Day 307

300 days in Sri Lanka already!!! The end of my year is actually in sight- happy/sad feelings.

My posts are so spaced out that I'm not even sure what I've been doing. Work is as usual. Busy work days alternate with fun days with the work people- potlucks, ice fights and lots of laughter usually at someone's expense. We visited the architecture exhibition recently, but dinner after was probably more exciting than the exhibition itself.

The past month, I've spent two Thursday evenings at the Good Market. It's my favourite after-work-chill spot. Mostly because of the really awesome cake at the Butter Boutique- those humongous rich decadent slices have never fallen short of amazing. Water's Edge Park is also so beautiful at night; the breeze, the grass and the lights on the water. One time, the four of us lay down on the grass and watched the stars till we were chased off. 

Church has been fun the past month too. Easter programme practices means more singing and more acting! We've been practicing for a hand mime too which reminds me of all the mad practices with the AY gang in Bangalore. 

Last week my parents and uncle were here. It was so nice to have them visit again even though I couldn't take more leave to travel to Kalpitiya with them. Sunday morning, a few hours  after they landed, we left for Mirissa to go whale watching early in the morning. 

Despite the sea sickness and the harsh sun, watching the whales break through the surface of the water to breathe was a thrilling experience. The 50ft giants barely surfaced, but we were able to watch parts of their backs and tails for a short while before they dived back into the deep. Most of them, we watched at a distant, but a few were really close. One of them even swam alongside our boat about 10m away. We could see the dark outline of the whole whale below the water. This was definitely one of the highlights of Sri Lanka. I was so awestruck, I forgot to take videos. Here are a couple of pictures that my Dad took. 

Next week, I have visitors again. Four of my classmates from college are visiting for 5 days. Lots of traveling, lots of pictures and plenty of girly gossip time coming up. :) 

Day 276

Sadly my posts are beginning to become once a month entries. 

We have two new people at work this month, so the office has a bit more life. Busy work days alternate with days to appreciate mid morning hot cinnamon tea and pink Tabebuia trees lining the gardens of the Kelaniya temple. 

This month's getaway was to a retreat centre in Bokkawala with the church family. We spent 3 lovely days tucked away in the hills with a schedule packed with plenty of fun things. From the sessions, the music, the walks around the area, campfires, lots of picture taking and laughing; the few days was perfect for fellowship with people and with God. 

The building we stayed in was quite interesting. The circular radial plan of the retreat centre was once a hospital. The rooms and dorms we occupied were once wards and clinics. The main corridor enclosed a fish pond in the centre opened to the sky and others formed double height courtyards framing mountain vistas at the ends. 

The weekend finished faster than I hoped and sadly have to begin a new week with another bout of post-trip depression. 

Day 230

It's the last day of 2013 and what a year it has been! 

Christmas was grand. Had so much fun. The Christmas musical at church came out well. The week after was a mix of sleepovers, get togethers, lots and lots of cooking, movies, presents. It was great to get a few days off for the season. 

In order to eliminate post Christmas blues, we went on a grand trip up into the mountains of the Uva Province for 3 days. Hiking with the breathtaking scenery, clear air, clouds and pine forests  and train rides through the mountains was a perfect trip. Couldn't have been a better way to complete to year.

Alas, my laptop needs some repairs. Have to rely on phone posts and phone pictures till then. :(

My New Year's Eve will be spent at home with movies, pizza, cake and finishing up my year end blog post. 

Here's a picture from our breakfast picnic. What a view it was!!

Day 218

Sigh. If only my laptop wasn't so fussy and stayed on for more than 5 minutes at a time. Woe to all the pending posts of trips long past.

November came and went so fast. Every weekend was busy. I traveled a lot, had visitors and did so much. Even work was busy. Sadly the interns leave this month and it'll be a bit quiet at the office before the next ones join us. 

This post has been in the drafts section for so long and I've had to change the post Day so many times.

The past month has gone by fast. Work has been busy on and off. And weekends have been as busy as weekdays with play and choir practices for the Christmas programme.

But it's December and it's the bestest month of the year and even though I am away from home, it's going to be a great Christmas.

Aside from the music and the baking, we really needed a tree to get our house in a true festive mood. We researched many kinds of DIY Christmas trees before deciding to make one out of paper cones. We spent about 4 hours of folding and sticking and trying to keep it from toppling. The final touch of the lights made it just perfect.  :)

We went for an absolutely grand concert last week. The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. Watching an orchestra live is a totally different experience. So many instruments it's hard to focus on one thing at a time. They played some familiar classics in the first half and then played a selection of Christmas music with a choir backup. It was so perfect. For the last 3 songs, the audience could join in. The three of us sang loudly, with absolutely no shame. So much fun. :)

With a few days off next week for Christmas, we'll hopefully squeeze in a trip to the hills in between all the other Christmas things.

Here's one of the interesting covers I heard over the past few weeks.

Day 176

Had such a lovely weekend nestled between some busy work weeks. 

