merichar_tcingc

We left for the airport at 9:15pm on the 5th by taxi. Our stuff was xrayed and then we made it to check-in. Hallie's flight was at midnight and her gate was open by the time we got to that section of the airport so she left and I was waiting until my flight at 3am. I was reading the Sinhala-English dictionary and a book in Sinhala when a girl looked over my shoulder and asked "Can you really read that?" and I told her that I could prounounce the words for the most part, but I didn't really know what it was I was reading. She looked really amazed and then asked how many years I had been in Sri Lanka... Then I got to tell her, "uh, ten weeks." We got to talking and she's eighteen and going to Singapore to study there on scholarship. She asked about what Hallie and I had been doing at the CRC and I showed her a brochure and she asked to keep it :). Her plane boarded pretty soon after.
My gate opened up about an hour later but the plane was running a little late and I was almost the last to board because I fell asleep and someone poked me and said it was time to go around 4am. It was Sri Lankan airlines and I noticed that they wanted it to look like the stewardesses were wearing saris but the're not really practical so it's a bit like a cloth flap that goes over their shoulder.
We landed in France and I got off the plane to find my connection to Amsterdam, and when I went through the customs guy he noticed how odd it was to take a 45 minute plane ride to go to Amsterdam and then go to JFK. He was like, "Well, it was probably cheaper. Hopefully you're not going there to smoke." And so I told him that my school booked the flights so I don't think they would have sent me there to smoke.
I made it to Amsterdam and was waiting for my flight to JFK. While we were sitting and waiting for the gate to open the group near me hears someone yelling, "Is this how you deal with customers? You stick your fingers in their face like you're from Brooklyn or something? Look lady, *I'm* from Brooklyn." At which point you could tell every American in the room because they were all laughing. There was a group of Long Island women and their husbands that quickly became the communication hub for what was going on because nobody could see him but they kept getting new and exciting information.
On the plane before we took off one of the stewardesses announced that the aggressive passenger would not be flying with us today.
When I got into JFK it looks like my bag got lost somewhere, and it took an hour and ten minutes to get through the line of 15 people at the lost baggage counter. My parents started to get worried that I hadn't been on the flight so they managed to call the lost baggage area and find me.
I got through customs without too much hassle, I just have no clothing. Ok, going to sleep now.

I woke up next to Gawry at 5:30am and did some of the final website stuff. She woke up a half an hour later and started tea. We said goodbye to her parents around 8am and walked to the CRC.
Dimutu had to go to town to pick up bananas for the after lunch snack for the children, so I went with her.
After we got back Gawry grabbed all her financial files off my laptop and then I packed up the last of the stuff. We had a last cup of tea and were going to hop in the van but we had to wait for Pushpa to get back so we could say goodbye to everyone. Pushpa came back and he had gotten two plaster welcome signs for Hallie and me from the whole staff. We said goodbye to everyone and "Mage petiya!" to Madhu and then Nandana came out with the camera and took pictures and then we said goodbye again.
We left the CRC in a van around 10:30am and came to Swasha's house at 7:30pm. We were busy repacking and they ordered Domino's Pizza for dinner which was really nice and the Dias's came over to say goodbye and gave us a hat and Y's Men T-Shirt that was really nifty.
Then Swasha and Ashan came in to say goodbye and that was swell. After that we finished packing.

Today was our last day off in Hambantota, and we got up early this morning and went to Kataragama with Dimutu and her son. We took the bus to Kataragama and a three-wheeler to the temple. Outside there was a fruitstand and you bought a bowl of fruit and brought it in with you. The whole place is like this giant garden with a bunch of different buildings and the first one you got to by crossing a bridge over a pond with a bunch of fish in it. We waited just over the bridge with her son and when Dimutu came back some of the fruit was gone.
The next building had a giant statue of Buddha in it and I think I came halfway up to his kneecap. We stayed and talked to the priest when Dimutu and her son went farther down the hall for something and then came back and we left. There was some fruit left in the bowl so we got to have that and then we left and gave the bowl back to the fruitstand guy.
We stopped at a small place and got Coke and lemon cookies and ate there. Then we walked around the town for a bit and there's this fountain in the middle of three hands holding up a sphere.
We waited a little while for the bus and took it back to Hambantota and from Hambantota we got a three-wheeler which dropped us off at Thushari's house. Dimutu had made us lunch packets because she wasn't sure how the food was in Kataragama, but we hadn't gotten a chance to eat them so she handed them to us as we were heading to the gate and we ate them at Thushari's house. It was rice and curry in plastic wrap covered with newspaper for protection.
A bit after lunch I headed into the CRC to help Ari fix his computer which had gotten a virus. After that was done I headed out and Ari and Wanni headed into the kitchen to try and make tea. I don't want to see Dimutu's face when she sees the kitchen after that :).

