Thursday 9th January 2025

I didn't sleep much last night, so I woke up feeling pretty exhausted. It is taking a while for my body clock to return to normal, but it will do soon, I'm sure. I had a good breakfast with Isabelle, and we walked into town around 09:15 to catch the bus to Yad's, as we were due to meet with her and Jesmin at 10:00. Unfortunately, we got to the bus station at 09:32 to find that we had just missed our bus, and would have to wait until 10:00 for the next one, so we were going to be a bit late!

The bus left bang on 10:00, and it's only a 10-minute journey, so we arrived at Yad's just after 10:15, where she was waiting for us with Jesmin. We had only been chatting for a few minutes when Tim appeared and joined us. It was great to spend a good length of time over a coffee catching up with Tim, Yad, and Jesmin, This is certainly an exciting start to this new year for Tea Leaf, with the Cook Stove Project presenting great opportunities for them, as well as some challenges.

After our meeting we went our separate ways, with Isabelle catching the bus to Nanu Oya to visit Tea Leaf Centre Nuwara Eliya, and me heading back into Nuwara Eliya for a meeting with Donald, a former student, then teacher, with Tea Leaf Trust I have known since I first came out to Sri Lanka in 2019. We caught up over lunch at somewhere I hadn't been before called Cool Land, which was a bit unusual, especially the 'garden' which we were invited to sit in for our lunch.

Krishan, who manages Sky Heaven for the owner, invited Isabelle and me for dinner at his home this evening. He has built his own wooden cabin (with the help of his brother), and only moved in 10 days ago, which is also the day that his wife, Jesiliya, gave birth to their third child. He took us in his tuk-tuk, and we had a very special time with them. There was so much love, joy, laughter, and happiness in that little home, and it was a privilege to spend the evening with them.

Today's photos show the bus to Meepilimana and Isabelle sat in front of it, Donald in the 'garden' at Cool Land, and some of our lovely evening at Krishan's home.











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