May 25th: Heading into our last week of work.

We are getting so much done! Today, 4 of the group went to the temple wall and worked with the locals to plaster 70 % of it! They will be able to finish tomorrow, and then the whole group is going to go for a painting party on Wednesday to complete the project. We went from nothing to a painted wall, amazing! At the Trades Training Facility (TTF), things really picked up today again. The weather was back to smoking hot with no rain, and we managed to pour concrete in three sections of the foundation- 2 external perimeter lines and 1 interior wall line. It looks like we may actually completely finish the foundation of the building before we go, which would be a great accomplishment!

For lunch today, we had another nice bakery lunch, this time picked up on the way to work. Fish samosas, plain bread buns, sugar buns and mangos made for a nice meal. We even played some cricket again today- some of us decided we should try and play back home, although the rules are still a little confusing. We went out for a late dinner and had some really nice calamari, chicken, salads and fries. Ice cream and fried banana fritters were delicious for dessert! Back to work in the morning.

May 24th: Temple Tours on our day off.

After Mulgiriya, we got some drinks (chocolate milk and coke seem to be pretty popular- it’s funny how certain foods for some reason taste so much better away from home) and drove to Dickwala. Here, we were lucky enough to see a stunning temple that housed the biggest statues I have ever seen in my life, in addition to the largest Buddha in Sri Lanka, detailed paintings covering the walls and a building dedicated to the Sri Lankan Buddhists’ interpretation of hell, sins and punishment. The massive Buddha sits outside, standing about 50 m high and covered in about 2 cm x 2 cm tiles. Plus, the Buddha is hollow; we walked up his head and were able to see a symbolic organization of books of his teachings that were stored inside. We could not get over the unreal workmanship that must have been dedicated to constructing such an amazing tribute to the Buddhist community!

Finally, we grabbed lunch at a bakery close by, then headed to the famous blow hole. At first, since the ocean looked exceptionally calm today, we didn’t expect to see much, but just as we were saying this, the hole responded with a huge spurt of water! It was quite impressive- most of us had never seen one before, and it really reinforces the respect that we must give to the ocean’s strength. Unfortunately, we couldn’t spend much time there, as our driver-Deepal- had to get back to take Jo-Anne (a Canadian volunteer here in Tangalle who helped a lot with the planning of our trip) to Colombo. Nevertheless, everyone was happy to have seen the attraction! It was a great day! We finished it off with a restaurant-like dinner of chicken and rice with fresh mango and a salad with guacamole and Naan. Mmmmmmmm. Back to work tomorrow!

May 23rd: Working despite the rains and settled into a nice routine.

Mmmmmmm yum- we got sugar bread (donut) loaves this morning from the mobile truck baker who drives by every morning with It’s a Small World After All blaring to announce his presence. Again, we didn’t send any people to the temple. However, those working at the house got lots of plastering done and even started painting! The Trades Training Facility (TTF) group also had an exciting day. We managed to pour a huge amount of concrete for a second level foundation construct and are really getting some solid work done despite the heavy sporadic rains. Originally, we were planning on working a half day today, but when we got to the TTF and saw that the local workers had built the wooden concrete frame for most of the perimeter foundation, we had to stay until we got most of it done so that the concrete poured could dry overnight and the workers could set up more frames with the scarce supply of wood for interior wall foundation sections that we will pour Monday.

Anil and Ruwan went to a bakery, the best in Tangalle, to pick up some lunch for us today. We got ‘egg balls’ (half hard boiled egg, half curry, covered in bread crumbs and spices), ‘egg rolls’ (like a sausage roll pastry, but with egg) and ‘curry buns’ (little croissant-like buns with a curry centre). Some people are starting to tire a little tired of curries, but the lunch (as were most of the meals we have had out) was overall a nice treat. After work, we peeled off our sopping (from the unbelievably strong rains) work clothes, showered and headed off down the street for dinner. There were about 4 menu options as the restaurant has reduced the menu it offers to its bare bones due to the lack of tourists these days, but the prawn fried rice and deviled chicken were great! To walk off the meal and cool down our mouths after the chicken, we walked to the grocery store to get ice cream drum sticks after dinner, then played cards for the rest of the night by candle light for a while when the power was out!

