Janet's Journal

Rambutan, one of my favourite fruits, are out of season now but sometimes trees in the southwest of the island produce a crop this time of year. I was lucky enough to spot a roadside seller and purchase a bag of the little ‘Covid’ fruits. Look at their pictures and you will see how they got their nickname. Yummy little golf ball sized fruits packed with vitamin C.

Play Day this month was on 18 December. Katana Temple is a little quieter than the two Negombo temples. It’s not very far away and has a peaceful, friendly atmosphere.

Afterwards I stopped at the Hela Bojun nearby for supper. This is an initiative run by the Ministry of Agriculture employing rural women to showcase their cooking skills and earn a living. There are more than fifteen outlets now around the country. The food is vegan, simple, tasty and freshly cooked. Incredibly good value for money. Rs150 will buy a filling, nutritious meal.

My next task was to buy a Christmas house. These are simple stables in varying sizes, made from thin wood ad dried paddy (like straw but it’s the rice plants after threshing the grains out).

A set of little nativity figures and coloured lights completed my display. Churches, hotels, businesses as well as homes all over Negombo set these up in the week before Christmas.

Carol singers, Negombo style, came down the road on Monday night, it was worth Rs100 for the boys to perform just for me with drums, singing and a dancing Santa.

The proliferation of decorations all over town has been added to now that the Municipal Council has switched on the festive lights in all the main streets.

As the oft repeated song says ‘It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas’.