Hurrah! – Back in Business

Great to be back everyone and I do hope you get chance to comment. I fear our time is coming to an end. Marcos – I hope you get chance to read my analysis of your writing. I shall write my final goodbye blog tomorrow but for now, let’s get an update on what’s been happening.

Well, Colombo’s not such a great place to be at the moment for a couple of reasons. The first being the fact that there are huge traffic jams caused by the government having closed roads. Why have they done this? To allow them space to do rehearsals for their military parade on February 4th. In case you don’t know, February 4th is Sri Lanka’s Independence Day. It’s great to celebrate but I don’t think that closing roads during peak commuting times is such a smart idea – and we have 3 more days to go!

The second reason I am not in such a good mood today is that we had a day-long power cut and I have been itching to get on the computer and write to you and had to wait until 6 in the evening. The power went off at 8.30 this morning. Why didn’t we go out you might ask? Well, the morning was OK. We managed to find cool spots in the house but by the time we had had lunch, I’m afraid lethargy set in and we collapsed on the bed and slept for a couple of hours.

Onto brighter things now, I heard from Dad today. He got back safe and sound. He is till adjusting to the freezing temperatures though and he said he can’t get used to wearing socks and shoes after being in sandals or barefoot for three weeks! When he spoke to me he had the heating on and was wearing a fleece as well!

Well, I’m afraid that’s all for now as I have to go help put Isabel to bed and start preparing dinner. I have an early start in the morning. I have to be in work by 7 am. I ma duty manager, which means I have to organise cover of any teachers are sick, take care of any customer issues, technical problems etc. The good thing about starting early though is that I also get to finish early. I finish my shift by 3 pm so I can enjoy the rest of the day with Pankaj and Isabel.

I’ll finish with some answers to the last challenge.

Until the next and final time,:(

Helen x

Corrections to verb patterns in Marcos’ sentences

1. The forest extends across/into nine countries.

2. If you add up all the plant species of North America and Europe, this number is less than the diversity of plants in this forest.

3. The second defends its exploitation by community on a sustainable basis, without destroying the jungle.

4. The politicians here dislike it when an important vehicle of the media (like BBC or New York Times) criticizes their inability to deal with the problems of devastation in the Amazon Jungle or any other forest.

5. For us it is like going to another country.

6. he wears white clothes.

7. Some believe that killing an Amazon River Dolphin brings bad luck.

8. I was thinking of stopping here, but I couldn’t.

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