Funeral to Wedding

Here is the pic of the coconut hut girl- this is here bedroom and market stand! The other pics are the kids at MCC- I have like 100 photos so I'll just throw a couple up for you to see how CUTE they are! The girl on the right is Sarah, my friend Shanu's neice. They wear the Swedish colours because that is who funds them.

My new place is very good. They even bought me toilet paper which was really sweet. I'm still getting fed for all my meals. If I don't bring a lunch the girls feed me. It might seem rude in Canada that they are all grabing the rice and fish from each others plates and giving it to me but I like the unity of it. The number one question I get asked is "breakfast?" or "lunch?" They are asking if I've had it because if not they want to feed me right then and there.
Another question that comes up upon introduction is "brothers, sisters?" It is part of their introduction... Mage nama Angela, Mama Nangi (younger sister). The older girls actually call me Nangi and the younger, Akka, when they are not calling me Ms. Angeline, Angie or sudunoona. Haha, they haven't quite put thier finger on Angela.
I am going to a funeral today with Amma- a friend she went to school with died from cancer. I suspect it will be very different from our funerals- more of a celebration. They seem to accept death differently. Like when Conrad was telling me about the day after the tsunami when he went looking for Sri Pauli (eomployee and teacher) he said there were dead bodies everywhere, and he was chuckling? It's the reincarnation thing I guess. Anyway, I can tell you more about the funeral later.
I might also get to go to a wedding on March 8 if I don't have to stay here for the International Women's Day party! Woot woot! I'm going to see if Andy can come, too, because it is at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. Amma is getting a sari made for me.

Still taking pictures, even when lost

Haha, so it was my first day walking today and being that I was on the other side of the street and trying to avoid eye contact, tuk tuks and rabie dogs, I walked right past my turn off.
I started to notice that things weren't looking right but I kept walking until I saw a lady. She got her daughter to come out of their coconut stand and she knew a little English. Not enough though! So I called Nilu, my new house Amma, and she called her husband and he called me back, etc. The girl told him where I was and he called the office to send me Wasantha and the tuk-tuk. The girl invited my inside her shack/bedroom/store and offered me a seat.
When I got to INDECOS I was about an hour late and all the girls were stressing out. They were all crowded around waiting to see that I was ok and I got scolded for not wearing a watch. Haha. They found it particularly funny that while everyone was so worried I was just hanging out conversing with this 16 year-old and I had taken the picture to prove it.
I'm going to print the picture and take it to the girl with a granola bar or clothes or something to say thanks becuase as I left she asked "you come back, no?"
I'm telling you, this is how welcoming these Sri Lankans are! It's crazy.
Anyway, I should get back to work. It's only across the street so hopefully I can find it.

New house & other random ramblings

I've moved into my new house now. As everyone told me, the people are just as welcoming as Conrad & Pearl and the place is fantastic. There English is not as good so I am having to use even simpler words and talking even slower- not an easy task for me! But, at least they pretend to understand, bobbing there heads from side to side (which can symbolize "yes," or "I don't want to say no so I will just do this."). It can be very confusing. They do not have internet but this cafe is literally across the street from the office and I always keep busy anyway.
I have the upstairs suite to myself including a fridge, a rooftop and clean bathroom- in my last place I was geeting used to stepping on the unavoidable ants crawling all over the floor because it's rude to wear shoes. Sometimes I'd sneak them in under my towel though. I love the not wearing shoes thing because when it's hot and you have to keep so much skin covered you need something to be free.
I'm finding my style here though- learning what is acceptable and what you'll get you some strange looks. It turns out that the rules are more lenient than I thought- they're just different. Tight shirts are fine, white shirts that you can see through are ok, even some shoulder is no problem, it's just the spagetti straps and short shorts/skirts that must be avoided. Pearl was laughing the other day when I was asking her about one of my shirts. "You tink too much" she said and she's probably right.
I was asking her all about her Buddhist beliefs last night. I was told ahead of time but still expected that the Buddism here would be more of a philosophy like in other parts of Asia but here it has really become a religion with rules and scripture and daily worshiping. Everywhere you go you here people thanking the Lord which I mentally associate with Christain thinking rather than Buddhist. There's no yoga here :( but I promised to teach Madhu and the other girls. I am also teaching them power point and presentation skills next week, and right now I am improving their brochures and writing a report about the Children's Center as it has now been open for 1 year. I was also asked to write a proposal to keep one of the women's entrepeneurial programs going for another year.
On Friday I'll be heading out with Conrad to a very remote willage to check out one of the education programs they have going on there. On Sunday I went to the environmental training but I found it very basic compared to what we learn- they learn about water and animals & such. The children are sooooooo studious. They listen carefully when the teacher is speaking and always, even if they see a teacher in town, they bow before them to worship.
Most of the girls want to become doctors. It's great that they are encouraged to go to school & study but it doesn't mean that they are equal- just means that families here can't survive on one income. I was asking Pearl about how if everyone looks well dressed and has food to eat what was poor and she said that poor meant that you could not afford "the good food or the education." I met someone the other day who dressed like they worked in an office in the West and had a new cell phone but when we dropped him at his house he lived in a tiny shack with several family members. Clearly, he is supporting his whole family with his job at INDECOS.
You are considered a girl here until you are about 25, so most of the employees at INDECOS are still "girls". For the most part they act very young, too, giggling a lot but also because they "obey" Conrad who they all call "the Mr." It is a patriarchy all the way and you have Muslim girls, who are not allowed to get educated, running training programs to do with education. The office setting is very different here and I am still trying to figure it out.

