katelynninsrilanka

After we ate our delicious lunch we sat down with three of Dissa's children and some other kids from their town to work on their English. They're all doing so well but they aren't very confident in speaking so it's difficult to hear them. I'm trying to get them to raise their voices when they answer because they do know the right answers!

After almost two hours of English we decided to go outside for some cricket. It was my first time even seeing the sport and I was so confused! I had a lot of fun playing with the kids. I don't know how they have so much energy in such heat! Dissa's youngest son is turning one on the 19th of this month and we're invited to his birthday party. Considering that I'm absolutely in love with the little babe I'm really excited! We're going to get him a little gift and some sweets.

We also went to the disabled home today. It reminded me a lot of the orphanage in Morocco but the children weren't exactly children. Most were older than me with the majority being middle aged. Dissa led us around and told us to move away from some of the people which unnerved us. We sat in a small room at a table with some of the women and tried our best at conversation. Some of the women had pretty decent English speaking skills while some others didn't seem to understand us at all. It was certainly a different experience. I'd like to go back again but I don't know how the other volunteers feel about it. I suppose we shall see!

Today was Poson Poya, a holiday in Sri Lanka. Most places were closed and many people took to the streets to hand out free food called dansal. Dissa and his son took us to dinner at a lovely place called Channa just a few minutes down the road from home by tuk-tuk. We will absolutely go again!

Yesterday we were lucky to have beautiful weather to climb Sigiriya, an ancient palace and massive rock. It was constructed as a king's palace and capital but was left abandoned after his death. It was then used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. Sigiriya means "lion rock" and for good reason. Half way up the rock, on a plateau, are the remains of a huge lion statue. All that's left are the feet. It's now a World Heritage Site and is the most visited tourist attraction in Sri Lanka. You can see many hints at ancient urban planning such as irrigation systems and gardens.

There were 1202 steps to the top spread out all over the rock. I began counting at the beginning but decided to stop somewhere around 30. As someone that's afraid of heights I started the climb with anxiety. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected until we reached a winding set of metal stairs that led up to ancient frescoes. I did fine going up but coming down was a different story. My asthma kicked in, probably jolted by the panic attack I had, and I froze on the way down. I'll tell you what - it's terrifying looking approximately 400 feet down at rugged terrain.

I made it to the plateau with the lion statue but did not finish the climb to the top. There were another approximate 400 steps up that I simply could not fathom completing. Instead I sat down, rehydrated, and tried to breathe while Hannah and Anna finished the climb with the help of our tour guide. The climb wasn't difficult. I had completed about 600 steps without even realizing it which I am quite proud of!

The view was spectacular from wherever you stood on the rock. Really breathtaking!

After a busy week of orientation and getting into the swing of things here in Kegalle, we decided to take a beach weekend! Rosiee, our project coordinator, came with us (us three volunteers, Hannah, Anna, and myself). We left very early Friday morning - before the sun even came up - and began our journey across the country to the east coast. We went to another Glenloch tea plantation where I bought more tea than I will ever be able to consume. We fed some stray dogs biscuits in the parking lot simply because I'm a dog lover and can't stand to say no to them. After the tea plantation we headed through Nuwera Eliya and climbed winding hills to the top of the mountains. The fog became denser and denser as we got higher until we couldn't see anything around us!

We stopped to see some waterfalls then bought avocados on the side of the road from a vendor. I woke up from a brief nap to see a tow truck carting an elephant down the road - what a sight! We stopped for lunch in Ella after seeing signs for magical foods of the western world such as fish and chips, pizza, and burgers. Unfortunately, this was false advertising. I ordered a kebab with expectations of a donner but instead was given an actual kebab on a stick.

One thing I found really cool about Sri Lanka was how nice everyone was. You could stop and ask literally anyone for directions on the side of the road and they would help you. Men, women, children of all ages - it didn't matter because everyone wanted to help.

We finally made it to our destination, Arugam Bay in Pottuvill, around five at night just after the sun had begun to set. There were goats wandering the sidewalks alongside people as they did their shopping. We got a beachfront family cabana at a lovely place and spent the next two days being beach bums!

Rosiee shared stories with us of the tsunami. She had spent many days on that very beach with her family before the disaster hit but hadn't been back too often since. She said she remembered finding children's booties and articles of clothing hanging from tree branches along the shore even a year after the tsunami had claimed so many lives. It was heartbreaking to hear.

