Friday, June 24, 2005
You know…16 inch centers…
Uh, actually it’s more like…no wait, don’t tell me… 40.5, um how do you say “centimeters” in Sinhalese? Centimeterrahya, or something like that. This gives new meaning to the old carpenters’ adage, “Measure twice, cut once.”
I curse you Kendall Central School District for not making me learn the metric system! No, they insisted on torturing me with algebra, brought to us all by our friends the Arabs, thanks for that, guys. Twenty plus years later, I have yet to be asked the value of x by anyone at all….ever…but I digress.
You’ll be shocked to hear that I’m not fluent in Sinhalese yet. (Imagine my surprise to learn that they even have their own freakin alphabet; 12 vowels and 35 consonants) What the heck was I thinking? Thank goodness for Chandima, our translator! I had a very funny moment at a camp, I was wearing a baseball cap in the sun. Chandima told me that the kids wanted to know where in England Prentice Hall was located. After I stared at her like a stoned surfer for a few minutes, she pointed to my hat: Prentice Hall English Oh, (duh) so I tried to explain, it’s English the discipline, not English as in the country. They didn’t get it. I tried again, they still didn’t get it. Then I told them Prentice Hall is a small village near Upper Saddle Rivershire, and that I still have a lot of friends there, drop in anytime. I think they bought it. Sometimes, we all just laugh nervously and move on to the next topic so it’s hard to tell.
Until next time, ayabowan (aah-yu-boh-wahn),
Sue
I curse you Kendall Central School District for not making me learn the metric system! No, they insisted on torturing me with algebra, brought to us all by our friends the Arabs, thanks for that, guys. Twenty
You’ll be shocked to hear that I’m not fluent in Sinhalese yet. (Imagine my surprise to learn that they even have their own freakin alphabet; 12 vowels and 35 consonants) What the heck was I thinking? Thank goodness for Chandima, our translator! I had a very funny moment at a camp, I was wearing a baseball cap in the sun. Chandima told me that the kids wanted to know where in England Prentice Hall was located. After I stared at her like a stoned surfer for a few minutes, she pointed to my hat: Prentice Hall English Oh, (duh) so I tried to explain, it’s English the discipline, not English as in the country. They didn’t get it. I tried again, they still didn’t get it. Then I told them Prentice Hall is a small village near Upper Saddle Rivershire, and that I still have a lot of friends there, drop in anytime. I think they bought it. Sometimes, we all just laugh nervously and move on to the next topic so it’s hard to tell.
Until next time, ayabowan (aah-yu-boh-wahn),
Sue
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
When in Rome…
Several of my young friends, Gerritt Mora; Sarah Austin and others have asked what the food is like here. In a word, it’s VERY hot. They use a lot of curry powder. I learned how to make curry powder, you grind separately then mix together:
½ lb. coriander seeds
2 oz. of cinnamon
2 oz. of cumin seeds
1 oz. of sweet cumin seeds
2 oz. of rampa (a fragrant leaf that reminded me of bay leaf)
3 sprigs of curry leaves
1 oz. of raw rice
2 cardamoms
6 cloves
Put it in an airtight container and use it to season just about everything. I really like: Rottys; folded up flat pita-like bread with hot veggies and curried meats and fish.
String and Egg Hoppers; crepe like thingies that are cupped like a little bowl to hold veggies, meats and eggs
Sambol; which is kind of like a dry chutney or relish usually served over seasoned rice.
I have seen several Kentucky Fried Chicken places; Pizza Huts and Mcdonalds. We’ve only tried the Pizza Hut because they deliver!
To truly enjoy these dishes, you are encouraged to eat with your fingers (but only use your right hand) I’m still working on my technique and several of my shirts have curry stains on them. This is, of course, the source of much hilarity for the locals. But then you know me, spreading cheer everywhere I go…
½ lb. coriander seeds
2 oz. of cinnamon
2 oz. of cumin seeds
1 oz. of sweet cumin seeds
2 oz. of rampa (a fragrant leaf that reminded me of bay leaf)
3 sprigs of curry leaves
1 oz. of raw rice
2 cardamoms
6 cloves
Put it in an airtight container and use it to season just about everything. I really like: Rottys; folded up flat pita-like bread with hot veggies and curried meats and fish.
String and Egg Hoppers; crepe like thingies that are cupped like a little bowl to hold veggies, meats and eggs
Sambol; which is kind of like a dry chutney or relish usually served over seasoned rice.
I have seen several Kentucky Fried Chicken places; Pizza Huts and Mcdonalds. We’ve only tried the Pizza Hut because they deliver!
To truly enjoy these dishes, you are encouraged to eat with your fingers (but only use your right hand) I’m still working on my technique and several of my shirts have curry stains on them. This is, of course, the source of much hilarity for the locals. But then you know me, spreading cheer everywhere I go…
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Sri Lanka...where the men drive tuk-tuks;
the red lights are merely a suggestion; and the lines on the road are a complete waste of paint. I wish I could paste in a short video clip of “tuk-tuk cam”
These guys are just fearless…scary fearless. A trip to the Volunteer International office from the apartment in Colombo 5, starts with a brief walk through the shortcut to High Level Mawatha (a story in itself). From there, one of the itinerant tuk tuk drivers that hangs around, whips across several lanes of traffic and zips up to Chris and I shouting out the address before we open our mouths. “148 Kynsey Road yah,yah,yah?”
