hAPpY NeW YEaR!

2007 is drawing to a close. I am ready for 2008, but I will always, always remember this year with great fondness, and in the years to come, I suspect a touch disbelief. This has been the most unexpected year of my life, a year I could not possibly have predicted. Three trips to Sri Lanka. Me. I made three trips to Sri Lanka. Wahhh. I have no words to express what it feels like to write that, to have lived that. I know there are many people out there who do these things all the time, and it is just normal to them, but for me it is monumental. I hope it is a beginning and not an end. I hope there are many unexpected experiences waiting for me, and for all of you. Who knows what could be next??? Keep your passport handy just in case! ;-)

Best wishes for the new year,
LR :-)

Photos on Flickr

Hey there. Home. Safe. Sound. Jetlagged. Toe healing. All is well...

All except my inability to get more photos uploaded on blogger. So... if you would like to see my photos check them out on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15347400@N08/?find=laura.reed%40rogers.com. Hopefully it will work!

Thanks,
Laura

I'm Back...Online!

Phew. Sorry for the long delay in posts... or maybe it just seems long to me... days without even being able to check email was a little disorienting. Here it is October 12th and I don't even know who won the Ontario election, and I sure hope there is a leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich in someone's freezer for me!

I am back in Colombo... and happy but tired. I have to say I have worked my butt of for the last few weeks.... Gnana and those Trinco librarians kept me hopping trying to get everything accomplished that they wanted. But, I think we have done it. We gathered the information, more or less, for the evaluation reports, and we managed to get some other big projects done too.... a new vision statement and mission statement for Trincomalee Library (USAID is building them a website so they wanted a new mission statement to put on it), layouts for the renovated Trinco Library (they will be in it until the new library is completed, and construction is progressing slowly, so it could be a long term temporary solution), collection development policies for Batti and Trinco, and more. And yes, I know, those of you who know me are probably wondering what business I have doing any of those tasks, but I don't somehow I managed. ;-)

Now I just have to finish (start) writing the evaluation reports. A BIG BIG job! But enough about that.... here are some pictures...

International Children's Day perfomance in Batticaloa (organized by the Butterfly Peace Garden)... there are five young men under that elephant!

.... hmmm, I cannot get anymore photos to upload... I will try again when I get to the hotel (at the FCM office at the moment). More soon, promise!

...testing, testing... in Trinco....

Hi. Just using the dial-up connection at the hotel, which is a little wonky. So I won't write much in case it doesn't work.

I have been in Trincomalee for two days. It is currently Saturday morning and I am off to the Children's Library to interview children and parents about the changes they have seen in the library. I will also do some work on their computers and load a few cd-roms. Yesterday, I put an I Spy game on one computer and I had about a dozen children playing it. They were soooooooo excited, and we had a great time. So, for all of you who donated cd-roms... THANK YOU! The children LOVE them and they will definitely get a lot of use.

It is hot here, but the evening is a little bit cooler, maybe 25, but with the ocean breeze it at Club Oceanic it is very pleasant... so sweat and parboil all day, then cool off and relax in the evening. It is odd to be here alone. Kinda miss Rob. There are people in the hotel from all over the world... Switzerland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Germany, France, Japan, Australia... it is a miny United Nations... actually a lot of them do work for the UN. ;-)

Better go, the driver will be here soon.

Pictures will come when I am back in Colombo on Friday or Saturday.

LR

Briefly from Batticaloa...

Greetings from Batti! Just starting day two of work here. The library looks GREAT! (I will post pictures later)... with the new computers, some new furniture (more to come), and most importantly the removal of lots of boxes of discarded books, the library is looking so good... clean and spacious and organized. It is great to see.

The staff are all well and send their regards to Canada.

Yesterday was International Children's Day... so there was a performance in the town square in the evening with children singing and dancing, there was an amzing paper macheie elephant, and costumes... I will post those pictures too. It was colourful and lively, and a real treat for me to see.

Anyways, I better get to work. More soon...

LR

Off to the East...

It is my last night in Colombo already. I am leaving at 7:3o in the morning for Batticaloa. Looking forward to getting there and seeing my friends and colleagues. I will be in Batti until Wednesday, off to Trincomalee on Thursday, in Trinco until the following Wednesday, then the whole group will meet in Habarana for a day, and Friday I will be back to Colombo. Hope that makes some sense!

I will check in when I can, internet access is not quite so easy when I am in the east, but I will do my best. I will also take lots of pictures to share.

Don't worry. All is well.
Laura

Safe Arrival

I am here. In Colombo, at last, and just a tad jetlagged. The flights were all good and everything went smoothly... the cd-roms and I all arrived in one piece.

It is hot and humid here, but not raining... apparently it rains mostly at night, which is good news. I expected to get off the plane in the rain.

Well, I am going to go have a coffee to try and stay awake. The work starts tomorrow so I need to get on schedule. I will write more when I do not need to stop every other word to yawn!

Laura :-)