today in tealand

the world i know

2008-01-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

Shame on me for taking so damn long to write again. The truth is that I have been meaning to write and have probably written an entry several times in my mind. But the lure of the ocean swell after work, and the companionship of my newest guilty pleasure (watching arrested development in bed with a mug of baileys) has been too strong. I also must admit that the last couple of months have been amazing ones, and so i have chosen to live instead of taking the time to write about it. I spent two weeks in december with my lovely parents touring a bit of sri lanka and then hopping over to bangkok and cambodia for a week or so. Bangkok is probably one of my most favorite international cities with its constant grind, amazing food and electric streets. I’ll be passing through there again in a couple of weeks, and can hardly wait. the visit to cambodia was also an incredible one. Sharing the experience with my folks was definitely what made it even more memorable. The sunrise at angkor wat is one of those rare life experiences that you can only live once, as the sheer brilliance of it can only be felt by virgins of the experience. Though i am sure seeing it a second time, also has its merits.

2007 was the first year I have spent solo at Christmas. It was really difficult being away from all my amazing family and friends, but i guess having the snow, and the thrill of christmas so far away, made it bearable. I suppose the other positive was that I met an amazing swiss man a few weeks before the holidays. We spent a lot of time together and really just tried to live in the moment. So christmas was an enjoyable and memorable one. As both myself and my Christmas beau knew he would be leaving in early january, we just enjoyed the holidays surfing, bickering with annoying sri lankan guesthouses and eating and drinking lots . However, as these things tend to go, the leaving part was extremely difficult and so i may be making a quick trip to switzerland sometime soon. I guess these things happen when you are least expecting them too. But in my experience and as the gypsy tales here tell, the planetary alignment of sri lanka make it a special place, it may just be the island of love. Almost all my friends here have found love on these pristine and memorable shores.

So basically the past few months have been amazing, rewarding and yet at times challenging ones. The RTP project still has its ups and downs and I have been trying to stay as positive as possible. With only two weeks left in my mission, I have started thinking more and more about what it will mean to leave this life behind. I am fully aware that when i return home i will face some sadness knowing that this life experience has come to an end. The many people we have worked with here, are such special unique individuals. The friends I have made are incredibly close ones, as life in this isolated, war stricken country has drawn us together quickly. There are many things I already know I will miss, and many that I will be happy to leave behind. As I prepare to say my goodbyes, life as I have come to know it in the last year will come to an abrupt end. It will be the people in my daily life that i will miss the most. However difficult the past year has been, it is all a part of living. Many moments will be seen as hard memories and others as life defining adventures.

As i look back on who i was one year ago and who i am now, i personally don’t see much of a difference. The difference has not come from inside me, but from what I have seen in others.

I used to dream of waking up each day to a new and different sun.
Life in Sri lanka has taught me that no matter where you are in the world the sun will continue to rise.
Whether or not you wake up to see it, is up to you.

So to many more sunrises and unexpected moments. . .I bid farewell.
I send my final thoughts from Sri Lanka and hope you too have enjoyed the adventure!

In love and friendship
Amelia X

the heart of it

2007-11-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

The last month has been the quickest one to date. Having the companionship of my good friend from home helped lament that burden of loneliness and isolation. Combined with travels to Bangkok and Beijing, time seemed to escape me, like it tends to do when we are happiest. The other day I received an email from a new age pen pal of mine, begging the question of happiness, but more so of the present and the future. Why does it always seem that we are dreading, anticipating or planning for the future? We have all made promises to ourselves to live more in the present, to embrace the here and now. I've had this very conversation with so many different people. Why can't we just be happy? We always seem to want more. Is it the wanting that leads to unhappiness?

Over the last 9 months I have seen some of the most amazing sights imaginable. I have met people that have overcome extreme struggles that most of us cannot even imagine. But still almost everyday I have to remind myself to see the beauty in my life here. Is it because I am simply unhappy? Is it because I dream of something better? I would be lying if I didn’t admit to the fact that (more often than not) i have caught myself counting down the days until I return home. Part of it is because this experience has been a true struggle. A struggle much different than I had expected. But I think my ticking clock has more to do, with that same old concept of now versus when. i don’t think my feelings of the future are any different than they would be at home.

So why can’t I just stop and listen. Listen and learn from this moment. Why do I always feel as though I need to move forward?

Maybe the answer is simple.

Hope might just be the greatest gift on earth. And if you think about it, the only place hope can really exist is in the future. Perhaps, happiness is simply discovering what it is we truly hope for?

So, as I sit here on my worn foam mattress, fighting off the omnipresent miniature ants think about the book I'm reading. One of the characters was an expert on happiness. As a scientist and a doctor he had devised a mathematical equation to put a monetary value on the different things that could make us happy, and yet, as his wife pointed out in the book, he had no idea how to find happiness himself.
My happiness seems to be fleeting. It can come and go in an instant, with a simple thought or action. It lives in the present. It can be our relationships, the feeling of fresh air in our lungs, a bowl of chocolate ice cream. To me happiness is momentary. It is hope that is lasting. It lives deep inside us. It lives deep in our hearts.

so as my friend simply asked me. I ask you.

What's in your heart?

everyday lanka

2007-10-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

It really feels as though my time in the Maldives with Steve was all a dream. A really happy dream but a dream nonetheless. Either way I had the chance to spend some quality time with my "oldest" friend and see one of the worlds most amazing tropical paradises. Despite a bit of rain, we did some of the most incredible snorkeling and even got a chance to get up close and personal with a mantaray. .as per the picture. So despite the briefness of the adventure, it was a lasting one.

Since my return back to the reality of Sri Lanka and life on the coast, things have been good but busy. Tom and I hosted our first awareness workshop for teachers from the Ministry of Education. This was a huge feat as we had been struggling with obtaining approval from the government since our arrival here. We were expecting 90 or so primary school teachers to attend, but much to our surprise almost 200 showed up. I guess this is a good sign but just made for a very chaotic last few hours. We also had some visitors from one of our project's main funders, a bank from Switzerland and so had to be on our top form. So the workside of life has been busy and finally quite rewarding. We have just two or three workshops left and the majority of our time will be spent monitoring the activities of the training participants. So basically, going to child care centers and playing with the kids. . the fun part of the job.

