We have had a wonderful cultural tour. The last several days have been spent on seeing amazing parts of Sri Lanka and enjoying Poya (full moon holiday).
On June 8th we had our last formal meeting at dinner, talking about the potential for future work with Developing World Connections and also just about keeping in touch and maintaining the great bonds (cheesy I know, but it’s true!) that we have been fortunate enough to make on this trip. I still can’t get over how great everyone is and how well we get along! Most of us swam and hung out until the sun rose in the morning- quite the evening!
The trip is over! I think I can speak for the whole group in saying that it went by WAY too quickly. But, that’s only because it ended up being such a great experience for everyone (I think/hope!). I would like to thank the group one last time for being so amazing- it sounds very very cheesy and melodramatic, but I cannot imagine a better group for our trip. Everyone worked super hard when we were at the temple, the worker’s house and the Trades Training Facility and we got a huge amount of work done in the volunteer portion of our trip. Outside of the volunteering, everyone put in the effort to make good friends and have a great time together instead of being antisocial or selfish at any stage of the trip. Thank you so much for everything that you put into this trip- it was a pleasure to be able to spend these past 5 weeks with you and I can’t wait to reunite in September!
Devon Rasmussen
Student Team Leader
Developing World Connections
Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Cultural Tour: Our last few days together
After everyone packed up all of their belongings and checked their rooms, we said our final goodbies to the Wavy Ocean staff as well as a few friends we played soccer with a number of times. Anil’s brother, Ranjith, came over too for a quick goodbye and also to pick up some of the participants’ old shoes and clothing for those who might need it.
Happy 21st Birthday to Smrita, who celebrated with a spa day and a very nice party. The next day we headed out to the train station to catch a train to Nuwara Eliya, the highest living city in Sri Lanka. Just going to the train station was quite an experience. It is very old and very British, and the engineers and workers have maintained the old systems of signaling communication (bells and disks traded between passing trains and stations en route) that were very interesting to see. We were lucky enough to have been able to get seats in the ‘observation room’- the caboose of the train, with large windows around the side of the train and on the back wall of the last car. We enjoyed the unreal views as we passed everything from schools to waterfalls to expansive hill/mountain ranges to intricately organized terraced farms.
When we made it to the train station just outside of Nuwara Eliya, Deepal, Anil and Ruwan were waiting for us (they had driven from Ella while we took the train for the scenery) and drove us to our guest house here. The climate is much cooler here than in almost anywhere else in the country and many people were freezing (I couldn’t get over how chilly everyone thought it was- maybe it is just because we have been used to 30’s in Tangalle!). After dropping everything off at the guest houses, we planned to do something in town. But, nothing went our way! We went to the golf club for those who were interested only to find that it was extremely expensive even just for 10 holes; we went to take a boat tour on a small lake, but due to the chilliness and size of the lake (pretty small), that was not a hit; we went to play volleyball at a park, but everyone was falling asleep in the vans; and, finally, we had the opportunity to go horse riding, but no-one was very interested!
Sri Lanka’s beer- Lion- is actually brewed in Nuwara Eliya. As such, it seemed only fit to go to a local pub branch of Lion where they served draught Lion and could save our day! The next day we headed off to Kandy. On the way, we stopped at a tea factory-Glenloch- that was established by a Scot 135 years ago and hasn’t got much new equipment since! It was quite the experience being able to see the entire process from picking the leaves to drying them, breaking them, sifting them, sorting them and putting them in a bag.
A short drive from the tea factory brought us to a nice lunch (curries, chicken and fresh lime juice), after which we drove through to Kandy. The city here is much bigger than Tangalle or any other city that we have passed through. The streets are bustling with pedestrian and vehicle traffic and there are stores and vendors everywhere (there’s even a KFC- it seems a little out of place though). After getting settled, we went to see an awesome presentation of a number of culturally important dances (including fire dancing which was quite impressive!) and then headed back to the hotel for a swim and dinner at the extremely fancy (by our standards) buffet.
