Twelve Weeks


The countdown has begun. The time drags, then it flies. We bemoan how much time there still is left before we get to go home and then we panic that this life is coming to a close. Mostly, we can't wait until we can settle into our airline seat and know, that in a day or so, we will be home.
We are plotting and planning many things. Kissing kids and babies, seeing our family and friends and enjoying Christmas at home. We are redecorating our condo in our heads, having dinners at Sunpeaks, and planning out a vehicle purchase. We are excited to get back into our home in March and hiking in some hills. We are looking forward to lounging around at our Kamloops Lake cabin.
We are seriously planning the following:

  • Immediate reservation at the Keg for a sirloin and baked potato
  • Immediate reservation at Earls for good wine and salmon steak
  • Immediate burger, anywhere, for Bill
  • Sitting in a coffee shop with a newspaper anytime we want
  • Going to the movies and eating popcorn
  • Rice bread toast for every breakfast
  • Buying a television
Despite my clear intentions about being at home and staying put, Bill's IPad has been humming as he searches websites with job postings in international development. So far, he has us going to Guyana, for ME to work as a consultant in gender equality. I remind you that he begged me to retire. I get it now; retire from conventional work so he can work and travel. Just so long as it is me working, and not him. Will this man ever be settled?
See you in twelve weeks. You can then meet our Tamil cat, Judge, who, having passed her rabies test from blood sent to a lab in Switzerland, will be immigrating to Canada.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saari

Image
Sri Lankan women wear saaris. They wear other things too. Sinhalese women either wear saaris or skirts and blouses. Tamil women wear saaris and unmarried Tamil women wear salwaar kemeez. A few women wear slacks. All professional women wear saaris. As I give formal presentations in my work, I decided to purchase myself a saari At the Saari store, I selected the fabric I loved. It was tan coloured silk blend with blue, green and apricot accents. I also purchased two stretchy tank tops that are worn with a Saari. Saari fabric is sold in such a length allowing for one end to be cut off and used as fabric for a saari blouse. The salesman measured me up for the blouse. A couple days later, when the blouse was ready, the salesman phoned and Bill picked it up for me. I tried it on. First, I put it on backwards. Then realizing my error, I tried it on front ways. The darts in the blouse sharpened my breasts into cone shaped points. I had noticed women about town with sharply poi...
Read more

Knuckles Range

Image
Deep in the interior of Sri Lanka is a mountain range named Knuckles Range. This moniker, given by early British surveyors to the area, is so named as it closely resembles the clenched fist of a giant man. Knuckles Range is a UNESCO Heritage Site due to the flora and fauna found there; some species are endemic and not seen anywhere else in the world. April 12 and 13 th are the Tamil and Sinhala New Years and as the dates landed on a Thursday/Friday, a nice long weekend was created that allowed us to travel (a long and dirty bus ride) to the Kandy District in order to hike the Knuckles Range with a guide. Another VSO volunteer, Marjorie was with Bill and me. Day 1: Two hours driving into the Knuckles region in 4x4 Safari Jeep: 5 hours of hiking to base camp. Day 2: 8 hours of hiking to the caves; camp out. Porters carrying food, tents, sleeping bags. Day 3: 8 hours of hiking to home stay in the Knuckles Day 4: 4 hours of hiking to the rarely seen falls: only 3 other foreigne...
Read more

My work

Image
Handing over curriculum and books to Sri Jayawardenapura University Mental Health Training Organizational Development for Shanthiham I have had requests to write more about my work. I find it difficult due to the highly sensitive nature of the work and the usual limits of confidentiality. However, I will try to give some generalities. Many jobs or tasks arose based on my initial assessment of the organization and the needs of the community/district/province. My work was and is not assigned, but rather based on this assessment and determining where my skill set can be used to fill in some of the gaps. Job One : Train the nine member trauma team in group therapy, build their clinical skills, and develop their capacity to work with victims of torture, trauma and ex-combatants. Job Two : Train a six member community team in group therapy, build their clinical skills to work with families of the "disappeared", war widows, the displaced, and the mentally ill....
Read more