Other than work, the personal side of things has also been better. I suppose I have had several months of feeling up and down, working through bouts of lonliness, boredom and frustration. But the past couple of months have brought me more happiness than I had expected. I am still struggling at times, homesick and anxious to be back amoung family and friends, but for the most part I am happy. My good friend Wes arrived a couple of weeks ago and so it has been amazing having him here. We headed off to Arugam Bay last weekend for an awesome surf weeknd and tomorrow we'll head up to Colombo via the train. We fly out to Bangkok and then Beijing for the week and so I am pretty excited to get away from the Island for awhile at least. I have just under 4 months left which in part seems like a long time, and on the other hand seems like nothing at all.

The monsoon season should be trailing off giving me the chance to get back out on the surf board and will hopefully mean more to do on the weekends. The rainy season makes the ocean an ugly grey and results in loads of debris on the beaches and in the water. So we haven't been swimming much at all. I'm anxious to get back at it.
Wel, my stomach problems are still plaguing me, despite my 30 day herbal cleanse and so I suppose I will just have to wait until I get home to sort things out. It's pretty disconcerting, but I am not too sure what else to do. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.

Well, life continues to pass us by. I suppose it is the small everyday things that generally make up thr story of our life. For this reason, I hope you are finding laughter and joy in each day.

I'll write again soon. Until then, Be well!
Amelia

the people of our lives

2007-09-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

One day away from the glow of vacation in the Maldives. Life should be filled with the cheer of leaving my current life behind me, for a few days at least. But my heart is sad as my very close friend lost her mother and 5 relatives during a wedding celebration this past week. I felt lost when I first heard the news, it was 3pm my time but the middle of the night for all of you back home. The suddeness of how quickly life can change hit me like a wall of wind. I had just spoken to my friend the week before and she was complaining about heading back to Vancouver (again) for another blasted wedding. Well, of couse she was happy for her cousin, but her and I often have a laugh complaining about how we'll have to settle for an arranged marriage if we ever hope to get hitched. So you can imagine my horror when I heard the news. My heart is still broken for her. Her life has drasticially changed in just a flash of a second. It got me thinking (rare i know) about how unexpected life really is. It's like that saying that the only thing certain in life is death. As morbid as that sounds it really is the truth isn't it? Sometimes things happen in our lives, in our friends lives, that appear unfair and so unbeliveably cruel. But they do happen and they will continue to happen. There really isn't much we can do about it either.

What we can do is remind us of what is truly important in our lives. This may be very different from one person to the next, but one bridge exists. this seems to be that the people that make up our lives, truly do define our lives. I know this all sounds very cliche but often there is a reason why sayings become over used and it's because they are true, in whole or in part at least.

So, my older bro arrives first thing tomorrow morning, 5am, to be exact and while I'll have to pry myself out of bed, this time, it will be different. With the anticpation of spending 3 glorious days on one of the world's most acclaimed island resorts I am excited. But to be honest, my excitement comes from seeing my brother. For what I've realized being away all this time, it that its the sharing of these experiences that make them so memorable.

So, in parting I leave you with the words of "Shantaram" author david gregory roberts:

"Every human heartbeat, he’d said many times, is a universe of possibilities. And it seemed to me that I finally understood exactly what he’d meant. He’d been trying to tell me that every human will has the power to transform its fate. I’d always thought that fate was something unchangeable: fixed for every one of us at birth, and as constant as the circuit of stars. But I suddenly realised that life is stranger and more beautiful than that. The truth is that no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter now good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love"

Embrace your life and love your "people".
Amelia

The Face Says it All

2007-07-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

9:17am December 26th 2004. I was probably sleeping. Enjoying the peaceful rest that comes only with the christmas holidays. the feeling of satiety from days of over-endulging, of chocolate macaroons, of oven baked turkey, of everything green and red.

Now Meet Sarath. Another face of Sri Lanka.

On December 24th 2004 at precisely 9:17am, time stood still. As you can see from the minute and hour hands, the time on this clock at least, hasn’t changed since. You see, Sarath owned, Dilkini, a well established, well visited guest-house on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, After years in the business of hospitality, Sarath saved enough money in 1984 to build his own place just 10meters off the shore of the Indian Ocean in Weligama. By 1987, Sarath had steady business, a good reputation and a full staff of local workers. Life was good and his family’s future looked bright.

Then some 20years after the dream of his own business began, an unexpected and almost unearthly thing happened. A huge wave, tens of meters high, crashed right through his front door. Mud, garbage and of course water, filled every room in his house. It was then, at 9:17am, that every changed. Except his clock that is.

Sarath, at the time, a large and well-fed man, soon became the thin and frail. His daughter who had a promising career in Colombo returned home to help the family rebuild their lives and their home. With the guesthouse severely damaged, Sarath spent months waiting for support from the government, which never came. Fortunately, over the past few years he had saved enough to rebuild the house to its almost original form. Now 3 years after the Tsunami, when the rooms should be briming with sunburnt tourists, and the kitchens hot with pots of rice and curry, the building stands empty. For Sarath, and many others along the tsunami-affected coast of Sri-lanka, challenge has arrived in a new form.

After years of a supposed peace treaty, the government of Sri Lanka and the rebellion faction the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are at a new height of war. The conflict has rightfully scared away the throngs of tourists, leaving the southern beaches and guesthouses, as vacant as ghost towns.

So Sarath and his daughter sit and wait. Their freshly painted walls and sincere smiles, desperate for anyone to enter.

And so enter we did.

Tom and I decided to hold a Right To Play training session in the lobby of the guesthouse. Although the space was a bit tight, and the room a little warm, it was hard to deny such a wonderful man, the company and business we could provide. The past three days involved a great deal of teaching and learning. We taught the fundamentals of child development, but learnt of the power of perserverance. I am certain that Sarath and his daughter will be just fine. Their spirit and energy will keep them going. While the Southern Coast is saved the horror of daily shellings and fatal war, the effects of the long-standing civil conflict, still reek havoc.

But admist the chaos and pain that comes with such tragedy and hardship, you can still see the happiness of everyday life. And for Sarath and his family, although the time on the wall still remains the same, when the hopeful tourist does return, at least they will clearly see how far they’ve come.

