ON MY BALCONY

We have a balcony that runs along the front of the house and along the Southern side. It really is quite a tranquil place to go and sit. There are trees all around - not like a dense jungle but not at all like the tree-sparse suburbias back home. Many, like the coconut palms and a gigantic bamboo, tower higher than our house. The towering jackfruit tree has a couple of jackfruit on it, huge, green, foot-ball shaped fruit (and by football, of course I mean the proper kind, AFL). We saw a woodpecker in there the other day. As far as bird jobs go, I don't think wood-pecking looks like much fun. Other trees are a little shorter with enormous, broad leaves. I think I could use a leaf from a banana tree as a beach towel! Little white moths scamper between the trees. The top of the mango tree in our front yard can just be seen peeking over the top of the balustrade. Closer to the ground are palms, conifers and various others.

We are surrounded by houses on all sides except for a small plot of land in front of our house, which our long stretch of driveway runs through. This means that from my balcony I can see into five different yards; including the second balcony makes it six. Yes, I suppose this does kind of make me sound like a bit of a peeping Tom, but I don't actually sit out here spying on everyone! (What do you take me for?). The two we can see into best are to the left and the right. The property to the right belongs to another two-storey house. It has a massive back yard, presided over by a dobermann. In the centre is a cage that, I'm pretty sure, is used for housing dogs but, thankfully, he never seems to be in it. The yard is grassed and has numerous trees.

The yard I like best, though, is to the left and seems to belong to two single-storey houses. It is small and has no grass, just a dirt floor. A couple of lean-tos lean (as a lean-to would tend to do) against our adjoining wall and an outhouse sits in the corner. In the centre of the yard is a pile of wood - for fires I suppose. This yard has fewer trees - a jackfruit, a couple of banana trees and a palm. Numerous cats spend their days in this yard - full grown cats and various sizes of playful kittens. Sometimes they sit non-chalantly as the crows eat out of their bowls, or make themselves at home atop the wood pile. Other days they are more active and will climb trees or prowl along the garden walls. I enjoy watching the wide-eyed kittens pounce and frisk.

The sounds around fill the sky with a lullaby. The leaves around whisper to each other as the trees rock gently in the slow breeze. The incessant call of the crows is neither loud nor obnoxious, but slightly lulling and every now and again you will hear the wing-beat of a passing bird. In the distance a rooster crows. Behind it all the hum of traffic and the beeping of horns can be faintly heard and it is difficult to believe that the main road with all of it's chaos is only one house behind us. The air seems thicker here and sounds seem to travel quite differently. Sometimes a plane may fly overhead and there have been one or two times when the neighbourhood dogs have barked ALL night (usually if unsettled by firecrackers) but mostly my balcony is a peaceful place. In fact, I had better stop now. I'm getting dozy just thinking about it.

MARKETS

On Sunday mornings one of the roads in Negombo is closed and transformed into massive street markets. Hundreds of vendors set out their goods on tables or on sheets on the ground; under tarpaulins or unshaded. Fruits, vegetables (some familiar, others not so), fabrics, sweets, spices, garments, traditional cooking pots and many other odds and ends sit on display. Streams of people file past and the vendors, catching your eye, will invite you to come and buy their wares. Vegetable sellers stand by large metal balance scales. You will buy their goods by the kilo or half-kilo because that is the size of the metal weights by which prices are determined. A visit to the markets is an interesting experience and at the end you can leave with a load of fresh groceries too.

BOATS

On Saturday we went for a boat ride across the lagoon and up the river. We went with Prince and his mother, Cynthia, in Prince's cousins boat. Prince's godson, the son of the boat owner, came too and the boys had a great time playing with him. Brenton got to drive the boat for a bit. When he was watching where he was going he captained very well.
We saw a number of sights on the trip. We saw ladies wading waist-deep going crabbing and we saw many local fishermen.

We saw a family of monkeys, one perched up high eating some fruit and we saw a herd of pigs.

We saw a soldier keeping guard under a bridge

and smiling children waving to us from along the

rivers edge. And we saw boats. . .

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Hello to all the folks back home. We hope you are all enjoying your Australia Day holiday. Australia is such a privileged country. We celebrated Australia Day on Saturday. We took our Australian flags and went out for tea. I was so excited to hear Men At Work "Land Down Under" playing on the radio. It made the day just right. We went to the King Coconut (restaurant) where you can get a table down on the beach. It was a beautiful evening and many people were down enjoying the beach. While we waited for our meals the boys ran around on the beach with their flags and then we set off firecrackers (or more accurately, Prince set off fire crackers for us). When it got a bit darker, we pulled out some glow sticks and gave them to the boys and to nearby children. The kids then ran around on the beach some more until it was time to go home. All in all, a most enjoyable way to celebrate our wonderful country.

YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE A COUNTRY WHERE. . .

* the only shoes you need are a pair of thongs (though I'm not so keen on calling them slippers or flip-flops. We must sound strange to people of other nationalities as we run after the boys yelling at them to put their thongs on!)
* it is not compulsory to dress up when you go out for dinner.

BACK TO MY ROOTS

I like to build stuff but watching people build stuff is even better. So I am lucky to have a house being built behind our house. The house we live in, built on 18 perch (1 perch is 25 square metres), belongs to a Sri Lankan who is working in Italy. The one being built belongs to his brother(13 perch). And the one next to it (also 13 perch) is the father's, who will give it to his daughter as a dowry when she is married. We are also lucky that the father has property leading up to this house(another 18 perch).

These windows are made on site. Power tools are few and far between here. This is due to the fact that the prices are not that far removed from Australian prices. However, I have heard the sound of an electric planer which they use when fitting the windows and doors. No cordless drills for fitting the hinges and handles, all this is done with a screwdriver. Usually one between three.

I have seen various methods of painting and usually it just involves different size brushes Here I did see a roller but this is rare. We may see this as unusual as rollers are a time saver, but here the price of one worker with a paint brush for 1 day is less than the cost of a roller. The bloke in the right hand doorway is the chippie, hanging the windows. Now as far as saftey goes, it's all about perspective. As you can see, the painter only has bare feet. This is alright - he is only painting The chippie, however, has safety sandals. It's all about the safety.

Fortunately, the house we are in has circuit breakers. This doesn't make me feel any better when Prince is checking the points with his trusty tester. Back home you can just touch the insulated wire with the tester to see if it is live. This one has to be jambed in the power point. I couldn't see the guys next door being worried about little details as this. Hello worksafe!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do admire these guys for the quality of work they produce with what they have to work with. Take this water tower. These are used because the water pressure is too low to be of any use. So the house has a pump which pumps it up to a tank at the top of these towers. It is then gravity-fed into the house, so the higher it is, the better the pressure. What seems to be the third storey of our house is actually where the water tank is.

So they have built this tower and I have not seen a glimpse of a level, plumb bob or any other instument used to ensure this remains plumb. But it is. These photos are taken from the second storey so there is more that is not actually seen (notice the roof of the adjoining property). When they build these it is done in small sections. They mix the concrete on site. They sieve the sand, add the gravel then mix it on the ground and pass it up by bucket, all the while balancing on that bamboo scaffolding.

THE LITTLE THINGS

This story is from the first evening in our house. I was in the pantry (which is the everyday kitchen) and Darren was in the dining room when there was the loudest bird call. We both met up in the display kitchen.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. I thought it came from out where you were."

"I thought it came from in here."

"Oh well, we'll figure it out."

And, by chance, we did - the next afternoon. It was the doorbell! Now I am learning the difference between my doorbell and a bird. If the noise flies off in the distance, it is a bird. If it sounds like a bird screaming through a megaphone it is my doorbell. Still, it pays to check the front door anyway. Goodness knows how many people (or birds) we have left standing on the doorstep. (Oh, by the way, if it sounds like a doorbell, it is the telephone!).

Also of note, I am now the proud owner of a clothes rack. This momentous occurrence means that I no longer have to hang the washing down the bannisters to dry, as long as I only do one load. If however, I need to do more than one load or if sheets are involved, it is back to using the bannisters. Darren quips that washing day makes for great cubby houses on the stairs.

Other good news is that we now also have a kettle. As there is no hot water downstairs (again, apparently this is quite normal) I am now able to make my own to wash the dishes. No more washing dishes in cold water, thank goodness!

HOUSEWARMING

Well, it seems we now have a house, a car and an employee. Our house is a two-storey place which we were told is in Kochchikade but we are now told it is Ettukala. Not that it makes much difference when you have no idea where you are anyway. It is set in quite a nice little spot and is quite clean. There are four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study, two living areas, a laundry, a dining room and two kitchens (which seems to be the norm in larger houses - one for use and one for display). There is enough room for the boys to play outside (which is great because many larger houses don't seem to have much of a yard). The house comes furnished and has two large balconies.

We have hired a mini-van for 6 months. This is mostly to get the boys to and from school and to help with the shopping. It will also be used to transport everyone who comes to visit us (hint, hint).

We have also employed a man, who comes to us highly recommended by a number of people. He has excellent English skills (as well as being able to speak Sinhala and Tamil) and will be an interpreter for us. He is also our driver and groundsman and can supply us with local knowledge. Best of all, we enjoy his company. All in all, we feel we are slowly getting there.

