A Commercial Break

Okay it's time for a commercial break. . .seeing as I have had little time lately to post a new face of Sri Lanka episode, or perhaps little motivation, I thought I’d give you an intimate glimpse into daily life here in Sri Lanka. Life here is truly about living. I’m inclined to tell you that people here wake up each morning, look in the mirror, if they happen to own one, and ask themselves “How am I going to make enough to feed my family today?” But the truth is, I’m pretty certain they don’t ask themselves that all. It’s a question that doesn’t need to be asked, because it is what their lives are all about. The basics, the bare essentials; food, shelter and perhaps a new sarong every few months. But still consumerism exists; you can see it in the hundreds of small shops along each and every road. While selection is slim, there still exists the desire to be different, to have more than the others. But when it comes to daily life, the idea of more is an after-thought. And so, in my five months here I have tried to embrace this mentality. And believe me it’s harder than it seems. So far, I’ve put a pretty penny into Matara’s economy, buying a guitar, a bicycle and most recently a moped or small scooter to get around on. So while I do live on much less and do have much less selection to choose from, the consumer in me has lived on.

The streets wake up around 7:00am and by 7:30am all the children in their crisp white uniforms are at school and the parents at work. The fruit and clothing sellers lining the streets one after another can be seen from dawn until dusk, each and every day, standing in the exact same spot. You’ll see groups of men sporting dress shirts and long sarongs just squatting on the side of the road. They’ll remain there in the intense heat in the middle of the day, not really doing much at all, maybe not even talking. Now this leads me to my most recent hypothesis that Sri Lankans have mastered the art of doing nothing. Honestly, many of the people I’ve met here, don’t do much. All day they just sit. And it’s not like they are sitting to wait for something to happen. They are simply just sitting. Hence life on the Island is relaxed, slow-paced and extremely uncharacteristic of life in the Western world. And little by little I am becoming more and more efficient, at doing nothing.

I guess the “do nothing” people are mainly found in the smaller villages of Sri Lanka. Colombo, the capital city is much like that of any large thriving city. But again, the buildings are different, and the workplace as well. Many offices don’t have computers. It’s so strange seeing a room full of empty desks and even more bizarre watching people actually working at them. In the back of my mind I think, how the heck do they get anything done around here? I guess it’s the return of the 1980’s. But truly, just as in other areas of life, work is simpler. It may take longer and be less efficient, but the work still gets done.

Well, as for me my daily life has changed from its old routine at home, but is still kind of similar. I wake up at 6:15am, roll myself outside for a 30-45 minute skipping workout, wave hello to the entire neighborhood as they all walk by and stare at me with a confused expression on their face (despite the fact they see me doing the same thing everyday). Then dripping in buckets of sweat I make my way to our semi-cold, sometimes working sometimes not shower. I spend the morning checking emails, doing some work and drinking Nescafe. My most common daily activity is sweating. Even in the middle of Monsoon season, it’s hot, humid and well just really hot. Though I am pretty well used to it, at times it still feels like Alcatraz on a good day. Inescapable. The afternoon is varied; often we end up driving for a few hours to different meetings, trainings or field visits. I’ve enjoyed getting out of the office/home more lately as in the early months we could be stuck here all day. Just yesterday, we spent the day in Galle, a more happening town about an hour from here. We attended a 5 hour Unicef meeting and then visited an activity session with girls from an institution (for young mothers, abuse cases and girls sent for criminal activity) They were all extremely warm and affectionate and just couldn’t get enough and Tom and I and more specifically our white skin. So now that we have begun the training workshops we will have more opportunity to see the children in action and perhaps feel a bit more fulfilled about our work here.

As the sun settles and the evening is upon us our lives become a little more restrictive. Seeing as there is absolutely nowhere to go in the evenings, it can get pretty boring around here. But I have started to enjoy the thought of lazy evenings of reading and relaxing. With no options for action it makes the reality of simple living much more attractive. So now, when we return home, we simply make dinner, read and perhaps view one of our $2 pirated DVDs. And there my friends, is my daily life.

Why is it that when we are at home, we always think that far-off destinations will offer us so much more diversity, that the world will become more within our reach. When in fact the very thing we are trying to escape, routine, follows us wherever we go. Our surroundings may change, but often our lives remain the same.