A Commercial Break

2007-06-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Faces of Sri Lanka- A Miniseries

2007-06-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

The thin lines intersect and come alive. Decades of living, leave permanent imprints, revealing her story without saying a word. Unlike the promise of the roaming gypsies, her fortune speaks of the past, the lines of her face, tell the story of her life. And suddenly she becomes beautiful, wrinkles and all. And through her life filled with war, poverty struggle and love, she is the face of Sri Lanka.

Life here is hard on the skin, the penetrating heat of the sun burns and hardens even the darkest of complexions. The red dust settles in the pores and as soon as the sun rises the sweaty mixture quickly turns grey. But “Achhi or Granny” as I like to call her, was built for these surroundings. Every morning wearing her batik nightgown she waves hello and grumbles something unrecognizable through her betel stained teeth, or what’s left of them at least. I’m pretty sure she’s not altogether there, but seeing as I don’t speak the language, who I am to judge. The other day, Granny caught me completely off-guard. I was reading on my porch, when I noticed she was no longer sitting in her usual plastic chair and her casual grumblings were no longer audible. So I decided to wander down the hill in case she herself had wandered off. Then just as I neared the busy beach road, I found her clung to a small tree off to the side . She seemed to be looking for someone, likely her grandchildren, but again the language barrier made it impossible to know for sure. After some time, she noticed I was standing next to her. She grabbed hold of my arm, in what felt like a death grip, I can’t explain how shocked I was by her pure strength. So, anxious and a little weary that she might actually do some damage to my slight wrist, I managed to convince her that heading back up the hill was her best bet. Fifteen minutes later after a chorus of long winded mumbling, accompanied by a throbbing wrist , we made it back to the house and more importantly, to her plastic chair. As she slowly sat down, writhing in exhaustion and frustration, she looked at me intently and clearly spoke the words “thank you”. In english, I mean. I had to pause a minute to ensure that I had indeed heard her correctly. Imagine that. After all these months of seeing her every single day she had kept her secret, and saved her ‘thank you” for the perfect occasion. As I made my way up the steps to my suite a lifetime away, we exchanged a glance and shared the same knowing smile filled with understanding. And suddenly, for that moment at least ,we were more the same, than different. As she turned her head away and I continued up the stairs. . the mumbling began as normal.

today in dreamland

2007-05-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

I've spent a good deal of the last four months here in Sri Lanka thinking. This is not necessarily a new past time for me, but lately I suppose I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot more of it. I think during the many long, hot journeys to and from Colombo, I think while paddling my way out on my surf board and I think while watching the sun both rise and fall. I've thought about many useless, meaningless ideas, reminisced about recent memories from just a few months ago, to memories long since passed. I've thought about who I believe I am, about who my friends think I am and mostly I've thought about who I truly want to be. I've also surrendered many moments to the thought of being single and about what it will one day be like to be married. I've thought about how interesting, diverse, surprising and daring life can be.

You see, I recently received an email from a close friend, he's what you might call a life or career mentor. I had written to him just a few weeks ago during a time of doubt, when I was questioning my decision to move here, to leave my comfortable life behind and take the risk to go somewhere totally different. Now I’ve always been up for any kind of adventure, and traveling has always been something I’ve embraced. But I can now tell you from experience, that traveling for a couple weeks or even a couple of months is completely different from moving and creating a life in a foreign community. I was feeling alone, isolated and to be honest, disappointed, and when I say disappointed I mean, in myself. After all, I chose to come here. I chose to live in this situation and so why can’t I simply embrace this experience. It’s only for a year and it really is an amazing opportunity. But as the days come and go I still feel deflated. I suppose being in this foreign land, in a place where people live and work each day to simply earn enough money to eat, is a huge change. While I’ve witnessed poverty before, I suppose I’ve never lived it. My life here in Sri Lanka, is far from difficult. The natural surroundings are breathtaking, the people are charming and despite the constant stares and attention, my life goes on as normal. But still this feeling of deflation lives on.

And then, perhaps a week following my down-trodden email to him, Tod wrote back. He didn’t write much, but it was enough. He spoke to me about the concept of circumstance, and it started me thinking (yes here I go again) Blame it on the lack of night life, but it’s amazing how far the mind will go if you just let it. I started thinking that pretty much everything we think, feel or do can be related back to self perception. You see, most of the people here in Matara, in my village in Sri Lanka, were born here. They were born into a life of poverty, limitations, simplicity and war as I was born into an upper-class, western, Christian home. We were born into two completely different senses of reality. Their comprehension and understanding of what life is all about differs greatly from that of my own. Tod noted that the difficulties I was facing were self-imposed, and he was right.

I have mentioned in previous posts that the water situation has been a bit of an issue in our house. The reality being that we have a shower with slowly running cold water. In my perception we were missing both hot water and water pressure, making it a big inconvenience and quite unsanitary. Then take my many neighbours who only have a small garden tap with which to wash and drink. The thought of a real shower, with actual running water is a total luxury. So, as you can see, it’s simply a matter of perception. Sleeping under a mosquito net and conducting a thorough inspection of my bed every evening to ensure I am not sharing it with any unwanted visitors, such as scorpions, snakes or even the dengue invested mosquito, has been less than comforting. Again, to my neighbour next door, having a mosquito net and a bed for that matter is again a treasure in itself. Now these may seem like obvious examples, differences based on circumstance, but what about our daily lives. If we go back to my feelings of loneliness and doubt, of being here in this great foreign land, far from home, it is easy is to see the freedom that exists in this experience. Yes I am alone and single, and while I can look at this experience and wish to have companionship I can also choose to look at it with the beauty of being free. But note that this is not as easy as you might think.

A few days ago, we began host a large family of tiny ants all throughout our house. They arrived with the first rain and can be seen and felt everywhere. It's not that they bite or really do any harm- but they are undoubtedly annoying and they aren’t afraid to crawl over every square inch of your body. I mentioned this to my driver Camy the other day. He responded by saying" wow how lucky you are!" I quickly learnt, that here in Sri Lanka the presence of ants in ones home- is a sign of prosperity. It shows that there is something in the house worth staying for- notably food. And food here is indeed a luxury. So, I'm thinking that the popular saying of the "grass is greener on the other side" is really all a matter of perception. It seems to me, that each situation, each challenge in life is not measured by its own merit but rather by the way we choose to respond to it. I think this might be the most difficult lesson to learn. If we truly do learn it, we will have to stop complaining and worrying and suffering, because there will be good in everything. And that might be too much to handle.