Tomorrow its off to see Pinnawala elephant orphanage during the feeding time, then a gem factory, some shopping, and finally Temple of the Tooth (where a tooth of Buddha is kept) in the evening. Some of the guys are thinking of getting tailored suits, and the girls are very interested in the gems and other jewelry. Tomorrow should be a packed day!
June 5th
After an early wakeup we headed off to Pinnawala elephant orphanage to make it just in time to view the feeding of a couple babies. Far from amazing or impressive, the feeding was somewhat depressing for most people, as we watched baby elephants chained to the ground tug at their restrained leg and waiting for a small couple of milk bottles. However, soon after the feeding, we came to understand the orphanage a little more, realizing that this feeding is simply one more way for the orphanage to make money and maintain the work that it does in protecting and saving elephants from dangerous areas or poor health. We were lucky enough to see massive heards (maybe with 75 to 100 elephants!) very close up on dry land, and then even watch them bath in a nearby river. Everyone really enjoyed seeing the elephants!
When we finished watching the elephants bathe, we drove to a gem factory that gave us a small tour and description (live and also via a movie) of the processes involved in moving a precious gem from deep in the ground to our fingers. Afterwards, we spent about 3 hours in the factory shop looking at amazing semiprecious (garnet, blue topaz, moonstone…) and precious (ruby, emerald, diamond and sapphire) gems. Many people had some nice pieces made and purchased jewelry for themselves. I was very very interested in getting a 9-gem ring, which is a culturally important piece that has strong astrological meaning and is meant to protect its bearer from bad luck (they are very popular here amongst the men). As I hummed and hawed, trying to make a decision, the group was mumbling, and all of a sudden, said that they would like to purchase the ring for me as an end of the trip thank you. I was extremely honored and touched, and thanks to my Dad’s sensitive genes, I had a nice little cry in the gem shop. I still cannot get over the quality of the relationships that this trip has offered to us- previously strangers in Canada!
When everyone finished ordering and buying their gems, the group quickly went back to the hotel, changed into some light coloured, conservative clothing and headed for the Temple of the Tooth here on Kandy Lake. Our tour of the temple was incredible. Not only did we enjoy reading and hearing the stories of how the tooth made it to Kandy, but we also were fascinated by the intricacy and quality of the statues and also the temple walls and ceiling (which includes over 100 gold plated lotus flower pieces. The temple is very important to Buddhists in Sri Lanka, and has fully recovered after a couple of LTTE (Tamil Tigers) bombings.
Our last destination prior to our departure from Sri Lanka is to Dambulla. This is most likely my last entry before we depart. Right now everyone is making plans already for September when we will be able to get back together. It is going to be a tough goodbye at the airport in a couple days!
Happy 21st Birthday to Smrita, who celebrated with a spa day and a very nice party. The next day we headed out to the train station to catch a train to Nuwara Eliya, the highest living city in Sri Lanka. Just going to the train station was quite an experience. It is very old and very British, and the engineers and workers have maintained the old systems of signaling communication (bells and disks traded between passing trains and stations en route) that were very interesting to see. We were lucky enough to have been able to get seats in the ‘observation room’- the caboose of the train, with large windows around the side of the train and on the back wall of the last car. We enjoyed the unreal views as we passed everything from schools to waterfalls to expansive hill/mountain ranges to intricately organized terraced farms.
When we made it to the train station just outside of Nuwara Eliya, Deepal, Anil and Ruwan were waiting for us (they had driven from Ella while we took the train for the scenery) and drove us to our guest house here. The climate is much cooler here than in almost anywhere else in the country and many people were freezing (I couldn’t get over how chilly everyone thought it was- maybe it is just because we have been used to 30’s in Tangalle!). After dropping everything off at the guest houses, we planned to do something in town. But, nothing went our way! We went to the golf club for those who were interested only to find that it was extremely expensive even just for 10 holes; we went to take a boat tour on a small lake, but due to the chilliness and size of the lake (pretty small), that was not a hit; we went to play volleyball at a park, but everyone was falling asleep in the vans; and, finally, we had the opportunity to go horse riding, but no-one was very interested!
