How to tell you everything...

How to even begin this one.  I feel I have been here for so long in some ways. I still am not sleeping much but am getting used to it.  I want to talk about everything, our training, the language, the people what I have done here, how it feels.  I shall try...
I should begin by saying AAIBOOWAN (may you have long life in Sinhala) or VARERKKERM (Tamil).  So yes 2 languages, lots of problems in so many ways.  Let me start by saying I have not met an unpleasant Sri Lankan so far.  People have been so nice to us, cab drivers, tuk-tuk drivers, people on the street, soldiers, everyone.  However, there continues to be a lot of strife here.  Lot's of fighting between the Sinhala people (Sinhalese is anglicized) and the North and East Tamils.  It is national issues, it's religious issues, S. people tend to be Buddhist, T. people tend to be Hindu, then there are Muslims and Christians. There have been wars going on here in different parts of the country for 20 plus years and it really isn't over.  Each part of the country seems to have problems with other parts, men with women, lots of alcoholism, lot's of domestic violence which is of course denied since it is mostly Buddhist, lot's of suicide, Post Traumatic Stress due to torture of citizens and disappearances of people just like that, it is very complicated.  There is no one person or group to blame this on, all are guilty and innocent, all are torturers and tortured.  After the Tsunami things were better between all for about 2 weeks, then the south felt the east.... or the west thought the north... The issues are deep and imbedded.
So were do I fit in?  Take all the mental health issues related to what I just wrote about, add to that Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, Dementia etc. and the lack of knowledge or acceptance of the idea of Mental problems..
Then there are the added cultural issues:  on the books there are good laws against rape or child sexual abuse or trafficking  but if you are raised to believe that it is shameful to talk about such things then who is going to go to the police and if you do go and they tell you to go home and work it out with the abuser, what do you do?  So for me I see how little I really know, how sheltered I have been coming from the world I do, how privileged we are in the west..I don't know if there is anything much I can do other then listening and supporting and being as patient as is needed.
Last night we were invited for a going away drink for one of the VSO volunteers at the fanciest hotel, the Galle Face Hotel.  It is literally built on the Indian Ocean front and is just lovely.  It was the first chance we all had to meet some of the other volunteers who have been here a while.  The volunteers and the staff are so wonderful, a fantastic, dedicated underpaid group of people all around and full of joy and fun.  I feel so privileged  to be part of all this.  It is weird for me actually that the last few nights I have been dreaming of my parents and my partner, people no longer available to me in life, the setting is usually NYC in some weird way.  I take it as positive but have no idea what it means.
I haven't mentioned that I come about every other day to a local coffee bar to use there wifi.  I feel they are my local friends, they greet me warmly when I enter and even though I usually only buy water which is very cheap they never seem to expect more or resent my sitting here for hours.  The name is Barrista.  Across the street is a much fancier coffee house, more like Starbucks which is called The Coffee Bean and I think is American in origin but I like my little place and my new friends.
I haven't mentioned my best news.  I have talked to the other VSOer in Badulla where I shall be going and I shall have a lovely 2 bedroom apartment there (hint, hint).  I can get a fast internet connection and there is an electric plug to put in a hot water heater in the bathroom if I choose!!!! (electric is pretty expensive here but  what the..).  The staff is pretty excited that I am coming soon and think it is hysterical that we shall be Nancy and Ancy (the other volunteer).  Sorry this is so long but a lot happens here...

Finally!

Hi all, Well after about 11 months in the planning, the 4 lists, the anxiety, the excitement, the parties and the leavings and the tears, the organization, the loss, the love, after everything, I have finally made it to Sri Lanka.  I must admit that as I sat in the airport for hours in Doha, Qatar, I had some fair amount of nervousness and wondered what I was doing.
Everything really went as planned, we were met at the airport (we you say, well it turns out there were 2 other volunteers on the plane, I did meet one of them on the 3rd flight).  We are staying until Dec. 29. at a lovely little guest house run by a woman who is Sri Lankan but has lived all over the world.  I for some reason got the best room I think.  I have a fan in the ceiling, a little balcony outside so I get a little breeze and a trickle of what probably is hot water.  I say it that way not really because I was being impatient but because when we arrived we had 2 and a 1/2 hours until lunch and I laid down for a little nap and woke up thinking I had over an hour and it turned out it was lunch time so I had to jump quickly into the shower and pull stuff out of my neatly packed bags and make a mess because I was keeping everyone waiting..
There are 8 people who will train over the the next 3 weeks.  There are 26 in country all together.  We shall have 3 hours of training 6 days per week in language!  We start tomorrow.  On Dec. 30 I travel to Badulla and find out about my accommodations.  There is another volunteer in Badulla, a psych social worker which is good, less isolating.  Is it significant that that is the anniversary of my mother's death?  If it is it is a sign of her joining with me in this venture I think.
In the meantime, I now have to go back to my room and face the mess I left it in when I tore through trying to find clothes after my luke warm shower when I overslept!!