Letters from Cyprus: My Sri Lankan Kitchen

Only 5hrs after the Eurovision Song Contest had finished, I awake on Sunday morning at 6.30am. I am woken NOT by the pitter patter of feet down the hall like most days but instead to the smell of curry. Downstairs in my kitchen I can hear Menaka and her 2 friends chopping, frying, chatting and laughing. "Oh, that's right" I recall "today is Menaka's birthday party".

And what a party it was. All week was spent shopping and preparing with Menaka's mobile running hot from her friends; "I heard you're having a party...did you forget me?" Word had got around the Sri Lankan community that she was having a party at her 'bosses' house. We joked that night at dinner that she needs to make some excuse about 'not enough chairs - sorry' but then decided otherwise at the thought of the reply perhaps being "no problem; I can bring my own chair, I will come to your party". Menaka invited 5 of her closest friends, 15 of her closer, trustworthy acquaintances, and then about 10 ex-pats whom she has met through us and been associated with through babysitting work etc. For a single woman on a small income to put on such a large party almost single handedly was quite significant. It was a real privilege for Ross & I to host it here in our house and to see Menaka's more social side.

From the early smells of curry frying to the last minute salad preparations it was a real joy to see our kitchen so immersed in Sri Lankan cuisine. I secretly wished I could be part of the cooking team but instead I just took sneak peeks and tiptoed around putting chairs out.

When her friends arrived, they all politely introduced themselves and shook our hands, and Menaka introduced them to the kids". Joint parties like this with host families are not the norm, so it was great to celebrate all together.

Drinks began alongside some pork bites and then a few kind words were spoken of the lovely Menaka before saying grace and the meal being served. Chicken curry, potato salads, fried rice, curried beans, dahl, papadums and green salad. Mmmm Mmmmm....most people went back for 2nds - it was too delicious for words in my opinion. Made me think how bored Menaka must be from cooking the standard weekly meals for our family. Time to toughen up kids and get used to some more curries!

It was great to see so much pride in the food that she and her
friends had made for us all

Almost straight after the meal, Menaka had the music turned up in the living room and the dancing began. Nobody needed any encouragement; within a minute the dance floor was full and one man in particular made us all laugh and admire his dance moves. The balloons came out and we danced with them between our heads. Anna and her friend Katie enjoyed that one.

The party concluded slowly with Menaka and her friends continuing to party downstairs and many of us oldies lazing around drinking tea with our feet up. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

To someone who has been such a significant part of our stay here in Cyprus and whom we will remember for a long time to come: Happy Birthday Menaka!