So as I sit here in the sweltering heat accompanied by my recently enlarged stomach,no not from too many Lion Lagers, but from an insistent stomach parasite, a smile comes across my face. The old Amelia would be disgusted and deflated by the thought of some strange creature growing inside her, but now as I sit here with my newly adopted perspective I think, at least I'm providing both food and shelter for one of God's creatures, yeah right. Bring on the antibiotics, I gotta kill that sucker.

Smiling Sri Lanka

2007-05-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

If you ask my Dad the thing he'll likely remember the most from his recent tour around Sri Lanka my bet is he'll say the many disarming smiles he received along the way. I'm sure I have written about these smiles before, if not shame on me. Just as India is often touted as the place that perfected love, Sri Lanka is undoubtedly the land that has perfected the smile. To give an example you can be driving along one of the busy and heavily policed streets in Colombo and be roughly pulled over by the army, police or navy at any split second. The guards at the checkpoint are dressed in full military garb complete with large shotgun in hand. Once pulled over a group of officers will slowly make their way over to your vehicle. They'll stick their heads decisively inside the passenger window and bark out a few harsh words at the driver. And then as you sit there frozen in anticipation of the unknown- you're dismissed as quickly as you arrived, left with a flash of a beautiful, wide and white-toothed grin. And its a real smile, a real genuine smile from the officer who stands on the street all day in 40 degree weather in full army fatigues hoisting a rifle over his back. And the smiles don't stop there, they continue on to the very elderly woman sweeping away gravel with hopes of making a few rupees to feed herself, to the slight, young child walking barefoot along the hot tar road to make his way to school. The smiles are contagious, sincere and completely disarming. As my Dad put it we could all learn a lot from the extreme kindness the Sri Lankans offer one another, in the gesture as simple as a smile.

Very early this morning my Dad and little brother Chris left Sri Lanka after 11 planned days and 2 unexpected ones. The unexpected ones came as a great bonus for me but were the result of the complete cancellation of all night flights. Due to the rising conflict here, with the new bombings in Colombo last week every airline shut down its night flights wary of the heightened security risk after dark. So, after spending an additional day with them in Colombo I woke up this morning alone. As amazing as it was to have them here, the sudden loneliness that follows the goodbye is always really difficult. But I've also never really understood why they are called "goodbyes" - seeing as they rarely leave you feeling good. That said, while I'm hopeful that they both enjoyed their time here I'm guessing they were anxious to leave the tremendous heat, bugs and obvious poverty behind them. I, on the other hand, enjoyed one last breakfast buffet at the Hilton, grabbed by bag and ventured off to the Fort Train Station. Today, was my first experience taking the train all the way from Colombo to Matara and one that while interesting enough, I'm hoping not to have to do too often. I arrvied at the station, picked up my ticket to Matara for a hefty 195rupees (around $2 CAD) and joined a hundred other weary passengers at aisle 5. After waiting a good 45 minutes and anxious to jump on the train and win myself a coveted forward facing window seat, I was grabbed by a man and pushed towards aisle 6. He motioned for me to get on this train as it was the one to Matara-

I have learnt to be somewhat skeptical of random helpful strangers, but after asking a few others sadly discovered that this was indeed my train.I say sadly because the train was jam packed without me and my two rather large and heavy bags. Hmmm. Well, my dreams of having a front facing window seat quickly vanished and I silently surrendered to the reality of sitting on one bag with the other one in between my knees. I sat cramped into a small crevace next to the open train galley door along with 10 other unfortunate people. And so continued the next 5 hours. So, the trip home was a bit of a struggle but the past two weeks with Chris and Dad definitely soften the impact. I met them in Colombo, where they rested and relaxed at a nice 5 star metropolitan hotel to fight off the jetlag and get them ready for a busy couple of weeks. You'll have to ask each of them what the highlights were, but for me I really enjoyed staying at Kandalama Hotel in Dambulla and hiking up Sigiriya the Eight Wonder of the World. The hotel was built into the side of a large rock and sat adjacent to a beautiful lake filled with Mangroves and surrounded by rainforest. An equally beaufitul place was the little town of Ella which just received electricity in 1984. We stayed at this amazing guesthouse right at the top of this large hill and had a direct view of Ella Gap which is 1000m deep. Waterfalls and forest were all around and the sense of tranquility and peace at this place made it impossible to remember the war-torn streets of Colombo and the North. Definitely a place I'll go back to. It would take me ages to write of every experience we had and as usual it is difficult to capture the true beauty of Sri Lanka in just a few words. All in all, it was an icredible visit that showed me a different side of this diverse little island. It's easy to fall in love with Sri Lanka but when you have your family and friends here to fall in love also, it makes all the difference.

Call us the Pilgrims

2007-04-12T04:58:00.000-07:00

The feeling in the air has changed. I actually remember the exact moment when the entire atmosphere around me felt different. There was a sudden heaviness with each breathe and equally as noticeable was the change in my mood. It became heavy as well. Well, wait a minute, there's a seemingly scientific reason for that. While my entire body felt much heavier- the air around me was actually thinner. I was at the top of Adam's Peak - also know as Sri Pada for the place Adam (from the bible) first stepped foot on earth. It is 2400m high and a noticeable change from my regular existence at sea level. The heaviness was the burning in my lungs and the lactic acid build-up in my legs. It all makes perfect sense now.

Tom and I had it in our minds that because Easter weekend wasn't really celebrated here- and we are both Catholic- we would embark on a spiritual pilgrimage of our own up the five thousand plus steps of Sri Pada. It seemed like a great idea at the time, almost inspirational in fact, don't you agree? So, following a busy Saturday spent working at the UN's Sport 4 Peace workshop we headed off with Camy- our local driver to Delhousie- the town at the base of Adam's Peak. We quickly gobbled down a plate of traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry and by 9:30pm were sound asleep under our pink mosquito net in a small shared bed. We figured for the sake of a few hours sleep one room would suffice- and it actually did.

