Lost In Translation

Actually, it’s “lost without translation”. I’ve just had one of those days when I can’t really get anything accomplished because I don’t have a translator. I want to go to the Molpe Temple to distribute milk and stationary supplies…but I need a translator. I want to go to the Soyasapura/Salusara camp to conclude the mapping interviews…but I need a translator. I want to go to the Divisional Secretariat office to rifle through ration cards…but I need a translator. I want to go to Pettah to negotiate with Mr. Selvaratnum for some items I need for the camps…his English is not too bad, he’s a tool guy and we actually do pretty well miming to each other…but a translator would help. (If I mime a sewing machine, I might end up with a table saw…it could happen)
Days like this can be very frustrating. I ended up just entering stuff into my fledgling database and wondering if I’m spelling these complicated Sinhalese names correctly. I do have a couple of favorites: Jotuiratunalage Jayasiri Pushpukumara and Sirisena Sithmbi Arachchilage. No, I do not know how to pronounce them.
Yesterday was a Poya day and Dani’s Aunt Sunethra invited me over for dinner. She said the magic words: egg hoppers, seeni sambol and jac fruit curry so I dropped what I was doing and got over there. It’s bad form to arrive at a Sri Lankan home without bringing something for your hostess. The real problem is that everything is closed on Poya. My loyal tuk-tuk driver, Roy and I had a real bonding experience trying to find an open bakery so I could buy a cake. After cruising up and down Kirula and Thimbiragasaya roads, we found a place that was open and I ran in to buy something called a “ribbon cake”. I have no idea what makes it a ribbon cake, but one layer is green and another is pink. It tastes okay if you don’t look at it too closely. After telling Sunethra about my quest with Roy, she wrapped up a huge piece and gave it to him when he picked me up.
I had my mom send me all the stuff I need to make a pumpkin pie because Dani is a huge fan of all things pumpkin and has never had pumpkin pie. I have no idea how a person can like pumpkin in the absence of pie, but they do weird things to it here and it’s a lot more squash-like than what we think of as pumpkin. This got us to talking about American food. They decided I would cook them an authentic Thanksgiving meal. I agreed once I found out you can actually get a turkey here.

Minor Digression:
I cut out an article from the paper the other day:
Bird flu found in Turkey’s turkeys
I know avian flu is nothing to laugh about, but this cracked me up.

Here’s the menu so far, feel free to add your suggestions:
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry sauce
Cornbread
Greenbean Casserole (I personally don’t care for this and would take suggestions)
Pumpkin Pie
Mincemeat Pie
Pecan Pie (Lino asked me what a pecan was, so I knew I had to make this)

I’ll be kicking Chandra (Aunt Sunethra’s maid/cook) out of her kitchen for the day and I have it on good authority that she is VERY territorial about that particular room. I think I can take her.