Dimutu had to pick up groceries for today's lunch and I went with her. While we were in town we stopped by the doctor's office, which was an adjancent office to his house. He sent Dimutu to sharpen the backs of the earings and while she was gone he pulled out a photo album of all his kids and his older son is in the UK with his children. Dimutu came back and he had her draw dots on the ear where it was even and then he put the earings in. He wanted us to stay for a cup of tea but we had to get back because the kids were coming soon so he told us to come again sometime and we left.
We called the CRC and I got a Sinhala newspaper and we took the general transport back and then her, Hallie, Pushpa, and I got into the CRC bus and went to pick up the kids. We also stopped on the way and picked up pineapple as the snack for after lunch.
I got to help serve lunch. Doing the rice is really easy because you just pile it on until the kid says "eti" ("enough"). Nandana had something come up so Hallie got to help teach his class, which was turning on and shutting down the computer for the younger kids but after the first time Gawry just did it because she knows the Sinhala for it.
After work we went to the e-Center. It looks like Hallie lost her flash drive. When we were wrapping up Thushari and Harith came in and she said she was arranging computer lessons for the whole family so that's really nifty.

So today just after lunch I was playing with Gawry's watch in the psycho-social room and then I ended up with Dimutu's necklace but then when Tall Madhu came in there wasn't anything I could do with her earings because my ears aren't pierced. By the time girls hit preschool they're taken to the doctor and their ears are pierced.
We had a field trip after the kids were dropped off and got earings and then stopped at a doctor's office, but he was busy, so we'd have to go back the next day.
We stopped by Dimutu's house on the way back and she got cream soda from her dad's shop in front of her house and we all had some and then we went next door because her sister had a baby two days ago and we got to see it.
When we were walking back a bat flew in front of us so I said, "oh, hey, a bat" but I didn't know Sinhala for bat so I flapped my arms up and down and said "bat" but the glass was still in my hand and it dropped out of my hand as I did it, so that was pretty bad.
I got dropped home and Gawry and Hallie were on the porch talking and after I got there we got up and went to Gawry's house. She had a bike with her and we walked it back too. She lives down the same dirt road that David and Trisch had been living on, too. When we got to her house we met her parents and her dog is named Nicky, too. Her older sister had a baby and she's really cute, too.
We sat down and she showed us the photo album of her sister's wedding and her dad watched the Sri Lankan equivalent of CNN.
Then we moved to the front porch and her dad cut open a coconut and we got to drink it and Gawry brought out an extra chair which was her kindergarten chair because at the time each child had to supply their own desk and chair but not anymore. Later on her and her dad walked us home.

You know it's a bad 4th of July when you wake up with food poisoning. Hallie had been up since 3am puking but it didn't hit me full force (read: puking) until 10:30. We decided to take the first half of the day off. Hallie made it into work after 2pm, but that wasn't happening for me. Not a whole lot was happening for me.
Nandana walked Hallie home after 6pm and checked in on me... There was what Hallie likes to call a "flurry of Sinhala" over the phone and suddenly there was an Executive Director. And another flurry. And then a Gowry. This was the biggest surprise because she was staying home instead of going back to school in Ratnapura to be with her sister and her sister's new baby when her mother left to take care of her grandmother.
Then we had an educational trip to the hospital with transport on a three-wheeler (Did they put *more* ruts in the road since yesterday?!?) and it's a bit like a grocery line. I was number 44 and Hallie was 45. The three-wheeler drivers are really helpful. Arosh had been the one to come get us and picked up the tickets and kept an eye on where the line was while we had a conversation on reincarnation in the alley by the car. I'm pretty sure we decided to come back as birds so it would be easier to meet up. Hallie likes owls, I like robins, and Gowry's a flamingo. I don't know what's wrong with her :). I think we've got to schlep over to where she is, though, because she's a bit more climate bound than we will be.
The hospital is pretty neat. A bit more is outdoors than what I'm used to, but it's still pretty neat. There was a curtain with a small flock of Sri Lankans outside and just inside an examination room. The doctor was fluent in English and it was nice to be yelled at in a language I understand. He was a cool guy. We were charged with bringing peace before we left. Sounds like a neat task.
Gowry filled the prescription outside the waiting area at the pharmacy and on the way home we stopped at one of the roadside shops and she picked up 1.5 litres of Coke (I get it when I don't feel good, too!) and biscuits (probably won't be trying those for a little while). We got home and she translated the Sinhala directions to English and headed home. It's comforting to know that poor doctor handwriting is a global phenomenon.