So, as you can imagine 1:15am arrived quite quickly and in a daze (and in total darkness because the power had gone out- from the rain storm outside) we gathered our things and varnished ourselves with the highly endorsed anti-leech balm. Freaky I know. But it really was quite necessary. After negotiating our way down the guesthouse stairs guided by the light of Tom's cell phone (remember the power was conveniently out)we found ourselves stopped before we even started. The guesthouse front door was locked with no way out. So we scouted around looking for another exit with no avail- the rain was picking up and the sky was completely black- and at this point the lure of bed was still upon us. But then out of the shawdows came one of the staff members- opening the door and wishing us luck on our journey.

So, we were on our way. Now most people have their drivers drop them off at the trailhead but Camy, our seasoned tour guide of a driver- confidently told us that the entrance was only a 6-7 minute walk away- well, I think he wanted some extra shut-eye because 6-7 minutes into it we were nowhere near the entrance. In fact, at around the 6-7 minute mark as we scurried down this completely vacant, horrifically dark mountain road- we were suddenly met by this huge,totally unknown to either of us animal running out of the bushes and across the road just ahead of us. it scared the crap out of both of us and I guess on the positive side of things- woke us up more quickly than a case of redbull. Turned out to be an oversized wild boar. yikes. So needless to say I had a few words with Camy later that day.

After a good 30 minutes of wandering up shallow stairs and passing by half-open snack and hat stands we found ourselves at the official entrance of Adam's Peak. Now keep in mind it is around 2:00am, pouring with rain, and in our newly fragile bodies- quite cold (even though it was probably 15 degrees). But hey we've been sweating for the last two months straight so we have a good excuse. So, here we take a quick photo to mark the moment and begin with step 1 of over 5200 steps in total. The area was really quite vacant minus a few random locals hanging around- doing god knows what. we did come across a very frightening Buddhist Monk- with the craziest teeth I've ever seen- some of the people here chew this tobacco type of stuff that makes their teeth black with this oozing red stuff dripping out the sides- somewhat resembles that of a vampire. So being suddenly greeted by a monk of this description who grabbed my wrist and quickly tied a pryaer bracelet around my wrist- added to my feelings of apprehension. I still shutter a little thinking of him.

The next 3 hours involved one rudimentary activity- walking up very very steep stairs (save stopping to grab a drink- eat a banana- and allow the late night pilgrims to make their way down the same steps we were headed up). After hour one, we were trying to decide whose idea this was, and where the heck the peak was. Again still complete darkness. At times the stairs were illuminated by white flouresecent lights and every 20 minutes or so there was a rest hut serving tea, biscuits and playing loud Sri Lankan music. The whole experience was capped by our small companion- this little lonely dog that followed us all of the way up. We named him skippy. No real reason why. As we ascended and the peak became visible, the wind and rain became stronger and I went from sweating to shivering within a few minutes. The steps seemed to be getting steeper and the number of pilgrims heading down greatly increased. We were finally greeted by a number of local Sri Lankans slowly making their way up the stairs as well- men carrying babies on their shoulders, old ladies in their 80's forcing each step to come one after another as they sang what I'd guess was traditional buddhist psalms. While my legs were burning, it was in fact as inspirational as I had imagined. The staris were lined with white prayer string carried along by hundred of pilgrims. At some points prayers ribbons could also be found. And then, suddenly we reached the top. At the peak there were at least a hundred people braving the rain and cold to visit the temple and watch the eery sunrise. We arrived at just after 5am and the wind and rain was almost unbearable- that the the mammoth sized moths that would come out of nowhere and hit you straight in the forehead. We eventually found a small room on the lower level- that was filled with a large swarm of people- trying to escape the cold wind and rest after the long journey. We huddled in this room- the only white people to be seen and waited. Many of the locals made the trip is their barefeet- as they usuyally do over here- and so you could see dried blood dotting feet and ankles that had failed to ward off the small white leeches- that balm was a life-saver. Now, I'd like to say we were rewarded by the most magnificent sunrise we'd ever seen- or that we caught a glimpse of the mysterious shadow of Adam's peak that finds itself relfected on the clouds just after sunrise. But it was raining and overcast- and so we saw neither. But on the trek down the views were still incredible and we felt proudly exhausted to have conquered our first Buddhist Pilgrimage. We'll just have to go back on a sunny day! Any takers?

loving the poya days

2007-04-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

mat tah theh ren neh na ha ( I don't understand) should have learnt this one first i guess.

Well I’m feeling pretty good right now basking in the breeze of my life-saving flourscent green fan. After 12 hours without power this simple luxury feels, well, like a cool wind in the middle of the sahara desert. Like I said life-saving. Let’s just say last night was a scorcher with sauna like temperatures in my room.

Today is April 2nd and more importantly a Poya or Full Moon day,which here in Sri Lanka means a national holiday. Everyone gets the day off to spend with family and friends. The only downer being that you can’t purchase alcohol anywhere- not restaurants, bars nowhere. As you know (or can imagine) an icy cold beer goes down extremely well and quite quickly on a hot day in the sun. So, I was finding myself endulging in an over-sized Lion lager many nights of the week. So in an effort to keep our alcohol intake at a safe rate Tom and I decided to avoid beer during the week. So far it’s been going okay though I have been drinking a lot more Fanta than I ever have before. There’s just something about a cold beer that’s hard to replicate.