TRIP TO COLOMBO

As a temporary resident of Sri Lanka I must make the pilgrimage to the Immigration Office to renew my visa. This is a path well trodden and complained about by those here from other countries. This is due to the fact that you must attend in person to the office in Colombo, and it is not something that can be completed in a lunchbreak. If you are lucky you will not need overnight accomodation.



Colombo is 30km away and I need to get there by 9:00am. We set out at 7:00am, and no, I'm not walking. The last trip we made was on a Sunday and the road was reasonably clear. This time, however, about 15km out the traffic starts to close in around us. The public busses use their size and continual blasts of their horn to bully their way through. The tuk- tuks and motor bikes just dive into any opening possible. Not that it seems like any one is making any progress. So we inch forward, punctuated by spells where the magic traffic genie has opened up space while the traffic police in the centre wave us on. Then somewhere close by comes the sound of a siren and somehow an ambulance is able to push its way through the traffic and races on, followed by motorbikes intent on using this to their advantage to gain some more ground.



As security is high, especially around military bases and government offices, numerous check points are in place. The man working for us (Prince) tells me that because I am with him we won't get stopped as much- still we were stopped 3 times. All this involved was a check of his national ID card and then they wave us on. The government has also made it so that the high security areas are only accesible from one end. This means we have to travel past where we want to go, so that we can get in via the one way street. Even with four lanes instead of two the congestion is quite bad.



Finally we make it to the lawyers office, 20 mins late and he tells me that it won't be necessary to go into immigration because we should make the most of our tourist visa. All we need do is give him the passport numbers and come back in two weeks. So we get to turn around and head back to Negombo and look forward to doing it all again in two weeks time.

THE WAY TO SCHOOL

Three times a day we make the trip to school and back. We head along the tourist strip and when we hit the fork in the road we go left. We also go left at the next fork in the road which takes us over a little bridge (apparently the Dutch built a lot of canals in this area). Travelling along this road will take us to the intersection at the main Negombo-Colombo road (this intersection has traffic lights). Continuing along, we will pass the big green and orange sign that says "Multi Cool". I don't quite know what that means but if I see it I know we're still going the right way. Shortly after this we will arrive at the intersection which Darren and I have affectionately dubbed "The Intersection of Death" (this intersection does not have traffic lights). To be fair, it really was only scary once, but seeing as that was the first time we crossed it, the name has stuck.

We will now pass the school which puts traffic cones out when the kids are coming and going from school. The crossing guards here seem to be the upper primary students, dressed in road safety jackets. The Buddhist school on the corner alerts us that it is time to turn left. We will turn left again at the terracotta house where we will also spot the red and yellow sign (in Sinhala, so goodness knows what that one says). The pile of wood at the corner tells us we're still on the right track and we will pass the row of street shops and then the Beer Shop. We pass the large Gateway school and then the street vendor's cart. The cart is only of note because this is the fellow we asked for directions on the first day who wanted to send us back to the Gateway School. Darren said he was sure we continued forward and the vendor pointed the other way. Then his wife said continue forward and he pointed the other way. Then I said, "How about we turn at that sign there that says NICE school?".

Turning at the sign, we will wave to the men waiting at the guard post (I'm not quite sure what for - this a private security post, not one of the government ones with guns) and, if they're out, the ladies who are working with a large pile of what seems to be wood shavings outside their house. We pass the shelter filled with bikes and motorbikes, we assume for the people who work in the two factories on the other side of the road. We don't know what sort of factories they are but one has a colourful mural on it, which must have been painted by school children. Then there we are at the school gates.

Now if you are wondering why I cared to share a description of this journey with you: there are two reasons. Firstly, it will give you an idea of our best means of finding our way around this place. Shame, because I am actually pretty good with a road map. Secondly, and don't miss the profound importance of this, I simply wanted to show off and sound like I am becoming a local who knows their way around. Truth is, the school is the only place I can find. I wonder how I will go when we move into our house and the starting point changes?!!!

ALONG NEGOMBO BEACH

Negombo Beach is a long sandy strip running along the vast waters of the Indian Ocean. It is almost 9am and although there is action, it is quiet and casual. The weather so far has been what you might call cool - though still no need for more than t-shirts and shorts - a pleasant 26 degrees.

A passenger plane passes overhead then disappears into the clouds. As the roar of the engine dissipates, a quiet lull returns. The call of crows can be heard along the beach. In the afternoon they all seem to fly southwards towards Colombo in their thousands, a steady black current. This morning, however, they are satisfied to sit on palm branches and hotel roof-tops and caw to each other.

