Kandian Style

My new Kandian style sari which is called an osariya. This style is traditional Sri Lankan where as the other style of sari that I have been wearing originates in India. I am glad that I decided to get one like this. Not only how you wear the sari is different but also the way that you adorn yourself. They wear large stud earrings and a gold chain. Pottus and bangles are not worn.

Mendhi or Mehndi

...Which ever spelling you prefer. I've been having some fun henna-ing my hands. The art of Mendhi is done all through the Middle East and India. It's lots of fun and allows you to be really creative. It's like being able to try out your tatoo before you get it permenantly!


You'll notice that it is only my left hand in the pictures...I'm not so good at making designs with my left hand. I feel like I have a glove on most of the time. It is starting to wear off though. It only lasts for 1-2 weeks. On the hands it doesn't last as long because you use your hands so much.

It Was A Success

The talent show was yesterday. It was a long, grueling day but it was awesome. The students performed well and we didn't forget any steps in our dance (the teachers). That's right folks, I danced in front of people. The only thing that happened was that Agatha's stick broke during the dance but she was a trooper and didn't even hestitate! She was the 'hero of the dance'.

I was stressing out about the whole talent show thing for weeks. The kids practiced but some didn't seem to take things very seriously. It seemed that the organization was all over the place. One of the students here has a medical condition that causes her to faint and we had to work with her on arranging what to do if she fainted during the show. Then one of the students got sick and we had to cancel his act. The day before the show another student came to us and said that she had an exam in Kandy in the morning and she didn't know if she would be able to make it for the show! It was crazy! Even when we were practicing our dance, we werent' able to do it properly. It felt like nothing was going to work out.

The organization did pull together and we had everything that we needed for the show. The sound guy was awesome. The lighting worked and the curtain even got fixed! The student with the medical condition didn't faint and the student with the exam was able to make it back in time and everything worked out well.

Now what I learned from all of this is that I was looking at things from my North American point of view which tells me that if you are going to put on a performance everything must be perfect or at least close to it. If the performers are ok but not great then they are cut from the show. Everything must be planned down to the "t". It's all about the performance. Here I began to realize that it wasn't so much about the quality of the performance but about the chance to get together and enjoy being there. It didnt' matter that some of the notes were flat or that dancers messed up there steps or even that the stick broke at the beginning of the stick dance, it's about doing things together. It's about people not performance.

Everyone who came thuroughly enjoyed themselves as did the students and the teachers.

SIDE NOTE:
I will be in possession of a video of the Talent Show when I return to Canada for those who would like to see either the whole thing or even just the proof that I danced with sticks infront of people.

some more pics from Canada Day 

The teachers of BHA  

Odds and Ends

Hmmmm...
I'm not sure what to blog about but I feel like I need to. Not that I feel anyone expects me to but that I need to get something out I just don't know what it is.
(Ok...so now that I've written a little bit I can tell you that I am just going to write about the average everyday things that go on in my life here. Sometimes people have this idea that being a missionary means that your life is exciting all of the time and amazing things are always happening. I'm here to tell you it's not so.)

I only have 2 weeks left of teaching. This makes me sad. I've been quite stressed out lately with everything that is going on at school but it is starting to settle down. Our talent show is this weekend. I'm looking forward to it but I'm starting to get nervous about it too. I have to dance infront of a lot of people and I'm not the most graceful person in the world. Also it is a traditional dance, they know what it should look like. Thankfully Sri Lankan people are very gracious when it comes to foreigners. We are going to pick up our costumes tonight and I am excited about that.

I've been thinking about coming home a lot lately. Now that it is getting closer I find that I am thinking about it more and more. I can't wait to go to the chiropractor...they don't have them where I am living. I also can't wait to get a deep tissue massage...man do I need one.
I've also been thinking about everyone at home and how much lives will have changed while I've been gone. Babies born, friends married, jobs changed, people moving, I'm going to have so much to catch up on. I'm also trying to prepare myself for the barrage of questions that I will have to answer over and over again. Unfortunately I know that they are going to ask are things that are not the important things for me to talk about. I'll need to tell stories but I know that people will get bored of hearing about people that they don't know and places that they have never been before.

Dont' mistake me friends I understand that you care about me and what I've been doing here...I know that without a doubt. It's not that I'm saying you don't care so please don't be offended. It will probably be hard for me to share everything that I've experienced without having explain so many things.

I'll worry about this when I get home. I guess I'm basically trying to say that I'm trying to get my head in the right place. Mental prep is important.

I can't wait to see you all and find out what you've all been up to for the last 7 months. I can't believe that I only have a month and a half left.

Bobble Head

This is the toque that Esther made. She let me pick out the pattern that I wanted and I liked the bobbles. The color is orange and white. Big surprize I know! There is a funny story that goes along with this toque but I'll let Esther tell that one! Anyways I am really enjoying it and I even need it some days. We have some pretty cool days during the monsoon.

O CANADA!

Happy Canada Day!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Canada Day. I've never really been a patriotic person but being half way around the world you realize how much you love your country. We of course decided to celebrate in true Canadian style. We had a pancake breakfast! We invited all the students to come early to join us in the festivities. I had made a Canadian shalwar to wear. Murray was wearing hiking shorts and boots along with a red sweater and a black CANADA cap. Matt was wearing a red fleece and a toque with a pom-pom, Isaac was decked out from head-to-toe in red and Esther had a Canadian flag that she was wearing. We all used "eh" as much as we could. The students were a little confused as to what we were saying but they enjoyed themselves as did we. We had the Canadian tunes cranked and we also had a large flag hung up. After breakfast was finished all 5 Canadians stood under the flag and sang O Canada! It moved me Bob!

Spirit Group made us this banner. I was really touched. Yes we realize that they spelled Canada wrong, they are the group with the poorest English in the school. They wanted us to have a wonderful day and we did!