Hello again. Something has just happened that I really must report. About 6 this evening the generator was switched on so charging batteries can take place. Had a sleep this afternoon and then spent this evening here on the veranda reading, writing and having dinner.
At the end of our road is a very small shed, which a couple run as their shop. It stocks a variety of goods from a little fruit and veg to sweets and bottles of drink.
Anyway I popped up there in the darkness and had a look around the shop by the solitary oil lamp and bought a couple of bananas. When I say bought, I mean I took. They refused any payment for them and insisted I take them as a present. Tescos could learn from this. It is incredible that people who have so little are always prepared to be generous, where did we go wrong?
However, those of a slightly nervous disposition may now want to turn away. I have an interesting, but frankly, unpalatable incident to report, which involves the toilet, you have been warned.
To get to the point of this story, I have just been to the loo. Having flushed the loo you sometimes have a little look to check all the evidence has gone. So I look in and there is a “floater” proudly on the surface. But this is no ordinary floater, this one is slowly spinning. On it is a small dark object, riding it like a Canadian Lumberjack!! (Sorry, Steve). I don’t know about you but this is curious so I take a closer look and it is a small frog apparently enjoying its new game. After a few seconds it jumps off the “log” scampers up the side of the bowl and disappears under the rim. Now I have to assume this creature did not come from me (just for my own sanity), but dear reader if ever there was a justification for “hovering” I have just experienced it.
So I have to ask, has anyone else ever seen the famous lumberjack frogs of Sri Lanka? In fact, do they live anywhere else? Your comments would be appreciated.
So here I am writing to you, its 9.30pm, I am “on the veranda” listening to a collection of romantic oldies and writing to you.
Think I may just play a game of puzzle-bobble (ask Carlo) before I retire to worry about whether anyone will actually take me back to Colombo tomorrow.
The cool breeze is gently stirring the curtains; Rita Coolidge has transported me back to Thames Poly when I did my first degree in the late 70’s. (I am young, fit, slim & have hair, the world is laid out before me!!) Fortunately, there are no mirrors here. The water is cool for the first time today after a few hours of the fridge being on, and all is well with the world.
Good night.
9:45pm 10/7/2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Life in the slow lane
Hello dear reader, its Sunday lunchtime and I am back at home.
Last night was a little cooler and I got some good sleep in, you will be pleased to know.
This morning, as usual my driver did not appear, to take me to the office so about 10 I decided I would walk and see if I could get a 3 wheeler somewhere. Now unfortunately, we are on a back road so the chances of a 3 wheeler are pretty remote. The walk is a long one, probably about 30 minutes and it is hot, sunny and very dusty and I have a heavy bag with laptop etc. Still a challenge is good for the soul, so I set off.
After about 10 minutes I managed to flag down a passing motor bike (with rider) and got him to give me a lift to the office so all ended well, until I got to the office. I had told them I wanted to head back to Colombo today (which is why I was expecting a truck to pick me up!!) Anyway there is no-one (only the doorman) at the office as it is Sunday, so no chance of anything happening today. So I thought, OK, I will stay here and do some work, but there is no power on Sunday, so that plan was also foiled. Only thing to do is wander back to the house and relax on the veranda for a well-earned day off. Will do some research for dissertation and write a blog entry with the remaining 10 mins left of laptop battery.
Got a 3 wheeler back to the house and here I am sat on my veranda giving you my latest thoughts and the story of my derring-do.
It is really good here in Kilinochchi, the pace is slow and easy, everyone is so friendly and helpful. It is poor but that is the norm here. People are rebuilding their lives after the war and now after the Tsunami, which hit the coast nearby. So many people have been displaced here and so much property destroyed. Most of the buildings have been repaired or put up in the last 2 years. Most people seem to live in very modest buildings made of local materials down these dirt track roads.
Anyway, battery is looking ominously low and I need to do some work, so, have a good day, and enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
1:45pm 10/7/2005
Last night was a little cooler and I got some good sleep in, you will be pleased to know.
