Remembering...

Well i've had a few days to get acclimatised and i'm getting used to the heat(!) humidity(!) and the food.

This morning was the first I have ventured out of the College complex and I was really looking forward to going to church at Kollupitiya Methodist Church as it was one of the churches we had worked with back in 2000. Ivor picked us up shortly after 8.00am and we made our way into the heart of Colombo.

It was great to see areas that were starting to look familiar and I recognised the church straight away. We were welcomed by Rev Duleep Fernando while the Tamil congregation left, as their service is before the English service (and the Sinhalese service is held shortly after the english) then I went off to find a seat.

The worship was led wonderfully by a young woman whom I think was a member of the choir and the Message was brought by Rev Dr Derek Tidball who spoke engagingly on Psalm 103

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits..."

I was however a little disappointed by just how traditional and reserved the service was - I found that I have actually no recollection from all those years ago as to what worship was like and was expecting it to be a little more lively, I guess with my most recent overseas experience being in Africa. But none the less it was a wonderful act of worship and as Derek reminded us we are not alone in worshipping but join with congregations across the globe and with the Angels and Arch-angels worshipping around the throne in heaven.

We had a chance to chat for a short time after the service and as per ususal the Irish connections were made...Duleep spoke of Rev George Good and his grand daughter Tara, who was of course on the team with me back in 2000, so we chatted about them and of course Rev Norman Taggart and Rev Stephen Skuce...Methodism really is such a small world! :)

Myself, Derek and David Griffiths, a field worker for CSW were then wisked off by Mano a member of the CTS (college) staff for drinks at the Galle Face hotel before lunch. This is a beautifully grand old colonial building situated right on the coast and it was wonderfully cool sitting chatting in the shade with a fantastic view of the Indian Ocean (I think!!) and the sound of the powerfull waves crashing against the rocks.

David, Mano and Derek by the Beach

The Galle Face Hotel

The hotel is extremely proud of its heritage and has many plagues stating the names of famous people who have stayed and even boasts a small museum containing Prince Phillip's first car!!! I have one memory of the Galle face from my last visit and that was of coming for drinks one evening with the team, and that is of Raymond sitting with a rather large King Coconut with a straw sticking out of it...strange the things you remember!

Mano then took us to the Chinese Dragon Restaurant (the first restaurant we ate out at back in 2000!!) for a wonderful meal.

On the way back to CTS she stopped off at the side of the road to buy some fruit to let us try...sadly i cant remember the name of it. [NB: Just discovered they are called Rambutan and are indeed realted to the Lychee!!]


To me it looked llike one of those odd bouncy ball type things and when you open it you get something that looks like an eyeball!!! But it is very nice indeed, almost like a cross between a grape and a lychee, so very tasty and quite refreshing.

This afternoon I thought I would take some photos of the college so you could see where Im actually talking about...so here they are.

The main college building
Me outside the College Reception