the waiting game
"hurry get your visa done!" i was told early last week.
stuck in colombo, a trip to the indian high commission confirmed my worst fears, that the visa would take over a week to get. nevertheless, i signed up for one anyway expecting to hit the ground running as soon as i got it.
no such luck.
it's now tuesday, and i've been in sri lanka for almost 2 weeks. i've just dropped off my passport at the high commission, and will get it back in about 5 hours, complete with visa. and i just found out that i am going to be waiting here for at least a couple more days before the reporter in singapore gets her stuff together and meets me here.
normally i wouldn't mind, but having expected to stay a week here, the novelty is starting to wear a little thin. i feel guilty, for i am starting to get desensitized to the destruction all around me. don't get me wrong, these past couple of weeks have been an eye opener, but the cleanup operations are going well, people have started moving on with their lives, and the news value of things here are, well for want of a better word, dead.
still, i've been greatly impressed by the tenacity and optimism of the folk here. "why bother looking back at the past and depressing yourself when you can look to the future towards better things?" they keep telling me.
the spoilt singaporean in me has come out. i whine about how tired i am and how i want to go home, when all around me, people have no homes to go back to, and are smiling and making the best of life.
i am humbled. and i go on waiting.
stuck in colombo, a trip to the indian high commission confirmed my worst fears, that the visa would take over a week to get. nevertheless, i signed up for one anyway expecting to hit the ground running as soon as i got it.
no such luck.
it's now tuesday, and i've been in sri lanka for almost 2 weeks. i've just dropped off my passport at the high commission, and will get it back in about 5 hours, complete with visa. and i just found out that i am going to be waiting here for at least a couple more days before the reporter in singapore gets her stuff together and meets me here.
normally i wouldn't mind, but having expected to stay a week here, the novelty is starting to wear a little thin. i feel guilty, for i am starting to get desensitized to the destruction all around me. don't get me wrong, these past couple of weeks have been an eye opener, but the cleanup operations are going well, people have started moving on with their lives, and the news value of things here are, well for want of a better word, dead.
still, i've been greatly impressed by the tenacity and optimism of the folk here. "why bother looking back at the past and depressing yourself when you can look to the future towards better things?" they keep telling me.
the spoilt singaporean in me has come out. i whine about how tired i am and how i want to go home, when all around me, people have no homes to go back to, and are smiling and making the best of life.
i am humbled. and i go on waiting.
posted by beeker at 1:21 PM
1 comments
