Sri Lanka

India 16/01/07 to 16/03/07

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End of the Line 27/12/06 to 16/01/07

In many ways my final few weeks in Sri Lanka were a perfect microcosm of the entire year, a combination of visits to fantastic locations and good times spent with friends crossed with enormous frustrations on the work front. After the busy Christmas period there was a lull before the New Year, there were a few more opening ceremonies and  I caused offence on a number of occasions by turning down various offers on the premise that I only had one week to go and was too busy. Sri Lankans don’t take being turned down very well.

  On the 30^th a gang of us headed to the Tangalle on the south coast for a break over the New Year. I had been here before in April and it remains one of my favourite spots in Sri Lanka. The resort is called Palm Paradise which is an apt description as the combination of great cabanas and a stunning beach within a stones throw make it an idyllic location to say the least. In the four days we were there I didn’t stir more a few hundred metres from the beach, plenty of swims in the sea and sitting on rocks watching the sunset. It was a very different New Years Eve experience, with people going for a swim once the New Year arrived. All too soon it was time to head back for my final few days in Ampara.

The going away experience for the expats can be an uncomfortable one. The national staff make a collection and from it purchase a gift (generally something pretty awful) and pay for a lunch for some of the staff. They are well paid relative to some of the jobs in Sri Lanka but still the majority of them are living month to month. Invariably people like the drivers aren’t invited, Sri Lankan society is surprisingly snobbish and when the lunch is held in a restaurant the single muslim women cannot attend either. So a few weeks ago I announced that I wanted no collection made on my behalf and that I would pay for lunch. This caused consternation but I stuck to my guns and on my second last day we had take out rice and curry for 45 in the office including the drivers, the two cleaners from our house and the two cooks who are after all the people who have taken care of me in the last year. It was great and just what I wanted but they were still insisting that when I get back in March that they will take me out to lunch, there is just no escape.

My second last day turned out to be my last day, fitting that my final day was a hartal, called to protest the execution of Saddam Hussein. We couldn’t help but comment on the double standards of opposition to Saddam’s execution and then the indifference to the fate of the poor truck assistant who was chucked into the burning truck a few weeks ago. The new year has started out violently, two bombings on public buses killing 15 people and clashes all along the front line in the East and North. It’s doesn’t bode well for a peaceful solution.

I’ve been in Colombo now for over a week and am itching to get on the move. My first day here I went to a jazz afternoon in a rugby club, hard to believe that it the same country that I have spent a year in. The rest of the week has been spent finishing off work and shopping for essentials for India, top of the list of which was a new music player. My faithful i-river who has served me well over the past two and a half years packed it in last week, maybe the thought of another trip to India was too much for it. Other highlights of the week included sunset cocktails at the Galle Face, one of the most famous hotels in Colombo and having non Sri Lankan food, pizza and sushi have never tasted so good. But it’s a bit of a surreal existence, I don’t really feel I belong in Colombo and am glad I have only two days left.

Sri Lanka does my head in. The slow convoluted process of getting anything done coupled with the in-transience of both sides of the conflict would leave you screaming with frustration. But despite that you end up loving it and this year has been an amazing experience. There is no doubt that there are plenty of rewards in this line of work but it takes its toll, I’ve never felt so tired in my life and it is a relief to only have myself to consider again. But I will greatly miss the people who have been part of my day to day life over the past year, Tissa the cook with the permanent cheeky smile, Yoosuf the incomprehensible mumbling driver and Lareef the quiet and unassuming assistant accountant who has kept me on my toes. I will miss the expat friends I have made greatly too , they have kept me sane and entertained throughout. Thanks to all who have taken an interest in the blog for the past year and especially thanks for all the mails.

Next stop India.