Monday 26th June 2023

When we arrived in Sri Lanka we had 13 pieces of luggage plus one item left when we came on our Easter decision-trip and another that Steve took on a business trip before we moved – so 15 pieces in total of about 200Kg. 

Little were we to know that we’d leave with 23 pieces totalling in excess of 250Kg – and on top of this was well over 100Kg kindly taken by friends and colleagues in the weeks before we were to leave, and 82Kg sent by air cargo; something approaching 450Kg in all!

It would have been much more had we not given so much to our maid Siyana who had worked for us since November 2019.  She and I packed it into boxes and bags together so that she knew what she was given, and I ordered and paid for a taxi for her to take it all home.  The car had three rows of seats but when we’d finished loading it was packed to the brim and there was barely room left for her to sit next to the driver.

She was very grateful on one hand, but sad on the other that this meant that she would be leaving us.  Over the years we had tried hard to be kind to her and treat her well, and she recognised this.

Rennie