So we spent most of last week up in Colombo attending meetings and progressing the project as best we can. We are still in the process of laying the ground work for the project and following our meetings with a few potential partners it looks like it is going to take longer than we had antcipated. We met with another NGO called CCF and the big local NGO Sarvodaya. Our meeting with CCF was very interesting with the regional director reminded me of a character out of a movie with an awesome shaggy beard, long hippie hair and dressed in the local batik clothing- this is a man I’d love to sit down and have a beer with. As an ex-pat from the US, he’s lived and worked in conflict areas all around the world. CCF (Christian Children’ Fund) is just starting a project working with children who lost one of both parents in the Tsunami, so we’re hoping to form a partnership to work closely with them. Regardless of what happens, a great organization doing great work here and all around the globe. From what we’ve heard the southern area of Sri Lanka was packed full of NGO workers up until the end of 2006. The tsunami brought hoards of relief workers and now in comparison it is like a ghost town well in respect to ex-pats and foreigners. Today in fact, being Poya Day (and a result of us having no power) Tom and i ventured out to the coastal village of Dickwella (meaning long beach). We took the local bus which is an adventure in itself and not something I’d do too often, despite is costing me 19 cents for a 30 minute ride. The bus drivers hardly stop to let you on/off and so you kind of have to take running leap to make it. Anyway, we ventured to Dickwella in search of pizza. We were told by some friends of ours from the Belgium Red Cross that the Village Resort in Dickwella has the only brick oven in SL and they make killer pizzas between 12pm and 3pm. So, off we went in search of pizza. We found the resort with relative ease and met the German owner whom we explained we were scoping out a place for some visitors (which is partially true) and we were hoping to have a swim and some pizza while we were here. Well, the good part was that the pool and lounging area was amazingly beautiful (and free), and the bad part was that due to a lack of visitors at the resort the pizza oven was shut down for the season. argh. Not good. But the day ended up quite good with some reading and relaxing by the pool- feeling like we were on a nice vacation. But an example of a lovely resort on the Indian Ocean virtually empty.

I guess since the Tsunami tourism has been down and now with an increase in security warnings even less Europeans and North Americans are making the trip. It’s really sad to see many of the people here struggling to make money as a result of decreased tourism. Although the conflict is frightening in a way, it really is very isolated and as I’ve mentioned before I feel very safe here. Which is why I’m encouraging you all to come and visit. It really is worth it. My little bro and my Dad are coming in just over 3weeks and so I am very excited to see them and explore more of this great country with them.

Well, tomorrow I do have to work and so I’ve got to run here.
Ayubowan- Amelia

2007-03-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

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!

A Day Older in Sri Lanka

2007-03-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Proshnak-nah- meaning “no problem” is a phrase I’ve recently had to utter quite often despite the fact that in normal circumstances I would point out the opposite. Life on the Island as the locals call it, is beautiful and relaxed while equally stressful and frustrating in its own way. Again today we have no water. We have tried to talk to our landlords about this several times but the language barrier has made it tough. In fact our attempt the other day resulted in the wife thinking we had invited the whole family up for tea that evening. Unfortunately we had to work on a big project and had to kindly tell them we would have to postpone. One thing I have learnt is that any little utterance or expression of interest quickly becomes a huge point of discussion. It seems idle small talk is not really a commonality and that the people really hold you to your word. So as a result we have started paying very close attention to what we say. Otherwise we could end up having the entire town of Matara knocking on our door for tea.

I can’t really comment too much on the state and details of the project- but let’s just say there have been many days when Tom and I look at each other and think- wow they may end up shipping us back home if this doesn’t work out. There are just a lot of things outstanding that still need to be confirmed so it leaves us feeling somewhat weary. Then we think- hmm they have already paid rent for the house so maybe we will just stay here and surf all day instead. Just kidding.

Back to the locals, I have to say that the people we have met here in Matara, from our first tuk-tuk driver to a local teacher I randomly met at a work event are absolutely incredible. I’ve never met such genuinely kind and selfless people. Tonight we are heading out to dinner with Susantha the teacher I mentioned. He found out it was my birthday and even though we just spent yesterday at the beach with his family he invited us out to celebrate his wife’s and my birthday. They refuse to let us take public transport and so they make the drive out to brown’s hill to pick us up whenever we spent time with them. Despite the pain, of losing his two nieces and his entire home in the tsunami, he is one of the kindest and least bitter men I have ever known. A true inspiration that had the common sense to take his family and run 2km’s inland on Dec 26 2004- as his village was overtaken by the wave.

Yesterday marked another important day here in Matara as Tom and I headed off to the local Sunday market to pick up some tropical fruits and veggies. We were a little taken aback by the market at first- seeing as it was nearly impossible to ignore the rancid smell that intoxicated us the second we stepped into it. That along with the hoards of people, the jibbering vendors and then suddenly a herd of bulls, yup bulls that pushed their way through the market lane. To top it off Tom narrowly skirted a large pile of bull dung making us look at each other with both horror and humour. Upon our departure from the market clad with pineapples hot peppers and tomatoes we were approached by this tiny, wrinkled gentleman. He claimed to be from Italy, despite his obvious Sri Lankan roots and suddenly embraced both Tom and I placing his head on my shoulder. Hmmm. A little too much for amelia so we quickly said Ciao and were off despite the fact he continued to talk at us as we scurried away. Between locals like him and the hilariously innocent yet senial grandma that lives below us- I could write a novel based on the characters I’ve met- in only 4 weeks away.

So, despite the personal issues and inconviences I am faced with daily, it is the moments of sharing, the openness and acceptance of the people here that keeps me going. That and of course the constant roar of waves I can hear from my balcony. So tomorrow as I turn a year older, I know it will be a good. And that the year ahead will be one to remember.

more than a land of tea

2007-03-04T04:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here at the Trans-Asia hotel in Colombo enjoying the reprieve of air conditioning and a room free of mosquitos, spiders and blistering humidity. Tom and I moved into our house in Matara this past week and although we have only spent two nights there so far it is already starting to feel a little more comfortable. Don't get me wrong it wasn't that it was a bad place at all. It's just that upon our arrival a couple of weeks ago the place was absolutely bare with no furnishings and was quite dirty and really not ready to be lived in. I have come to terms with the reality that I'll be living with a constant film of sweat on my body at all times, unless of course i am travelling in our car or at a fancy hotel in Colombo such as this. A/C just doesn't exist down south and so sleeping at night and even doing something as simple as brushing ones teeth leads to drenched clothing and that constant layer of sweat I've referred to several times. The best thing about our house is definitely the balcony. We have a fine view of backyard and because we are perched up on Brown's Hill we can see the waves rolling in on Matara Beach. The beach itself is not anything too spectacular but there are several beautiful beaches very close to us (so we've been told). So as you can imagine I am very anxious to get my surfboard and to finally hit the beach. Hopefully this weekend.

