Busy, Busy, Busy
It is Friday night 9:45 pm and Jasper and I are in the internet cafe recommended by Bob after he heard of my troubles. Much better Bob, thanks.
Well, lets see. Thursday was our day off and it was great! 13 of us arranged to visit Yala National Park. It was amazing. After work on Wednesday, we had 2 vans pick up 13 of us and drive us to just outside of Yalla where we split 6 rooms. It was a 5 hour drive each way and we had a blast on the way up there. Lots of laughs and jokes that you can only understand in Sri Lanka. This one's for Bob:
There are 4 headlights, 6 turn signals and 3 horns coming at your van in the dark as you try to decide which way they'll swerve and how close it will be. Are they:
A. 2 tuk-tuks and a bus
B. 1 tuk-tuk a bus and a motorcycle
C. 1 tractor, 1 tuk-tuk, 1 moped, and 1 car with half a headlight
D. All of the above
Anyway, on the way to Yalla in the dark we nearly ran right into a wild elephant that had made his way onto the road. We stopped completely and watched as it bore down on an old wooden gate blocking it's path. You could hear the wood splinter into the silent night as this huge wild elephant nonchalantly pushed it open with his head. The silence was soon cut short by the lone cries of the man who lived at that house trying to shoo away this elephant wrecking his property. I don't know what he said but I'll never forget the urgency in his voice. I got one good picture and can't wait to share. (I know I know. Soon.)
After we arrived at our hotel that evening we had a preordered dinner and then we all scrambled to bed because we had a 5:00 am wake up call. The rooms were great. Hot showers and AC. Ahhhh, the simple pleasures of life. Up at 5 we grabbed our pre-prepared to-go breakfasts and loaded into 3 Land Rover jeeps for the 30 minute ride to Yalla. You have to get up early if you want to see the animals and boy did we see some.
There were 4 in our jeep plus a guide/protector. We saw monkeys, crocs, green pea pickers, water buffalo, elephants and those huge things are sneaky! One minute there's 3 of them and the next minute they've quietly dissapeared into 5 feet of brush. Beautiful birds and on and on. However, the best part was the leopards. We saw leopards. This is apparently not a common thing at all. Kingsley, the owner of Tiny, has been over 25 times and never seen one. Our guide has been 251 times and seen 5. We saw 4. They were up around a small creek drinking and over the course of about 1-2 minutes they leaped over the creek and walked into the bush. Wow. We were no closer than 100-200 yards and I think I got a few good shots. I can't wait to see them larger. The leopards are why everybody goes to Yalla but not many see them. Smiles all around.
We went to a local lunch at Refresh restaurant and then half of us went in one van non-stop back to Galle and the other van went to a temple and then shopping. We made the better choice it seems.
Today was a tough day. We went to work and I got into laying the brick this time and enjoyed that as well. A local mason was following me with the filling and said, "Good, Good. It's ok." And nodded his head side to side. I liked that. The Sinhalese will nod their heads side to side as a gesture of "It's ok" or in agreement with something. I do it all the time now without thinking as do others. Smiles and nods all over the work site all day.
After lunch we visited the refugee camp for who we are building these homes. Ken and Carolyn, a lovely older couple from the UK, visited on their day off and urged us to check it out as well. They suggested we pull together our resourses and purchase tables for each of the 49 familes living in tents here. So, we of course readily went. Ah, it was so tough.
They were so happy to see us. They couldn't wait to invite the 15 us to sit in the 4 or 5 plastic chairs they had on what was left of a tile floor in their makeshift headquarters. It just so happened that today was the day of the lottery. The lottery was to choose who got the first available homes we were building and we were the lotto number drawers. There were 12 families who were the worst off and they were in the lotto for the first 6 homes. We each drew a number and name. Mine was #9 and the name I don't remember but they stopped at 6 anyway so mine would have to wait another month or two or three of living in a tent on the dirt in what used to be your home and community. Anyway, the first name is read and everyone breaks into cheers and applause. It was all the same to us but they were very happy. It was a woman but I don't know her families story. Another man had lost his wife and daughter and had several small children with him. I believe an orphaned child will be living with him as well. I just don't have the words right now. This just happened 9 hours ago and it was tough on all of us.
I walked around the camp a bit to take pictures and a family urged me inside their makeshift wooden shack with a cot, dirt floors and a few possessions hung around the L shaped structure. They say "American?" "Yes, American." I said and they smiled big. Not much English with this family but they showed me the pictures of the older mom and dad who were killed and had a broken English statement about what happened to them along with their police report. I gave them some chocolate and told them we were meeting right then to help them. And they wanted to make sure we helped the whole village and not just a few. These people stick together because it's all they have. Before and after the tsunami. They are an amazing example of grace and kindness.
I met a man who saved his whole family by scaling a wall and pushing them onto the roof while his home was destroyed but he was, "Very lucky." He offered to climb a tree to get me a baby coconut and I politely said no thank you. All they want to do is invite you into their tent/remaining few walls of home and meet you. I had a few more addresses given to me there. One apologized for not having more chairs so that we all may sit.
I'm thinking of staying a bit longer. I just can't fathom returning to the States right now. It's too much too soon and I need to gradually come to me own acceptance of things. A few people are staying over like Jasper, Ken and Carolyn to smooth the transition between groups as others have done before them. Maybe we'll take a few days to visit Kandy before coming back to work and then maybe some different relief type projects. These people's kindness makes it so hard not to do all you can. This is it's own reward and I can't say that enough.
We went for a swim at Unawatuna beach late this afternoon before a few drinks and dinner. I'm off to catch a tuk-tuk back to Tiny. Talk to you soon.