This morning, as usual my driver did not appear, to take me to the office so about 10 I decided I would walk and see if I could get a 3 wheeler somewhere. Now unfortunately, we are on a back road so the chances of a 3 wheeler are pretty remote. The walk is a long one, probably about 30 minutes and it is hot, sunny and very dusty and I have a heavy bag with laptop etc. Still a challenge is good for the soul, so I set off.
After about 10 minutes I managed to flag down a passing motor bike (with rider) and got him to give me a lift to the office so all ended well, until I got to the office. I had told them I wanted to head back to Colombo today (which is why I was expecting a truck to pick me up!!) Anyway there is no-one (only the doorman) at the office as it is Sunday, so no chance of anything happening today. So I thought, OK, I will stay here and do some work, but there is no power on Sunday, so that plan was also foiled. Only thing to do is wander back to the house and relax on the veranda for a well-earned day off. Will do some research for dissertation and write a blog entry with the remaining 10 mins left of laptop battery.
Got a 3 wheeler back to the house and here I am sat on my veranda giving you my latest thoughts and the story of my derring-do.
It is really good here in Kilinochchi, the pace is slow and easy, everyone is so friendly and helpful. It is poor but that is the norm here. People are rebuilding their lives after the war and now after the Tsunami, which hit the coast nearby. So many people have been displaced here and so much property destroyed. Most of the buildings have been repaired or put up in the last 2 years. Most people seem to live in very modest buildings made of local materials down these dirt track roads.
Anyway, battery is looking ominously low and I need to do some work, so, have a good day, and enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
1:45pm 10/7/2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Kilinochchi
Had a really good day today. Spent the morning at TRO, Working on my notes. This afternoon I went to the Peace Secretariat of the LTTE and met the Secretary General. I stayed there a couple of hours and we chatted about life during the war and life in the ceasefire. Kilinochchi was taken by the Tigers, then retaken by the Army and then retaken again by the Tigers so there was prolonged heavy fighting here. Most of the town that exists today was built since the ceasefire as everything was previously destroyed. We talked a lot about the work of the TRO during the war and after the war and the causes of the conflict between the Tamils ad the Sinhalese. He agrees with a number of works I have read during my research that the conflict is a recent phenomenon with the seeds sown during the British colonial period. Before I left he presented me with a signed copy of “War & Peace. The armed struggle and peace efforts of Liberation Tigers”.
After that I went for a walk and eventually came to the UNICEF offices. I had a contact here and dropped in on the off-chance. Met a very interesting lady who has been in Kili on and off for 10 years and had a lot to tell me about her time there and also about the way they have worked with TRO and how the organisation has developed over the years.
She was also on holiday in Phuket on Boxing Day 2004 when the Tsunami hit the hotel they were staying in. A very interesting first hand account.
Walked back to TRO office and got a lift back to the house in the truck I came up in.
Sat on the veranda this evening, alone with my solitary light bulb, had dinner, read some of “War and Peace” and listened to Coldplay (have become hooked on Fix You) with a cold glass of water. There is a good breeze this evening and it may be a bit cooler in bed. Will have a shower and retire soon.
Except for the main road through Kili all the roads are dirt tracks and there is dust everywhere. Clothes get filthy really quickly. Might run out at this rate!!!
Enjoy!!!
10:30pm 9/7/2005
After that I went for a walk and eventually came to the UNICEF offices. I had a contact here and dropped in on the off-chance. Met a very interesting lady who has been in Kili on and off for 10 years and had a lot to tell me about her time there and also about the way they have worked with TRO and how the organisation has developed over the years.
She was also on holiday in Phuket on Boxing Day 2004 when the Tsunami hit the hotel they were staying in. A very interesting first hand account.
Walked back to TRO office and got a lift back to the house in the truck I came up in.
Sat on the veranda this evening, alone with my solitary light bulb, had dinner, read some of “War and Peace” and listened to Coldplay (have become hooked on Fix You) with a cold glass of water. There is a good breeze this evening and it may be a bit cooler in bed. Will have a shower and retire soon.
