A morning song and a daily quote

My oriental friend

What a week! It started at Brighton's Pool Valley Coach Station and has taken me from there to here (a guest house in Colombo) via a range of amazing, exhilarating, exhausting and unusual experiences. Of note were the following discoveries made along the way. I learnt that a touch down on an Emirates airline holds no fear for me in view of the forward camera which leaves no room for my usual catastrophic imaginings of misjudged landings and shortened runways; that I am not as appealing to mosquitoes as I had feared; that I may have missed my vocation as a tuk tuk driver; and much more. But most importantly, I learnt the simple comfort of repetition in an unfamiliar place. Two things have greeted me daily since my arrival. Firstly, a small black and white bird (pictured) has sung to me every morning whilst perched on the cables outside the window of my guest house. It seems he is an oriental magpie robin and he is a welcome and melodic visitor. Secondly, I have enjoyed receiving a daily quote via text to my phone each morning. VSO have given me a local sim card used by a previous volunteer who I imagine must have set this up. It is a small thing for which I have felt surprisingly grateful. Along with my oriental friend, the unexpected texts have provided me with a little routine and a sense of familiarity as I start each day somewhere new. It seems apt that I share with you my favourite quote so far from Kahlil Gibran ...“for in the dew of small things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed”. Of course, what he didn't say was that as the day progresses even the heart becomes rather hot and sweaty!