They knew I was coming

Look at this! A beachside restaurant in Unawatuna had laid out all its tables with a Saltire especially for me. It's funny here. Everyone keeps asking if I'm English or British and I say no I'm Scottish. (It's only fair to make the distinction seeing as the Scottish Government is funding us all to be out here.) Anyway, last night I was in a shoe shop buying a pair of shoes I'd managed to wreck before even trying on (which made the trying on a bit pointless but I did it anyway, I think to try and pretend that I'd MEANT to wreck them, I liked the scruffy look! Anyway ...) and the guy asked if I was from England. I said no, I'm from Scotland which is near England.

"Ah yes, I know"

says he

"Scotland is one of England's colonies"!

Thought that might amuse some people :-)

In defence of my country

I got here a week ago last Saturday with no money having taken someone's advice that I wouldn't need any till I got to Galle. So I get to Galle and the driver very kindly takes me to see his friend a local shopkeeper. He will change my Scottish notes but won't give me as much as I'd get for English ones. It's not easy explaining why you're not having that when you don't speak Sinhala.

So on the Monday I went to the bank and there was much consternation over our banknotes. Part of the confusion was that I had Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank notes and they just didn't get why there were 3 different types. I pointed to the word Sterling but they just looked at me as if I'd stamped it on myself. In the end they refused to take them.

Finally a friend very kindly offered to take them to Colombo (where she lives) and exchange them there but when I asked would she fight them to the death to get the same as English notes, she said 'fraid not. Result is that I'll be going back to Glasgow with them. There's a principle at stake and it's not often I compromise on my principles! Ah well, I'll have a good night out when I get home :-)

Overcoming Guilt - is it possible?

I’m getting more used to living in Sri Lanka but I’m not getting more used to the guilt. It’s interesting to observe how other people deal with being asked for money or to buy something. I like to hear how they deal with it internally and I am very conscious of my own reactions and motivations. It’s great because I really need something to over-analyse and beat myself up about – not!

I knew it would be a challenge for me to deal with these kind of things and it’s something I don’t find easy to deal with in Scotland so I had it pencilled in as one of the things to “sort out”. I’m not sure however, that I will ever really be able to do that.

At the weekend I went to Unawatuna, a beautiful beach resort that was wrecked by the tsunami. I met with other volunteers but at one point I went to the beach by myself for a couple of hours. In a 15 minute period I was approached by 5 people, one after the other. All were selling, none begging, although I did give one guy money rather than buy from him.

If this kind of thing would put you off coming to Sri Lanka on holiday, don’t let it. It’s very easy to say no and you don’t get pestered. Most tourists seemed to pretend that they’re not there and they just move on. My trouble is I don’t want to just say no and I definitely don’t want to ignore them. I'm not criticising those who do because who knows how I will deal with it once I've been here a while. But right now, I want to explain why I can’t buy from everyone. I don’t want them thinking I’m some rich white Westerner who couldn’t care less that they have no money. That, I suppose, is about making ME feel better but it’s not just about that.

I think I’m going to do separate postings about the different people I met on the beach because they were all interesting. Everyone has different views on how you deal with it all. A Sri Lankan told me to just ignore all of them. One volunteer told me it gets easier as time goes on and you come to realise that you can’t help everybody. And another said that I should stop trying to overcome the guilt because I won’t be able to. I think what she meant was that I am right to feel guilt about this massive gulf between rich and poor in the world. I think I agree with her. It will be interesting to see how my thinking develops on this one but for now I think I’ll have to accept that this is how I feel and I just have to live with it until I figure out some other way. My life will still be a lot easier than some of theirs, guilt or no guilt.

I'm a comedienne!

Laughter is the best medicine they say and I think I’m making a lot of people healthy out here because they keep laughing at me! Who needs Merci Corps or The Red Cross when there’s me? I asked my boss’s daughter if she wanted to come for a walk to the lunch shop today and she did. Well, she probably didn’t (she’s only 16) but was too polite to say no. She laughed all the way – first when the bush hit me in the face, then when I nearly fell down a drain (tried to explain we don’t play Dodge the Drains in Scotland) and when we got to the lunch shop you’d have thought I was the funniest person alive.

The girl in the lunch shop asked my new friend (in Sinhala) what she was doing with me and she duly translated. So I said I’d spotted her in an office, hit her over the head and dragged her out so I didn’t have to walk alone. Once she’d translated the two of them dissolved into a fit of the giggles – maybe I’m funnier than I thought or maybe it was a duff translation. And now we’re back in the office and both she and her sister are laughing at my attempts to speak Sinhala. They are lovely girls but to get my own back I’m going to teach them Weegie. Seeing as I appear to be entertaining them, I think returning the compliment is the least they can do!

I knew it'd be the fault of a Glaswegian!

Have just read an email from a friend who was responding to my post comparing Glasgow buses (and drivers) to Sri Lankan ones and he tells me the following:

"In actual fact, many of the Sri Lankan buses, ARE Glasgow buses! Many of the old Leyland buses and Lorries you see in Sri Lanka were made in the old Albion / Leyland plant in Scotstoun."

He then admits that "this comment betrays too much knowledge of vintage commercial vehicles than is healthy!" but isn't it a small world. Maybe I'll feel a bit safer on the buses here in future. Nah, thought about that for a second and I'd say the chances of that are zilch. I will explain later when I tell you about my second bus experience which was not quite as successful!

Quick Update

I've been away for the weekend and come back to a couple of messages from people asking if I'm okay. They were mainly from people who keep up to date with international news and it's probably best to say no more than that here. The answer is yes, we're all absolutely fine and following all the advice we're being given. I'm sure we'll all continue to do that. Anyway Indygal's invincible don't you know that? Will post later today with continuation of the adventure ... for now, though, better do what I'm here for and work!

Worse than Glasgow buses

The other day when I was going on about how pleased I was to have been able to go out and buy my lunch "all by myself" I must've been feeling brave because I did something else, altogether much braver in my view. I got on a bus! Now I am not a fan of buses at the best of times but this was scary because it was packed. It was packed in a way that if we did it in Glasgow the driver would get sacked. And I've already told you about Sri Lankan driving, it's mad!!! The nicest thing though? An old lady got up to give me her seat. "Why thank you" said I. It was a huge relief to be sitting down I can tell you. Nah, only kidding, I politely refused and profusely thanked. I told Muna who I work with and she said it was because "you are visitor to Sri Lanka". Isn't that really nice? We think we're friendly in Scotland but I'm not sure I've seen that happen terribly often. Correct me if I'm wrong ...