We left Sunday at 10:30 for Kalmunai on the east coast of SL and arrived 9.5 hrs later. Oy! We took a very southern route in order to avoid any possible problems due to recent violence in the north. The roads were the worst we have traveled on since arriving in Oct. Often they were one lane so that any time a bus or truck (very frequent) came towards us we had to move off the road because in SL the big guys always have the right of way. Added to this was the condition of the road. These smaller roads were never built for heavy vehicles like buses or trucks so the road has been worn down to the nub and makes for a VERY bumpy ride making the trip uncomfortable and exhausting. I pitied our drivers who had the added stress of driving under these conditions. Because the trip is so long, they drive as fast as possible when they can to make time but that means you go from very fast to a screeching halt. Oy again. We saw some beautiful sights: rice paddies, four elephants, small veggie and fruit stands, mud huts with thatched roofs, reservoirs, rubber trees and mountains in the distance.
We came east to teach two classes: one in Kalmunai and one in Batticola. Batticola cancelled right before we left Colombo because of the violence in their area. Participants did not want to travel under the circumstances. One thing that apparently happens after an incident is some towns literally shut down. The road into and out of town is blocked and anyone trying to get past the roadblock is stoned. Yikes! It is a form of protest over the violence.
There are limited accommodations in these small towns. We are staying at the better of the two choices. Our mattress is a foam mattress that is soft so when two of you are in bed, you roll to the center. Oh my aching back. The bottom sheet looks like a small bedspread, too small to tuck into the mattress. The top ‘sheet’ is a large tea towel that doesn’t cover one person adequately much less two big Bergmans. I asked for another bottom sheet. The bathroom has a tub and bidet, toilet and sink. None are particularly clean so showering is the only option. No shower curtain so water goes everywhere. The tub has a normal drain but it drains out of the hole in the side of the tub to the floor, along the wall for about 15 inches then into a hole in the wall that drains outside to the yard. Dinner is eaten at the guesthouse. We had chicken fried rice, bite size pieces of chicken which is common here, bite size pieces of fish and ‘gravy’, a sauce with a tomato base, onions and what looked like scrambled egg. I don’t ask because I just as soon not know. The tablecloth was heavily stained with food and oil and my glass had grunge on it. I asked for a clean glass. Something chewed on Ron during the night and the second night he got a couple of mosquito bites.
On our first morning we drove for 40 minutes to the town where the training is held. There is no accommodation there so that’s why we are staying 40 minutes away. I saw one other car during the 40 minute trip. Every other vehicle was a motorcycle, bicycle, truck, van (small bus here) or bus. Later in the day I saw one or two more cars but that was it. This was repeated on the second morning. The roads through the villages are abysmal: there are either more potholes than road or the asphalt is non-existent. The villages here alternate between Tamil villages and Muslim villages. Most Tamil are Hindu.
Because of the huge rice paddies here, this area is considered the granary of SL. All are privately owned, no agribusiness here yet. As we drove along the paddies, we saw men in shorts, short sleeve shirts and most probably bare footed due to the wetness of the paddy, spraying insecticide from a sprayer mounted on their backs that we could smell through the closed windows of our Jeep. Oy vey. Personal safety is almost non-existent here.
The training is being held in a brand new, still under construction, building. No working bathrooms so we go across the way to the city offices. There is a western toilet and a squat toilet. These two are for men and women. First day I used the western toilet only to discover that there was no longer a handle with which to flush. There was a cup on the tank so I went outside the cubicle to get a cup of water. Guess what? A cup ain’t enough to flush. The funny part is I was wearing a split skirt, basically a pair of pants with really wide legs. So there I was in a cubicle that was three sides concrete floor to ceiling and a wooden door with no light so I left the door partly open praying no one else would come in. Then I was trying to keep the hem of my skirt off the floor that was wet and dirty while lowering the skirt to pee. This is probably more information than you wanted but it was an act of contortion and would have been a comical sight to watch. Just another aspect of the adventure here. I hope I don’t come across as judgmental about the differences here. I try to report things as I experience them to give you an accurate picture of our experience.
The training was scheduled to start at 9:00. At 9:00 there were three people of the 30 expected. By 9:30 almost half were here and by 10:00 23 were here with the last ones arriving at 10:50 Welcome to Sri Lanka! With the team, drivers and me working we got set up in time for 9:00. We frequently have to change the set up when we arrive. When we arrived Monday, the floors were very wet. Everyone managed to track is sand due to the construction going on around and in the building. What a mess.
On Monday morning we had a north Indian breakfast: fried puff bread (yum), potatoes with veggies and chilies, sambol (finely grated coconut with red chili). Sri Lankans love deep fried food. They eat it at breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. We are trying not to eat much but sometimes it is unavoidable. At dinner one of our drivers, Mohan, was wearing a sarong which is leisure wear and night dress for many men. For a large number of men, it is what they wear day and night. He gave us a sarong-tying lesson and showed us four ways to tie a sarong. A sarong is a large tube of cloth. When I think about it, it would be the least expensive clothing possible since only one seam would be required.
