She's Calling You Fat

Saturday
I've been working with Meg on a brochure for the center. They want some sort of publication to hand out to potential donors. It has been a struggle, not in the least because of the language barrier. In Colombo, most people speak a fair amount of English, but Hambantota is different. As Thushari put it (and I just found out that it's spelled Thushari, not Tushari), people in Hambantota know enough to communicate, but they don't know correct English. This has been hurdle all week, and it's a bit frustrating.

I may have mentioned before that Sri Lankans tend to say what they mean, and they don't mince words. I got a great example of it today at dinner, when Malmi, Thushari's daughter, called Meg fat. I forget what brought this on, but anyway, Malmi told Meg she was fat, in front of me, Harith (her brother), and Thushari. I figured she just didn't know better, until Thushari said the same thing. "You are fat! Hallie thin!" Apparently it's not so impolite to tell the truth, here. This had me in stitches, and Meg was quite confused. So ensued a series of tests in which Meg tried to prove that she is my size, and I argued with her. Thushari was laughing hysterically through the whole thing. Pretty much everyone who meets Meg calls her a baby, because she is always playing, and acts very young. They haven't said much of anything to me. Thushari really likes my clothes though (I wear a lot of skirts).

I've been here almost a week, and the food is really starting to exhaust me. I haven't been here long, so every day, everything is new. I didn't realize just how hard it would be to have every meal, every day be something I haven't ever seen before. It's very good, and very simple, but I miss American food. Especially pizza. So I started trying to make subtle inquiries about availability of pizza, or failing that, its ingredients. I haven't seen a pizza place since I've arrived, and I haven't seen any cheese, so I thought I might be out of luck. But one of the girls from the center told me that they love pizza here, but it is very expensive at restaurants. That gave me enough hope to very casually ask Thushari tonight at dinner if I could get cheese at the local grocery store. I said, verbatim, "Does Food City have cheese?" and immediately she said, "Yes. You are making pizza?" So much for subtle. Thushari described her version of pizza, which she really likes, and I think I'll stick to the Americanized version. So there may be a shopping trip in the near future. I really miss pizza.

Sunday
This morning, we found that a piece of siding had been ripped off the house and was lying in the yard. Apparently one of the monkeys was responsible. It had fallen when a monkey tried to jump onto it from a tree. So Thushari's mother took a rather large kitchen knife and set about cutting down all of the trees and branches near the house.

There is no way to be alone here. I share a room with Meg, the house is always full of people including 2 very rambunctious kids, work is full of people, and I'm not allowed to go anywhere by myself. This includes the beach out back. I had romantic visions of spending sunrise in front of the ocean, but to get there, I have to walk through some pine barrens. Maybe 50 feet or so. Thushari says it's jungle, and dangerous for someone alone. If this keeps up, I'll go nuts.

Today at work, Meg and I held a meeting with our boss, W., and the senior advisor of the center, A. As consultants, we are tasked with evaluating the center, coming up with a list of projects that we could do, and deciding which projects are most feasible and valuable to our clients. We wanted to present W. and A. with our project proposals, so we sat down with every intention of a quick, 30 minute talk about networking, databases, and curriculum development. We got as far as explaining our desire to network the computers in the class room, and W. was trying to figure out a schedule so that he knew when to buy equipment and when we would be finished. Then he and A. started talking about our days off. Specifically, they started making lists of sights we should see, and places we could go. This went for 20 minutes, and all the while Meg and I kept trying to turn the discussion back to work related matters. We were a bit irritated until it dawned on us that we have bosses who are more concerned about our vacations than our work. Whee!

I have to be very careful about what I say here. If I express interest in anything, even casually, people start trying to arrange it for me. Sri Lankans are very hospitable, and they are justifiably proud of this. But if I'm not careful, my vacation days get planned for me.

I may have mentioned previously that our work agreement included a personal chef. The purpose was twofold: to avoid getting cheated at markets, where most people speak only Sinhala; and to make sure that everything is safe to eat. I was confused as to how we were going to save money by hiring a personal chef. The mystery has been solved. Thushari cooks breakfast and dinner, and the center has a housekeeper who cooks lunch and tea for us during the day. This is a great arrangement, because we get to try all the native foods. It also works well because Thushari and her mother do their cooking over an open flame (coconut husks - kindling and hard wood all in one) and I'm not that skilled. I've never made curry before.

Note to the cooks traveling here: cardamom appears to be VERY cheap. Thushari puts it in everything, in large amounts. She made a fabulous crepe filled with shredded coconut, sugar, and cardamom. It was incredible. She also made a cake out of wheat flour, sugar, margarine, eggs, and milk. Simple and fantastic. It sounds terrible to say that it tasted just like Pillsbury vanilla cake mix, but it was great, and the first familiar food I'd had in a week.

I have a day off tomorrow, so I won't be posting anything for a few days.