So yesterday I got all my job worries sorted in half an hour, gainful employment through whenever I head to Cairns in May, and housing. It's the sort of thing where I say, "all the planets aligned," but only tongue-in-cheek. It's another provision of the Lord that increases my faith.
I hope to make the Soderquist Center proud one day, but for now it's peddling The Age subscriptions in a shopping center for two weeks and helping a family with two kids, seven and 10, when their mom goes for surgery and recovery at the end of April.
In the meantime, I'm moving to an area that charms me: a bohemian neighborhood 10 minutes from the city with lots of health food stores and artisan design shops. My landlady is 60-something, seems lovely on first meeting, and passed Devi's muster. Two months is not long enough for much of anyone - employers or flatsharers - and I did a lot of pavement pounding, but these gigs will keep me in good stead for the rest of the trip.
In other news, the international swim championships are going on in Melbourne right now. Apparently Michael Phelps set a world record yesterday. Last week, a girl from the Russian team was caught shoplifting in one of the nearby 'burbs. They didn't press charges, but I'm sure it was an embarrassment to everyone. Then, two days ago, Auntie Dileeni (as she is called by me), read in The Journal that a Vietnamese immigrant gave that girl $100, because "we can be a caring community no matter where you come from . . . . She can do what she wants with the money but I hope it will be an incentive for her to understand she's done wong and to do the right thing from now on." Reminded me of the bishop in Les Misérables.
And finally all things Sri Lanka. I will be bidding adieu to my wonderful hosts of three weeks. We'll still see each other, kick around the city together, but they'll get their house back. In this interim, I have learned about the history of Ceylon, as it was called, eaten its delicious curries a la Abraham, followed its World Cup cricket run with all the enthusiasm Uncle Kumar could impart to the five ladies of the house, and a framework for the Tamil Tiger's air strikes this week, those true pioneers in chaos-mongering. Each in their way, Devi & Dharshi love Sri Lanka and will be an important part of its future. I have no doubts.
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