over 2 week gone and soooo fast...
All great here, basically had an amazing week. Feeling more settled in now with the school, our house and the where abouts of the village...although finding new things all the time.
This week Emer and I spent from Sunday till Thursday in saris...commitment to this community I think! In fact i really love them and everyone looks awesome in them...at the start of the week we pretty much needed to be dressed in them, getting up at half 4 to put them on..effort! By Thursday we had it down to perfection, having them on before Jo (one of our hosts, married to Alan brown - both English teachers from Bristol who live next door to us. Emer and i work with Alan in SGV and Finn and Tris work with Jo at UMV) appeared to help us dress! Mission! Still seem to be taken in by the other teachers at school to be fixed as our saris are MESSY...lovely of them to help though, all so sweet!
Emer and I in one of our saris in the Englishactivities classroom in SGV! Saris are the hardest things to walk in and very hot...I thought they were meant to keep you cool...noooo! Funny tan lines may appear also. Everyone is so nice here though now we have been wearing saris they all stop and say "beautiful, you are Sri Lankan now".
so other than saris we have been working at the school Monday to Thursday, catching the usual 6am bus... 6 feels like a lie in when you've been getting up at half 4 for saris. This week we have been doing more helping out/learning with Alan, but been getting more involved now. Been starting off lessons, reading books and singing songs. Jo put it as we are now "teacher comedians" as you basically stand up and prance around singing songs and acting books, role plays etc...None of which I thought I would be very good at but we will see how it goes... been singing at LOT of Bob Marley "don’t worry be happy", actually an amazing song now makes me smile every time, the kids love it so much! And Yellow submarine, Beatles also a good one, now in the process of writing the words for we are the champions, Queen (all the easy classics really). heads, shoulders, knees and toes, Tommy thumb, wheels on the bus.......Emer and I also took our very own grade 2 lesson(6 year olds)...amazing! they are just so cute and love you writing in red pen on their books...major pile up at the end of classes to get their work marked in red biro (never knew so much excitementcould come from that...).
Emer and some grade 5 boys in class.
Alan and one of his classes.
SGC assembly!
This week we have also started some after school clubs (all at UMV), Tris and Finn have been super busy with cricket, football and rugby and Emer and I have arts and crafts on Tuesdays - going to make papiermache balloons, singing/dance (emer really - i am learning from her too, who got a guitar this week which is sooo cool!) - sung and danced footloose and the girls wanted to sing the titianic song too, then we are doing volleyball on thursdays but not started yet (this week). Also i may be helping out in a school in galle on friday mornings from this week onwards with there girls hockey which i cannot wait about so exciting!!
Right so forgot to mention (don’t think i did in the last blog) then last weekend we went to Galle fort on Saturday morning then the beach that afternoon = so beautiful...turtles heads kept popping out the sea!! Then Sundayemer andi made our first lone trip to Galle on the mental buses! Veryvery squashed but good fun! haha on that note...we had to get a bus back from SGV without alan the other day and got on the wrong but that would take us to Colombo (3 hours away)...dun dundun...ha the bus driver was lovely and said he would let us off anyway...wooo!
The other adventure we had this week was into the countryside with Jo, Alan, Emer, Tris and Finn to what is known as "a big girls" party, to do with becoming a women and celebrated hugely in Buddhism. Was at the wee girls house (who is one of Jos pupils at school) out of Unawatuna and to this ridiculously green area!!There were loads of people and loads of amazing food! the music was hilarious. Seemed so out of place...not Buddhist/Sri Lankan songs at all (the dad was a DJ...). The walk back home was so amazing...everything here is soooogreen or "green and blue" (sky, sea and trees) as Alan put it! We met another of Jos school pupils who took us for a walk to this natural water well..So beautiful after the walk along this skinny wall in our saris..you can literally do anything in a sari if you try!
giant rice cooking pot at the big girls party
at the water well!
thisFriday we also had a very productive resources making day - fans, books, posters etc
we have had a curry lesson - well watched and wrote down every move very fast to learn (eating with the hands is still not perfected...)
half way through the final product...best curries ever! still got loads left...may be a dodge photo
so today has been amazing!!! such a great day! we climbed up rumassala hill next to us at 6.30 this morning to what felt like that top...to Jo and Alan’s friends house for breakfast...coconut sambol and bread!! soooo good! we watched her make it on her grinding stone, with fresh coconut!!! after that we walked to jungle beach at the other side of the hill and loved it!! we also went to see the sleeping fruit bats at the top of rumassala hilll!! So tris, finn, emer and i headed home and then grabbed our swimming stuff and straight back to jungle beach which was not so quiet when we got back but just as beautiful and have spent today there....the waves were big! and now very burnt but all fun funfun...will learn!
fairly posed photo on jungle beach
beautiful jungle beach!
best go...not bore you too much...hope all is great at home
emer says hello!!!!
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