May 22nd: Are the Rains upon us?

Ah, the rain is really killing us at the work site. Unfortunately, the monsoon season seems to be upon us. Today, after a few bouts of heavy rain and no sign of clear sky, we had to call it a day at 11:30am for both the Trades Training Facility (TTF) group and the house-plastering group. The rain washes away freshly poured concrete/cement and really throws a wrench in the day! After our very short day of work, some people did a little food and clothes shopping and others just went back for a nap to catch up on some sleep after the birthday party last night. After the nap people rustled out of bed, a bunch of us hit the beach for some volleyball and quick dips in the ocean. We had a classic (pretty greasy, but hey- we’re not at home!) chicken finger/fish cutlet/rice/salad dinner and then most people listened to some music and played cards into the night!

Going into our last week of work, I have talked to Anil about really pushing to get as much as we can done at the worksite in between rains. It looks like (if all goes as planned) by the time we leave, we will have plastered most of a house, built almost the entire foundation of one of the TTF buildings (minus the slab) and constructed the temple wall from bare ground to a fully plastered and painted entity! Not bad!

May 21st: Happy Birthday, Patricia!

Happy Birthday Patricia!! It is her 21st today! 21 on May 21st- a pretty big one! Today, unfortunately, only one worker showed up at the temple site, so we again sent 11 people to the Trades Training Facility (TTF) and just 4 to the house nearby the temple. Anil was quite upset with the lack of workers at the temple today and tried to talk to the head monk to ensure that we won’t have any more issues for the rest of the trip with workers not coming around to help out. Although all the workers at the temple are volunteer and we are supplying the building materials to the temple. In the meantime, plastering at the house is going really well (almost everyone has had a turn now- we will all come back as skilled laborers!) and the big group at the TTF today was able to get lots of work done on the foundation, pouring more concrete like crazy today.

On a completely different note, the weather has been changing quite a bit just in the last few days. Heavy rains have started, and we fear that we may be catching the beginning of monsoon season. It’s not dangerous or cold, but it really throws a fork in work at the sites, as concrete will not set very well (and can even wash away) in the rain, Also, we have a new guest staying amongst us. Suzi, the woman who came from Thompson Rivers University to finish her social work degree, has moved into the smaller guest house to have some roommates and more people around than her old apartment.

Anyway, we are off to our private DJ party for Pat’s birthday (and also Jo-Anne’s going away party; Jo-Anne is a Canadian volunteer who helped plan a great deal of our trip pre-departure) and are all very excited! We are going to have a great dinner, a huge birthday cake and dance the night away. This is a great opportunity for everyone to relax. Happy Birthday Pat!!

May 20th: Tricky Foundation Work

Today, no-one went to the temple (the workers were still working on the longitudinal beam wood frame so it will be ready for concrete pouring tomorrow), 4 people went to the house (Albert, Hilda, Amanda and Karen hadn’t been there yet) and the rest (11) went to the Trades Training Facility(TTF). The plastering at the house is going really well and everyone enjoys the work there. At the TTF, we are still plugging away at the somewhat complex foundation work. Today, we spent time leveling the soil around the concrete/rock wall built in the foundation and the workers started building a wood frame for more concrete pouring throughout the perimeter of the building foundation. At the TTF, we also got to play some cricket, which was lots of fun! After work, we bought some amazing mangos off the back of a vendor’s truck - I think they may be the best ones we have bought yet! We are excited for tomorrow- it is Patricia’s birthday, and we are having a “DJ party” at Lagoon Paradise, a beach resort nearby. One of the workers is also an employee of Ruwan’s DJ business and he is going to be mixing the music for the evening. Also, Anil and Ruwan managed to find someone who normally makes wedding cakes to make a great cake for Pat’s big 21! Tonight, we just made some nice soup, a salad and some naan for dinner.

May 19th: What a time to be in Sri Lanka!