Trip to a Sri Lankan hospital: $3.00
Tablets to settle your stomach: $0.50
My co-pay would be higher than the actual cost of the whole thing (-Hallie): Priceless

Today was fantastic! Gowry stayed in Hambantota to take care of an Audit on the CRC but she was done by 2:30 so she met us for lunch at the Double N next to Thushari's house. Hallie ordered chicken and Gowry and I got fried rice. I tried some of Hallie's chicken but Gowry didn't because she's a vegetarian.
We had wanted to go see the hot springs so Gowry called up her younger brother Gayan and he picked her up to go round up his friends and she changed into not audit clothing. She walked back and her brother came back with the van and a couple friends and we went to the hot springs. There were a couple wrong turns, but really it was more like miniature adventures. We got to see treehouses that farmers slept in to keep an eye on their banana crop because Elephants really like bananas and there were a ton of peacocks.
When we got there the hot springs were nifty, too. You don't go in them, but you get buckets and you can pour the hot water over you. I won a splash war that Hallie was an innocent bystander to my victory for, so now I've got threats of Chili-water happening.
After the hot springs we went to go see the elephants at the same place that we went a few weeks earlier with Joe. There were six and we got to get closer because there were folks dumping the trash there that the elephants were eating. Neat stuff. Hitching a ride is a little more common because it's a small town and the busses don't run after 7pm, and we gave a lift to someone who needed to get into town.
On the way back we got to stop at Gowry's uncle's house and have a Coke and lemon crackers and stuff, and we dropped off one of Gayan's friends at his house and got to try a Buddha Apple while we were there. They're really really sour. One of his other friends went in and started playing the drums. Then Hallie and I found out that the four of them are in a band together and play at weddings.
The second to last stop for us was a roadside shop and they picked up these really weird snacks that are from a tree and look like sticks but tasted pretty good and sort of tree-like. Then we got dropped off at Thushari's house and Gowry came in with us to do html stuff and she got to eat dinner which was cool triangular bread with stuff inside. Her dad came to pick her up on a motorcycle after. How cool is that?

During lunch Gawry and I had an awesome game of Mancala/Punchi and conversation to beat it. It looks like I got an older sister. Better late than never :).

Sinhala words of the day: Ahka "ah-cha/kah" Older sister and Nahngee "nah-ngee" Younger sister

Comment on SWotD: It is way more common to call someone by their relationship to you than anything else, so Malmi screams "MAHLEE!" when she's calling Harith and he screams for "AHKA!" when he's looking for her. It also extends beyond the direct meaning of the word and Nhangee can be used in place of a name for any girl younger than you are and Ahka for any girl older than you are. The same for Mahlee (younger) and Ayah (older) with boys. It works out really well because you don't have to know any of the kids names at the CRC (but I've picked up as many as I can), everyone is just Mahlee or Nahngee.

Hallie's turning the CRC into a gymnastics bootcamp. Even Wanni was going at it. I can't do a justice, so you'll have to read her entry on it (http://melemistress.blogspot.com). I'm pretty sure the entry is called Part 2.
Hallie and I had our first serious fight. Will this marriage survive? Probably... or one of us will die at the hands of the other. But hey, it'll be a show to see... Oh wait, she's beaten all of the CRC in arm wrestling, I could be screwed.

Woohoo! Stay of execution!
Ashan suggested we stay in Hambantota until the 8th. This is awesome, and it also means I don't have to say goodbye to everyone yet. Whee!!