Except for the main road through Kili all the roads are dirt tracks and there is dust everywhere. Clothes get filthy really quickly. Might run out at this rate!!!
Enjoy!!!
10:30pm 9/7/2005
Colombo
Well, I have to report a very interesting couple of days since arriving back in Colombo.
It turns out things have not been all fun since I left. The house I stay at in Colombo was burgled one night and everyone’s computers were stolen, (told them they should come home earlier in the evening) one of the guys got into a fight outside a bar in Colombo because he works for the TRO, and had his two front teeth knocked out, the mosquitoes in the house appear to be carrying dengue fever as two people have gone down with this rather deadly disease, and to cap it all 3 weeks ago the office in Batticaloa (remember I spent 3 happy weeks there), was attacked with machine guns and a grenade thrown in. So looks like my sojourn back in the UK was timed perfectly!!
I began the day in Colombo after a night out at Clancy’s (Paola’s favourite Colombo nightspot!!! - OK we had one drink in there once and it was very quiet.) There was a live band last night so it was quite pleasant to listen to them blast out some Dire Straits etc.
This morning I cadged a lift to Kilinochchi (yes it is spelt chch). It took us 8 hours to get here, but was a really interesting drive from south to north of Sri Lanka. Saw a wide range of scenery, villages and people.
Of course Kili is in Tamil Eelam so we had to leave Sri Lanka through the government checkpoints and enter Tamil Eelam through the Tiger checkpoints. These things always seem to be a bit of a let down. You expect great walls, rolls of razor wire, watchtowers, aggressive guards being unnecessarily eager etc. Well not much to report really other than a lot of tedious manual paperwork to be filled in, a quick chat with the army about why I would want to go to Kili, and then a drive across “no mans land”. This is about a mile wide and is controlled by the ICRC who have an office at each end and patrol it in their jeep. All a little surreal really. Finally, you arrive at Tamil Eelam for some more paperwork and then the problem of trying to explain what a memory stick is. Actually we take these for granted, but just think about how you would explain it to your Granddad who had never seen one and really didn’t grasp the concept. Well I know my Granddad would have been confused and so was the customs man, but we sorted ourselves out and went on our way happily.
Kilinochchi is great. It is the capital, but only really has the A9 running through the middle. All other roads are dirt tracks. The electric goes off in the evening, so it is dark and quiet. A really refreshing change from Colombo, or England for that matter. So I got back from TRO HQ about 9.30 (they have a generator). I was met by a very pleasant man who has cooked me dinner and I am sat on a huge veranda, alone, eating my dinner (noodles, chips, vegetables and veggie chunks), under the single light bulb our generator powers, hoping the batteries will hold out on my laptop as I type this and listen to Coldplay and Fix It, -“when you try your best, and you don’t succeed” ;-). The temperature is warm with a cool breeze and I am supping a cold glass of water from the fridge. This single light bulb is like an oasis of light in the dark (and probably attracting Mossies from miles around!!!)
Everywhere I look I see darkness, is it really lovely. Going to have a cold shower and then go to bed for an early night.
(Its now morning) Went to bed early, needn’t have bothered. Go back and read SWISS if you don’t remember this. Well last night was Swiss x 10. I went to bed they turned off the generator the fan stopped turning and the heat went up, and up and up. In fact, I laid on the bed, sweating on the top and bottom. The window was wide open but the wind refused to come in and I just got hotter. Did not fall asleep for hours, but have to say everything was sticking to my sweaty body. Every time I turned the under sheet moved with me, I threw off the top sheet hours ago, and just formed a large lump under my body. The hottest night I have ever spent, and definitely one of the most uncomfortable. I am sooooooo tired this morning. Anyway=y, had a nice breakfast of Dahl and Noodles and am heading off to the office shortly to continue my research
Enjoy!