Again, I just can’t get over how well this trip is going (knock on wood!). In the morning, Brendan, Greg, Albert, Angus and I walked to the fisheries harbor at 6:00am in the pouring rain (but it’s a tropical rain, not a Vancouver rain, so not too chilly!). We paid our entrance fees and then managed to buy a kilo of very fresh cuddle fish in addition to a 3 kilo and 1 kilo ‘tuna-like’ fish for dinner tonight. When the rain didn’t let off, and the celebrations were still going from the day before, we found out that work today would not be happening. Instead, we headed downtown and were again lucky enough to see a huge parade of excited soldiers, monks and citizens waving flags, dancing and singing down the streets. What a state the country is in! Those who needed to went to the bank to exchange travelers cheques and foreign currency and then we all walked to Anil’s house for a lovely tea and snack time with his family. It was great to visit, meet his family, see his house and also be able to see some of his pictures from past Developing World Connections trips since their beginning in 2004. He is such a gentle, well organized man, and his concern for the group’s well being is really appreciated.

After a nice group picture outside Anil’s house, we walked around and did a little shopping - everything from fake Channel sunglasses for Jacquie to national flags for almost everyone to newspapers outlining the events that have transpired over the last couple of days. We headed home then (all this before 2:00pm!) and went to play volleyball at a nearby court by a lagoon (quite the exotic location for a court). After a couple of games of volleyball, then some soccer on the beach with some local friends, we prepared our yummy seafood dinner. Angus was in charge and made a great Chinese sweet and sour cuddle fish dish along with some nicely steamed and fried tuna! Then, Jo-Anne, Suzi (the TRU student over here for a few weeks), Iresh and Kanishka (Iresh’s friend and another worker at the Trades Training Facility (TTF site) came over to Wavy Ocean, and we headed downtown for an evening of elaborate celebrations, with music, fireworks, singing and dancing in the streets!

May 18: The war is over!

May 18th

Wow. What a day to be in Sri Lanka! If you are reading this, you are probably also keeping up with the news in the country (likely more than us, as we have very limited access to western media!) and have heard that the Sinhalese government has killed the LTTE (Tamil Tiger) leader just recently (to be confirmed and widely broadcast to the country by displaying his body on television here in Sri Lanka). The country, at least in the southern provinces where we are, is ecstatic- there are parades in the streets with music, singing and dancing and fireworks have been going off regularly from yesterday, all through the night and into today!

On a more micro level, the groups had another pretty solid work day. The TTF group is still working on tying re-bar for some of the concrete work to be done on pillars in the building. Plastering at the house is going great and the temple wall is completely up, with all intermediate columns poured and just one half of a longitudinal beam left to pour plus some plastering and painting which we will do as a group! I still cannot get over the head monk’s unconditional selflessness and generosity. Every day, he offers those working at the temple chocolate, fresh papaya, mangos, bananas, pineapples, jack fruit, cake, biscuits and tea, and today, he showed us around his home and presented us with a couple of small gifts for the group! He also has an unbelievable sense of humour- today he was in stitches when another friend on the worksite called Jocelyn - “Johnson”; it was a sight/feeling that I’m sure no one will forget and his happiness is absolutely contagious!

After work, the whole group went to KetakalaWatta, the community of houses and a school previously built by Developing World Connections and TripCanada, to see an English class and meet/play with some of the students. The group really enjoyed playing hang man and some other little word games with the kids.

To finish off the day, some of the group went to the bank to take out some money at an ATM. Thankfully, even our basic debit (convenience) cards from Canadian banks worked no problem! That group was lucky enough to then see the chaotic (safe! Don’t worry!) celebrations in the street and also buy some national and Buddhist flags for souvenirs. Parents, friends and family- you are in for some pretty amazing photos when everyone returns! On that note, the speed at which this trip is flying by is incredible. We have already been in Sri Lanka for 2 full weeks and people (very much including me!) are getting sad about leaving already! I am really trying to make sure that everyone soaks up every moment of the trip as much as possible to get everything they can out of it! It is so nice to have such a cohesive group- a surprise considering we are 15 (mostly) unrelated adults traveling together in a huge group!

