3 weeks until I am a Sri Lankan...... for 3 months

Nov 15th: Well as the time draws closer each day I find myself looking back and seeing not only how I have changed as a person but how I see myself changing. It is easy to say "yes im a people person and have good communication and patience skills" but it isnt until after you live and work with someone who speaks little english until you really have to look twice. Sure cherades is a fun game but after a few weeks of commuicating through them you really want to plug yourself into the matrix and learn the damned language so you can carry on a intelligent conversation. I cant even begin to imagine how my group will manage in Sri Lanka.. Brittany and I have been pretty adamant on learning Sinhalese but were the only ones who have made any real effort.

But what I am really proud of is our Sri Lankan day. Though at first it was a mystery on what the Sri Lankans actually did at the ominous "Sri Lankan day meetings" but after the cat was let out of the bag and the wheels were in motion things started looking up. Then the day came after only 4 or 5 rehersals, some of them being extremely half ass. I really think we were a hit. We had a few songs, a drama in which I was the old man (star of the show :P), a wedding cerimony and a few dances. We all dressed up in saris and sarongs to keep to the traditional dress of Sri Lanka. We were also in the paper. Not front page new like we were on Halloween but none the less. We raised $471.09 from the event. We will be deviding it in half and giving it to an organization the be specified in both Neepawa and Sri Lanka.

Doesn't this sort of stuff only happen in movies??

Nov. 16th: We have just had a really bizzare occurence in our group. All I can say is WOW.. This morning was going to be a run of the mill day. We were going to Minedosa for an ESL class. That was until we all arrived at the Viscount Cultural Center.. well.. most of us at least.. We were later told that the two missing people, Maza and Viki had deserted the program and were nowhere to be found. Maza had packed all his things during the night, apparently went over to Viki's house and they both dissapeared off the face of the earth. And I guess Brandon's team alos lost Karuna. What we speculate is, seeing as all three of them are Tamil rather than Sinhalese, they felt it would be in their best interest to become illegal immigrants in Canada rather than return home where the civil war has devistated the relationship between the Tamils and Sinhalese. This seems way to surreal. This sort of stuff only happens in movies doesnt it? Max and NIkita are now out a counterpart and our group has lost two of its members. And the most IRONIC part of it is that Bequie and Ajith had planned on doing a workshop on the difficulties of being an illegal immigrant in Canada. I shit you not!!! But it is their decision after all i suppose, granted its a relativley mis-informed or blind decision but it is one that has been made. So i think we've all sent out email to them asking at least for them to contact us and let us know thaty are OK. I wish them the best of luck making things happen for themselves.

But we gathered our senses and carried on with our day. We went to Minnedosa for an ESL lesson never the less, then back to Neepawa for it was the premier of "Dick Turpin, the Highway man" play that some of our participants are in. I was one of the stage hands helping clear and re-set the stage for each scene. Overall it went really well again. I am beggining to like theatre and possibly even being in the spotlight unlike the last 19 years of my life. I could get used to it!!

Nov 17th: Tonight, all of those that weren't involved wht "Dick Turpin the Highway Man, went to Brandon to see the Sri Lanka Day that they had arrainged. I was expecting something around the level of ours but they far surpassed it. They had  about 2 times the amount of scenes we had and far better representaion of Canada. They covered most of the songs and plays we did in our show with the addition of a couple really funny dramas played by Chattu and Sanda. Ruthie and Dodie did an awesome job of remembering a Shinalese song each and sang them. The Canadians also did little skits/songs to represent all the respective provinces of Canada. And last but not least it was really great to just go and see the whole group. I am so jealous of how they have become really good friends. And I dont just mean aquaintances, they all seem so tight with one another I cant help but feel a little sad at how our group is. But I refuse to let that little feeling of mine have any possibility of ruining my experience. So we headed back to home after a long and drawn out (like always) goodbye to everyone. Three more weeks and our two groups will pack into a 747 and travel for 2 days together. God help the stuardists and pilots on that plane :P