Brief Update

Hi there.

I am still loving it here. I'm actually getting to know the girls quite well which is cool and I will be moving into my new house tonight. This is good because I won't have to eat large amount of rice & curry three times a day including dinner which is usually around 9 or 10pm. Luckily the biggest meal is lunch! But I still usually sneak my plate out to the dogs to spare the Sri Lankan feelings.

Moving out is also sad though because Conrad and Pearl have been so fantastic. I promised I would come over on the weekends and such. But I always feel so bad because when the girls come over they work so hard around the house and I always ask but she always says nae. I figured out now why they were so family-like right away- yesterday Pearl told be that because they are Buddhist they believe we were together before the bird- (after about halk an hour, I figured out it were actually together before the "birth" not "bird").

Haha, she can't understand my accent either because she grew up in a Catholic convent with British teachers. We have quite the back and forth communication but at least she can speak English- with many others it is hard to get past the fact that "no I am not hungry" and "yes, I love Sri Lanka." Sometimes even that is hard to get across.

I haven't had to spend a cent on food. Not that I care though because everything is cheap. Have I expressed that enough? Four people can eat out for $2.00!

I actually just spoke with Harshani about extending my stay a week or so because I am supposed to fly out May 4 which is way too soon!

I order 200 cards so that I can attempt to fit them in my bag and I can order more in the future- it is so cheap to send.

Another bus bomb went off - in Mt. Lavinia where Andy and I were. 18 were injured but I don't think anyone died.

So much to stay, so sticky keyboad and slow connection

I'm in Matara now and feel like I am finally where I am supposed to be. Right now I am living with boss and wife. I didn't expect after one day I would be calling her Amma, mother, but this is how the culture works. The girls at INDECOS are so sweet, always giggling and very friendly. Love to practice English. But right now I am at the children's center, one of the INDECOS projects where Amma Pearl is boss. She would have only had to work for 2 more years with gov't to get pension but decided to do this instead.
All 15 pre-schoolers are very poor but you can't tell because they are all wearing uniforms & also because clothes are cheap here even poor people are dressed well. A blouse costs about a dollar or 2. Amma took me shopping yesterday and I got 3 long skirts and three blouses for about $30. All I would wear at home.
The children at the center are calling me suduakka, white sister. It is so sweet. They are all so tiny. The older children are very good at english and very smart. They have to keep good grades to get their scholarships from Sweden. Swedish girls came yesterday for a study & came over for dinner. Pearl and Conrad love to entertain! Actually, the working women cook here for about 2 hours in the morning, then work for 8 hours, then cook for another 2 at night, then maybe do housework. It brings new meaning to the concept of the woman's double burden when there are no pop tarts. Food for these people is so important and cooking & eating is such a huge part of their day! The girls from work will actually come over to help Pearl prepare though and sometimes sleep over.
It is so interesting to see how this org works. They eat together during the day and we have a tuk tuk & driver so that we are safe. I feel VERY (hari) safe here! But still, even living on a cinnamon farm out of town, I am not to answer the door and last night when Amma and I were talking and we heard noices she told me "Shhh... we must listen when noise. It's noting but tings happen in Sri Lanka." Generally, as long as I do not go anywhere along like the beach I will be safe because I have so many people around me. Plus, the average Sri Lankan is so kind. Sometimes they look mad but then I smile and they always smile back. I don't yet know how to read facial expressions.
The best was at the temple on Poya. The kids in particular would just stare at me in amazement- especially when I was worshipping. Apparently it was because many people would be coming from out of town & so they thought me white skin was magic! The temple was so beautiful.
I still have not been to the beach but driving down the coast was a beautiful ride and much less traffic than drive to Kandy.
I have seen the house I will live in and it is very nice. As usual, there is a fish pond in the entrance but the colours are exceptional- red, yellow, green. I will miss staying where I am but I promised to come for dinner a few nights a week.
As for work, I am learning to be a Mr.Slow. This is where my patience and being in the moment will be tested. Today, the work comp gave my laptop a virus through my flashdrive. I can't see my desktop anymore. Maybe I will have to reformat? Anyway, I have not gotten much accomplished in terms of the marketing material yet but that is ok because I am still getting to know about what the organizations are about anyway.
I can't wait to bring home my pamphlets because I think people will really want to donate to this cause!!! I was telling Conrad about how we donate to World Vision at Christmas and he was saying that he took a volunteer the child's house that they were donating to and found out the child recieved very little of the money. With this funding it goes directly to the poor child and there is constant checking to make sure the family is not using the money for anything but the education. Yesterday when the Swedish girls asked the kids what they wanted to do if they could do anything they all said either doctors or engineers and each one said to help their family!