The weekend: A bit of work and the elephant sanctuary.

Today was a short work-day. All three sites are still well on their way (the temple wall looks like it will be ready for plastering in the next few days, the TTF roof men are coming in to start working on the building that is farthest along and the house is getting plastered like crazy!). After work, we ran off to the internet café ASAP (they stayed open an extra hour just for us) to print and laminate proof of enrolment letters from UBC. These documents will get us 50 % off almost all the entrance fees we will be encountering throughout the weekend trips and cultural tour- what nice student benefits! After that, we hit the beach for some volleyball and swimming, then called tuk-tuks to head to a local school to play basketball with our friend from the work site (Iresh). Everyone sweat like mad (what’s new?) and had a great time. At 7 (when it is too dark to think about throwing balls at each other), we headed back to Wavy Ocean and made a chick pea based patty dinner. Tonight, the group hung out with a couple of friends from the worksite as well as a woman from Thompson Rivers University, Suzi finishing up her bachelor of social work. Tomorrow will be bright and early- 6:00 am as we head for the elephant sanctuary.

Early, early early! 5:30 after a late night (up to around 1:30 for some of us) was pretty rough, but everyone was surprisingly ready to get the day on a roll and head of to Udewala National Park to see elephants. We stopped for a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast (different breads, curries and rice) and then hopped into some open top jeeps and went through the park. Everyone had a great time- not only were the elephants amazing to see in their natural habitat, but the groups loved the open top jeeps as well- overall quite the experience for those who have never been somewhere were you can stand up in a moving vehicle, let alone not wear a seatbelt (Parents- don’t worry. safari driving is very slow and everyone was safe). We stopped to pick up some breakfast and dinner food and almost everyone sawed some logs in the back of the vans until we made it back to Wavy Ocean (our guest houses). Right when we got home, we went over our cultural trip itinerary as a group; it will be amazing, including everything from seeing what has been called the 8th wonder of the world, Sigiriya- a temple on top of a strangely perfect cylindrical mountain- to watching Kandyan dancing to checking out spice gardens and tea factories, to riding elephants!

Almost everyone went straight to bed before dinner to catch up on some sleep (instead, I made jell-o for dessert tonight). And back to work tomorrow! We will be mixing up the groups to make sure that everyone gets a chance to work together.

May 15th: A quick update before the weekend!

A super quick entry because I am in the Internet café right now! Today, we again split into 3 groups- one to the Trades Training Facility (TTF), one to the temple, and one to the nearby house. The house plastering is going great (lots of fun!), the temple wall is actually already almost complete. All the bricks are laid and we poured most of the concrete pillars within the wall today- all that is left is plastering and painting! And the TTF is on its way to being ready for the massive job of pouring the slab. Thank goodness we are getting a mechanical concrete mixer for that job!

The temple group was treated today to beautiful watermelon from the head monk; we still cannot get over his amazing generosity! We also got to have a peak around his home- he showed us several photo albums of trips to Malaysia and India and also pointed out (outside) a giant squirrel as big as a cat! The animals here are very exotic.

After a little Internet session (that I am trailing in on), we are heading back for a little swim at the beach- this is the best way to cool down every day after work, and then dinner. Maybe a little cards tonight, and then up early as always (~6:30am our time) for a Saturday- half day of work and then basketball with one of our friends at the worksite! That’s it for now! We are all also very excited to go to Udewala to see elephants on Sunday!

May 14th: Tuk Tukking Around.

It seems like we are finally getting used to the heat! Today, the Trades Training Facility (TTF) group did a good job hauling rocks and mixing (and moving) cement for the masons. The rock foundation is almost done; concrete slab here we come! At the temple, the wall is progressing like crazy- in just a few days, after having mixed/poured all the concrete for the foundation, the community members with mason skills have laid almost all of the bricks for the ~4 foot wall! All that will be left soon is a quick plaster job and some paint! At the house (for a worker that is heavily involved in DWC projects) nearby the temple, a few group members have also been helping out with plastering. Those who went to do this today (including me!) had a great time; we all felt like we acquired/used some valuable trades skills!

