Galle/ Dutch Fort.

I thought my last weekend in Sri Lanka would be a total washout, as it started to raining non-stop from Thursday.

 We planned to go to Galle,  in southwest Sri Lanka, about 71 miles from Colombo.

We left Colombo in the pouring rain early Friday morning and it rained all the way to our destination.

Then ta-da, as we arrived, it stopped raining and has been great ever since.😊.

Latsane, Joan, Sharlene, Damith 

My hosts Damith/Sharlene and I all stayed in nice little hotel in town called Blue Heaven. Later we had a grand time hanging out at Galle Fort with their friend Latsane.

This Fort, built by the Portuguese in 1588, is on the Indian Ocean.

In 1649 it was fortified by the Dutch and is today an important architectural heritage site controlled by UNESCO.

The entire town and surroundings are growing rapidly, partly due to the influx of tourists.

However 21 years ago, much of the town was flattened by the tsunami which devasted much of south east Asia.

Thousands of people were swept away and killed, 500 just in the transport center in town alone! 

Naturally the ruins were also damaged but you
wouldn't believe it looking at the surroundings today.

A replica of the original small town.

Most of the archeological site remains in pretty good condition, despite having been badly damaged in 2004.

Miniature, showing the original design of the city.

A huge Mosque near the ruins. As it was Friday, many Muslims were busy in the area.

The very angry Indian Ocean.

Like much of Sri Lanka, this city is home to religious adherents from all the major religions, but the dominance of Buddhism which is so obvious in other areas, was not visible.

A Buddhist temple on the hill quite a distance away. I could also see a huge, old Christian church in town, from the fort.

The roof of the solid ammunition storage building.

A Muslim on her way to the Mosque ahead.

A coconut tree grows out of the large granite rock heap offshore.

These ladies in beautiful saris are teachers at the International School. The saris are their uniform.

A small cafe has been set up in the midst of the ruins.

Tourism is now Sri Lanka's second most important industry, so both local people and visitors flock this area. 

This is a recognized UNESCO world heritage site and every time I visit a place like this, I wonder why we are joking around with our sunken city, Port Royal?

 Such a damn shame.😡

Pic of the very angry Indian Ocean below!

This lovely house on the Ocean was badly damaged by the tsunami, but they fixed it up nicely.
That's where we stayed overnight before heading back to Colombo.

Young people challenging the rough surf on their boards.

There is a statue of Buddha on the hill overlooking the town of Galle.

The Indian Ocean is so rough and sounds so fierce, it's kinda scary.

The sand looks nice though.

Among Damith's friends that we had drinks with on Friday night was Dr Ruwan who served as coroner in Jamaica for 3 years.

Then to my surprise, on returning to Colombo I discovered that my wonderful hosts Sharlene and Damith, had organized a goodbye dinner for me with some of their young friends.

L-r. Charaka, his wife Tara, Dr. Damith, and Ganga.

It's been an overwhelming three weeks as there is so much to see and do in that very big island. And the Sri Lankan people are so warm and generous.

It's really true that time flies when you having fun.

And boy, did I ever have fun😊.

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Update. The rains that started on Thursday night turned into quite a storm with high winds later in the night. It damaged the roof of 
Latsans parents home in Galle. 

He is a contractor though so had already repaired it by midday Saturday when we saw him again. 👏

That same storm however killed a family of seven in another area close by. Their home  collapsed on them.🥺

It's the beginning of the monsoon season in Sri Lanka and the weather seems to be intensifying now.

DO THEY DESERVE A PENSION?

According to a recent report in the Jamaica Observer, a number of former politicians are living in virtual poverty as sickness and poor pensions make it impossible for them to meet their very basic obligations. 

 If that article was meant to cause us to feel sorry for our politicians, it hasn’t. For the simple fact is, we have too many reasons not to think very highly of politicians. The first has to do with their actions over the many of our indsependence, which have contributed to Jamaica becoming a murder capital in the world, if not the first in terms of the per capita murders committed, certainly among the top three. 

This is a direct spin-off from the actions of those politicians who in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and probably to some extent even now, armed poor, uneducated, inner city young men with guns to kill and intimidate their political opponents. Naturally, we have concluded that if politicians are willing to commit murder and arson and indeed ANYTHING (as the chairman of the Peoples National Party (PNP) said) to gain power, then the prize must indeed be great. 

The ANYTHING was again demonstrated recently with what has come to be known as the dual-citizenship issue. The amazing thing about Jamaican politicians also is their brazenness. This was so crassly demonstrated in parliament last week by Jamaica’s first female prime and current Leader do the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller. According to reports, Ms. Miller went to Parliament and declared "I have said to the country over and over that this side will not take power unless it is by way of the ballot.” This statement was made in reply to the Prime Minister’s accusation that the PNP was taking Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members to court to try and get seats in parliament on the basis that some of those elected had dual citizenships with countries not allowed under the Constitution. (The strange thing is that while the PNP is challenging the illegibility of some JLP MP’s, they too have at least two members of parliament on their benches who would be disqualified on the same grounds!) However, while denying that the PNP was using the courts to foist person’s rejected by electors on them, Mrs. Simpson told a blatant lie. For that is what the case by the PNP via Abe Dabdoud had been all about.

 For readers will recall that in the first instance, the Chief Justice had ruled that Vaz was ineligible based on his dual citizenship but the seat should not be automatically turned over to the PNP but a by-election should be called. DABDOUD THEN WENT TO THE COURT OF APPEAL CONTENDING THAT THE SEAT SHOULD BE AWARDED TO HIM (THE PNP ) WITHOUT A BY-ELECTION!

How then could less than a week after the by-election, a big “Christian”, a former prime minister and current Leader Of the Opposition, have the gall to declare in parliament, "I have said to the country over and over that this side will not take power unless it is by way of the ballot?” I suppose I am being naive in expecting better since at her inauguration Portia said she would work to eliminate corruption, but less than 2 years later the party that she leads accepted $30 million from Trafigura, a company which was trying to have its contract renewed to lift oil from Nigeria, without being able to give a plausible explanation why Trafigura gave their party the $30 million in the period leading up to the general election of 2007!)

 Anyway we do not only get bad impressions about our politicians from how we see them operate as a lot of what happens in Jamaican politics is done under cover. However,their own colleagues fill the gaps, for when you listen to things they say on and off the platforms about their opponents, you would not be incorrect in concluding that there is no such thing as a decent Jamaican politician! Importantly too, it is because of the devious, corrupt and incompetent activities of our politicians why this well endowed paradise has become one of the most impoverished nations in the former West Indies, only being outdone by Guyana. Yes, I guess there have been honest, hardworking decent politicians. The problem is, we have no way of knowing which of the politicians that have actually been in office over the years were “decent" for the legacy they have left us since independence is so rotten. So forgive me if I can’t feel sorry for politicians and am even cynical about the report that some are living in poverty. In fact, in my mind,the real question is, do they deserve a pension at all?