Good-bye Andy... have fun in Kandy!

Well, today was the day we took Andy to Kandy.

Her bf was here so we spent the day being tourists and went to Mt. Lavinia. We were given the advice from our Sri Lankan friends to enter through a hotel so that we would be safer in the company of other tourists. We didn't fully grasp the importance of this until we entered through the hotel & came out on the locals side. I can tell you the stares that you get while in a locked SUV with a Sri Lankan as your driver are not easy enough to ignore but being two white blonde girls (and Dave) on the beach with 20 SL teenagers who think that white= Baywatch is another story.
We scurried over the rocks to the other side. where we found security guards watching the beach so that we did not have to worry about theft/harassment when they went swimming and left me alone or when I get swimming (undercurrent). The beach was beautiful and got melooking forward to Matara.
Dropping off Andy today, I got to check out her center & accommodations which look really great. Her apartment is huge- 2 bedrooms, 2 toilets, and a huge open front room & deck with a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains. This apartment costs about $150 (and that is after inflation!)... I am so retiring here! Anyway, I hope that I can, at some point, visit her. Kandy is much cooler, much greener then where I will be going and where she will be living and working seems very safe, being outside of Kandy-town.
On the way home Harshani asked me if I wanted to stay for a year because there is a position open at the INDECOS office. I told her that it is tempting at this point but I think that the honeymoon phase I'm in could come to an end any day now, although I shouldn't manifest that. It's just that right now I am loving everything about this place. And it feels like the culture shock is not going to be in SL but in Canada when I get home and I am reminded that men don't hold hands and wear skirts; two cars normally pass on a 2 lane road, not 3, or even 4; babies & children are not normally held on the front of fast ridden motorbikes; and shoulders, knees, and body parts in general, are not hidden under layers of protection.
But the biggest culture shock that I will probably experience in Canada is that in a country one of your best advantages is being able to eat nearly ANYTHING in the world and we have somehow managed to come up with the idea of eating plastic (mayonaise) laden burgers. EW!
And worse, we spread this idea into these other countries like a fast spreading disease. India is actually becoming one of the biggest diabetic nations and I don't think this is from curry!
I already want to retreat back to Chilaw village and choose the floor for sleep and the sun for light so that I can eat fish, coconut, tomatoes, pineapple and greens and dance/laugh/sing year round.
Oh ya! So, I was talking to Harsh and I decided I am going to buy a ton of cards to help this community fund so email me if you want to buy any cards- they are paper mache with nice paper designs on them & cost about 50 cents each. I don't know how many to get... 100?200? 400? so I can gage it a bit if anyone shows interest. Or I can just use them as my seasonal for the rest of my life. They're really pretty and the cause itself should really make the most loyal brand monger want to see ya to Halmark!!! I'll explain the details more when I get home.

Chilaw, Wil Pother Village

I have been to so many place I’ve been has people so kind, cities so dynamic and beauty so diverse. I am in love with Sri Lanka! Best part of SL so far... two days in small house made of clay with no toilet or electricity in a village with even hotter & drier weather than Colombo.

