Perth Bound
I'm in Colombo at the moment - on my way to Perth. I drove down from Kandy this morning and have been hanging out with Ruth. Miraculously I made it to Colombo without killing anyone or being killed myself! I left at 6.30, so the roads were fairly quiet at first, but as I got closer to Colombo the traffic got heavier and the driving even more manic. Even after 3 years driving here I'm still constantly astounded by the risks that people take and the complete disregard for the safety of anyone else on the road.
My flight is not until 1am, so will have dinner with Ruth then catch a taxi to the airport. Am leaving my car here and will pick it up when I get back in January. Ruth decided she wanted to go for a swim this afternoon, so I did some shopping and a managed to pick up a really interesting framed picture of the Perahera for my Mum and Dad - who are very difficult to buy for - and some boxes of tea that I can give to people as small presents. After I finished shopping I drove over to the Galle Face Hotel to watch the sunset over some iced tea. In January I have to attend a training day here in Colombo and we're being put up at the Galle Face, which I'm quite looking forward to.
Driving around Colombo is a lot more stressful than driving in Kandy as I don't know the roads very well and have no idea which are one way as they're not very well signposted. The traffic can be hellish at times as well and what ostensibly is a 4-lane road ends up with what appears to be anywhere up to 8 lanes of traffic with buses pulling out suddenly, three-wheelers hogging two lanes and motorbikes weaving in and out of the other vehicles!
It was quite an emotional last week at work because Pamela is leaving us to be with her Mum, who's not well. On Wednesday we found out that Rafeek had been admitted to hospital with appendicitis and on Thursday we received news that Ewen was flying back to the UK for more tests as his condition had got worse. I went to see Padma yesterday afternoon and spoke to Ewen's son. He has an appointment with the specialist today, but if he has to have an operation, it could be some time before he's back in Kandy. I hope he's OK.
Am going to miss Pamela a lot next term. She's been a wonderful colleague and a good friend. It's very sad that she has to leave under such circumstances - I just hope her Mum is OK. It's been a really difficult year for all of us at the British Council in Kandy and we're all hoping that next year will be a lot better.
Am starting to feel quite tired. I have a feeling I'm not going to get much sleep tonight either as the flight is only 3 1/2 hours. Tomorrow evening we're apparently going out for dinner as well, so am going to be completely wiped out by the time I get to my Mum and Dad's place...
My flight is not until 1am, so will have dinner with Ruth then catch a taxi to the airport. Am leaving my car here and will pick it up when I get back in January. Ruth decided she wanted to go for a swim this afternoon, so I did some shopping and a managed to pick up a really interesting framed picture of the Perahera for my Mum and Dad - who are very difficult to buy for - and some boxes of tea that I can give to people as small presents. After I finished shopping I drove over to the Galle Face Hotel to watch the sunset over some iced tea. In January I have to attend a training day here in Colombo and we're being put up at the Galle Face, which I'm quite looking forward to.
Driving around Colombo is a lot more stressful than driving in Kandy as I don't know the roads very well and have no idea which are one way as they're not very well signposted. The traffic can be hellish at times as well and what ostensibly is a 4-lane road ends up with what appears to be anywhere up to 8 lanes of traffic with buses pulling out suddenly, three-wheelers hogging two lanes and motorbikes weaving in and out of the other vehicles!
It was quite an emotional last week at work because Pamela is leaving us to be with her Mum, who's not well. On Wednesday we found out that Rafeek had been admitted to hospital with appendicitis and on Thursday we received news that Ewen was flying back to the UK for more tests as his condition had got worse. I went to see Padma yesterday afternoon and spoke to Ewen's son. He has an appointment with the specialist today, but if he has to have an operation, it could be some time before he's back in Kandy. I hope he's OK.
Am going to miss Pamela a lot next term. She's been a wonderful colleague and a good friend. It's very sad that she has to leave under such circumstances - I just hope her Mum is OK. It's been a really difficult year for all of us at the British Council in Kandy and we're all hoping that next year will be a lot better.
Am starting to feel quite tired. I have a feeling I'm not going to get much sleep tonight either as the flight is only 3 1/2 hours. Tomorrow evening we're apparently going out for dinner as well, so am going to be completely wiped out by the time I get to my Mum and Dad's place...
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