Sri Lanka’s beer- Lion- is actually brewed in Nuwara Eliya. As such, it seemed only fit to go to a local pub branch of Lion where they served draught Lion and could save our day! The next day we headed off to Kandy. On the way, we stopped at a tea factory-Glenloch- that was established by a Scot 135 years ago and hasn’t got much new equipment since! It was quite the experience being able to see the entire process from picking the leaves to drying them, breaking them, sifting them, sorting them and putting them in a bag.
A short drive from the tea factory brought us to a nice lunch (curries, chicken and fresh lime juice), after which we drove through to Kandy. The city here is much bigger than Tangalle or any other city that we have passed through. The streets are bustling with pedestrian and vehicle traffic and there are stores and vendors everywhere (there’s even a KFC- it seems a little out of place though). After getting settled, we went to see an awesome presentation of a number of culturally important dances (including fire dancing which was quite impressive!) and then headed back to the hotel for a swim and dinner at the extremely fancy (by our standards) buffet.
Tomorrow its off to see Pinnawala elephant orphanage during the feeding time, then a gem factory, some shopping, and finally Temple of the Tooth (where a tooth of Buddha is kept) in the evening. Some of the guys are thinking of getting tailored suits, and the girls are very interested in the gems and other jewelry. Tomorrow should be a packed day!
June 5th
After an early wakeup we headed off to Pinnawala elephant orphanage to make it just in time to view the feeding of a couple babies. Far from amazing or impressive, the feeding was somewhat depressing for most people, as we watched baby elephants chained to the ground tug at their restrained leg and waiting for a small couple of milk bottles. However, soon after the feeding, we came to understand the orphanage a little more, realizing that this feeding is simply one more way for the orphanage to make money and maintain the work that it does in protecting and saving elephants from dangerous areas or poor health. We were lucky enough to see massive heards (maybe with 75 to 100 elephants!) very close up on dry land, and then even watch them bath in a nearby river. Everyone really enjoyed seeing the elephants!
When we finished watching the elephants bathe, we drove to a gem factory that gave us a small tour and description (live and also via a movie) of the processes involved in moving a precious gem from deep in the ground to our fingers. Afterwards, we spent about 3 hours in the factory shop looking at amazing semiprecious (garnet, blue topaz, moonstone…) and precious (ruby, emerald, diamond and sapphire) gems. Many people had some nice pieces made and purchased jewelry for themselves. I was very very interested in getting a 9-gem ring, which is a culturally important piece that has strong astrological meaning and is meant to protect its bearer from bad luck (they are very popular here amongst the men). As I hummed and hawed, trying to make a decision, the group was mumbling, and all of a sudden, said that they would like to purchase the ring for me as an end of the trip thank you. I was extremely honored and touched, and thanks to my Dad’s sensitive genes, I had a nice little cry in the gem shop. I still cannot get over the quality of the relationships that this trip has offered to us- previously strangers in Canada!
When everyone finished ordering and buying their gems, the group quickly went back to the hotel, changed into some light coloured, conservative clothing and headed for the Temple of the Tooth here on Kandy Lake. Our tour of the temple was incredible. Not only did we enjoy reading and hearing the stories of how the tooth made it to Kandy, but we also were fascinated by the intricacy and quality of the statues and also the temple walls and ceiling (which includes over 100 gold plated lotus flower pieces. The temple is very important to Buddhists in Sri Lanka, and has fully recovered after a couple of LTTE (Tamil Tigers) bombings.
Our last destination prior to our departure from Sri Lanka is to Dambulla. This is most likely my last entry before we depart. Right now everyone is making plans already for September when we will be able to get back together. It is going to be a tough goodbye at the airport in a couple days!
June 1st: Saying Good-bye.
