Sri Lanka: Day 2

It's been one hell of a day!
Started out great: 8am breakfast complete with real sized bread, and actual butter! I was thrilled. Then at the Indian High Commission I acutally got *inside* the building. (The day before I spent 3 hours in line outside only to be told I would have to come again the next morning). So that made 2 lucky strikes, but by the third strike my luck had run out. After being blatantly ignored by one visa officer who refused to hear my appeals - and would only grant me a 3 month visa, I was sent along to the next officer. He also ignored my pleas - or rather heard them, relayed them (many, MANY times) but always came back with the same answer. So I asked again to have it reviewed and kindly asked that they actually *read* my letters included, and when it looked like they might actually listen to me I took a seat. After 6 and a half hours of waiting I was still told I would only receive a 3 month visa. My patience had run out, I got frustrated and teary eyed and gave in. I at least needed to get back into the country and stay for as long as I could.
So to calm myself and get a grip I walked over to the ocean side and sat near the sea for a few minutes watching the waves. Then I walked the 20 minutes back to Vinitha and Tenny's house. They had been quite worried about me when I didnt arrive back in time for lunch - but when they discovered I had spent ALL da yat the I.H.C. they shared my frustration.
Tenny and Vinitha are this wonderful older couple from Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have had hte pleasure of hosting many many international guests, and many Sangam volunteers needed new visas. They live in this incredible house (a real house with a dining room, living room, etc. very exciting for me) that they built on their own. It's architecturally stunning, and made of all Sri Lankan resources. Anyway, they're a really interesting couple with lots to share and I've had some great intellectual conversations with them about all kinds of cultural differences around the world. It's been great.
Aside from the I. H. C. nightmare, I have had a good time. It defenitely isn't the vacation I had imagined but its been great being in a country a little more liberal and similar to home. I can wander the streets with a few less stares, and I can wear clothing from Canada and fit in fine. The traffic here is like home, the stores are big and have hte same set up as home...oooh and they have supermarkets!! I didnt realise how much I miss grocery shopping...it's like my happy place, so it was fun to wander around the other day.
I'm spending the next two days with a Sri Lankan girl who worked at Sangam in 2004 so it should be a lot of fun. She also works at the GG headquarters in Colombo so I've been meeting lots of new people.
I pick up my visa on Friday so I will be crossing my fingers that things go smoothly so I can head back home to India on Saturday :)