ABDF

March 6, 2008

Hello to everyone! I hope you are doing well; I certainly am.

It seems that I arrived in Batticaloa at an interesting time. And by interesting, I mean it in Chinese sense that things are in great flux and rather chaotic.

As I have mentioned in previous emails, the LTTE, the big rebel group here, was chased out of the province last summer. They had formerly occupied the 75% interior of the province with government control of the narrow coastal strip. The government was aided by an LTTE breakaway faction, formerly known as the Karuna Group, but now as the TMVP. This is the main militia now in control of the area. Currently they are pro-government, but who knows what the future holds.

So to show the Singhala majority, as well as the world at large, that the government is now permanently in control, elections are being held on Monday the 10^th for Batticaloa District municipal seats; city councils and the like. And, since the government has come under fierce international criticism for its human rights record, it is determined that peaceful elections are held. As a result, the area has been flooded with police and military. A friend tells me that at least 1,400 additional forces have been brought in from other areas. In my last email you will remember that I mentioned the heavy military presence; this is why. There are checkpoints between each town and hamlet on the main road, and vehicles and passengers are repeatedly searched. Not me of course. I get waved on through with a wave and a smile.

To give the government credit, I’ve been told there has been a significant decrease in violence for the past few weeks. I hear that the government has ordered the TMVP to stop harassing other political parties and to cease its anti-LTTE hunt. This has allowed the locals something of a breather. Always a welcome thing.

So now, in addition to the usual TMVP graffiti, the walls are covered with campaign posters. You mainly see posters for three parties and as many here are illiterate, they will use symbols on the ballots. The TMVP symbol is a boat, the PLOTE uses an apple, with the EPDP a leaf. The PLOTE and EPDP are minor Tamil militias that turned to the government years ago for protection from the LTTE. Now in reality none of these three groups like each other, putting the government in the awkward position of having subject allies that shoot at each other just as happily as they do the LTTE. Hence the government orders to cease and desist. Some here believe that after the election all bets will be off and the witch hunts will begin anew. Others believe that the government will force these groups to behave themselves. Who knows?

General consensus is that the TMVP will win the most offices. They have the most guns, you see. And right now they are the government’s darlings.

It is hoped that having the TMVP in power will bring some benefits to the district. Many believe that the government, in an effort to keep its ally in power, will shower the district with aid. Improving the power grid, repaving roads, building schools and libraries, and other public service amenities have all been mentioned. I suppose that if this is the only way to get the government to pay attention to the district, it’s better than before when the government ignored the area completely. Hey, if a quarter of these wishes get fulfilled, it would really help people out. I just wish it wasn’t done for cynical reasons.

So what does this mean for me? In terms of personal safety it doesn’t mean much. Honestly, since I’ve been here I haven’t heard a single gunshot or heard of any abductions or assassinations and believe you me, when they’ve happened in the past, people can’t wait to tell me and give me their theories of how and why. At times it seems like a popular pastime; run and tell the foreign guy. Plus, as I’ve said many times previously, all sides are courting international opinion, and thus foreigners are treated and cared for very well.

At any rate, it should be a very interesting thing to watch. In terms of my work, it hasn’t had a concrete affect. I’ve been here almost a week, and so have been busy getting my house up and running, dealing with money transfers, etc. I have had to delay several project-related meetings but those will be attended to within a week of the election. It’s just that right now local folks are distracted by holding their collective breath to see how this election turns out. Can’t blame ‘em.

And now on to more fun stuff.

The house I live in, my famous house on the lagoon isn’t actually a complete house proper. Let me be specific; I rent out most of the second floor of a two story house. The house belongs to my friend Siva, who lives in Ireland. His family, who I think of as my Sri Lankan family, occupies the first floor. Some time soon I shall have to describe the family to you; a real cast of characters. For the sake of this story, suffice it to say that Siva’s brother and his family live next door, and his uncle’s family one more door down. Three houses in a row all lived in by one extended family.