After language training on Friday we headed out for our 2-4 hour drive to the village. (It is very hard to say how long a km will take here because of the insane traffic). Anyway, the ride was interesting because I got to see how big Colombo really was... it's such an awesome city because, for example, you will see brand new cell phone ads displayed on buildings crumbling with mildew. There are also many vibrant colours, including bright orange buddhist robes tied up like flags on branches of trees growing out of the city streets.
After a long ride of observing these sites from my window and absorbing the sound of the constant horn-honking we finally arrived to a community center in the village. The lady in the center told us that the women of the town built it in 1978 after being trained in carpentry. This is now the place where the women in the village work, making recycled paper from scraps. We asked where they got the money for the machinery (there's more involved in this paper process than you'd think) and that's when we found out it was CIDA that helped them get started! Andy and I wanted to buy some cards and such that they made and my stuff came to about 1.75 Cdn so I left 5 and same with Andy. The lady said that she wanted us to know that the extra money will go to the community. I wanted to give her all my money right then & there but decided instead that I would get their contact info so that if anyone back home wants to order more (the cards are 40 cents) then I will order a bigger batch by mail.
Next, we met our host family and it did not take long to see there was going to be a serious communication problem. They probably knew about 5 words in English combined and pretty much all we had remembered from our language training was Ayubowan. Luckily we had Andy's trusty Sinhala guide though so we set to work trying to make simple conversation. It was tough. In the first hour the only ground that was covered was that we could all agree that pineapple was hari rasi (very tasty).
I was expecting the worst but we actually had a bed to sleep in (Dibilee gave hers up and slept on the floor) and they had a solar heated lights! The people were unreal welcoming- all smiles & laughter throughout th evening as they served us snacks, then tea, then snacks, then dinner. We were very impressed during the snacking period to discover that they had the equivalent of timbits and blue pancakes! In true Sri Lankan style, we were served first and the lady came back to force feed us many times. It's rude to your plate always seems full. I keep patting my belly to say "I'm full" but we discovered quickly that to them it means "I'm fat." Which is not an insult here because as we all know, it is only in over consuming cultures like ours where thinness in valued. The lady of the house was quite big and she kept laughing about it- saying (through charades) that she took up the entire picture. There daughter was also what we would consider heavy set butsay no so you just have to eat very slowly so that they would not comprehend how eating too much is something to look down upon. Even their actors and models have healthy, round faces.
Yesterday I woke up early and hung out with the girl, Dibilee, showing her how to take pictures and such. Then I sat down and just took it all in- the palm trees, the crickets, the lifestyle. Watching the father and daughter having so much fun- he, laughing as he walks the cow and she, wading her feet in the stream- both just playing in like young children. Realizing that it was not the once a year camping exursion that we do at home (if that) but that it was their life, was pretty inspiring. If you looked at their clay house with no paint or carpet or toilet or electricity you might think that they were poor. But not even close. Dibilee may have liked my camera but she didn't really care if she had one, the father may have liked to work less but I didn't see him complain, the mother may not have turned down a new pair of shoes but she probably didn't see a problem with the ones she had.
I'm not trying to incite an old cliche about money & happiness but just trying to explain that they simply were not poor in their lives. In fact, before we left we were watching the neighbour make coconut key chains which he does as a business in his free time. After making one he handed it to us each one as a gift and would not athink thatccept payment. We didn't push it too much because perhaps that would be insulting to associate my money, useless in a largely subsistent community, with his present from the heart. I did tell him, though, that I would love to order more so I will try to make the connection before I leave. They would normally charge 80 cents which is still ridiculously cheap- even at Ten Thousand Villages it would probably cost at least $5.00.
In the afternoon we went fishing and because the sun burns so much more intensely up here, everyone had a good laugh at sudunoona (white lady) because one of my arms burned red.The people were so sad to see us go. The mother kept doing the signal for "I'm going to cry." It was sad to go but they said they will send the daughter to Canada when she gets older I will send something Candian (I'm thinking maple syrup) and the photos when I get back home.