7.45 am 9/7/2005
It turns out things have not been all fun since I left. The house I stay at in Colombo was burgled one night and everyone’s computers were stolen, (told them they should come home earlier in the evening) one of the guys got into a fight outside a bar in Colombo because he works for the TRO, and had his two front teeth knocked out, the mosquitoes in the house appear to be carrying dengue fever as two people have gone down with this rather deadly disease, and to cap it all 3 weeks ago the office in Batticaloa (remember I spent 3 happy weeks there), was attacked with machine guns and a grenade thrown in. So looks like my sojourn back in the UK was timed perfectly!!
I began the day in Colombo after a night out at Clancy’s (Paola’s favourite Colombo nightspot!!! - OK we had one drink in there once and it was very quiet.) There was a live band last night so it was quite pleasant to listen to them blast out some Dire Straits etc.
This morning I cadged a lift to Kilinochchi (yes it is spelt chch). It took us 8 hours to get here, but was a really interesting drive from south to north of Sri Lanka. Saw a wide range of scenery, villages and people.
Of course Kili is in Tamil Eelam so we had to leave Sri Lanka through the government checkpoints and enter Tamil Eelam through the Tiger checkpoints. These things always seem to be a bit of a let down. You expect great walls, rolls of razor wire, watchtowers, aggressive guards being unnecessarily eager etc. Well not much to report really other than a lot of tedious manual paperwork to be filled in, a quick chat with the army about why I would want to go to Kili, and then a drive across “no mans land”. This is about a mile wide and is controlled by the ICRC who have an office at each end and patrol it in their jeep. All a little surreal really. Finally, you arrive at Tamil Eelam for some more paperwork and then the problem of trying to explain what a memory stick is. Actually we take these for granted, but just think about how you would explain it to your Granddad who had never seen one and really didn’t grasp the concept. Well I know my Granddad would have been confused and so was the customs man, but we sorted ourselves out and went on our way happily.
Kilinochchi is great. It is the capital, but only really has the A9 running through the middle. All other roads are dirt tracks. The electric goes off in the evening, so it is dark and quiet. A really refreshing change from Colombo, or England for that matter. So I got back from TRO HQ about 9.30 (they have a generator). I was met by a very pleasant man who has cooked me dinner and I am sat on a huge veranda, alone, eating my dinner (noodles, chips, vegetables and veggie chunks), under the single light bulb our generator powers, hoping the batteries will hold out on my laptop as I type this and listen to Coldplay and Fix It, -“when you try your best, and you don’t succeed” ;-). The temperature is warm with a cool breeze and I am supping a cold glass of water from the fridge. This single light bulb is like an oasis of light in the dark (and probably attracting Mossies from miles around!!!)
Everywhere I look I see darkness, is it really lovely. Going to have a cold shower and then go to bed for an early night.
(Its now morning) Went to bed early, needn’t have bothered. Go back and read SWISS if you don’t remember this. Well last night was Swiss x 10. I went to bed they turned off the generator the fan stopped turning and the heat went up, and up and up. In fact, I laid on the bed, sweating on the top and bottom. The window was wide open but the wind refused to come in and I just got hotter. Did not fall asleep for hours, but have to say everything was sticking to my sweaty body. Every time I turned the under sheet moved with me, I threw off the top sheet hours ago, and just formed a large lump under my body. The hottest night I have ever spent, and definitely one of the most uncomfortable. I am sooooooo tired this morning. Anyway=y, had a nice breakfast of Dahl and Noodles and am heading off to the office shortly to continue my research
Enjoy!
7.45 am 9/7/2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
safe and sound
Hello my friend,
Have arrived safely in Sri Lanka. Oh boy, I got an upgrade to business class. The seat was huge, even room for my bum and more and as for the service. I have never been pampered so much. (Well not by women it didn't know the names of, I mean!!!!). Had a great flight and even slept for 6 hours. Now I have tasted the high life I'm not sure I can go back to cattle class!!
All is fine here in Sri Lanka. Have spent the day grilling people here in the Colombo office like the dedicated researcher I am. Tomorrow I head off to the north to Killinichchi to the HQ of the TRO. Should be very interesting although I am told they are having hard times and the electric is only on from 8am to 5pm and it goes off for 2 hours at lunchtime. Not sure that leaves much. Got a taste of it today in Colombo when the power went off. Once the fans stop turning, boy it gets hot and sweaty!!!
