Mah tah yana ohna adam’s peak. (i want to go to Adam’s peak). As you can see my days of single word Sinhala phrases are finally over. Well, not completely but I’m getting there. it’s so true that living in the land of the language is the way to go if you’re trying to learn a new one. I’m sitting on my balcony right now watching the sunset, it’s shadowed by some wide clouds but combined with this cool breeze it’s a nice reprieve from the day’s heat. I was desperate to learn how to say ( I want to go) in Sinhala because I am dying to get away and explore with any free moment i have. Last weekend we met up with our friend Janaka (also our tuk tuk driver) and a friend of his to explore a little. We asked them to take us to Tangalla about an hour’s drive from our place. Well, we ended up going everywhere but there. They took us to this cool blow hole that in the monsoon season sends water 23m into the air- very cool. We also went to this amazing Buddhist temple that has the tallest seated Buddha in SL. It was an interesting place to visit and although I’m pretty sure I burnt the bottoms of my feet (we had to remove our shoes and the ground was scorching) it was a worthwhile experience. The Buddhist movement here is very large as around 80% of the people in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese and also Buddhists. The nature of this religion is very devout and pure. In Matara the focal point of the town is the Buddhist temple which at first glance resembles that of an amusement park back at home. Fortunately, for the most part people are very open to other religions and although they have firm beliefs of their own they in no way make you feel inferior if you are not Buddhist. After our visit to the temple, Janaka took us back to town to rally up some more of his friends. We ended up in this little paddle boat on the main river that runs through the town. There were 6 guys and tom and I in this little boat. The intent of the trip was to spot some big crocodiles along the bank of the river. I was a little weary seeing as I was only inches from the water and when I asked them just how big these crocs were they all told me about 24m. 24meters! what the heck- that’s like the size of 3 of these boats I said. They all laughed and I’m really not sure if it was a laugh at my apparent nervousness or at the fictional size of the crocodile. We never saw one so i can’t say for certain how big these ones really are. Although we didn’t see any crocs we saw a lot of other stuff in that river. and unfortunately it was not the type of things that one hopes to see on a boat trip- mostly it was parts of chickens, like their feet, skin that sort of thing- lovely. On top of this the river bank was scattered with loads and loads of garbage. Apparently, the river was really nice and clean and then after the tsunami much of the refuge from the disaster found itself in the river. Sadly, many many bodies we also found along the banks changing the way the locals viewed its purpose. Now the river is a mass of garbage that despite its charm from a distance is quite disturbing up close. But the boating trip was again an experience worth having.

A few days have since passed when I began to write this entry. Mainly we have spent the week working in our little office here and trying to get swims and runs in whenever possible. We took our friends (Susantha and his family) out to dinner on Wednesday night. When we were there he told us they had some exciting news. They were pregnant!! His wife is so sweet and humble she smacked him for telling us. Now the crazy part of it is that he told us before he had even told his own children. They were at the table asking, Is this for real?? It was a funny sight. Unfortunately, his wife got quite ill at dinner and had to excuse herself to go get sick on the beach. We felt so bad but she insisted she was fine. Again, an example of the selfless nature of the people here in Matara. Yesterday, we wandered down to the Fort to watch a swimming lesson for little 2-5 year olds. It was adorable. They just play on the beach and then go and swim in the pool. They all have these amazing little smiles. Definitely a highlight of the week. I’ve included a photo for you. So, now today is Friday, Tom and I are heading to the town stadium to watch part of the big cricket match this afternoon. The locals are crazy with school spirit and they have insisted that we come and watch. We are scared of what will happen if we don’t. Last night we were invited again by two young policemen we met a few weeks ago. They sometimes just randomly pop by our place and check out our security measures. They just sit there with their guns in their pants and enjoy a cup of tea while telling us about the cheating criminals they caught that day. It’s funny how random events just seem normal here.

Well, here’s to a weekend filled with surfing and relaxing before a busy week in Colombo! Til next time! Ayubowan!