Vday in the Temple

We had such a great day today. In the morning we learned about economics and then had a doctor come in to talk about health. It was funny because he was coming from a fairly new private hospital so he was trying to recruit us- either to get sick or, you know- get some plastic surgery! It was craziness, haha. We could see the ploy behind his charisma but he was really great and I guess there is no problem in him thinking we are rich and egocentric. It was funny though because he told us we had about a 1/35 chance in getting "the denque" and 1/100 of getting rabies from a dog and he was saying it all with a smile! We went to the hospital to register in case anything does happen to us and to check it out. It was REALLY nice- even by NA standards, but it was also up to $100 a room. It's good to know a doctor because they seem to be have a lot of power/respect here.
After this, Keith took us around the city to see the main streets and the markets. The markets were crazy- it was really a lot to take in. Although it was tempting to jump out of the car to grab some garmets & such because they are so cheap we are not allowed to be spending any time in crowded areas and it doesn't get much more crowded than these markets. There was so much to look at and absorb.
Next, Keith dropped us off at a Temple. It was so fantastic - the monks are so intriguing - you just want to reach out and touch them but as a woman you cannot. They were very gracious though and we seemed to come in just at the time of some kind of ceremony. This was the highlight of my trip so far. It was spectacular. I did not want to take too many pics as I didn't know if it was offensive but it didn't matter anyway because it was the energy that was so great and that can't be captured- at least with my photographic skills.

We got home and in our remembered that our friend from the restaurant told us about a valentine's dinner the hotel was putting on. It was so cute- they had heart decorations all over and had a huge buffet set up but there was barely anyone dining. It is sad because the country now relies a lot of the service sector since the agriculture has faced so many problems since the Tsunami hit, but now the tourism rate has dropped so much in the last few months because of the war that you can already see the affects on the economy.
Although everything seems so cheap to us, SL has one of the highest inflation rates in the world, so when 50% of the population is making less than a dollar an hour, 5 dollars for a shirt or 100 a month rent doesn't seem that cheap anymore. Hopefully the war really will end in April as the gov't claims but most people can't see how it would be possible and the economist guessed that if continues to borrow money for this war for another few years, the SL economy is going to be in major trouble. You can really feel how glad the people are when they see foreigners are here to spend money and keep the hotels & restaurants open.
Generally the people here are so happy that we are here saying "thank-you for helping our people." However, in our case, we have to be careful when we say we are from an NGO because right now there is a lot of suspicion among aid workers. The media spreads rumours like if there is a Unicef van going North with food rations for the humanitarian wokers they will say they are bringing rations to the LTTE. This has set of a series of court cases and the gov't does not side with NGO's since they want the money to be streamed through them. There was also 17 humanitarian workers in the North murdered a while back. We basically just have to be clear that we are development workers not humanitarian so that people see that we are here to help rather than to get involved in the politics.

Information Overload

It was another big day of using the old noggin. We started out learning the history of conflict in SL with a Tamil doctor of economics. He explained how the root of the conflict began, so to make a long & complicated history short, when the Brits gave the Tamil minority a benefit over the Sinhalese with having the first University in the North. When the Brits left, the Sinhalese majority fought back by making Sinhala the official language of the country. The conflict began with this and escalated, with various issues over the years, but the conflict was non-violent.
In that last 25 years they have been given weapons, mostly from Russia, Chec, and China, which has converted conflict into a war.
About 30% of the Tamils in the North support the LTTE, but these are not educated people and those who are educated are too busy to campaign against the LTTE. Also, Dr. Muttukrishna said that if someone like he was to attempt to speak out against them, he would likely be killed. Those that support the LTTE, ie. in Toronto & London, have a lot of $ and it is too difficult for these host countries to track down the funds being sent to future LTTE leaders. And, of course, there is major political gain from these groups.
Next we learned about the situation of women from a lady named Sumi. Domestic violence in the home has increased in the last years, in large part due to the war. Apparently women in the north, where WUSC has an office, think it is ok that their husbands beat them because they think, living in the middle of a war zone, they are just lucky to be alive.
The dowery issues also exist among the majority, but if a women does not have a big enough dowry here she is not murdered by her husband like she might be in India- she instead will subscribe to torment from her husband and his family for the rest of her life. It is this kind of mental violence which is most common here and is what the WDC (where Andy, Heather & Patrick will work for) that tries to remedy some of this by empowering women and educating men.
The last part of the day Harshani told us the do`s and don`ts of traveling in SL, a lot of it being just common sense about any travel experience outside your own cultural experience.
We also walked to and from the office for our first time, to gain practice on walking in the streets here. We did pretty well I think because everyone at the office was expecting one of us to get hit but the unpredictable traffic (I am talking people are inventing lanes and three wheelers are literally scraping paint off other cars as they weave in and out)- it is the craziest driving I think I`ve ever seen but nothing could really surprise me these days.
On the way home we stopped at a few shops and I bought some shirts- they were all like 5 bucks (so cheap!!!) and they cover my shoulder so that I am prepared when I get outside the city. I still haven`t got a sari but I plan to because it makes people feel more comfortable with you which will be important at the office because I won`t have much time to break the ice which usually takes about 6 months from what I hear. Oh well, everyone keep saying the people at my office are great women and they know English but are just shy with it.
Oh ya, and the place I am staying is the same place that Viv (the old volunteer I`ve been in contact with) stayed- a loft with a couple in their 30`s who are supposed to be so fantastic- willing to take me places and gracious with dinner invitations! I bet I know what they`ll serve...

