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| At the beginning of December we
were delighted that our friend Jennie was able to come to Sri Lanka to see
us. We so enjoyed sharing our life with her and also showing her a few
- only a few - of the sights and experiences that the country offers.
Here we are joined by an elephant for our group photograph at the Elephant
Millenium Foundation after Rosemary and Jennie had had bareback rides. |
As ever, Rosemary is game for most
things and is well-known for being a willing helper, but she got a little
more than she expected when she offered to give this elderly elephant a
scrub. Never mind the dung floating by, watch out for the scattered
showers! |
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Friday December 8th.
We had a very relaxed day walking between the three ancient temples near
the college. After several quite cool days the sun came out and
people were able to plough their paddy fields or transplant rice from
the nursery bed. Children flew homemade kites which are rather
short lived but spectacular in their ascent, sometimes flying several
hundred feet up. |
Not a Bo tree and certainly not
the Buddha, just some poor westerner trying to communicate in Sinhala to a
very patient monk at the beautiful Lankatilake temple. |
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On our last full day with Jennie we drove from Colombo to Negombo along
back roads beside a large number of canals which, not surprisingly, date
back to the days of the Dutch colonialists. We passed many large
Italianate Roman Catholic churches in this the heartland of Catholic Sri
Lanka. It was a beautiful drive. |
Four or so hundred years ago the
Negombo fishermen, interested that the Christian story was first carried by
their Galilean workmates, were keen converts for the Portuguese
missionaries. Many fishermen sail in boats whose design hasn't changed
in centuries but others are able to use more modern boats which cluster in
the busy Negombo Lagoon. On the nearby beach thousands of fish are laid out
in the sun to dry, dried fish being a cheap and nutritious meal for many. |
