Time for GoodbyesWe said good bye to our host and hostess yesterday. Pramitha and Jayalath seemed genuinely sad to see us go. It surprised me a little. After having six house guests in my home for a month and a half, I think I would be ready for some time to myself. Even when we travelled outside the village on the weekends, Pramitha always told us she had missed us when we returned. We framed a picture of our group and Pramitha and Jayalath together and gave it to them. We also gave Pramitha some shampoo and perfume and gave Jayalath a cricket ball cap. We framed a picture of all of us together too.

We came to Colombo yesterday and are staying at the YMCA. We decided that part of our donation to Moraketiara School would be school supplies to the English Department. Rather than leave money for the school to use, the staff at the school suggested that we purchase the supplies. We asked them to create a list of what would be useful to them. After arriving in Colomobo today, the president of the Rotary Club took us to a book shop. We purchased all kinds of books: dictionaries, teaching manuals, practice books, story books and novels. We also bought a tape player. The teachers are given tapes of English conversation to be used in the curriculum but the school did not have enough tape players to actually use them often. Now they have one more!
I could not believe how inexpensive these supplies were. At home, because of the copyrights on educational material the trunk full we purchased would have cost thousands of dollars. We purchased everything on the list the school teachers gave us for GBP115 (or $185 Cdn). I felt so good leaving the supplies with the Rotary Club who will deliver it to the Moraketiara School. Because the teachers identified what would be useful to them, I know this donation will have a positive impact.
We enjoyed dinner at the Cricket Café this evening. Western food! And my stomach paid for it dearly because I think I overdid it. But I think it was worth it. The dessert I ordered ate like a meal: two pancakes, topped with lightly fried banana and a scoop of ice cream and peanuts and maple syrup. It was heavenly!