After work, most of the group went to the beach for a ‘sea bath’ as so many Sri Lankans call it (a hop into the ocean to cool down). Jocelyn’s fingers were a lot better (despite a couple blisters!), but Karen unfortunately got a splinter at the TTF. After a laborious 45 minute ‘surgery’ of sorts with lots of support from fellow group members, we managed to get the little piece of wood out of her calf and clean her up quite nicely to avoid any nasty infections. She was a great sport and it was awesome that we were able to get out the wood before it caused any problems!

Finally, after the splinter removal, we caught some tuk tuks (everyone absolutely loves these things- lots of fun even to be in as passengers!) to go to a seafood restaurant actually called “Sea Food Restaurant”. We had a nice, somewhat American meal that was easy on everyone’s bellies, tuk tuked back (tuk tuk is a noun, verb and maybe even an adjective) and finally hit the sack. Off to the Internet tomorrow to say hi to people and post some more of our daily reports!

(P.S. if you are reading this and want to get in touch with someone on the trip, email: info@developingworldconnections for the DWC mobile phone number. )

This is our DWC mobile and is on me (Devon Rasmussen- the team leader) at almost all times except for when I’m swimming or in the shower! And it’s free for us to receive calls, so the only money/bill issue will be on your side :)

May 13th: Musical worksites - the groups move around.

Today, the temple group went to the Trades Training Facility(TTF) and the previous TTF group split up into two groups of 4 to work at the temple wall and a house for a worker just down the road from the temple. Work at all the sites went well. At the TTF, the foundation rocks are still being laid; at the temple, we finished pouring the concrete foundation for the wall, and all that is left is brick laying. At the house, the group finished pouring the concrete floor and will start plastering soon.

It was nice to have a change of pace and work at the different sites today. The group new to the temple was able to enjoy the company and generosity of the head monk. We were treated to beautiful pineapples and mangos picked right off of the temple grounds and the monk also showed us some of his photo albums of trips to Malaysia and India. The group new to the TTF enjoyed playing some volleyball with the workers and had a good work day overall. Jocelyn burnt a few of her fingers on the stove tonight, but we got them cooled down with an ice cold beer bottle and dressed them really well overnight with aloe and polysporin burn ointment.

May 12th: Worry not, worry not!

Worry not, worry not! Brendan and Eric were much better in the morning- good enough to come to work and not even feel sick at the work site! Unfortunately, Hilda still was a little feverish and had a pounding headache this morning, so she stayed home for a second day of rest. I left her a mobile and called frequently throughout the work day. Thankfully, after lots of rehydration salts, juice, Tylenol and rest she fully recuperated after today and was at the beach in the afternoon back to normal! I think that the main issue with those who have fallen ill is just the heat. It is unbearable- May is the hottest month of the entire year in Sri Lanka!

Work today for the temple group was really good. They managed to pour lots of concrete and have the wall on its way! The Trades Training Facility(TTF) group was uniformly tired today and didn’t have a very busy work day. But, our exhaustion was complemented by a relative lack of work required on our part, as we are at the stage of waiting for the masons to build the rock walls in the foundations we have dug. All we need to be doing during this stage of the project is mixing cement and moving rocks to the sides of the trenches for the masons to break and position appropriately. I am very happy with the organization of the trip to date from the perspective of our worksites. Anil and Ruwan are amazing at simultaneously organizing the group’s volunteer and tourist facets of the trip, and there hasn’t been a day (and isn’t a day in the foreseeable future) when either the temple or the TTF group has had to wait around for materials or workers. They are amazingly committed to their jobs! Today, they presented to me a great itinerary for our 8 day cultural tour, and they will go ahead with bookings for hotel/guest house rooms tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we will be branching out and mixing up the groups a little- the TTF group will split up into two groups of 4, one of which will work at the temple and the other at a house in construction nearby the temple (currently at the plastering phase). The previous temple group will all head to the TTF to meet the workers and continue our progress over there. I’m just so happy that everyone is feeling better! We have learned the lesson of respect for the sun and heat very early on, and I hope that the group will be sure to take more frequent breaks at the worksite and not over do it, falling into another miserable heat stroke-ish slump.