On both days I walked through town looking for a store that sold toiletries and for an Internet café. I am guessing that visitors aren’t found here too often judging by the response I got. I felt like Marilyn Monroe the way men stared and smiled and extended greetings to me. I say men because there are very few women on the street. On Saturday before we left Colombo Ron and I finally got around to cleaning up ‘Geetha ‘s room’. Most houses of any size in SL have a room for servants. Since we never intended to have live-in servants we used the room to store cardboard boxes. I noticed a week or so ago that Geetha had found a piece of thin sheet foam that she had placed on top of the boxes and put her comb and talc on. She has her own toilet, and shower next to her room. She washes off before going home. I have provided toilet paper and towels for her. So we cleaned out the room, bought her a chair and table and moved the things the landlord had stored under the table or to one side of the room. So yesterday I was buying toiletries for her: hand cream, shampoo and talc. I am so thankful for her services I try to let her know we are grateful for her help.. When we travel I bring vegetables or fruit home and have started bringing some home for her also.
Yesterday I was sitting in the training fanning myself because I was sweating. I looked over at my Muslim sisters in headscarves and full length, long sleeve dresses and wondered how they were faring. Today they brought a fan into the room and fortunately placed it right near the ladies of Islam!
Walking in town, I realized there are no sidewalks but there are rectangular concrete slabs that cover the ditch. It makes for precarious walking, particularly for someone who is clumsy so I just walked in the road. There is a center divider also through town. So it is more common to see motorists going the wrong way to a break in the divider rather than go the long way round. It is reasons like this that we have encouraged our family and friends to hire a driver and car when they visit next month. Driving here is one of the scariest experiences ever. Buses are the worst. Because they are big, they assume the right of way. They drive very aggressively, and very fast because time is literally money to them. Private bus drivers must have a minimum of fares each day. If they don’t meet the minimum, they don’t get paid. So the faster they drive, the greater the potential for exceeding their minimum. They blow you off the road with their horns and aggressive driving. On the way to the training sight we passed many school children. Most of the Muslim children were in white but some were in beautiful lavender school uniforms. Ron asked Suba what the significance was. He said those in lavender had put too much bluing agent in their wash and turned their uniforms lavender.
Monday two people were shot in the area. In the 14 years of civil war, there have only been three incidents involving non Sri Lankans. Only one of those three incidents resulted in injury to the person and that person was doing something illegal and should not have been where they were at the time. The fight is very strictly between Tamils and the government. So class was cut short and Tuesday class also will let out early so everyone can get home early and safely. Some people travel over two hours on buses to get to the training.
We went back to our guesthouse and had tea under the trees where there was a good breeze. Then Suba, Ron and I took a walk to the beach. Kalmunai was the first and worst hit beach by the tsunami in SL. When we got to the beach, we saw lots of ruble and foundations of homes. The entire ‘settlement’ was gone. We passed a man who was looking out at the sea. When we came back from our walk, he was still looking out to sea. I can only imagine what he must have experienced but I was close to tears just seeing him there. There is a lagoon right next to the beach so we took photos of kids playing nearby and watched a man cast his fishing net in the lagoon. As we walked back to our guesthouse, we stopped and watched some young men playing back yard cricket and Suba explained the rules as we watched.
I think our room with two meals a day costs about $27 a day. They don’t clean the room o r change the towels. I do wonder if they clean the room when we leave. Today for breakfast we had roti (Indian flat bread), white toast, dhal, sambol. Yum! I was doing some copying for Ron today and when I came back they were washing the tea glasses from morning tea. The bad news is they were using a five-gallon bucket with cold water and no soap. Ye gads. I went to an Internet café today and it took about 20 minutes to get online. I was doing this blog entry when the power went off because they had turned on the AC for me. Sri Lankans think we have to have AC. So I rebooted, realized all my work was lost then they turned on the AC again. I gave up and left. Consequently I will post this when we return to Colombo.
We left on Wednesday at 9:00 in the morning. Our fellow travelers, all of whom are Sri Lankans, stopped to buy rice at a rice stand. It was fascinating to watch them discussing with the seller the various rice varieties, holding the rice in their hands and studying it, tasting the raw rice and finally buying large qualities. Later we stopped for fresh fruit. I got limes for a penny each and mangoes for 10 cents each. Before lunch we stopped and bought fresh veggies. The produce you buy out in the country is always the best. Around 3:30 we stopped for lunch and arrived home at 7:45. Needless to say we were road weary and delighted to be back in our own nest and comfortable bed.
1-20-06
Yippee! We just got DSL. No more Internet café unless we are traveling. Yippee!
