Perahera Pause

After 2 nights sitting on the pavement getting a sore arse I decided to take a break from the Perahera tonight. Once the procession actually starts it's fantastic, but it's the waiting around that does my head in.

The reason I ended up going 2 nights in a row is because Dhanushka somehow ended up being asked to take part in the Perahera - riding on one of the elephants, which is quite an honour. My new camera has a high speed setting, so I managed to get some good photos. Dhanushka's Mum arrived on Wednesday with a friend and her two children and of course when she found out that Dhanushka was going to be on an elephant she was very excited. When we found out that he was going to be on an elephant the following night as well Dhanushka's Dad decided to come, so last night we had 7 people staying with us. Dhanushka's family went home today, but his grandparents and one of his cousins are arriving tomorrow, so we won't have much of a respite.

Security is very tight for this year's Perahera, which is making life a little difficult - particularly in terms of getting around. At one point today it looked like I'd have to move my car out of the car park as the police were saying that the road was going to be closed off very early today. I didn't have to move it in the end, but the problem is no-one actually knows what's going on. We had a good laugh about it, but it's a real nightmare for the British Council.

I'm probably not going to go again for a couple of days, but would like to see the procession on the final evening on Tuesday. It really depends on how tired I am - am examining on Monday. The British Council is closed on Wednesday because of the 'day' Perahera, so I do have an extra day off, but it's still going to be a very busy few days. Have lots of preparation to get done for this course I'm starting - can't believe I'm leaving in just over a week!

I was looking at what I wrote two years ago when I was here on holiday earlier this evening . It's quite surreal because at the time I would never have guessed that I'd be living in Kandy two years later. Strange how things turn out!