Our last day of work! Some people got up early to go to the harbour and buy fresh fish for dinner and others got up a little later than the normal work day time (7:00 am wake up call instead of 6:30 am) and then we all headed off to the temple for a small ceremony. We were surprised and honored to see that the monk had arranged an impressive display of the Sri Lankan and Canadian flags flanking handmade banners over the wall specifically thanking us (the Developing World Connections University Student Group) for our work at the temple. We took several pictures with the monk and the wall (complete except for a couple of coats of paint and some elephant statues) and then were welcomed again into the monk’s home, where he had obviously gone to great lengths to give us an amazing send-off. He had innumerable printed and laminated pictures of us posted on the wall, decorative mats on the floor and an elaborately arranged table full of fresh fruit, cookies, cake, tea, soft drinks and flowers. Everyone sure will miss temple tea times (of course not to mention the monk’s pure, basic and wholesome happiness and selfless generosity). After a ceremony identical to our first day at the temple, when we were offered special while string bracelets for spiritual protection against evils, the monk presented to us beautiful wooden bird carvings (each individual one different), a certificate for our work and a thank-you letter he wrote to the group.
We were very sad to leave the temple and say goodbye to the monk. But, after tea time, we said our final goodbyes and walked up from the temple to the house where we worked to help with plastering. Unfortunately, a small boy who had charmed many of the group members had gone to the hospital sick, but we were still able to see the father of the man whose house we were helping with. Finally, we headed to the Trades Training Facility.
With Anil and Ruwan, I dropped off the group so they could finish pouring concrete for the foundation. Then, while the three of us did some errands necessary to get out of the way with before the cultural tour, the group 100 % finished pouring the concrete for the foundation! I am so happy and proud of the progress that the group made at all three worksites. To finish the day, most people had a few drinks with the local workers and just took it easy at the Trades Training Facility, playing guitar and drums and also singing. Finally, we all went back to Wavy Ocean.
Most people went to the beach for a final swim and soccer/volleyball session but some started preparing dinner. The fish and lobster (Ruwan was able to find us lobster to cook our selves) were quite time consuming to prepare, but absolutely worth it. Chef Hilda was in charge of all the sous-chefs as we prepared the different seafood (sear fish, tuna and lobster) and Anil, Ruwan and Rukman (Wavy Ocean manager) came over to eat. However, none of the guests (and none of us) anticipated a 10:30 pm start to dinner! After (and before) dinner, everyone packed up all of their stuff to get ready for our departure in the morning. Cultural trip, here we come!
Monday, June 1, 2009
May 31st: Galle, surfing and turtle watching - all in a day in Sri Lanka.
What a day! Today was like a practice cultural tour day in that we were very busy traveling to a bunch of different attractions. We got up and left at 9:00am for Galle, another coastal city west of Tangalle that is the oldest ‘living city’ in Sri Lanka- that is, the oldest city in the country with people still living in it. We got to see some fantastic structures that were part of the military forts constructed by previous colonies in Sri Lanka. After a little window shopping at a small jewelry shop, we headed home, but on the way stopped to go surfing at a beach between Galle and Tangalle. Unfortunately, the shop owners had no wax and the waves were not very consistent or strong, so no one was very successful -of course, our lack of success could not have possibly been due to our inexperience!! But, everyone was glad to get a chance to try paddling around at least, and we can all say that we went surfing in Sri Lanka!
After surfing, we drove back and went straight to a restaurant that we have been to a few times. We had some deviled chicken and calamari and mixed seafood noodles with a fresh fruit salad and ice cream for dessert (mmmmmm). To finish off the day, we quickly walked back to Wavy Ocean after dinner, showered and changed, and then headed off to go turtle watching at 8:30pm. We were very very very very very lucky. When we got there, not only had a turtle already come up the beach, but she also came right in front of the car park (as opposed to 1 or 2 km down the beach). Some groups wait 4 or 5 hours and see no turtles, and we not only saw this one, but there was another just a couple hundred meters down the beach! After a bit of a wait in periodic spits of rain, we were lucky enough to be able to watch one of the turtles scoot back into the water. These are big turtles- like 1.5 m shells at the longest points!!!! One of the turtles laid eggs in a large hole that she dug! It was really quite an amazing experience, especially for those of us who had never seen giant turtles before.
May 30th: Our last day of work.
