Yesterday morning I was sitting in the garden trying to puzzle out what the big, blue containers my neighbours were working on were for. We got to "chatting" (my Sinhalese isn't very good yet although I can pretty much count to 10) and I asked if I could go around their side. I was desperate to get a good nose around the house and grounds as well as interested in saying hello. They seemed to understand and be happy enough so I wandered around, with some trepidation.
One of the local kids pointed me in the right direction for the gate and I walked past a very nice house with immaculate gardens. As we got closer to the lagoon the garden became a little more wild with coconut trees and a lot of fishing equipment around. The old man came to greet me and show me the way. I stayed to smoke a cigarette and get to understand that the old man lived there. The other three were a father and two sons in their late teens/early twenties. We smiled and nodded and tried to communicate. Eventually I excused myself and went home, after inspecting the chickens with the old man's wife, to my terrace where I watched the men continue their work.
In the afternoon they came back from work and I from Columbo. They called me over to the fence and handed me a whole, big fish that they had just caught. This is lovely but, of course, difficult as I don't know whether to offer to pay or not, how much to offer if I should and how to communicate any of this. I decided to try to pay, once, and made the universal gesture with raised eyebrows. They shook their head and smiled and so I thanked them again and left.
Now I had a fish but no ability to gut it or cook it. So I called Brayen and offered him a fish. He picked it up, brought it home, cooked it, shared it with his family and brought me some to eat. It was delicious. The plan now is to explain to the fishermen that I'd love to buy fish, prawns, crab etc. off them, that I'm going to learn the words so I can do that and that I must be allowed to pay.
I can't wait to come back and have a kitchen in place and learn how to cook the food here.
In the meantime, I think I've worked out what the blue containers are for but, as with most things here right now, I'm probably wrong.
One of the local kids pointed me in the right direction for the gate and I walked past a very nice house with immaculate gardens. As we got closer to the lagoon the garden became a little more wild with coconut trees and a lot of fishing equipment around. The old man came to greet me and show me the way. I stayed to smoke a cigarette and get to understand that the old man lived there. The other three were a father and two sons in their late teens/early twenties. We smiled and nodded and tried to communicate. Eventually I excused myself and went home, after inspecting the chickens with the old man's wife, to my terrace where I watched the men continue their work.
In the afternoon they came back from work and I from Columbo. They called me over to the fence and handed me a whole, big fish that they had just caught. This is lovely but, of course, difficult as I don't know whether to offer to pay or not, how much to offer if I should and how to communicate any of this. I decided to try to pay, once, and made the universal gesture with raised eyebrows. They shook their head and smiled and so I thanked them again and left.
Now I had a fish but no ability to gut it or cook it. So I called Brayen and offered him a fish. He picked it up, brought it home, cooked it, shared it with his family and brought me some to eat. It was delicious. The plan now is to explain to the fishermen that I'd love to buy fish, prawns, crab etc. off them, that I'm going to learn the words so I can do that and that I must be allowed to pay.
I can't wait to come back and have a kitchen in place and learn how to cook the food here.
In the meantime, I think I've worked out what the blue containers are for but, as with most things here right now, I'm probably wrong.
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