Every day an adventure

So much happens every day that even though I am sitting in this sleezy, dirty internet place filled with dirty keyboards and dirty boys looking at God knows what on their screens, I must post something.  I can't keep it in my head or in my notes anymore.  The last few days in Colombo were fine with shopping and packing and saying goodbye to my 5 compatriots and the staff.  The staff of VSO are like very concerned mamas.  They want to make sure we are ready, know they are there for us and sent me off in a van with Upali the most wonderful person and our driver Mohanda.  By the way, it turns out Mohanda can be hired at 6000sr or $60 a day to drive anywhere around the country.  He is very knowledgeable and speaks English so that part of our trip is taken care of for anyone who is coming!  Anyway, on the day of departure I awoke feeling teary and sad and missing my mother who died 25 years ago, shock of shocks.  I would love to hear her talking about this adventure and I know she would visit.  So with mixed feelings on this very special day  after finally getting out of Colombo, we are going along and there is an elephant walking down the road.  We stopped for a meal at a real beside the road Sri Lankan food place.  Have I shared that in Sri Lanka people eat with their right hands.  They do not use silverwear.  Well I now eat with my hand but my left hand.  In order to do this without people being disgusted with me, I have to announce that I am left handed and then it is ok.  Badulla is in what they call hill country, well these are not hills as I know hills, these are mountains! Actually I think Sri Lanka looks something like Hawaii.   The whole ride (7 hours) was beautiful with tropical fruit trees and palm trees and lushness everywhere.  The mountains are covered in tea plantations and I saw many tea pickers on the way.  I have lots of pictures which I shall upload when I have my own computer set up.  Tea pickers are usually what are called hill Tamil people, they were brought here from India to pick the tea.  They are exceedingly poor and treated poorly.  They work 7 days a week and make about $4 per day.  As we neared Badulla I noticed that more men were wearing Sarongs and women more Saris or skirts and tops of various kinds.  I shall talk more about the dress at another time because the clothing and products available in Sri Lanka are very poor quality..things we wouldn't put in a garage sale are expensive here like plastic jars..remind me another time..Anyway Badulla, an interesting, busy place, people selling fruit, veggies, clothing, plastic products, brooms anything along the road or in a storefront stall.  After a day I discovered some of them where actual shops but there are no lights on so it's hard to tell.  Need I say that within a day I had walked all of Badulla town, found the Buddhist temple and located stores I liked although I still can't find out where to buy things like matches.  I did find an envelope today.  The Sri Lankan money is so old and dirty that it is surprising that it stays together and it does and it looks ironed!  I digress however.  So we enter Badulla and go to Cargills Food City so I can get some essential items (essential to me are coffee and red wine neither of which are available just then).  Then a bread store then a quick tour of the town, a ride by my workplace the huge hospital in town with over 1000 beds and finally my new home.  more next time........

just kidding..lol as they say.  So we drive up, open the gates and there are these two elderly people who jump up and greet me with kisses and big welcomes.  This is the landlady and her husband, Charlotte and Caru who live downstairs from me.  We must have tea and biscuits and I get introduced to Prema, Charlotte's sister and later others who come. I am told that for this first night they will provide dinner because I won't have time to cook probably.   We then go upstairs to the flat.  Initially I had little reaction then slowly as I took in how dirty it was and how much it needed a painting I felt my heart sink a bit.  Upali stayed and negotiated or talked for me with them.  The hot water heater was in and Charlotte very proudly mimed how to work it.  She is very animated and cheerful.  The first thing she told me very proudly was that she was a nurse for 30 years and is now retired.  She was pleased that I too was a nurse. The internet was not in but would be put in within a few days which is why I searched out this place I am sitting in.  Upali got them to agree to a paint job.  Later they approached me and asked if I really wanted it painted as I had said earlier, they speak some english so it is that and facial expressions and hand gestures which are used to communicate.  I defininitely wanted it painted but I don't think it will be the entire apt.  Anyway I must admit, that night and the next morning I was in a bit of a funk.  Everything I tried to do like make hot water for coffee or plug something in didn't work.  I now have the right adaptors and plugs and all sorts of things.  You see, some plugs are 2 pronged, some 3 square, some 3 round more common so you need adaptors for all these different configurations along with anything I might need an american 2 pronged square thing changed into a 2 or 3 round..see?  Anyway,  I then blew a circuit and Caru had to come up.  I did finally manage to make coffee in the morning and could feel myself welling up, feeling old and overwhelmed and then I sat, drank coffee, looked around in the light of day and just started cleaning and now I am home, plastic bottles of all sorts of colors and all.  I am quite happy to have my hot water heater, very few people here have hot water for their showers and they don't want it.  I offered a hot shower to my Charlotte and she refused!  Anyway, it is lovely and it is luke warm and not powerful and I am grateful.  Now you must be wondering about drinking water.  The water is not drinkable here.  I started with a big jug from the supermarket and then had to prepare my new water filter, which was a several step process, to make fresh water.  To make fresh water you boil water, wait til it is cool then pour it into this huge filter thing and wait til it drips thru.  I now have fresh water! Of course this was not without discovering that sometimes when I want to turn on the sink water the spout comes out of the wall and water just pours out of a hole in the wall and I have to get the spout back right thru the downpour of water in the wall.   I have to say more about the Sri Lankan people, Charlotte and Caru are a perfect example.  They came up to discuss the painting and as they walked thru looked and read everything lying about.  They then saw my bottle of wine and asked about it.  I offered them a glass and they accepted, or he did if it was sweet.  It wasn't ok and he didn't like it but they are very open and direct.  Where are you going they ask as I leave.  The weather here is in the 60s and just lovely.  This afternoon it is softly raining but everyone always carries umbrellas for the sun and the rain, so no problem there.    Have I mentioned the noises?  Well this is probably the noisiest place I have ever encountered.  In the early morning from 3 or 4 there are the calls to pray, Moslem and Buddhist, there are dogs barking there are loud things on the tin roof there are people talking and bathing and something about the way it all fits together it is very loud.  Also if I use the sink in the bathroom which I must at times, the water flows out the back of it by a pipe onto a groove in the floor in the bathroom and the toilet flush is unbelievable.  So this morning, probably around 6 am I hear what sounds like loud thunder only hitting the roof only it sounded like it was in my apartment and I kept thinking that the neighbor was taking a bath and I can here his pipes but it all sounded like it was in my bedroom, so I got up and went toward the bathroom where I saw water pouring from somewhere overhead into the bathroom!  Of course when I tried to call the Landlord the number didn't work.....
So I had my first day of work sort of.  I was picked up Friday Jan. 1 and brought to the hospital, introduced to everyone including the patients some of whom knelt and kissed my feet to my shock and I tried pulling them up, quite a scene, was part of a party to celebrate the New Year and my arrival,  met the head of the hospital.  It was a short day so I'll talk more about it after I really start tomorrow.  The staff are trained very differently then we are including the doctors..another think for the future along with my search for a bookcase which are hard to find...please feel free to let me know in comments, email or facebook if you want to ask anything, ta ta for now.  kisses
ps of course I am nervous about really starting tomorrow....