In Sri Lanka!

I am finally here! I can’t believe it. It seems like so long since I left Richmond with Ema crying, “Mommy, Mommy.” We arrived in Sri Lanka at 4:45 a.m. and it was crazy! I can’t believe how many people are out at this time. Obviously, a lot of flights come in at that time as the airport was hopping! After I cleared customs, you are immediately thrust into an area with a variety of stores including electronics and even home appliances (washer and dryer anyone?). My driver sent my the hotel was there waiting for me with a sign that had my name on it. It was a nice, one-hour, air conditioned trip to the hotel. And it was interesting. Men, women and children alike were everywhere. Nothing like what you would find at 5 a.m. in the USA. There were even kids playing on a playground that we passed. It was amazing. Lots of people were walking and tons of cars, which is an interesting experience in itself. Since Sri Lanka is a former British colony, people drive on the “wrong side”. And flashing your bright is the way to let people know you want to road rage issue. But it all seems to work here. Speaking of people being up at that hour, my driver received three calls during the drive. Who calls someone before 6 a.m.?? Seriously.

I am definitely fatigued and could really feel it as people were talking to me. The thick Sri Lankan accent is difficult for me right now as I am so tired. I know I will get accustomed to that soon. But the poor hotel people must have thought I was crazy! They were waiting at the door for me (who else is checking in at 6 a.m.?). I went to my room and immediately ordered room service. I’ve been picking at food on and off on the planes (three meals total), but all of a sudden I was starving. Since it is 6 a.m. here, I called room service for the English breakfast. For $6 USD, I got this HUGE breakfast. And actually, breakfast is included so it was FREE! I had eggs, toast, pastries, a fruit platter, hot chocolate and pineapple juice. And there was more that could have come with it. I took a nice warm shower (interesting note, there’s a window in my shower that looks into the room, but it does have a shade) and then I CRASHED OUT for four hours! My colleague in Sri Lanka, Nayomi, called to check on me and I was so out of it!

Waking up following my four-hour nap was not easy at all! But I had to meet people. Nayomi met me at 1 and told me there had been a bomb blast just south of where we are staying – actually right near where we had planned to have dinner. It was on a public bus. The conductor (who takes the tickets) realized something was not right and got the passengers off before the bomb went off. It was on the same road as my hotel, but in the town south of u s. I honestly would have had no idea had she not told me.

We ate a lunch buffet on the veranda. Amazingly beautiful. I had a seafood salad, crab and fresh corn soup, prawns that had a kick to them (spicy) and a Diet Coke. Interesting note…there’s a warning on the side of Diet Coke in Sri Lanka that says, “Not appropriate for children.”
The hotel is old English-Colonial style and looks right out to the Indian Ocean. We met with some colleagues for a while outdoors in the courtyard, which is lined with palm trees and opens to the ocean. They have afternoon tea at the hotel every afternoon. We sat there looking west at the Indian Ocean and saw the sunset. So nice! There was a birthday party going on and they kept playing the same birthday song over and over again. Then, they played the Davy Crockett song. That turned a lot of heads!

I ate dinner at a hotel restaurant on the water. There’s a big ledge built that drops down to the ocean. It was all outdoors and beautiful. It was a buffet and you could pick fresh seafood to be grilled. I had fish wrapped in banana leaves. I also ate red curry cashews, coconut rice, cuttle fish and dessert. I drank a Lion Lager, the Sri Lankan beer. I can’t even say how beautiful it was to sit next to the ocean while dining, until my colleague mentioned how he is always a bit weary sitting that close to the ocean as he always thinks about the tsunami. Tomorrow, we head to areas hit by the tsunami and will meet kids who lost one or both parents in the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami. It will be an incredible event. And it starts four intensive days of work in the field. But I am getting an afternon of shopping on Friday!

Interesting notes: My cell phone works perfectly in Sri Lanka. … My hotel bathroom has a window in the shower that looks into the bedroom part (and it even has a shade). … Squirrels are really tiny in Sri Lanka. … Police are stationed all around and randomly pull over vehicles. While they checked the id of all my colleagues, they didn’t care about mine at all.

Not sure when I will post again….but I will definitely have email access by the end of the week.