Today, we had our last regular day of work before the cultural tour. We just can’t get over how quickly this trip has been flying by- it will be so sad when it comes to an end! All together at the Trades Training Facility (TTF), we poured the final interior concrete beam to finish the bulk of the building’s foundation. We then prepared an outside entryway foundation (touching up trenches and installing rebar) to pour concrete on Monday. When we finish this, we will be able to say that we basically started and finished the entire foundation for the building at the facility complex. After work, we headed straight to a boarding school for deaf children. The school was quite nice, with a large open property and kind staff. Some of the children are amazing artists and actually keep a small gallery at the school to raise funds for their studies and materials. Their work is fantastic- holding an incredible likeness to what comes out of art schools like Emily Carr in Vancouver (seriously- we were expecting child-like scribbles and hand prints but the students’ work is unreal- you’ll see if your friend/family members picked up any pieces!). After spending some time at the school, we headed back to Wavy Ocean for a shower and then walked downtown to pick up some food from Food City and do a little clothes shopping. Most people took tuk-tuks (nice play on words no?) back to Wavy Ocean from the grocery store because it was absolutely pouring outside.
Tonight, we just took it easy at our place, listening to some music, and playing cards. We had a nice soup dinner (thanks to Hilda for being the head chef on our soups!) and are excited to head out on our tour to Galle in the morning!
May 29th: Painting the Temple wall and Police Coordinated Sports Day
Painting day! Today, all fifteen of us went to the temple to paint the wall (white). Despite the heat, we managed to get a first coat on every part of the wall that has been completed and plastered. As we all expected, spending one last day at the temple as a group was good closure on that facet of our work here; the wall looks great too!
After we completed the painting, we all said a sad goodbye to the head monk at the temple and rushed back to Wavy Ocean to quickly get ready for our police-coordinated sports day starting at 2:30 pm. When we got to the venue- a very calm swimming area and surrounding beach with a volleyball court- we were surprised to find that the celebrations were much more formal than we had expected. In fact, I had to make a short speech with almost zero time for preparation, and then we were presented with certificates of appreciation for our volunteer efforts from the senior superintendent of the police force- a very distinguished man! Throughout the afternoon, everyone was very welcome and receptive to anything that we had to say about our connection to Sri Lanka. I still can’t get over the warmth of the people in Tangalle!
After the guys and girls in the group played guys and girls local volleyball teams in refereed matches (best two out of three), we headed back to Wavy Ocean very tired. Originally, we had planned to go turtle watching this evening, but instead, we had a soup dinner and then just lazed our way to bed for a good night’s sleep!
May 28th: Hard work day and top off with another Birthday!
Today was another very busy day. Thankfully, the weather was in our favor again; only a couple of spits of rain mingling with sunshine and blue sky. We had a nice hard day’s work at the Trades Training Facility (TTF): we managed to pour another two of the interior foundation lines, leaving just one more to do to complete the foundation apart from some concrete work required exterior to the building. After another lunch from the bakery (FULL of carbohydrates and not much else!) and a little cricket, we finished up the work day and headed back to Wavy Ocean to shower and change for Greg’s birthday party at Lagoon Paradise. We had another beautiful cake made for this party- this time, the cake was the shape of a key, meant to symbolize the way in which a 21st birthday is a ‘turning point’ in life (from childhood to adulthood). Before the DJ party got rolling, we rented some small kayaks from the hotel and took them down a lagoon. The little voyage was beautiful- a great way to watch the magnificent sunset.
After everyone had some cake, the party got rolling and kept rolling until we left at about 1:30 am. Everyone had a great time and I’m glad that we were able to celebrate Greg’s birthday with so much gusto! Next up is Smrita on this upcoming Tuesday (June 2), the day we leave for the cultural tour!
May 27th: Unexpected day off!