Anyway, next door live two boys, Vihas and Nick ages ten and nine (some of you have seen their pictures) and next to them a whole host of cousins, notably Dharshikka, an adorable little girl whose picture many of you have also seen, and her brother Dilakhaan, the eldest of this little foursome. Over the past three years the kids have really bonded with me, and I them. This year I gave them a pack of the card came Uno, and taught them how to play. Needless to say they instantly picked it up and for much of my first evening here in Batti it was me and the four of them on my veranda, huddled around a table, fiercely battling it out. They’ve been playing it on their own most nights since, with me joining night before last. But this afternoon, while the kids were at after school classes, I stopped by the uncle’s house to say hello and walked in on a group of adult family members, sitting around a table, so intent on the Uno cards they didn’t even notice me come in. They sort of jumped in surprise when I said hello and looked slightly embarrassed that I’d caught them playing a game. Score! A gift that everyone likes! And only 3 or 4 bucks at Target. Best gift I’ve brought over yet. So if anyone plans on coming over here, pick me up a couple extra decks.

In nearby Kalladay, there is a hotel/restaurant called the Riviera. Yeah, the Riviera. If any of you come here and don’t want to rough it at my place, I’ll get you a reservation there. The rooms are small and spare, but tidy. Some of them even have “air conditioning.” The restaurant is the best of the very few sit-down type restaurants in the area. Strictly Sri Lankan food at lunch and dinner, but even the locals admit it’s very good. At any rate, they have a small veranda to one side with chairs and low tables. During the tsunami days, the place was crowded at night with young foreigners drinking Lion Lager (an excellent Sri Lankan beer) and eating. It was a lot of fun. Nowadays the foreigners are long gone and the place hasn’t the same buzz.

However, I particularly enjoy going to the Riviera for breakfast. Since I’ve known the owners and much of the staff for so long, since the tsunami days, I’ve got them very well trained. I sit on the veranda at the table under the television (my fellow volunteers will know what I’m talking about) and watch Shakti TV, the Tamil language station. The staff knows what I want: toast with butter and apricot jam (the only jam they have), breakfast sausage, a hard boiled egg, milk tea, and a liter bottle of water. Hey Jordan – sound familiar? I’m often the only customer although occasionally a hotel guest will saunter over for a meal. So I sit there quietly, relax, eat my food, watch a little Tamil programming, chat with the staff, and generally plan my day out. I force myself to drink the whole liter of water, which can sometimes be a challenge. Dehydration is a real issue here, and it is easy to forget to drink water when you’re busy. It’s especially important during the hot season. So I try and frontload on my water, just to make sure. Anyway the whole meal costs about $4. I try and do it two or three times a week on average.

So this morning I was sitting, having finished my food and working my way through the liter of water. It’s the tail end of the monsoons here, but they still can pack quite a punch. Suddenly it got very, very dark and a strong breeze began to blow. I strolled out and glanced at the sky. It was pencil-lead gray. One of maids was walking by and I gestured rain falling with my hands. She laughed and nodded. No sooner had I sat back down when the wind stopped dead and the most astonishing downpour of rain came down. Not the lazy fat drops that frequently plop down here, but veritable shards of rain flung violently from the skies, simply pounding down on the rooftop. It was so thick that it looked like a haze had risen around me, so obscured was my view from the veranda. And then FLASH! BOOM! “Thunderbolts and lightening, very very frightening.” The lightening was blinding and the thunder so loud you could feel the impact of the sound waves and your guts jingled. Immediately the staff ran about, turning off lights and ceiling fans, and I turned off the TV. Within a minute, the gutters along the veranda were overflowing, and sheets of water cascaded off the roof, like a sliver beaded veil. Bam! Boom! Rivulets of water became small streams and puddles little lakes. Ka-boom! The noise of all that water coming down was so loud I didn’t hear my mobile ring; I only noticed an hour later. Neelsa, one of the assistant mangers, poked his head out onto the veranda, looked at me and deadpanned “It rains a little.” I laughed.

It was so hard and intense a downpour that a frog about the size of the palm of my hand hopped out of the rain onto the veranda a few feet from me. We eyed each other for a few seconds, and then he hopped to the far side of veranda and sat out the rain. I expect I wasn’t up to his standards or something.

This astonishing demonstration of Mother Nature’s power was short-lived. Within 10 minutes the rain began to lessen and my friend Mr. Frog decided to take his chances in the open and hopped off. By 45 minutes it was over. I paid my bill and went on my way.

xoxoxoxoxo

B.