May 11th: The Sun, salt water and spice had they way with some of us.

Today, I went to wake everyone up only to find that three people had been ill all night! Hilda, Brendan and Eric all felt quite ill after our day at Palm Paradise yesterday and I am still unsure why. We all ate the same dinner, but I think that maybe the spiciness, the sun and salt water had their way will several people. The three stayed at the guest houses while the rest of the group went to work. Brendan and Eric now feel a lot better, but Hilda is not feeling so hot. She started Ciprofloxacin this evening and I am hoping that this will help her out over night (in combination with lots of rehydration salts and water and rest!). I made sure to reiterate the importance of letting me know when anyone gets sick, regardless of the time, so hopefully if things turn south tonight, I will hear about it asap and be able to act quickly to help out.

On another note, today at work, we finished digging the trenches at the Trades Training Facility and started (alongside the masons) laying rocks and mixing/pouring cement in the foundation. The temple group has been working hard but also enjoying the company and amazing generosity of the head monk, who has peppered them with treats throughout the day ranging from chocolate and oranges to biscuits and tea!

After work, Patricia managed to get a sim card for her cellphone (we needed to get our passports from Anil so it was a bit of an adventure), then a few of us went to Food City to get some fruit for rice pudding tonight and also for breakfast in the morning (mangos- yum!). We also did a little window shopping, and I bought some awesome Sri Lankan flip flops. I am hoping that everyone gets better soon! But if they still feel ill tomorrow, they will take another day off, and we will be sure to get them some professional aid if their conditions worsen.

May 10th: Enjoying the Festivities and taking some time to Aclimatize.

May 10th

This morning, the group walked up to Anil’s brother’s store for some nice refreshing cold drinks, Coke is pretty popular around here. From there we caught tuk tuks to Palm Paradise Hotel, where the previous Developing World Connections groups have stayed. It is a great place for the shorter term volunteer experiences, but for us students, who are staying in the area for more than 4 weeks, it would become a bit pricey althought the food is wonderful and we had a wonderful day on the beach, located just outside the hotel.

Those of us with computers, or techno-geeks with iPod Touches,(that’s you, Brendan and Albert!) used the hotel's wireless internet to catch up on some emails. We checked out the Canucks scores - Eric was pretty sad as he lost 100 rupees on a little bet with Albert- both of them are the "sports guys" on the trip. We had a good lunch of Jaffles and fries, and then sat on the beach some more and had an awesome tuna curry and rice buffet.
Overall this weekend has been wonderful and relaxing. The full moon celebrations have allowed us to rest up and aclimatize, but we are looking forward to getting our hands dirty and being busy volunteering on the Trades Training Facility and temple wall next week.

May 9th: Perrahara celebrations

Hilda, Brendan, Smrita and I went this morning to pick up 150 roti we ordered the day before, but the cook hadn’t made them yet, so we reminded him and had a nice walk back through town. A few of us went swimming and played some volleyball while the others stumbled out of bed later on. I still can’t get over how nice the beach directly in front of our place is. No rocks at all, no seaweed, no scary animals in the water. Just perfect temperature sea and a nice sandy beach! I would DEFINITELY 100 % recommend these guest houses for future student trips. We are living in affordable luxury!

At 12:30, we all went with Anil, Deepal and Jo-Anne to pick up our 150 roti (yum!!) and see a beautiful Perrahara celebration about half an hour’s drive away. We watched the procession pass twice- once in some shade behind a large crowd and then right at the roadside down a few hundred metres where we were greeted with a refreshing juice and received a lot of attention from the dancers and children enjoying the music. Everyone is so welcoming and excited to see tourists in these times- they are very much aware of the vast travel advisories and publicity that has been decimating tourism these days.

