortunately, a boat came to his rescue, and he was shipped off to safety, and most importantly food, but with none of his belongings at all! I  kept in contact with Daya throughout the day, and he is in pretty good spirits really, as he has been through such a lot in his life, and is fairly resilient. He is hopeful that his landlord will be able to get some of his clothes to him, and we are all hopeful that the rain will stop soon and the flood waters will abate. The poorest people in Sri Lanka are nothing if not resilient, as they have had to deal with some incredibly lean years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit them. It was our penultimate day in school, and my main task t...

We are in the rainy season here in Sri Lanka, but the torrential downpours that we are currently experiencing are unusual, and the result of a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal. It started raining yesterday afternoon, rained continually all through the night, and continued to rain all through today, with the weather forecasts suggesting that it will continue to rain for at least another couple of days, which is, of course, having devastating consequences in some areas of the country. The eastern part of the country is more seriously affected by the flooding caused by the rain. My good friend Daya, who is living and working in Batticaloa, has been flooded out of his lodgings downstairs and is trapped alone upstairs with only a few biscuits to eat until help arrives. Apparently, they are sending out boats to rescue people, so that they can be taken to temporary relief centres in churches and schools on higher ground that isn't submerged by the floods. For us, the worst thing about ...

Valerie was off at 06:30 this morning, accompanying Sandra to Matale, where she was addressing a business meeting, whilst Valerie looked round a Buddhist temple, then a Hindu temple, before joining Sandra for lunch at an Indian restaurant, with a friend of Sandra's. I think Sandra enjoyed having some company on her journey to and from Matale, and Valerie was very happy to accompany her, and to enjoy yet another new experience. I was supposed to go to Matale, too, but Sandra changed her mind yesterday evening, and asked me to come into school today to sort out a staffing issue, which I duly did, speaking to the various people concerned, and diffusing the situation as best as I could. I think I managed to do that fairly well, as all parties concerned seemed content with the outcome at the end of it all. It felt very much like being back as a Headteacher again! I got back to the apartment and it just bucketed it down with rain, and continued to do so throughout the rest of the evening...

This was our final Sunday in Kurunegala, and Sandra decided to treat us by taking us out for the day to a wonderful place called Rangala House, which I can best describe as a very upmarket guest house, as it only has 5 bedrooms, so it is not really a hotel as such, but, in fact, rather better than a hotel in terms of everything that it has to offer guests. It was a long 2-hour journey to get there, but at an elevation of around 950m, it offers amazing views when you get there. This was such a special place to bring us to, with very high quality accommodation, a lovely swimming pool, and from my point of view most wonderful of all, a huge terrace with some of the best views over the surrounding area that you could possibly wish for. The staff were delightful, and the lunch was a delicious spread of salads with home-made bread and butter. I think you would be hard pushed to enjoy lunch in a more beautiful setting. Sandra's key intent was for us to have a relaxing time, and that is ex...