So yet again we have spent a great deal of time travelling between Matara and Colombo. I think I've been motion sick for the past three weeks. if I haven't explained it to you guys yet. . the driving here is atrocious. There are not really any rules (well any rules that are actually followed) and drivers just drive around anyone who is in the way. . and by drive around, I mean skim by them with millimeters separating the two vehicles, the pedestrian or whatever happens to be causing the inconvenience. Our driver this last trip was just brutal. We usually travel in these passenger vans and this one was in rough shape,so very bumpy even more so than usual and the gears would barely shift. Needless to say it will be an absolute miracle if i make it through this year without any vehicle incidents. Mom brace yourself for several small heart attacks. Steve's driving is nothing compared to this!!

Despite the small daily adventures we have also started to finally dive into the development of the sport for development project here. Tomorrow we will meet with some of the potential partners that will hopefully help us gain access to some of the local communties where we can start to figure out how we can fit into their current structure. Many of the hurdles we and other NGO's have faced recently is due to the security issues in the country. While it's very easy to forget that civil unrest is all around you, when i have the chance to read a paper or watch the news I am quickly reminded that I am not in Canada anymore. To be honest I do really feel very safe here. The problems recently with the helicopter bombing in Batti (which occurred last week) had more to do with the same issues of the gov't vs. the tigers and the inability to find a peaceful solution and was not necessarily an increased security risk. As I write this I'm just hearing more about an arms vessell run by the tigers that was destroyed by the gov't just 100ks off the coast of Dondre head which is very close to Matara. While it scares me a little to hear about this. .the reality is that just like crossing a street at home, every place in the world has a similar threat of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And it is the same situation here. Foreigners are welcomed to SL with open arms it is just important to use your street sense and be aware of the current situation to help eliminate the risk. Compared to our projects in other countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka is a country filled with warm smiles and genuine concern. Just last week in Pakistan a school where we run a similar program faced an unimaginable situation. One of the yuong children arrived at school as usual one morning. The teacher however noticed that he seemed quite uncomfortable and asked him to come up to her desk. When she questioned the child, he lifted up his shirt and revealed a bomb strapped around his waist. he told the teacher that a nice man had given it to him and told him that it would help him remember things. So if he were in class and couldn't remember the answer to a questions he simply had to push the little red button and he would remember. frightening and very real. our project team is made up of local volunteers because it is just too dangerous there for foreigners. So, after hearing this yesterday i am feeling pretty relaxed here in SL.

Anyway, as you can probably tell I am continuing to face a vast array of emotions. Sometimes they confuse me, at times they startle me and more and more and more I am starting to realize that this is what living is all about. Anyway, I am off to enjoy a fine Thai dinner before I head back to Matara and am limited to Rotti and Rice and curry.

I hope this finds you well and I will try to write again soon.
Amelia

okay so. . maybe it should be called "want some tea with your milk and sugar"

2007-02-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Words of the week: (spelling is likely not right but roll with me)
Ayubouan- hello or good bye
Istuhtee- thank you
hyundai - good
hemi-hemi - slow down
put-put - small, crazy three wheelers

Well hello again! I apologize for the lack of updates lately but the last week has been a really crazy one for us. We arrived in Colombo late last Wednesday night and were warmly greeted by Prema (our country manager) and his wife Jai-annie. They are both lovely people and as I would soon discover Prema is definitely one of the funniest men I have ever met. He is just a true riot and Tom and I have a hard time talking to him without laughing. If any of you come and visit he will be a highlight of your trip for sure. So back to the whole tea situation here in Sri Lanka. I've probably had around 20 cups thus far (half by my own accord and the other half imposed upon me). You see the tea here is basically served with half a cup of milk and 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. it is not exactly what I was expecting- but hopefully i will acquire a taste for it. .though Prema did teach me how to say no milk (kiri nah) which can also mean no curry depending on how I pronounce it so I have to be careful. haha

Anyway, Colombo is a crazy, hot hectic city and at the same time extremely interesting and different than anything back at home. We spent out first day here and then ventured down south to Matara where I'll be living. We attended some meetings with the local contacts and checked out our house. Unfortunately it has absolutely zero supplies or appliances so we have had to do some shopping to get everything we need. Of course we live really modestly so it's not really all that much. This week we are back in Colombo attending some meetings and we'll head off on another 5 hour drive back to Matara on Thursday afternoon to try to set up our house so we can move in the following week. I've got to say I'm getting pretty tired of travelling around and living out of my bag. .mostly because I wasn't really expecting to being such a transient lady.

As for Matara it is again a hot, busy city though much smaller than Colombo. The western and southern coast of Sri Lanka is amazing. The water is turquiose blue in some part and a deep blue in other areas. Our house is up on Brown's Hill above the beach and we have a good view of the water from our deck. In Matara city we saw a total of 2 foreigners during our short stay and it seems as though Tom and i will be the new local celebrities.Every person, man woman and child stare at us like they have never seen a white person before (and we are quite white seeing as we have been inside 95% of the time thus far). It's a really strange feeling having everyone watch your every move I'm guessing we won't have much privacy when we are in Matara. Just call us Tomkat I guess : )

So on Saturday we had the chance to check out the southern coastline and visit a few schools that were severely affected by the Tsunami. The Tsunami struck at 9am on a Sunday morning and so fortunately these coastal schools which normally have 1500-2000 students were virtually empty. Still the one small schools we visited in Polhena (just outside Matara) lost 1/3 of their children approx. 200 kids in the disaster. One man we met who manages a rebuilt hotel in Polhena told us his story of saving his entire family by holding onto the top of a palm tree. In some areas the Tsunami travelled 3k inland and at some points was 60m in height. Can you even imagine. Now 2 years later most of these coastal towns have been partially rebuilt but there is a tremendous amount of work still to be done. Many people (just down the road from where we'll be living) live on the beach in temporary shelters. Some people here will tell you how the tsunami chose certain people to take back out to sea with it. They believe that some people were just meant to go while the person living right next door was saved for one reason or another. Oddly the Buddhist temple right on a little jetty from the mainland and the Christian church right on the beach survived untouched. Religious people here will again tell you there was a good reason for that. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's quite emotional to see but all of the Sri Lankans we've met are happy, friendly and kind people. We have already been invited to play badminton, attend a dance recital, play soccer at the beach and go to 3-4 places for dinner. So you can see how welcoming everyone is here.