The other sound that is heard is the languid roll of the waves spilling on to the shore. Occasionally you will hear voices in slow conversation or the chiming of cutlery from the breakfast hall.

A wedding is being held at the hotel today. There are guests dressed in their finery wandering in small groups along the beach or around the pool. As the wedding begins the air is punctuated with the sound of drums and two men in shirt and tie wait outside by two yellow columns placed especially for the wedding, crowned with suns and shrouded with incense. A hotel employee tells us that, according to Buddhist tradition, the priest will select the day and time for the wedding.

We sit on deck-chairs under a thatch umbrella, one of about 20 set in the area roped off for the hotel guests. Hawkers usually line up along this rope and display their wares for the lounging tourists but nobody is waiting for us at this time of day. Towards the horizon I can see the wind-filled sails of 3 traditional fishing boats, plus 2 motor boats. There were more earlier but they have sailed in search of fish. Two traditional boats and 4 motor boats sit along the shore with their owners, probably wishing to take interested foreigners out. Only one motor boat is busy with the activity of a large group of Sri Lankan fishermen.

Two hawkers arrive and we hear the calls, "Hello . . . Madam . . .Hello". Two jets and then another roar southwards and then quiet returns. The hawkers move on.

The drums are heard again and crescendo as the traditional dancers and wedding party exit the hotel for the ceremony, all in full voice. Naturally, the hotel guests come to gawk. A new hawker arrives and, seeing as I am the only one not immersed in the wedding, she thinks she will try her luck with me. "Hello . . . Madam . . . Cheap price". Having no luck she moves on and I also, feeling the day start to come alive, decide it is time to move on to more constructive pursuits.

SCHOOL

The boys have started school at NICE (Negombo International Children's Education), an international school. There are only small class numbers (maximum of about 15) with 2 or 3 teachers/assistants in each class (up to our equivalent of year 10). (I bet there's a lot of jealous Australian teachers reading that!). Anyways, the school seems to live up to its name.

The boys have enjoyed their first two days there. On the first day, Brenton got called up to stand at the front of assembly witht he other children with birthdays in January. He also had library - the school librarian is Australian. Jaymon got a balloon with his name on it and made a chicken. He also complained that they weren't teaching him anything - in front of his teacher!
Today's timetable has Brenton having his first French lesson. I have to keep on my toes though. I noticed that the spelling lists use American spellings, so I'll have to be insistent that my kids use Australian spellings. How are some of these words on the grade 1 and 2 (Australians read year 2 and 3) spelling bee list: midnight, manufacture, favourite, neighbour!!!

So our days start at 6am. We get the kids ready for school and are waiting at the doors when the hotel opens for breakfast at 6:30. Our tuk-tuk arrives at 7 and we are at school for the bell at 7:30. Brenton is in Grade 1 (the equivalent of year 2 in Australia, as their pre-primary has three years compared to our two) and Jaymon has been promoted from Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten 1 in his first day! The youngest students are the 2 year olds in Play School (even before the Pre-primary years). They arrive at school bleary-eyed, sometimes still eating breakfast and they are soooo little! Its a little like standing outside the pet store and wanting to take home all the puppies!

So, after feeling like champions of the world because we have got our kids to school, we have to get our minds around getting them back again. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they both finish at 2pm. On Wednesdays and Fridays, Jaymon finishes at 12 and Brenton at 2 and on Mondays, Jaymon finishes at 12 and Brentong at 2:45! There is no school the next two Tuesdays for public holidays and every Friday is a free dress day. Phew!

ARRIVING

We have been in Sri Lanka for 6 days now - after a day in Singapore. We are currently living out of a hotel room - which has its pros and cons. It is a safe base from which to find our feet and it is great not having to do any housework. We are rising to the challenge of operating a family out of one room - different parts of the room have been allocated "kitchen", "study", "play room" etc. At least the kids can escape to the pool when they get stir crazy. We are definitely looking forward to the privacy of having our own place, settling into a routine and (would you believe it) cooking our own meals.

We went house-hunting the other day. This was not as simple as it sounds for although the agent had carefully planned out the trip, about half the house owners were out at their appointment times. Add to that, the infrastructure is poor and streets can look different from day to day, so that even our agent, who has lived here for ten years, can sometimes struggle to locate a property he has listed. We do think, however, that we have found one we like. We will look at a few more today and take it from there.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To our dear family and friends: We hope you all had a joyous Christmas and are enjoying this New Year.

We had a fantastic time at Rottnest. It was great to take respite from the pressures of moving. I still find Rottnest to be one of my very favourite places and I reckon that the beaches must be among the more beautiful in the world. I stand in respect for Brenton, who was able to ride around the whole island on his own little legs, and for John & Kath, who made the same achievement on a tandem bike.