Hannah, Anna, and myself were awake before eight each morning and on the beach. The sun in Sri Lanka is no joke. I have a heat rash on my chest, neck, and face from it despite religious use of sun screen. We thought that bobbing about in the ocean might make it better but it just burnt my face more. I didn't mind too much, though. It was great to relax in the waves.

We ate at a few different places - all small and local. We found that it takes about an hour from when you order your food to actually get it. Service is lax, really laid back. There certainly isn't a sense of urgency you'd find in places like England or America. We found a Starbeans, a fake Starbucks-type place, with air conditioning and made it our hot spot. Anna ordered a sandwich with avocado and we watched one of the men at the shop leave to buy avocados for her. At least everything is fresh!

We woke up early on Monday in order to leave for Yala National Park. It was bittersweet leaving our little slice of heaven but I was excited to be closer to returning home. And by home I mean our safari homestead in Kegalle. But first Yala! On the way we saw tons of wild peacocks, boars, and elephants along the side of the road. Pretty cool! We stopped for a quick bite to eat and Hotel California was playing on the radio which I though my dad would find quite funny. We drove another fifteen minutes and met our driver, switched into his jeep, and were off to the national park. We spent more than four hours driving around the huge park in search of the leopards that hide from the roads. They're tricky to find! We caught some tracks but didn't actually get to see any though we did see tons of other animals!

After the safari we curled up in the van and headed for home. First, though, we stopped for dinner at a small restaurant along the road. I had the best egg fried rice I've ever had in my life! The family that ran the place was wonderful. The couple was young and had two beautiful children. We took a ton of pictures of and with them and promised to send them since they had never actually seen a picture of themselves before. Could you imagine? I found that so strange, almost unreal! I'm excited to see how the pictures turned out!

After posting yesterday we were invited by the mahouts to learn how to bathe Menica, one of the larger elephants on site. It was so much fun! We waded out into the water which is about knee high and scrubbed her down. She loves it! I think it's almost like a massage for her thick skin, too. While she laid down on her side I was able to clean out her eyes, ears, and other hard to reach areas. She enjoys getting hugs while she's in the water - and giving them! Menica wrapped her trunk around my leg which, admittedly, scared me at first. But she just wanted to say thank you!

After a quick bath (I bathe myself 2-3 times a day here - we get so sweaty and dirty!) we then met with the local village children for English lessons. It was difficult at first considering some of the other volunteers had never taught English as a Second Language (ESL) before but I think we did pretty well! Two of the girls really impressed me. Their grasp of the English language is far more advanced than I expected! We used my iPad as a whiteboard since we didn't have any markers and drew shapes, animals, etc. for the girls to spell. They did great! I'm excited to start getting into more advanced material with them. I'd also like to help them gain a bit more confidence when speaking.

Today is the first time it's rained in Kegalle in nearly two months. The power went out late at night and didn't come back on til the afternoon. I showered in the dark and had to use the light on my phone to find clothing to wear. I'm sure it wont be the last time we go without power.

We started our day off by heading to the main elephant orphanage. Pinnawala is incredible! There are so many beautiful elephants there and it's amazing to see them roaming freely! There are electrical wires that keep the elephants in the enclosed space so most don't need to be chained. Some, though, are a bit rowdy/unruly and must have chains on at all time in order to be controlled. We were able to bottle feed baby elephants, too. Those babies chug an entire bottle of milk in less than 30 seconds! We wandered about in the rain a bit but tried to stay back so as to let the tourists have time with the elephants seeing as we have our own here. After a bit we waited for the elephants to march down to the Maha Oya river for their morning bath!

After sitting about and watching the elephants for a while we went to the Poo Paper Factory, a place where paper products are made entirely from elephant dung! I can't wait to go back and purchase some things - I didn't want to risk carrying it about in the rain today. Following that we went to do some shopping then to the Glenloch tea plantation. I'm with four other volunteers, all from England, so this was an especially interesting excursion. I bought myself some fresh green tea and can't wait to make the first pot!

I never thought I'd ride anything more uncomfortable than a camel. I was most certainly wrong.

We also walked down the road to the woman's house who cooks our meals during the week. She and her family work at the elephant site, too. There is so much food! I had my first curry and I really enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to the next six weeks.