ABDF

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hi everybody!

I’ve been very busy with Claire, visiting people, accepting invitations for meals, and so forth. It’s wonderful having her here. It’s been great seeing the changes (or sometimes lack of them) through her eyes; she hasn’t been here since the tsunami days. Also it’s great having someone to talk to who has the same cultural perspective. Makes it much easier to let your hair down and relax.

I’ve been asked if I get lonely here, being the only Westerner around. The answer is that no, I’m not. I have a lot of friends, and someone is always stopping by, or if I want company I just call someone. In fact, I like my alone/down time, and it can be very hard to get! But I do find that with virtually everyone, except Izzadeen, I have to explain everything all the time. That can make it very tiring. With Claire, I can take communication shortcuts, or make cultural references, and she understands what I’m saying. That is very nice.

Monday, September 28, 2008

Hi everybody!

This morning I got to the Synergy office a little early for class. One of the staff, Shanthan, was already there, getting everything set up for business. I asked him how his weekend went, and he told me that yesterday, Sunday, was very bad. When I asked him why, he told me he had been arrested.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Hi everybody!

I had an interesting little jaunt today. I went with my friend, Dilakshan, to an important kovil (Hindu temple) in the hamlet of Kokkadacholai (coca-da-CHO-lie). Kokkadacholai is famous for two things; it’s kovil and a horrendous massacre that took place in 1990. At that time the town was a stronghold of pro-LTTE sentiment, and so one day the military swept through the area and over a 10 hour period methodically went from house to house and slaughtered everyone they found. Of the residents actually in the village that day, only a few managed to run and hide.

Happily, the place is also remembered for its’ kovil, which is dedicated to Siva, only one of two in the District.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hi everybody!

Only five more weeks until the end of the 2008 season. All but two of our big projects are finished. One project, the water tank in Navatkadu, is actually complete, but I still need to get pictures. There is a small festival at the kovil next door in a week; the official opening ceremony will take place at the same time. The other project, our coconut seedlings, will finish October 1, when we distribute them to the recipients. Other than that. I’ve been engaged in a few small projects of the quick-n-dirty sort. Sometimes, however, even these can be complicated.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Hi everybody!

I don’t have much to report since my last dispatch as very little has happened.

Yesterday I took the Synergy kids out to lunch. It was Bathsala’s birthday and so I thought we ought to do something different. We went into Kattankudy to a restaurant known as the best food in town, the Taj Hotel. We had Briyani, which is a special rice with a side of roast chicken. Normally at these places you order the main lunch dish and it is served family-style with a host of smaller side dishes; vegetables cooked in different ways, as well as one or two sambals. A sambal is a side dish made from ground fresh coconut and chilies and one or two other ingredients, also ground or finely shopped. The other ingredients vary, which is why there are million different sambals. They can include anything from sugar to Maldive (Mal-dee-vee) fish, which are named for that island country. Maldive fish are usually dried then flaked and have a woody salted taste that is only a tiny bit fishy. Maldive fish sambal is really delicious and compliments a good spicy curry.