Friday, February 11, 2011
Coming Down the Mountain in the Rain
Coming back from Badulla in the rain. Note our driver attempting to pass on a solid double white line.
Badulla Visit - Epilogue
I finally found a chance to catch up on The Doc Report, and now the rest of the story.
The trip to Badulla took six hours to the southern end of the island. We went through twisty windy roads all of it two lanes. The scenery was very beautiful, especially the mountains. Apparently there is some sort of election going on so there were huge vertical banners with the Sri Lankan president pretty much everywhere and in the corner a small picture of the person that he was endorsing! There was big smiley pictures of the president everywhere on banners everywhere, with the little picture of the person he was endorsing. Too funny.
We stopped for a classic Sri Lankan rice and curry lunch. 600RS to feed all three of us, about $5.50, that was including a Pepsi that was probably 100RS by itself!
As we got closer to Badulla we could see banners for the exhibition and eventually a police checkpoint that would only allow vehicles with passes to continue on, we were getting closer.
But then we reached a crazy intersection with signs for the exhibition pointing in nearly every direction. We turn left, pull over and ask a cop, he says we need to turn around, go to another street pull over, ask a cop, same thing. Finally a cop saw our pass and just pointed down the road, we took this as a good omen and continued.
Finally made the exhibition and had to get the vehicle inspected by security. We had five cases of apples and a few cases of Coca Cola, they asked if they could have some and we obliged.
Now the next problem was actually finding our actual display location. This was a very large fairground with roads leading in several directions. We finally found an information booth and we proceeded to go there (still making a few wrong turns).
We set up and did what we had to do, give out pencils, apples, Coca Cola and other assorted company stuff. The crowds were anything from a handful of people to five minute frenzies of handing out apples and pencils. It got pretty crazy sometimes.
After a long day we took off to the hotel. We heard one source say that the hotel was an hour away, someone else said that it was twenty minutes away, it was an hour. Up a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, tucked in the jungle.
The hotel had a nature theme and my room was built to not disturb the natural rock formations, providing plenty of places to stub your toes! The crew before us said that one of them had seen a rat in their room. I didn't see a rat, but did see many bugs the next morning. The woman that accompanied our group could not sleep at all, worried about the rats!
The next morning we checked out, went down the mountain and back to exhibition to give out more promotional material.
Our relief crew arrived and we briefed them on what to do, uhm, hand out stuff! Well we also had a plasma TV that was showing a movie that we had to keep an eye on.
The ride back home was mostly in torrential rain. The roads were flooded and it the rain slowed our trip down.
Finally made it back to Colombo around 8:00PM that night, no so bad.
The trip to Badulla took six hours to the southern end of the island. We went through twisty windy roads all of it two lanes. The scenery was very beautiful, especially the mountains. Apparently there is some sort of election going on so there were huge vertical banners with the Sri Lankan president pretty much everywhere and in the corner a small picture of the person that he was endorsing! There was big smiley pictures of the president everywhere on banners everywhere, with the little picture of the person he was endorsing. Too funny.
We stopped for a classic Sri Lankan rice and curry lunch. 600RS to feed all three of us, about $5.50, that was including a Pepsi that was probably 100RS by itself!
As we got closer to Badulla we could see banners for the exhibition and eventually a police checkpoint that would only allow vehicles with passes to continue on, we were getting closer.
But then we reached a crazy intersection with signs for the exhibition pointing in nearly every direction. We turn left, pull over and ask a cop, he says we need to turn around, go to another street pull over, ask a cop, same thing. Finally a cop saw our pass and just pointed down the road, we took this as a good omen and continued.
Finally made the exhibition and had to get the vehicle inspected by security. We had five cases of apples and a few cases of Coca Cola, they asked if they could have some and we obliged.
Now the next problem was actually finding our actual display location. This was a very large fairground with roads leading in several directions. We finally found an information booth and we proceeded to go there (still making a few wrong turns).
We set up and did what we had to do, give out pencils, apples, Coca Cola and other assorted company stuff. The crowds were anything from a handful of people to five minute frenzies of handing out apples and pencils. It got pretty crazy sometimes.
After a long day we took off to the hotel. We heard one source say that the hotel was an hour away, someone else said that it was twenty minutes away, it was an hour. Up a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, tucked in the jungle.
The hotel had a nature theme and my room was built to not disturb the natural rock formations, providing plenty of places to stub your toes! The crew before us said that one of them had seen a rat in their room. I didn't see a rat, but did see many bugs the next morning. The woman that accompanied our group could not sleep at all, worried about the rats!
The next morning we checked out, went down the mountain and back to exhibition to give out more promotional material.
Our relief crew arrived and we briefed them on what to do, uhm, hand out stuff! Well we also had a plasma TV that was showing a movie that we had to keep an eye on.
The ride back home was mostly in torrential rain. The roads were flooded and it the rain slowed our trip down.
Finally made it back to Colombo around 8:00PM that night, no so bad.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Boondoggling
Definition of BOONDOGGLE
1
: a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide, hatband, or ornament
2
: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boondoggle
I'm not exactly sure that I can agree completely with the Merriam-Webster definition, I prefer to call a boondoggle working while having fun.