We set out early Saturday morning for Lakpahana Advenstist School, about an hour from Kandy. Midland driving is just as beautiful as driving along the coast. Mist blanketing over forested hills, clean crisp air that you can take deep breaths from and windy roads that put my stomach in unease. 

We were visiting the school as part of the AYF team to do a programme for the students there. The setting of the school was beautiful; nestled in between completely untouched mountains. The day was great- the morning service, activities in the afternoon and in the evening. It was hard to keep up with the enthusiasm of the children. 

We stayed over in Kandy with some friends. Loved their hospitality, their house, and the view too. Built on an extremely steep site, the entrance at the top and the rest of the house divided into many different levels going downwards with large windows at every landing with no limits to the Kandy scape.

The next day, we visited the Trinity chapel. Definitely one of the nicest structures in Sri Lanka so far. It's such a rare thing to find a church that is built with local architectural influences as apposed to the standard Gothic references that most churches in the early 20th century mimicked.

Completed in 1935, the church was constructed with 50 monolithic stone pillars sculpted by local Kandyan craftsmen that supported a steel trussed tiled roof. Loved how the breeze moved right through the space. A chapel like this really didn't need biblical sculptures or paintings to add to the sanctity. 

I found some pictures online of elephants hauling the pillars up to the site- here

I wish I had my camera. I will have to visit again to take pictures. Posting some that Nen took. 

Day 170

This is quite shameful. I had decided to post many times, but kept putting it off.

Days and weeks have gone into an interesting cycle. 

Days when I get a bus immediately in the morning and manage to catch the evening bus too and it's empty and the driver is super fast. Other days when the morning bus comes half an hour late and drives so slow that the trees have grown an extra ring and days that I miss the bus in the evening too. 

Days when things are a bit relaxed at work and I get to catch up on new music and have time to read. Other days when there are busy crazy deadlines and hours of extra work late into the night (and early into the morning once too).

Days when we cook up a storm at home- desserts and juices and multiple course meals and other evenings when we feel so blah and drag ourselves into the kitchen half asleep.

Some days I have the energy to read, to catch up on my online courses and to be productive and many days I scroll up and down my Facebook news feed all evening. 

And yet in all routine and mundane weeks of hot sultry afternoons and rainy nights, I still love it here. There are still so many exciting things in the middle of blah days. Here are some I can remember from the past 3 weeks.

- This morning I saw a snake in my loooong wait at the bus stop. It slithered into the gutter just a few feet away. Happened too fast for my brain to tell me to be scared.  

- Two weeks ago did a measured drawing in an old building and in the middle of our snooping and scavenging through the massive house, we found some old black and white pictures. 

- We went for the production of 'Jesus Christ Superstar' Was so awesome. Such great singers and a pretty solid show.

- The weekend following that, we did a musical marathon that continued into the week. Watched Evita, Rent, Mama Mia, Fiddler on the Roof, Moulin Rouge, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Annie. Had my fill of singing. Was great!

- I always look forward to weekends. Now a days they are extra special because of the Christmas programme practices. Choir and the play and lots of music in general. 

:)

November is going to be a busy month. I have trips being planned and friends visiting and beaches to look forward to. Cannot wait. 

Day 116

Last week was dessert week. 

The first one was Cheryl's apple and cinnamon with amaretto and oatmeal crumble topped with whipped cream. It was so good. Such a contrast of flavours and textures. I ate it for breakfast. It was pretty much like eating fruit and cereal but on a completely different level :)

The second was my version of a lemon pie with a chocolate base. It was a lot of fun in the kitchen that night. A couple of crazy mishaps that sent us in a panic wave. But at the end of it we had two perfect desserts quite different from each other.

I was pretty proud of it and even posted a blog post. I had to take the desserts outside to photograph. Natural light is so beautiful to photograph in.

Read here- Lime and Chocolate Pie

This Sabbath was really nice too. It was the Adventist Youth Forum which was basically a get together of the youth from the other local churches to spend the day worshiping together. Really enjoyed the day especially the singing. I've missed singing with the praise team in Cunningham church, so it was extra special being able to sing again.

My mum and aunt will be visiting soon. I'm so excited. Counting down the days. :D

Day 2

My first Sabbath this year in Colombo was quite nice. I visited Bethel church last year and was lucky to visit on their 90th anniversary celebrations.

The congregation was a lot smaller today than it was on that day. The service was nice and finished much earlier than Cunningham church in Bangalore. I didn't even start feeling hungry during the sermon like I usually do. The many greetings I got changed from 'How long are you visiting for?' to 'Oh, we'll be seeing a lot more of you.' 

The city centre is quite lovely. Again, I have to mention the lack of garbage. I could walk barefoot if I had to! Another thing that I was pleasantly surprisingly to see was the use of a zebra crossing. People actually use the crossing and traffic actually stopped and let people cross! 

The evening brought with it lots of introductions, new Sri Lankan food and hours of entertainment. (I should correct that to evening, night and the following morning actually). The rule was 'no sleeping'. I paid the consequence with three painted toenails. Luckily I woke before the toothpaste attack.

Here's a picture of the church from last year. Love the lights.