"If you haven't eaten rice, you haven't eaten"

This Sri Lankan saying basically means that the people here don't feel full unless they eat rice- which is usually eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had a special Sri Lankan Lunch today at Raja Bojun (fit for a king) one of the only places in town that still serves the food the traditional SL way, in other words, a buffet of different rice, curries and spices- but no cutlery allowed! It was so great!
It was also a day that was full of info. We started out with Harshani briefing us on the may programs that WUSC runs in SL.

The Canadian system of funding seems really great because instead of giving a foreign country money, especially one that is will spend the money on a war, they use it to promote local organizations with SL employees (who know more about the country & will also be able to sustain the project long-term) so that these orgs can improve the living conditions of the people directly and can be monitored by the Canadian Gov't.
In the afternoon we had a chance meet a delegate from the Canadian High Commission who came in to talk to us about "how to work with Sri Lankan's". There were some really funny and very true facts, ie. regarding how a simple situation can be much more complex than you realize. Andy and I had to laugh because we have been having the strangest encounters with the hotel restaurant. For example, we will order something off the menu and have to literally circle it in pen before this server will understand- and even then, we think we might be getting something different. And then this morning they wrang our doorbell and brought us up tea at 6am for no apparent reason! And it was so grossly sweet- which we also learned today that the sweeter the tea the sweeter the person preparing it thinks you are so I guess that explains that. Oh, and then when the person came to clear our dinner plates last night they also went through our fridge and took things out of it like 1 of my 2 tiny Toberlone bars from the plane, a creamer and a small jam. There must be a reason behind this but we'll never know.
Anyway, I found Calvin's knowledge to be so practical! For example, you have to be careful about what colours you wear, particularly around the time of rallying because you might be unknowingly making a statement of support. He said that if you see streamers around town (other than white which means there is a funeral) than there is a political rally coming so stay out of town. They are predicting an uprising of violence in the East in March because of the elections.
Norwegians are portrayed by some political leaders as sympathizers of the LTTE because of their role in promoting peace, and to some degree Canadians are, too. But in our experience so far Canadians are VERY well recepted! When I was in Latin America I found that GENERALLY the men could be quite rude and aggressive, but here they are often much more subtle. So far, of those I've met here I've found: the older men treat you like a daughter and boys treat you like a god. The young ones look to the floor in your presence and call you "ma'am." It's quite a strange thing to experience. Harshani said that people feel so special to be bring a white woman to an event.
Regardless of this experience that we are having, we have no idea what it is like to be a SL woman here. This is still a very patriarchal society and we learned today that it has the highest rate of spousal abuse in the world.
The West is really revered here, as seen in the obsession with cars and cell phones in the city, which is pretty disturbing since they have such a great way of life in other ways, valuing relationships over work- it's sad that they are trying to imitate the individualism of the capitalist West.

