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!)