“That’s a big 10-4 good buddy.” Actually, Chris has done some serious male bonding with these guys. When he comes home from playing rugby at the local field with his homies, he stops to have a beer and hang with the tuk tuk drivers. Every time we get a new driver, they make me very nervous by turning around and looking at us more than the road, “Country?” Every single time Chris says “Ireland” and because of his accent, they say “Holland, Holland…the Dutch were here…” I told him he should just say “Holland” and maybe they would hear “Ireland” Who knows. They often ask “tourist?” and when we tell them we’re tsunami workers, they almost always give us the local rate for the ride.
One of our forthcoming projects is rebuilding the out houses at the Buddhist temple Montessori school. We need to get some supplies and a bit of labor help from the adjoining refugee camp. Chris and I could do it by ourselves, but part of the plan is to help the local tradesmen be invested in the projects we initiate.
More later, it’s been great getting the emails from all my friends.
Take care,
Sue
These guys are just fearless…scary fearless. A trip to the Volunteer International office from the apartment in Colombo 5, starts with a brief walk through the shortcut to High Level Mawatha (a story in itself). From there, one of the itinerant tuk tuk drivers that hangs around, whips across several lanes of traffic and zips up to Chris and I shouting out the address before we open our mouths. “148 Kynsey Road yah,yah,yah?”
“That’s a big 10-4 good buddy.” Actually, Chris has done some serious male bonding with these guys. When he comes home from playing rugby at the local field with his homies, he stops to have a beer and hang with the tuk tuk drivers. Every time we get a new driver, they make me very nervous by turning around and looking at us more than the road, “Country?” Every single time Chris says “Ireland” and because of his accent, they say “Holland, Holland…the Dutch were here…” I told him he should just say “Holland” and maybe they would hear “Ireland” Who knows. They often ask “tourist?” and when we tell them we’re tsunami workers, they almost always give us the local rate for the ride.
One of our forthcoming projects is rebuilding the out houses at the Buddhist temple Montessori school. We need to get some supplies and a bit of labor help from the adjoining refugee camp. Chris and I could do it by ourselves, but part of the plan is to help the local tradesmen be invested in the projects we initiate.
More later, it’s been great getting the emails from all my friends.
Take care,
Sue
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Where the elite meet...
Well, that didn't take long...after less than two weeks, all our fellow volunteers have dubbed our apartment "The VI House of Fun". It reminds me strongly of my college days in that awful shotgun apartment in Brockport. Our friends showed up at all hours of the day and night with startling regularity (some to the point where I wanted to claim them on my taxes).
These are really great young people, Chris is from Ireland; Nina, Daniella and Deanna are all from the UK; and Katsouro is from New Jersey; Fran has dual citizenship from the US and the UK and has the most infectious laugh I have ever heard. They are so committed to what we are doing, that it is really inspirational.
Yesterday we delivered some clothing to a camp in Moratuwa very near the beach south of Colombo. Looking around where these people used to live makes one wonder if things will ever be the same for them. There's just piles of rubble everywhere and concrete pads where homes used to be. It makes the things we're doing seem so inadequate and lame. I'm going to attempt a few more pictures now...wish me luck.
Sue
These are really great young people, Chris is from Ireland; Nina, Daniella and Deanna are all from the UK; and Katsouro is from New Jersey; Fran has dual citizenship from the US and the UK and has the most infectious laugh I have ever heard. They are so committed to what we are doing, that it is really inspirational.
Yesterday we delivered some clothing to a camp in Moratuwa very near the beach south of Colombo. Looking around where these people used to live makes one wonder if things will ever be the same for them. There's just piles of rubble everywhere and concrete pads where homes used to be. It makes the things we're doing seem so inadequate and lame. I'm going to attempt a few more pictures now...wish me luck.
Sue
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I'm new to this blogging thing...
...so bear with me. Greetings from fabulous Sri Lanka. Let me just get this over with, it's really hot here. I promise to try not to dwell on it, but honestly, heat like this is just way over the top! I've been here just over a week and already visited several refugee camps; helped paint a school house on the grounds of a Buddhist temple; gone to Galle to assist with a new roof for a family of nine and am currently working on a pinata...don't ask.
I've rented an apartment in Colombo with a charming 24 year old Irishman I can barely understand. Chris is also with Volunteer International and arrived around the same time I did. I'll post pictures eventually, but it's a nice little 2 bedroom. There's no hot water, but somehow (see above) one really doesn't care. Brushing your teeth with beer (Chris' idea) is not as nasty as it sounds. More later, drop an email to me if you get a chance and be grateful for all we have back in the states.
Tata,
Sue
I've rented an apartment in Colombo with a charming 24 year old Irishman I can barely understand. Chris is also with Volunteer International and arrived around the same time I did. I'll post pictures eventually, but it's a nice little 2 bedroom. There's no hot water, but somehow (see above) one really doesn't care. Brushing your teeth with beer (Chris' idea) is not as nasty as it sounds. More later, drop an email to me if you get a chance and be grateful for all we have back in the states.
Tata,
Sue
Monday, June 13, 2005
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