After the Perrahara, we went to see the harbor (from outside the gates) and then walked to the coral-protected swimming area nearby which was obviously very popular with locals and those traveling to Tangalle for the celebrations. Finally, after a quick 1-hour roti break, we headed to Ketakalawatta to see the community’s beautiful lantern displays and visit with the families of some of the workers we are building with. They were very welcoming and generously offered us some tea and biscuits. We got back around 8:00pm and I finally got a chance to get some relaxing time after these first few busy (sleep-deprived) days and nights!

May 8th: A day of Sports and Roti!

Today was our first opportunity to take some time and look around at the nearby beaches and town. We played volleyball at the most scenic court I have ever seen (even in movies), swam and played football with a number of local Sri Lankans who apparently play on the Tangalle team, they were very good.

Ranjit came over in the morning to discuss football clothing donations to the local sports rep and how they would be used. After our day of sporting activities, we met up with Anil and Jo-Anne at an outside area by a temple near the harbor for a full moon temple pilgrimage drink, a very tasty, sweet tapioca type of drink!. Following this, without any serious plan in mind, we were lucky enough be able to find a great place for lunch, where we all had Roti and watched a beautiful dance performance for more than an hour! After that, we walked around to the police station, the hospital and finally stopped at Food City for some refreshments and snacks, the 2 roti/person wasn’t quite enough.

Ruwan’s cousin, Iresh, spent the whole day with us which was very nice. After getting back from our long walking journey, everyone went to bed quite early except for Albert and I; we decided to cook a great meal to save time for the group in the morning. It took us till 1:00am! I will head out at 8 am tomorrow to get 150 roti from the vendor we saw today. We’ll freeze them and then have them on hand for a very quick lunch! Yum.

May 7th: Hot and Tired.

What a long day! I am just going to bed at 4:00am after quite the day. Today, the heat was absolutely unbearable, to the point that the Trades Training Facility group could barely work. But, we played a little volleyball with Ruwan’s cousin, Iresh, which was lots of fun.

The temple group spent time with the head monk and looked at his photos, drank tea and ate biscuits. It was a great cultural experience for them today! After working, both the temple group and the Trades Training Facility group headed for the internet cafe to send some quick emails home. Some of us headed to Food City to get lots of fruit and veggies for the next few days because during the full moon holiday everything will be closed. We also got some beer and Arrack. Arrack is a Sri Lankan hard liquor made from the coconut flower and typically mixed with Coke or Sprite. It is similar to scotch or whiskey. We had a little party in the evening after swimming and playing volleyball on the beach. We met some local Sri Lankans and Manrook and some friends, played their car stereo and we visited with them until about 2 am.

Most of participants are pumped and excited to be here but are also tired from the travel, maybe jet lag and the heat. It will take some getting used! I am off to bed...

May 5th: Arrival in Tangalle!

Finally, we’re here! We made it to Colombo safe and sound and found Albert, Hilda and Patricia as well as Ruwan, Anil and another driver. Very quickly, we exchanged some money and headed out for the approximately 6 hour drive to Tangalle. Given the option to travel through Colombo or bypass the big city and travel inland on less crowded, safer roads we decided to take the safe route in our 3-van convoy. Soon after a quick refreshment stop, one of the vans’ clutch gave out. Ruwan, the lead-foot larry, way ahead of the other two vans continued on to Tangalle, but Anil’s van turned around to meet up with the stranded group and organize a new vehicle. After a short wait thanks to Anil’s awesome problem solving, we finished the trip to Tangalle, grabbed some basic breakfast from a local store and ate a pre-ordered dinner primarily of fried rice and curries at the Sea Food Restaurant of the Wavy Ocean Hotel, where we will be staying. Here, we also met Jo-Anne, who is finishing up her volunteering for Developing World Connectinos by the end of May and helped me immensely with planning the trip prior to our departure.

