Still Alive

My parents made it to Colombo, finally, and we're all doing well.

Anyway, just a quick update while we register a domain for YEF/YPF.

We're back in Weligama until the end of the week, and we're doing website stuff. I hate webdev. HATE. But nevertheless, that's what's on the table. Oh well.

There's some stuff that doesn't go in the blog, and so you should all remind me to tell you what it is when I get back. The key words here are tea plantations and bollywood. Think of the possibilities.

Thursday was weird. My parents got in and we drove down with them. I had Indian curry for the first time since I got here, and ohmigod it was good. I miss Indian. My parents were staying in Galle, which is before Weligama, so Meg and I were all set to catch a bus for the rest of the trip. Only problem was that by the time we got to Galle, the busses had stopped running.

We spent the night in my parents' hotel, which was absolutely gorgeous. It had hot water and A/C, quite a nice change from the guest house. And coffee. Actual, honest-to-god coffee.

Friday we went back to Weligama, grabbed some clean clothes, and met B. and G. in Mirissa. They were in Matara with W. and A. for a conference, and through some nefarious method, they had managed to lose their supervisors and come find us. We rode to Hambantota with them, where we spent the weekend.

I spent all weekend doing webdev for CRC, and as a result I didn't sleep much. I had told B. that during school, I don't go to bed until about 2:30 and for some reason he thought this was a really *good* idea. I don't know why. So he has apparently been practicing going to bed at 2:30 and waking up at 6:30. He's dumb.

...Though I'll admit that I got about 4 hours of sleep total, all weekend.

I got a really nice surprise though. My parents were supposed to stay in Unawatuna for a few nights, but they got to the town, checked out their hotel, and decided they would be happier in Hambantota with me. I got a phone call on Saturday night, grabbed G. and B., and we all went out to dinner at my parents hotel. I wasn't sure how well my parents would get along with my colleagues, but things seemed to go well. At the very least, we were a one family comedy routine.

That night, both B. and I were up really late. I was doing website junk, and he was busy creating cards for a scholarship ceremony the next day. We were the only ones up, so I got to ask him all the cultural questions I've been hoarding.

High on my list is the fact that Sri Lankans don't make eye contact. I hadn't experienced this much, but I'd read about it, so I was curious as to the reason. It turns out that Sri Lankans look at each other's mouths when they speak, rather than their eyes. I like this system. I hate eye contact, but I can deal with mouths. I was quite happy to hear that I had no eye contact obligations in this country.

...Until we picked up this conversation again later, and B. told me that when he talks to me, he looks at my eyes instead of my mouth. Apparently he thinks they say different things. And you all wonder why I hate eye contact. And wear my hair in front of my face.

Sunday, Ashan showed up with 2 of his brothers for a scholarship ceremony and staff meetings. It all seemed to go very well. Then we all piled into his van and headed back to Weligama. We had a nice lunch with the boys and the Weligama crew at a guest house. We stopped into the office for a half day to work with YEF's tech guy on their website. We've been working ever since.