Ah, we said goodbye again for now to the recently nice weather. After driving all the way to the Trades Training Facility (TTF) as a group (all 15 of us), we found that the rain was too strong and likely to continue; a full work day, paying the local workers and spending our time at the site, wasn’t really in the cards for us today. As such, we turned around and headed back to Wavy Ocean by about 8:30 in the morning, having already stopped at a bakery on the way to work to pick up a lunch! After I had a meeting with Anil and Ruwan regarding budgeting for the balance of our stay here in Sri Lanka and the rest of the group partook in some lazy coffee drinking and napping, everyone headed downtown to go do some errands. Everyone was very happy to hear today that our budget is working out nicely, such that we will be able to continue paying for almost everything with the money that the group already put toward the trip right through to the end of our travels, and then even probably have a little money left over!
After people picked up some cash from the bank for shopping during the cultural trip, some headed home for more lazing and napping while others did a little clothes shopping. We all met up again at around 3pm, when most of us went to the beach to play some volleyball and cricket (bowling with a mango seed- very basic cricket indeed!). We did a little inventory on the food that we have stockpiled over the last few weeks so that we could plan the rest of our meals in Tangalle. We only have 5 full days left, and we will all be together at the work sites for the remainder of our days here. It will be nice to have the entire group together for a few days at the sites too- we have some good team work pouring concrete at the TTF and carrying it in buckets in a line (we call it the ‘assembly line’) and we will be able to paint the temple wall on Friday which should be fun!
May 26th: The Foundation is almost complete!
An awesome work day! Today, Amanda, Greg and Patricia worked on plastering the temple wall and basically finished it. Now, we just have to wait one day for the local workers to plaster the corners of some columns that sit in the wall (it’s a tricky job) and then we can paint on Thursday! At the Trades Training Facility (TTF), the remaining 12 of us worked on leveling soil just in the front of the building for a small slab of concrete exterior to the facility (an entryway/porch for the building). We also poured concrete for another internal foundation line. We only have a few left to go before the entire foundation is complete! I hope we can finish this before we go, but even if we come up a little short, it will be basically completed upon our departure for the fast-approaching cultural tour.
After work, most of us quickly came back to Wavy Ocean for a shower while a few went to the internet to get some emails out of the way. We caught tuk-tuks to Ranjith’s (Anil’s brother) house for a cup of tea. His house was beautiful and it was very nice to be able to meet his family just as we did at Anil’s house last week. Everyone is so welcoming, and we were all very grateful to have been invited over to his home. On a side note, it was also nice timing to have gone to Ranjith’s house today, as I have had some strange blistering sores on my face for the last week, and we found out quickly that Ranjith’s wife is a doctor! She wrote me a prescription for some antibiotics (i think it’s some serious razor burn plus a secondary bacterial infection-yum).
For dinner, the group has really been enjoying eating out, so we went back to a restaurant that we ate at last week (Samagi, just down the road) and had some nice seafood fried rice, deviled chicken and fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. After the meal, we walked back to Wavy Ocean and most of us watched a movie - I couldn’t believe that there was a movie that no-one in the group (but me) had seen, especially considering how many avid movie-watchers we have amongst us! It was a nice way to take it easy in a little thunder storm, and everyone enjoyed the movie too (The Fall).
After work, most of us quickly came back to Wavy Ocean for a shower while a few went to the internet to get some emails out of the way. We caught tuk-tuks to Ranjith’s (Anil’s brother) house for a cup of tea. His house was beautiful and it was very nice to be able to meet his family just as we did at Anil’s house last week. Everyone is so welcoming, and we were all very grateful to have been invited over to his home. On a side note, it was also nice timing to have gone to Ranjith’s house today, as I have had some strange blistering sores on my face for the last week, and we found out quickly that Ranjith’s wife is a doctor! She wrote me a prescription for some antibiotics (i think it’s some serious razor burn plus a secondary bacterial infection-yum).
For dinner, the group has really been enjoying eating out, so we went back to a restaurant that we ate at last week (Samagi, just down the road) and had some nice seafood fried rice, deviled chicken and fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. After the meal, we walked back to Wavy Ocean and most of us watched a movie - I couldn’t believe that there was a movie that no-one in the group (but me) had seen, especially considering how many avid movie-watchers we have amongst us! It was a nice way to take it easy in a little thunder storm, and everyone enjoyed the movie too (The Fall).
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