It is now the 17th here in Sri Lanka, which means I only have 10 days left in this wonderful country. So I decided it would be fitting to put together a top 10 list of things that have been going on lately to commemorate the milestone.
10. I now have a little brother. My team lead has a little 2 year-old and he is totally in love with me. He is part Pilipino and he calls me Kuya which means brother in Tagalong.
9. I recently saw my first gem pit. It was really cool to see how gems are actually mined. The prices were really outrageous but it was worth the trip to see the operation.
8. Clothes here are really nice. I just got done buying a couple of new shirts of great quality for half the price we pay at home. Many brand names have their manufacturers here in Sri Lanka so I can get many things at a discounted rate. Very nice stuff indeed.
7. I just finished my first manual today. It totals about 240 pages. I am very pleased that I have finished the first output of the consultancy and have learned lots of very useful technical gems along the way. I am very pleased.
6. I have been doing some training again. These are just small sessions of about 8 people that were brought on by the requests of the people at the NIE. They are being spearheaded by my mentor from UNM who arrived here about a week ago.
5. I was honored by the people of the DIP TESL group at NIE who invited me for their graduation ceremony last week. I sat at the table of honor, lit the ceremonial lamp to begin the ceremony, and even got a gift. I participated in every aspect of the celebration. It was amazing.
4. We still do not have our extension contracts. Big surprise huh? We are still optimistic but we are not holding our breaths. We will see how things turn out. One way or the other, I am going to give it my all until the day I don’t have a contract.
3. I am very excited for the day tomorrow since I am going shopping for more bling and gifts for the holidays. Shopping for stuff is always fun. I think it is not buying stuff so much as giving it away. I am very excited for next week since I will be giving gifts to all of those at work and at NIE which I brought from home. Monday should be cool as well since we are having a holiday party and I will be making some chile for the people here according to our standards in NM.
2. I will be spending Christmas with Lani’s family and also with the family of my landlord. I am looking forward to experiencing Christmas and my birthday in a foreign country. Should be fun to have basically 2 holidays. One will be here and the other will commence when I return home.
1. I finally figured out the punch line to the joke I started when I was doing my first couple of postings to this blog…And they all realized they were the same.
Well this will most likely be the last time I write in this space. It has been a good run and I hope all of you have enjoyed my entries. I look forward to seeing all of you again. Take care and I pray that all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!