The Martin's Blog

Helen – This morning we were out by 6:15 to walk around the lake which is about 2 miles.  It is a lovely area with cormorants, pelicans, ducks, and bats (see picture).  

 There is a dirt/concrete block path for walking but for most of the way is right next to a road which is heavily congested with cars and trucks.  The fumes made walking quite uncomfortable and we decided to try an earlier time the next day.  After breakfast, Tom went back to the university for several meetings and I stayed home to walk to Food City (about 1 mile away just off the lake trail) with my back pack for supplies.  While I was gone, Shenani cleaned out a cupboard for me so I had my own space in the kitchen.  I was able to do laundry while disinfecting the vegetables and preparing tonight’s dinner and lunch for the next day.

 I expected Tom home for dinner about 6 but he called to say he would be late because he again had problems setting up his computer at the university (same problem as at Ruhuna) and to expect him about 6:30-7.  I began worrying about 7 because it was dark, and he came about 7:30; the traffic was still bad and he made a few wrong turns.

As he went over his day, it was evident that they wanted to overwork him – with two two-day workshops and five one-day workshops in 10 days!  Shamila wanted him to give one all day workshop to a group of women (her exercise group and perhaps others in the community) who wanted to lose weight.  He seemed a little down so I suggested that maybe I could help with the women’s group.  He was really hoping not to involve me in this part of the grant so I would have more free time to explore the area with Shenani.