Tomorrow morning I leave for what will be my third boondoggle since my assignment to Sri Lanka. When I was in Montevideo I never went on a boondoggle, while assigned to Jeddah I went on one.
The other week I was in the Maldives which is a prime boondoggle mission, especially because of the outrageous daily per diem amount. Tomorrow will be on the the complete other end of the spectrum as I am going to Badulla which is in the interior of Sri Lanka:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badulla It's going to be a six hour trip by vehicle south. Wish I had an iPod!
Basically I will be manning a booth with promotional material for the company, and I have to give out said promotional material. I did this boondoggle last year but in the old capitol of Kandy. At that exhibition we only had refrigerator magnets to give out and it caused quite the commotion giving those away. This year the goodies have been kicked up a few notches to include book bags, hats, pencils, pocket calendars and Coca Cola. It's probably going to be pretty crazy as we are expecting 3 million to visit.
We have been told that our per diem will be reduced by $5 as the hotel provides breakfast, truth is the company is just trying to save money. Can't blame them.
1
: a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide, hatband, or ornament
2
: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boondoggle
I'm not exactly sure that I can agree completely with the Merriam-Webster definition, I prefer to call a boondoggle working while having fun.
Tomorrow morning I leave for what will be my third boondoggle since my assignment to Sri Lanka. When I was in Montevideo I never went on a boondoggle, while assigned to Jeddah I went on one.
The other week I was in the Maldives which is a prime boondoggle mission, especially because of the outrageous daily per diem amount. Tomorrow will be on the the complete other end of the spectrum as I am going to Badulla which is in the interior of Sri Lanka:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badulla It's going to be a six hour trip by vehicle south. Wish I had an iPod!
Basically I will be manning a booth with promotional material for the company, and I have to give out said promotional material. I did this boondoggle last year but in the old capitol of Kandy. At that exhibition we only had refrigerator magnets to give out and it caused quite the commotion giving those away. This year the goodies have been kicked up a few notches to include book bags, hats, pencils, pocket calendars and Coca Cola. It's probably going to be pretty crazy as we are expecting 3 million to visit.
We have been told that our per diem will be reduced by $5 as the hotel provides breakfast, truth is the company is just trying to save money. Can't blame them.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Book Corner - Finished Reading
Gardens of Water: A Novel by Alan Drew
352 pages
paperback
Fiction
I really enjoyed this book. You encounter socio-economic differences, cultural differences, romance, tragedy, it's all there.
From Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Water-Novel-Alan-Drew/dp/1400066875
In Drew's well-intentioned if overwrought first novel, cultures clash as a teenaged Kurdish girl and an American boy fall in love over the objection of the girl's father, a Muslim Kurd living in Istanbul. Sinan, a shop owner, tries to keep his American upstairs neighbors, Marcus Hamm and his family, at arm's length. But this is impossible after an earthquake devastates Istanbul, and Sinan and his family end up living in a tent city provided by American missionaries. Marcus, the director of a missionary school, lost his wife in the earthquake; she was found dead, shielding Sinan's son, who was buried alive for three days before being rescued. Now, Sinan watches as his America-obsessed daughter, Irem, falls in love with Marcus's bipolar son, Dylan, and his impressionable younger son, Ismail, slowly becomes converted to Christianity at the camp. The story moves inexorably toward a climax in which Sinan's Muslim pride and Marcus's Christian proselytizing collide with predictably tragic results. Though some may find the ideological conflict that provides the narrative thrust too textbookish, Drew, who lived in Istanbul at the time of the Marmara earthquake, effortlessly transports readers to a wrecked Istanbul and finds shards of hope in the mountains of rubble. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
352 pages
paperback
Fiction
I really enjoyed this book. You encounter socio-economic differences, cultural differences, romance, tragedy, it's all there.
From Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Water-Novel-Alan-Drew/dp/1400066875
In Drew's well-intentioned if overwrought first novel, cultures clash as a teenaged Kurdish girl and an American boy fall in love over the objection of the girl's father, a Muslim Kurd living in Istanbul. Sinan, a shop owner, tries to keep his American upstairs neighbors, Marcus Hamm and his family, at arm's length. But this is impossible after an earthquake devastates Istanbul, and Sinan and his family end up living in a tent city provided by American missionaries. Marcus, the director of a missionary school, lost his wife in the earthquake; she was found dead, shielding Sinan's son, who was buried alive for three days before being rescued. Now, Sinan watches as his America-obsessed daughter, Irem, falls in love with Marcus's bipolar son, Dylan, and his impressionable younger son, Ismail, slowly becomes converted to Christianity at the camp. The story moves inexorably toward a climax in which Sinan's Muslim pride and Marcus's Christian proselytizing collide with predictably tragic results. Though some may find the ideological conflict that provides the narrative thrust too textbookish, Drew, who lived in Istanbul at the time of the Marmara earthquake, effortlessly transports readers to a wrecked Istanbul and finds shards of hope in the mountains of rubble. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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