I think that the group really enjoyed the drive here, seeing a host of exotic plants ranging from rubber trees to king coconuts. But, unfortunately, everyone was absolutely exhausted and a little grumpy as we chose rooms and had a quick talk about starting work the next morning! Also, we had a little surprise- for some reason, after a few people had showered, there was no water left coming out of the taps. Finally, right before bed, Jacquie came knocking at my door to tell me that a man was peeking through her window at her. I called the manager of the building- Rukman Wedarachchi- who came quickly to see what he could do, but the man was long gone. We decided to close her windows for the evening and leave the hallway lights on to discourage trespassers….

Despite this negative early occurrence, the guest houses (neighboring each other) fit everyone extremely comfortably and are far better than any accommodations I might have expected for a budget student group. Most rooms have private en suites, and the rooms seem to be quite secure. All the rooms also have good ceiling fans to keep us cool and drive the mosquitos (which don’t seem to be too abundant) away! PLUS, we are RIGHT on an absolutely beautiful beach- all sand, no rocks/sea weed, and the surf is so loud that everyone hears it in their rooms; not a bad lullaby to put us to sleep!


Our first full day in Sri Lanka! And it already feels like we have been here for days! Today, we work up at 7:00am, took a quick tour of Ketakalawatta (a previously completed housing community project by Developing World Connections), the Trades Training Facility and the temple, where we were blessed by the head monk and were able to see the BEAUTIFUL temple, full of ornate paintings. After this, we split up by house (guest house arrangement) and the smaller group (7) stayed to start work on the temple wall while the larger group (8) went to the TTF (we are staying in two neighboring guest houses). It was great to meet Anil’s brother, Ranjit, and all of the workers at the sites.

Everyone had a good experience overall- they worked hard and did not complain about the intensity of the job! Unfortunately, due to the temperature, a number of us really didn’t feel very good today- the temple group didn’t have enough water, and even at the Trades Training Facility, where we had enough water, work in the shade was almost unbearable. To make sure that people feel better tomorrow, we are taking more electrolytes (and water) and will encourage less vigorous, more steady, slow work throughout the day!

After working, the group at the Trades Training Facility(TTF) had quite the experience at the local fruit/spice/vegetable market, where Deepal helped us buy a lot of food for the next few days. One participant-Smrita- stepped up to the plate with her unreal cooking knowledge and helped the group decide what to purchase for meals which we will be cooking ourselves! After running around to a number of shops (including a wholesaler where we bought 50 kg of rice!), the TTF group came back to the guest houses to meet up with the temple group who had just been taking it easy playing volleyball and swimming since they returned a couple of hours earlier. As a group, we went for a beautiful cool-down swim as dusk approached- it is very nice to have such a big group that is so positive, respectful and sociable! Smrita directed the team to make a great meal and I had a good meeting with Ruwan, Anil and Jo-Anne regarding our trip itinerary and weekend day trips. It is nice to settle in and get everything sorted out.

Everyone is super excited- this weekend is a huge full moon celebration (Buddhist) and we are planning on doing everything from traveling to an elephant sanctuary to turtle watching to temple tours to surfing somewhere between here and Galle!!! And all of this will be on free Sundays (we’re working 6 day weeks) BEFORE our 8/9 day cultural trip!

It has been amazing so far and until the next entry,

Devon

May 4th: Still enroute to Sri Lanka

In London, the big group flying out of Vancouver met up with Brendan, Greg and Natasha (who flew out of Vancouver at different times) and those flying out of Calgary (Carissa and Jocelyn). Now, we are 12! Most of us spent the entire day in the airport window shopping and getting a bite to eat. A few people went into London to do a little sight-seeing. Finally, we all got on another over-night fight to Colombo (via Malé) to meet up with Hilda, Patricia and Albert who got in about 12 hours earlier and were waiting in the airport.

May 3rd: UBC Student Group heads out to Sri Lanka

We are off to the races! This morning (~3:00am), Hilda, Patricia and Albert headed west to fly through Hong Kong while most of the rest of the group flew east on our way to Toronto. After a quick (greasy) bite to eat and a nice hour to stretch our legs in Pearson International, we headed off for an over night flight to London.