Daze in Colombo

Ayubowan! I am still adjusting to the time difference here but I've actually been feeling pretty good- must have been those zinc lozenges (go Judy!). It was our first big day in Colombo. We started off meeting Harshani who is fantastic and she told us some info about our positions. I will be staying with a family- apparently other volunteers have stayed with them and the reports are unanimously positive. It will be within walking distance of the INDECOS office (which they do this so that we will not have to take public transit and take chances right now) and my job will be to improve their marketing materials. Haha, everyone thinks Andy and I are twins and they do not see a difference between the names Angela and Andrea. Harshani also warned us that they mostly see white people on TV so they think we are all rich. That's pretty funny actually because I got my very first phone number handed to me today when I was at the bank!!!
She also told us, particularly for me, to have as low of expectations as possible for what we will get done so that if we get stuff done we will be happy. Only the people at the top of the org can speak English so I will spend a lot of time waiting around to be fit into these busy people's schedules. Still she does not want us speaking Sinhala if we learn it because the people at the office will just start to help you learn instead of learning English for themselves. She also said that the main boss has a daughter who is in school in America so he will dote on me & take me in as his own and that I should not refuse his invitations to dinners & other such events unless I say I am sick or it will insult him.
I got a good sense that they take our safety very seriously- while Harshani believes in fate she is also against putting anyone in the position where there is a chance. She has even banned any unnecessary travel. Even while she says this though she seemed more than happy to give Andy and I advice on how we can visit each other, ie. I could hitch a ride in with local doctors or WUSC office staff, and she even found Andy an apartment with an extra room because she said I will likely want to visit Kandy. We also met a lady at the WUSC office who seemed very well informed and quite a bit more organized than others I've dealt with.
She said she is putting off some volunteers until the end of April because the government said they would end the war then. But she also said it is not likely. Harshani says, and it seems to be the consensus of the Sinhalese, that the gov't should be killing the leaders of the LTTE but not just dropping bombs that are killing innocent Tamils.
After the orientation we ate some lunch and then went to pick up phone cards for our emergency phones which we are allowed to use as much as we want since the we buy the minutes. It took ages because everything is a major process here! After that Keith dropped us off at Odel, the mall in Colombo. I bought a few postcards there but Andy and I would both rather buy more authentic clothes since it was not unlike the clothes you can find at home- only it was much cheaper! If I want to pick anything up before I leave I can but right now we are both feeling unconsumerish- in fact, we're looking forward to Friday when we get to stay in a village with no electricity!

Finally!

I am in Colombo and it is 2:30 am here but I am not used to sleeping for more than a few hours anymore so I am up to write this note. I have I don't feel so bad about getting only 6 hours sleep in the past 3 days, though, because Andy only got about 1! It was funny because apparently she was knocking on my door for ages this afternoon but I slept right through it- actually I am sure I got up at one point and opened the door to no one but maybe that was just a dream, too.
Oh man! Our hotel is fantastic... wireless internet!!!, great food, a safe (mine doesn't seem to work but it is still impressive), a fan, a huge ensuite between Andy and I, and... ANDY! (who must have some luck because if my room wasn't nice enough, hers is about twice as big, with a couch and coffee table).
The last 20 minutes of the plane ride was spectacular. As the SL tunes played in the backdrop we dropped down under the frothy layers of clouds and finally I saw where I was heading- a little tropical paradise- thick tropical greenery lined with white sand and the turquoise Indian ocean (looking inoffensively calm). The land is speckled with orange rooftops, not unlike what I saw arriving in Germany, but there is one big difference... even from up here I can feel the heat.
The whole time I've been here I have been internally laughing- when I told Andrea (who is in India) that Andy and I are coincidentally flying in on the same day she said "Oh Ange, you know better than that."
Nothing here seems like a coincidence- that we both ended up with volunteer jobs in this beautiful country- where the friendliness of the people is amazing, where we have so far been treated more like royalty than as easy prey (unlike parts of Italy or the US), and where you are served- not chicken or beef on the plane- but "Buttered Sugar Snaps & Carrots with Château Potatoes" or "Peas & Cadju Curry Basmati Saffron Rice"
(see it all for yourself- http://www.srilankan.aero/onboard/f_b_european4.shtml)
I love it, love it, love it!
Our food for the next week is also free at our hotel- lunch was a tasty buffet and it was so funny because they were so concerned that we weren't eating dinner (we both went to bed around 7pm and dinner starts at 8) that they called me not once but three times about it! The third time was to say "if you want anything- even soup- just call and boy will bring it up."
Anyway, on the plane I made a friend, Wasantha, who is a Marketing Manager for Carlsberg Brewery. He told me about a big beer festival that goes on in April in the hills- below Kandy. He also answered some of my questions although even had nothing when I asked how is it that Buddhist are eating meat, drinking alcohol and fighting in wars. He just laughed and basically said that's just the way it is.
We're in Colombo for a week now doing an orientation. Hopefully we will find out a lot about our positions today! The driver, Keith, said he was pretty sure that I was staying with a family which I am really happy about.
The drive here was just positively overwhelming. The tropical greenery and dusty streets reminds me of Fiji, but there are so many people and things to look at. And to look at me. Even while I was in the van, I was stared at by those outside.
The thing that reminds me about Central America is that there are officers everywhere- only more here. There are ones with green army camo, blue navy camo and purple airforce camo. All carry guns wrapped around their shoulders as if they were toys and some are on bicycles. Then there are the plain light green uniforms which are the police. At one point the police pulled us over- I thought it was Keith's crazy driving but couldn't understand how they could give out a ticket when everyone around was driving crazy! But while two of the officers smiled at me to say- no worries, the third had to take a look at my bags. After Keith told me that they had recent problems with NGO's sneaking in guns and bombs.
I also saw hand-woven baskets being checked in trucks on the way into the airport in what seemed like random check-points.
Another thing that I saw both on the plane and on my ride in to Colombo is something about the women- even though they cover their shoulders, and often legs, they are not really what conservative in the way we might imagine, as in trying not to be seen. They come off to me as confident with their often colourful hand-crafted saris and are flirtatious in the way that they move.
(There will be much better pics to come!)

