Saying Goodbye's: Here are pictures from a couple goodbye dinners last week.

Wednesday night was dinner at Sunil's. (He's the server from Budde's - remember?- our home-away-from-home at the beach.) He has (over the span of 8 years) bought a piece of land in the middle of a cinnamon grove and built a beautiful home for his family... it's a little ways inland - was incredible quiet and peaceful. We were so impressed with the whole experience. His wife and family cooked (hands-down) the best Sri Lankan meal we've had in the past 18 months. We really enjoyed the chance to sit and chat with him in such a relaxed setting: "Superb." (as Sunil says).

Sunil and his wife and son

Sunil and his two sisters and nephew.

Adam, Sunil, & Chris

Thursday night was the staff farewell dinner at a local vegetarian place in Hikkaduwa. Kicked off with group singing...

Benjamin (Construction Technical Officer), Chris (Project Manager), and Raj (Office Manager)This is the only photo ever taken of Raj smiling... it took only 4 attemps, and Chris tickling him.

Sisila, Mark, Dinuka, Robert - leading the pre-meal sing-song.

Inoka (Livelihoods), Mindy (CCD), Kokila (Livelihoods)

Jayantha (Combatting Human Trafficking) and Tucker (All non-tsunami Projects)

Adam and the Construction Guys -

Kapila, Benjamin, Adam, Mahinda -- they are quality guys - super, super hard workers and a fantastic team.

Here's the "tough guy" picture (no smiling).

It took 3 or 4 attempts to keep Mahinda (far right) from smiling... He just can't help it.

with the CCD staff - kneeling: Nalinda (Child Development), Hasitha (Child Development), Rajendren (Spiritual Life Coordinator). standing: Mark (CCD Coordinator) & Chamani, Sahara & Ruwantha (CCD Field Officers), Sisila (HIV/AIDS), [us], Dinuka (CCD Field Officer), Eranga & Naomi (CCD Field Officers)

Benjamin gave us each a huge going away gift (wooden, hand-carved statues)

with Hasitha (CCD Child Development) and his wife Harshini

Saturday night was dinner with Mr. Ariyapala and his family (Remember? - he's the driver from Ampara). His oldest daughter (Anoma) is married to the pastor (Wijenama) of the Colombo Central Church, and dinner was held in their home in Colombo. They are a dynamic couple... love the Lord and others (just like Ariyapala). It was very nice to be in their Christmas-y home with the whole precious family... they went all out with decorations (Christmas placemats and floating candles!).

Also, a word of explanation - these dinners are a little different than the average celebratory sit-down we're accustomed to. At these dinners, where we're the "guests of honor," we sit at the table and are served by the family. One or two family members might join us (below, the two English-speaking men were designated), and then the family eats after the guests have left.

with the whole Ariyapala crew... (minus one son and a couple grandkids that couldn't make it).

Elle Tournament. Cricket tournaments for the men and boys abound. And there are sports competitions for kids. Rarely are there ever organized sports competitions for the women. Our CCD Officer in Hikkaduwa set out to change that and organized a 16 team Elle Tournament for all of our women's societies. Elle is baseball (using a tennis ball), crossed with dodgeball. Once you bat, while you're running the bases, the opposing team can get you out by nailing you with the ball. Which women here are not afraid to do at point-blank range, apparently. The presentation of the teams...

The lighting of the oil lamp...

Ruwantha tells the women the rules of the game...

The judges' table...

The score board... (and, as a side note, the little lady in the dress to the left of the score board was not just a cheerleader -- she was a competitor.)

The Akurala team - ready for their turn...

After weeks and weeks of rain, we had fantastic weather. Families and friends watched wherever they could find shade...

One of the Final Four teams...

A home run...

Celebrating a home run...

One of the heavy hitters...

As you MIGHT imagine (we didn't)... 16 teams of women from 16 different communities getting together to compete in what, for some of them, was a once-in-a-lifetime sports competition in front of their families and friends... meant the stakes were pretty high - as were emotions. Unfortunately, sportsmanship and healthy coping skills were not so prevalent. As you MIGHT imagine (we didn't) -- when girls do not engage in sports while growing up and are never taught how to win or lose "well" -- this resulted in a dramatic fit-throwing rage following each match... when the losers could not cope with the disappointment of loss -- and the winners thought it was their job to remind the losers that they lost. As the day progressed, and, obviously the stakes were getting higher and the teams felt they had a lot invested -- tension increased. To the point that we actually requested that the police come monitor the final round as a "preventative" measure.

Three officers showed up. And, following the championship match, before we could hand out the awards to the top four teams... the police officers promptly watched the women beat the tar out of one another... and allowed Adam to go break it up.

This guy DID go pick up a bat. We're unsure whether this was a precautionary measure (so the women didn't grab the bat and go after one another) or a proactive measure (he was going to start swinging on them).

OK, right. And, back to the awards ceremony...

Adam hands the winning team members their prizes... saying, and I quote: "Congratulations. Stop fighting."

Well, we like to call this a "good learning experience." The CCD staff that worked their tails off organizing the tournament, visiting communities to coach them during practice, etc. were mortified and apologetic... and promised to never organize another event like this again. We challenged their response -- and asked them to consider WHY the women behaved the way they did: because there are no sports programs for them and because they've never been taught how to win and lose. With a commitment to sports ethics education, more sports opportunities, and a no tolerance policy that says, "You start mouthing, you and your team all go home, immediately," -- we're looking forward to the next women's Elle tournament extraordinaire.

Adam and I couldn't resist agreeing: "Man, that was like the parents at the peewee league in America!" "Yeah, or church league basketball..."