Anyway, this post is extremely long so I will end it here. The last thing I'll say is that we went shopping tonight and for $24 I got 2 pairs of bananna republic pants, a pair of shorts, a skirt, three tops, two bras, 3 panties, and a silk sleeping shirt. crazy cheap prices here.

okay well, miss you all
love A

PS. yes that is an elephant on a truck that we drove by on the way back from Matara-how insane is that!

massage my what??

2007-02-13T06:58:00.000-08:00

Thai phrase of the day- ka-toe-ka (excuse me)

Well, well I had been told by many that if I did one thing while I was in Bangkok it had to be experiencing an authentic Thai Massage. So last night after dinner Tom and I ventured out over the canal into the "Massage" district. We wandered around for a little while looking for the least sketchy establishment we could find. Keep in mind there were street meat vendors, dozens of cats and leaky fruit carts littering every street so its tough to decipher one from the next. We found ourselves headed down this small alley towards this professional looking "Asian Thai Massage" sign and as we approached were quickly welcomed by a very friendly Thai woman. We bartered her down to 200 baht (about $6CAD) for a one hour traditional massage and she led us upstairs to a long room with several small beds. They gave us these really cool hospital type pants and tops to wear and closed us off with long curtains. And so the massage began. I've got to admit that it was probably the weirdest yet at the same time most rewarding hour I've spent here in Bangkok. My body was massaged, stretched and maneuvered into a hundred different positions. This little Thai lady was quite strong and skilled. They really don't leave any of your body un-treated and so at first I was a little caught off guard- as was Tom when his lady found out we weren't a couple. He didn't tell me until afterwards but apparently this very professional "looking" establishment was a little sketchy afterwards. But boy was it worth it to see the look on Tom's face as we exited the front days. Priceless!

natural linguist- ok maybe not

2007-02-11T03:05:00.000-08:00

Our two thai phrases of the day:

sawadi-ka (hello- for women only)
kup-koo-ka (thank you)- more of a literal attempt so i can sort of make sense to the locals!

I'v decided to involve you guys in my attempts to learn the local languages. So far we're two phrases in. a great start. . too bad i haven't even hit Sri lanka yet! I'm expecting you guys to be practising so you're all set when you come to visit. so get going!

Well I made it to bangkok in one piece and surprisingly the long flights went by quite quickly. The last few days have been amazing, I've been exploring this crazy city and getting acquainted with a constant layer of sweat and dirt covering my entire body. Tom (my Sri Lanka partner), Jacob (a guy working here in Thailand) and I did some sightseeing today starting with a quick visit to the weekend market. It was your typical street market times 1000, it was so massive. There were hoards and hoards of sweaty people and thousands of little shops. We didn't stay too long there as we were pretty hot and neither of us have much room in our bags. We did buy some candles and a thai boxer painting for our new place in Matara.
We then attempted to visit the grand palace but got conned by this seemingly nice local that told us it was already closed for the day. Hmmm. . so he piled us into a passing tuk-tuk and we spent the next 3 hours touring from one suit shop to the next. The tuk-tuk ride itself was pretty frightening as our driver tended to drive into oncoming traffic and then quickly pulled out of the way. Fun but a little scary as well. Apparently the "the grand palace is closed" is a common scam here in Bangkok. We felt pretty stupid falling for it- but i tell you we jut couldn't believe how friendly this guy was- haha. We also visited a beautiful little temple and were quickly greeted by the roundest, happiest man I've ever met. The three of us sat on the floor on the temple and just chatted. He was a buddhist and was so excited because at 4:30pm there was a service with 10 monks where they would pray and meditate. He had this amazing smile on his face as he spoke about how happy he was to have the chance to meditate after a busy work week. It was really cool to see.

Anyway, it seems as though Tom and I will be staying in bangkok until Wednesday night and then spending some time in Columbo. I'm anxious to actually get to Sri Lanka and check out the place we'll be living in for the year. The rest of the Right to Play Asia team leave tomorrow to head to Nepo their project location. So it will just be Tom and I left to find our way through the rest of Bangkok.

Again our two thai words of the day:
sawadi-ka (hello)
kup-koo-ka (thank you)

not for the faint of heart

2007-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Okay so I lied. I'm not 65% packed but I am well on my way, in theory that is. You see I have everything all organized in my head, now I just need to find the time to actually get it done. But I'm good under pressure. At least I like to think I am. So no worries there. See so I basically am 65% done seeing as everyone always tells me its the thought that counts anyway.

So Alli and I were able to quickly find a new roommate for her so that is one big hurdle cleared- Nelson who also happens to be a newly hired Nike Inventa guy will be taking my place in our rocking Granville Island pad. Enjoy Nelson! The other big task from my list of many is the whole vaccine/meds ordeal. I went to the helpful travel clinic on Broadway and what I thought was a simple consultation turned into a series of unexpected arm pokings and later led to 3 days of useless right arm syndrome. Between the fatal warnings transcribed by the travel doctor and the stacks of literature the nurse gave me outlining the many risks associated with travel to Sri Lanka I figured a few sessions of wonder drugs was worthwhile. Now I realize that I have to visit that damned place three more times before I leave. Just call me superwoman come feb 9th. So. . .i have a feeling that a few of the people who enthusiastically volunteered to come visit me overseas may rethink it following this post. Not for the faint of heart I suppose.

well, wish me luck with round 2 on Friday!

dropping java from the menu

2007-01-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

One of the very first things I learned about Sri Lanka (SL) was that Ceylon Tea is to SL as Starbucks is to Vancouver. I also quickly learned that coffee is not enjoyed by Sri Lankans and therefore it isn't enjoyed by any visitors either- meaning that the epsresso in SL sucks. This in itself will be a huge adjustment- my almost daily trips with Nick to our choice of several nearby Starbucks will no longer exist. oh what will i do? At least I have $32.43 left to enjoy on my gift card from my friends at the Canucks before I take off.

Anyway, welcome to my blog. I leave for my project placement in Sri Lanka in just over a month and so I have a lot to do. In fact I basically have 2.5 weeks to pack up my entire life and store it away for a year. So, with that, accompanied by twinges of excitement, fear and a bit of what the heck have I gotten myself into- i sign out for the first time.

i'll check back in when the days are longer and I'm at least 65% packed and ready to go!
amelia