Frankfurt

Well, I’m now in the Frankfurt Airport recovering from the last flight. In your time it is 3 am and I ate my fake egg omelette breakfast at about 1:30 am. Hmmm... sounds like Vegas.

Anyway, as far as 10 hour flights go, it went pretty well. There were about three babies crying in addition to the cold stale air and constant reminders of my thirst as the Heidi Klum look alike flight attendants came by over and over with dehydrating substances like coffee and wine. I did manage to sneak in about 2 hours of uncomfortable chair sleep though and I am feeling surprisingly good!

I am currently stalking those in the fold out chair section of the airport hoping to steal another wink among all the hustle and bustle.

Coming in over Germany reminded me of how great Switzerland and Germany are. They totally have this old school Little House on the Prairie thing going on and I think I got an even better view on the Mainz than when we purposely rode beside it in a train!

It’s already really hot and I haven’t even gone south yet. I feel like they are jacking the heat up more and more in here as the day goes on but maybe it’s just my swollen body adjusting poorly to the earth.

I think that people who are good at flying are probably those who are grounded- like Aaron. People like me are already so high that getting even higher just hurts. Natural highs, folks. Natural Highs.

Later

I was doing pretty well at being unattached to my thoughts throughout this day but after 11 hours of waiting I have just found out my flight is delayed another one, at least. I am trying not to let the frustration in. First it's "When will this day freaking end" and next thing I know I will be wondering what I will be thinking about when my plane crashes or if I will even have time to think when the bomb blows me up at the airport. So to cut these thoughts off before the can really get going I fish out my mp3 player and listed to TAO. This music has the ability to not only unravel my worst fears about how I will die today but also has the ability to clear my mind of all thoughts. So for the next, what turns out to be almost 2 hours, I just stare at the wall and zone out.

Montreal to Vancouver

It’s Friday night and I am finally heading home, after nearly being stuck in the snowstorm in Montreal! Over the course of the day, three different flights of mine to Toronto were canceled and I was eventually rerouted to Vancouver when the Toronto Airport actually shut down.

It’s been such a long day and it’s not over yet. I still have my flight from Vancouver to Vic which I’ll be lucky to get and then the taxi home.

The great thing is that all of the transportation is covered by the organizations involved. The first 3 days was covered by CIDA who is a big funder for Uniterra. Those days I had a giant room to myself with a king size bed and a mini office. The two days in Montreal were funded by WUSC and CECI so our hotel was much more modest and I shared the room with a Vancouverite. It was good though because we hit it off right away. Her name is Clair and she is going to Malawi to do gender-related work for 15 months.

We had a fun exploring the city last night. It is a wicked city- There are lots of big skyscrapers but in juxtaposition, many of the houses are older brick houses with spiral staircases winding up the front of them. Clair and I went to Saint Catherine’s for a couple of beers and then went to meet my Quebec friend Marie-Eve who I used to live with in Whistler. On the way to Le Distillerie we were feeling a little hungry so we took a break to indulge in a little tradition and ordered up some savory crepes in a little cafe on St. Denis.

They were so tasty and had me feeling nostalgic for Europe... only the ham to cheese ratio was much better than the memorable one I had in Greece.

After the crepes, we met up with Marie- Eve in a funky little pub that brews its own beer. Although that was its claim to fame we actually had mojitos instead. It was cool because Marie-Eve is one of those people who I didn’t know really well or for a long time but the three of us got along like seaweed and rice. I told Marie-Eve that I would come again in the summer with more time!

The training was really good- most of it was in French but we had interpreters. Again, it was mostly just cool to see what everyone is doing or has done. Going away for three months looks like nothing, as many people involved are dedicating a year or more and bringing children. I’m happy with getting my feet wet though!!!

Depending on how my project goes in SL I would like to continue volunteering with Uniterra throughout my life, at least doing the 2-3 week Leave for Change every once in awhile. The training just made me feel like I have so many more countries to visit!!!