Anyway, it looks like it has been non-stop activity in London since I left. We get the Olympics and then I heard today we have bombs across the tube system. CNN say only 2 dead, but I doubt this very much, think there must be more than that. Good news and bad news so close together. Feel sorry for those who have lost someone or been injured, and I assume getting out of London tonight will be chaos.
Not sure about internet access in Killi so I may be out of touch for a couple of days. Hope you are all well. (the lengths I will go to, to get out of writing my dissertation!!)
Enjoy,
PQ.
Have arrived safely in Sri Lanka. Oh boy, I got an upgrade to business class. The seat was huge, even room for my bum and more and as for the service. I have never been pampered so much. (Well not by women it didn't know the names of, I mean!!!!). Had a great flight and even slept for 6 hours. Now I have tasted the high life I'm not sure I can go back to cattle class!!
All is fine here in Sri Lanka. Have spent the day grilling people here in the Colombo office like the dedicated researcher I am. Tomorrow I head off to the north to Killinichchi to the HQ of the TRO. Should be very interesting although I am told they are having hard times and the electric is only on from 8am to 5pm and it goes off for 2 hours at lunchtime. Not sure that leaves much. Got a taste of it today in Colombo when the power went off. Once the fans stop turning, boy it gets hot and sweaty!!!
Anyway, it looks like it has been non-stop activity in London since I left. We get the Olympics and then I heard today we have bombs across the tube system. CNN say only 2 dead, but I doubt this very much, think there must be more than that. Good news and bad news so close together. Feel sorry for those who have lost someone or been injured, and I assume getting out of London tonight will be chaos.
Not sure about internet access in Killi so I may be out of touch for a couple of days. Hope you are all well. (the lengths I will go to, to get out of writing my dissertation!!)
Enjoy,
PQ.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Am I repeating myself
Am I going mad? I completely forgot I told you yesterday I was off to SL. This does not bode well for actually finding my way there and back. Better go and check my passport and tickets, make sure everything is in order. Have I got the right day????
OK, so it is probably my age, need to slow down, relax, take it easy, listen to the sound of waves on the beach, take the dog for a walk, chill out and drink cool guinness.
Just checked the weather in SL, it is hot and humid, just how I like it - NOT!!!!!
Looks like it will be all research this time, no footie with the kids or fun and frivolity like that just interviews, PRA exercises and observations. (Put this in for Alp!!) A truly academic experience to be treasured for the rest of my life.
Anyway, better check that passport.
Bye.
OK, so it is probably my age, need to slow down, relax, take it easy, listen to the sound of waves on the beach, take the dog for a walk, chill out and drink cool guinness.
Just checked the weather in SL, it is hot and humid, just how I like it - NOT!!!!!
Looks like it will be all research this time, no footie with the kids or fun and frivolity like that just interviews, PRA exercises and observations. (Put this in for Alp!!) A truly academic experience to be treasured for the rest of my life.
Anyway, better check that passport.
Bye.
going back
Hi all, just to let you know I am heading back to Sri Lanka this evening for a week to finish my research.
I will try to keep you updated on progress while there but, of course, it depends on Internet cafes and how utterly dull and boring things are there. Or even whether I can be bothered, seeing as only wee lassie ever sends any comments!!!!!!
See you all again soon.
I will try to keep you updated on progress while there but, of course, it depends on Internet cafes and how utterly dull and boring things are there. Or even whether I can be bothered, seeing as only wee lassie ever sends any comments!!!!!!
See you all again soon.
Monday, July 04, 2005
the return of the laneender
After a short intermission, the Laneender is heading back to Sri Lanka tomorrow for a week .
Don't get your hopes up too high, but I will try to keep you all informed of my "daily doings" whilst there.
All depends on internet cafes, how boring my life is, etc.
Blog again soon.
Don't get your hopes up too high, but I will try to keep you all informed of my "daily doings" whilst there.
All depends on internet cafes, how boring my life is, etc.
Blog again soon.
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