Chris
Well, lets see. Thursday was our day off and it was great! 13 of us arranged to visit Yala National Park. It was amazing. After work on Wednesday, we had 2 vans pick up 13 of us and drive us to just outside of Yalla where we split 6 rooms. It was a 5 hour drive each way and we had a blast on the way up there. Lots of laughs and jokes that you can only understand in Sri Lanka. This one's for Bob:
There are 4 headlights, 6 turn signals and 3 horns coming at your van in the dark as you try to decide which way they'll swerve and how close it will be. Are they:
A. 2 tuk-tuks and a bus
B. 1 tuk-tuk a bus and a motorcycle
C. 1 tractor, 1 tuk-tuk, 1 moped, and 1 car with half a headlight
D. All of the above
Anyway, on the way to Yalla in the dark we nearly ran right into a wild elephant that had made his way onto the road. We stopped completely and watched as it bore down on an old wooden gate blocking it's path. You could hear the wood splinter into the silent night as this huge wild elephant nonchalantly pushed it open with his head. The silence was soon cut short by the lone cries of the man who lived at that house trying to shoo away this elephant wrecking his property. I don't know what he said but I'll never forget the urgency in his voice. I got one good picture and can't wait to share. (I know I know. Soon.)
After we arrived at our hotel that evening we had a preordered dinner and then we all scrambled to bed because we had a 5:00 am wake up call. The rooms were great. Hot showers and AC. Ahhhh, the simple pleasures of life. Up at 5 we grabbed our pre-prepared to-go breakfasts and loaded into 3 Land Rover jeeps for the 30 minute ride to Yalla. You have to get up early if you want to see the animals and boy did we see some.
There were 4 in our jeep plus a guide/protector. We saw monkeys, crocs, green pea pickers, water buffalo, elephants and those huge things are sneaky! One minute there's 3 of them and the next minute they've quietly dissapeared into 5 feet of brush. Beautiful birds and on and on. However, the best part was the leopards. We saw leopards. This is apparently not a common thing at all. Kingsley, the owner of Tiny, has been over 25 times and never seen one. Our guide has been 251 times and seen 5. We saw 4. They were up around a small creek drinking and over the course of about 1-2 minutes they leaped over the creek and walked into the bush. Wow. We were no closer than 100-200 yards and I think I got a few good shots. I can't wait to see them larger. The leopards are why everybody goes to Yalla but not many see them. Smiles all around.
We went to a local lunch at Refresh restaurant and then half of us went in one van non-stop back to Galle and the other van went to a temple and then shopping. We made the better choice it seems.
Today was a tough day. We went to work and I got into laying the brick this time and enjoyed that as well. A local mason was following me with the filling and said, "Good, Good. It's ok." And nodded his head side to side. I liked that. The Sinhalese will nod their heads side to side as a gesture of "It's ok" or in agreement with something. I do it all the time now without thinking as do others. Smiles and nods all over the work site all day.
After lunch we visited the refugee camp for who we are building these homes. Ken and Carolyn, a lovely older couple from the UK, visited on their day off and urged us to check it out as well. They suggested we pull together our resourses and purchase tables for each of the 49 familes living in tents here. So, we of course readily went. Ah, it was so tough.
They were so happy to see us. They couldn't wait to invite the 15 us to sit in the 4 or 5 plastic chairs they had on what was left of a tile floor in their makeshift headquarters. It just so happened that today was the day of the lottery. The lottery was to choose who got the first available homes we were building and we were the lotto number drawers. There were 12 families who were the worst off and they were in the lotto for the first 6 homes. We each drew a number and name. Mine was #9 and the name I don't remember but they stopped at 6 anyway so mine would have to wait another month or two or three of living in a tent on the dirt in what used to be your home and community. Anyway, the first name is read and everyone breaks into cheers and applause. It was all the same to us but they were very happy. It was a woman but I don't know her families story. Another man had lost his wife and daughter and had several small children with him. I believe an orphaned child will be living with him as well. I just don't have the words right now. This just happened 9 hours ago and it was tough on all of us.
I walked around the camp a bit to take pictures and a family urged me inside their makeshift wooden shack with a cot, dirt floors and a few possessions hung around the L shaped structure. They say "American?" "Yes, American." I said and they smiled big. Not much English with this family but they showed me the pictures of the older mom and dad who were killed and had a broken English statement about what happened to them along with their police report. I gave them some chocolate and told them we were meeting right then to help them. And they wanted to make sure we helped the whole village and not just a few. These people stick together because it's all they have. Before and after the tsunami. They are an amazing example of grace and kindness.
I met a man who saved his whole family by scaling a wall and pushing them onto the roof while his home was destroyed but he was, "Very lucky." He offered to climb a tree to get me a baby coconut and I politely said no thank you. All they want to do is invite you into their tent/remaining few walls of home and meet you. I had a few more addresses given to me there. One apologized for not having more chairs so that we all may sit.
I'm thinking of staying a bit longer. I just can't fathom returning to the States right now. It's too much too soon and I need to gradually come to me own acceptance of things. A few people are staying over like Jasper, Ken and Carolyn to smooth the transition between groups as others have done before them. Maybe we'll take a few days to visit Kandy before coming back to work and then maybe some different relief type projects. These people's kindness makes it so hard not to do all you can. This is it's own reward and I can't say that enough.
We went for a swim at Unawatuna beach late this afternoon before a few drinks and dinner. I'm off to catch a tuk-tuk back to Tiny. Talk to you soon.
Chris
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