I went for a walk in this neighbourhood this afternoon. Some beach areas and upcountry towns are used to foreign tourists. Minuwangoda is not. I am sure I was the talk of the neighbourhood walking around with my camera. Jay doesn’t just walk around. He maintains that people here only only walk if they have a real errand. I couldn’t convince him that he could pretend there was some important reason to be about.
I’d been down the same road a few years ago and not a lot had changed. I did run into a guy near the edge of his driveway and we started a quick conversation. His name was Roy. His English was really good and I had the feeling he wanted to chat just to keep from getting rusty. We talked about the ethnic trouble and agreed on the hopeful outcome of the present war. I learned how he is the brother-in-law of another neighbour who often drives this family’s tuk tuk to town. I met his wife and six month old girl. He said they are able to often sleep through the night now. I learned that he used to drive an airport taxi here but because of the schedule quit now to have more time with his new family. I know he is 38 years old.
These are things I didn’t really need to know. I have neighbours who have lived on my floor in the apartment building in Vancouver for years. I say hello to them but don’t even know their names. Jay is sometimes annoyed because he says Sri Lankans constantly gossip. I suppose this is probably truer of the village folk. People in small towns everywhere probably know each other’s business. From what I’ve seen here, many do not hesitate to ask questions that I’d consider personal. I’d probably not ask about marital status or age during an initial conversation in Canada. Here those questions are sure to come up. It seems as if it doesn’t bother most people here as I’ve not heard anybody say, “It’s none of your concern.”
Who am I to judge about the sharing of personal information? I write an Internet blog.
Tomorrow at 7:00 am our usual gang is off on a three-day upcountry trip.