Friday 27. 3 2020

Hard times will always revel true friends.

The situation here in Sri Lanka could be described as post war.

We likely have the curfew until at least 20th April, as the two next weeks will be critical in the spread of Coronavirus. We can\’t go shopping, and when you get to the store during any short lifting of the curfew, they have minimal goods.

The Apartment complex owner ordered bread for the residents that was brought in large cardboard boxes, unpacked, straight from the oven, a picture from war / post-war film, it made me sad even though it was a nice surprise.  They had eggs, too, that was also a nice surprise.  The vision of eating eggs and bread indefinitely though was unpleasant, I can tell you!

As you have ready previously from Steve, the family I started to see from the 36th-floor was sent back to Canada, so they gave us a box of 12 l UHT milk, 72 eggs, a large glass of mayonnaise and a Parmesan cheese, and other things from the fridge that we now use and consume with gratitude. Knowing that I had enough milk, I was able to share some of it and some flour with a resident who I met down by the pool in order to make macaroni cheese for her family including two-year-old girl.  Another family from Australia, whom I met at the pool also, with three kids, returning home from a suddenly interrupted holiday, had eaten cookies for two days so I gave them 5 apples and 5 mandarins that I had.

A friend’s-friend was sent to England and gave her all the food she had, so she split it between us 5, which was very generous of her; she could easily have kept it all.

Among our close friends, there are two diplomatic families whose cars have a DPL sticker, allowing them to be on the street at the time of curfew as they still go to work at their embassies.  On Friday afternoon the two Dads played delivery men and delivered provisions from friends to friends. One gave something to another friend, and the other gave something else. I baked gingerbread cake on a large baking tray and sent each of my friends a big piece.  A delivery of potatoes had been made to our little shop on the 5th floor, so I bought a bag for each family, the only thing I could buy and share.

We help each other as much as we can, and with our WhatsApp group we encourage each other and try to get through, day by day.  The worst is, you don\’t know how long we\’ll be surviving in this way. However, I believe that bad times have to revert into good times, it is a life cycle. Hope never dies.

I call my 4 close friends my “Sri Lanka” family and I am grateful they have come into my life.

Rennie