More adventures: cookery school (Sri Lankan style) and looking good in a sari...

Wednesday 15th October

No conference today so some rest and relaxation we all thought.... but instead we managed to fit in all sorts of exciting adventures.

Off to yoga for those of us trying to be fit and healthy....in order to counter the effects of the irresistible food. (Maybe that's why when the yoga instructor Eva says : "Breathe in and find some space for your breath" there appears to be none!)

Breakfast tastes are becoming more adventurous I notice: more interesting combinations  of rice, egg hoppers, sambals and local food whilst still being tempted by the fresh pastries. The avocado smoothies are a big hit with me, whilst others head for chilli-laden curries.

The usual drama of getting us all on the two large buses and making sure we haven't left anyone behind ensued, and off we headed to the Paddy Island to learn the art of cooking authentic Si Lankan food at the Yatagala Cookery School.  No boring commercial kitchens for us though! The kitchen was outdoors in the midst of rice paddies and a beautiful garden full of ponds filled with water lilies, endless palms and plenty of beautifully coloured plants that none of us could identify. This was the home of David and Danielle who have moved here from the UK to SL 12 years ago.

For some hours we chopped, peeled, grated, stirred, sliced, ground ( with a HUGE cylindrical stone on a large stone slab -see the photo below!) and finally fried, steamed and cooked. The dishes included fish balls, lentil dhal, beetroot curry, red rice, marinated fresh tuna, pineapple curry, snake beans with peanuts, and eggplant brinjal.

If your mouth is watering the good news is that we were all presented with a recipe book on departure. So when we return you have every right to expect a repeat performance. Although bear in mind that we won't have the Sri Lankan ladies to assist. Despite having no English or Sri Lankan on each side we managed to follow their instructions without any failures.

Unfortunately one group of cooks felt the need to sing Simon and Garfunkel songs loudly and badly which may have helped their teamwork but was not enjoyed by the rest of us!

It's a joy to see the transformation of familiar ingredients into gourmet food and to see the gay abandon with which they add chili to everything without making the food burning hot. Every dish had lots of spices: apparently the average number in any SL curry is 13!

To enjoy the products of our labour, we sat in a beautiful outdoor pavilion and enjoyed the breeze and the view of the garden. Blissful - what more could you ask for? - great food, superb environment and interesting people to share it with.

But wait there's more!!! A chance to try on bejewelled saris and wander around as if we had transformed into Raj princesses.

A few kilometres down the road we arrived at expat Henrietta's boutique hotel called the Why House (so-named because one of the workmen building the impressive colonial-style buildings endlessly asked "why?"every time a new plan was made).

Our eyes lit up as we spied the pool as it was sunny, hot and very humid. After wallowing for some time - an activity we seem to have perfected - we emerged from the pool and headed for a large lounge room to transform ourselves. Saris of every colour were displayed across the walls and tables; every colour from intense purples to pale pinks to bright yellow, and were embellished with 'diamonds', pearls, beads of every colour, gold embroidery and every imaginable design.
Alison started with a sari of intense purple, pink  and gold. The rest of us followed suit choosing colours that 'spoke to us' and submitted ourselves to the process of being wrapped, and draped and pinned.

There was some laughing about the amount of flesh some of us were prepared to show to the world. Resulting in some rearranging of fabric to cover some of our less flattering bits.
After the excitement, and the heat generated by being swathed in 7 metres of fabric it was time to enjoy the sunset, sipping ginger lime sodas or gin and tonics or ice cold beers on the verandah.  Heaven!

Before I describe the next exciting experience let me reassure you that no-one was hurt alhtough some of us were rather worried I can tell you! We were seated by the pool to enjoy a cultural show. Oh well I thought - a bit of dancing and singing - how nice.... But no!!!!!!!!!!

In the dark appeared two drummers and 3 young athletic men dressed in white pleated skirts,  leggings and turbans, with lots of bells to keep time with the drums.

Then a dancer arrived with a gruesome face mask and a wig of long fibrous hair. Then two large fire torches  were lit and placed in his hands, which was truly horrifying as all of us immediately anticipated the hair catching fire.

However our concern about that was overlooked as the 3 young men danced into the space with multiple lit flares and proceeded to throw them, run them along their skin, juggle and finally swallow them! Finally they ended the show by swallowing some kerosene and emitting huge bursts of flames from their mouths!

For those of us in close proximity it was even more terrifying, and I was forced to work out the most direct route to the pool! And completely forgot to take any photos!

Then a number of expat friends of Henrietta joined us for a delicious seafood BBQ whilst we plied them with questions about their life in SL.

Finally we piled into the buses and had a hilarious time without any raucous singing ( banned by Sally! ). Topics included Empire Day, Catholic girls education, Communion dresses and heaven knows what else!!

It was a relief to finally flop into bed after another great day,

Your exhausted correspondent,

Dianne