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Day One:
Wednesday 3rd May 2006
Lewis writes...
"We made it! Well, all's quiet, around here at least,
apart from car horns! I shall paint you a picture with words...
Sri Lanka is:
1) Boiling - the heat is insane! It makes you want to shower constantly
and it makes you wish you chose to go to the North Pole instead. Work
with Polar Bears and teach English to Santa's Elves maybe..?
2) A Traffic Policeman's nightmare! They don't drive in single file.
Thinking about it now, they don't drive, in the traditional sense of the
word. They race. Imagine the whole of the UK, lined with extremely small
shops selling massive bunches of bananas, with the roads full of tuk tuk three
wheeler motor taxi vehicles, and loads of buses and vans all trying to
overtake each other, with no concept of danger. All beeping at
the oncoming traffic. You'll have one van driving straight at another,
head on, beeping for the other one to move out the way. And the other
van is doing exactly the same. The roads are absolutely insane! I was
thinking of secretly hiring a couple of bikes to finally get Dani to
come on a bike ride with me, but after seeing the roads... no way!
We had two hours of teaching today. We went to a school called St
Joseph's (the poorest of all the schools we will be teaching at) and we
played games of Hangman and things. The kids were about nine years old.
It was great fun! All the boys were showing us how big their arm muscles
are (tiny) and showing us the John Cena stickers they had on their
books. He's their favourite; a wrestler. I convinced them my name was
Lewis Cena and that I was his brother. They were very impressed.
There has been a change to our project timetable because of something to
do with the government creating a new school holiday, so instead of
doing one month with the elephants then two months teaching, we're
teaching from now until the 19th, then going to the elephants until the
26th of the following month, then coming back here to do teaching for
the last month."
Dani
writes...
"Hello from Sri Lanka! The journey was ok, we didn't
sleep at all though. But we didn't kill each other!
I can't believe how different everything is here - we could not have
found a place more opposite to Cardiff if we tried! It's such a
beautiful place, palm trees and things everywhere. And it's so hot! I
never thought I'd enjoy cold showers so much. I'm looking very glamorous
at the moment... wet hair, covered in insect repellent and sun cream,
sweaty. It really is a lovely sight.
We had our first morning of teaching today. They were really lovely, but
it was hard work! There was no sense of plan or order to the schools
either. The one we went to was like a long barn, with different classes
all made up along it, stray dogs roaming around and children everywhere.
It was madness. And the children were all over us; poking our skin and
touching our hair and things. Good fun! To sum up - we're alive and
having fun..."
Day Two:
Thursday 4th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"Our class (different school from yesterday) must have been only
about five or six years old and as we went into their classroom they
were all very, very excited to see us. Dani wrote 'Hello my name is...'
on the board, and we said hello and who we were. Then we started to go
round and talk to the children asking them their names and they each
stood up to answer us, then sat back down again.
We asked a few children to show us their books to see what they'd done
so far and we thought we'd teach them all about fruit! We drew pictures
on the board and they copied the title 'What is this?' into their books,
drew the pictures, coloured them in and then labelled them. It got a bit
crazy then, so we just went round asking them to spell the names of the
fruit out. Then some of the kids drew objects on the board and the rest
of the class wrote them down and tried to do their own on the board.
After getting covered in chalk, we got most of them to sit down in their
chairs. They were asking us to mark their work, so we had to tick their
pictures and draw a star next to them. And you'll be as pleased as Dani
was when you learn what
I
taught the children!
When I was playing (ok, messing) with some of the children I shook their
hands and said "Hello, how are you?" and their response would always be
"I'm fine, thank you". But now they proclaim "I'm super thank you!" Dani
just shook her head really slowly from side to side. Imagine I did
something
really
awful like magically turn one of them into a toad. Dani would have
shaken her head from side to side in the exact same disbelieving shocked
way. As in "I do not believe you've done this Lewis..."
We're going to be climbing the 5200 steps to Adam's Peak later. We get
there for about 11pm, sleep in the van until about 2pm and then climb it
for sunrise. I'm usually very optimistic, but I don't think we'll manage
7km of steps straight up into the sky! Although we have heard there are
tea rooms along the way, how weird is that..? Maybe we'll run into Miss
Marple..."
Dani
writes...
"Day two of teaching was really fun - the children were
really lovely and so polite! I've read Lewis' post above. Let me explain
what actually happened. It was all going well, a bit crazy... and all of
a sudden, these tiny, cute little boys were running around slapping each
other (and us!) saying 'Brilliant!' and 'Super!' Good job, Lewis.
We
went to the supermarket yesterday in a tuk tuk. It was really fun,
although I did have my eyes closed at one point. I can't understand the
money at all though!
There was an interesting episode yesterday when I attempted to charge my
phone. Laura, who I'm sharing a room with, couldn't get the adaptor plug
to fit, so I pushed it in sideways, which looked fine to me. The others
were too scared to plug anything in (wimps) so I thought I'd just put in
my phone charger and see what happened. All the electricity on the first
floor of the house fused. Only for a few minutes! I can't understand
what all the fuss was about...
We're going to climb Adam's Peak tonight. We should get to the top about
6am, in time to see the sunrise. This is the last week that it's 'in
season'- apparently this means it's all lit up, and pilgrims come from
all around to climb it! It sounds amazing! Needless to say, I'm a bit
concerned about doing a 7km climb up a steep hill, half of which is
steps... But it'll be good training for the London Marathon 2008!"
Day Three: Friday 5th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"We're just on our way down Adam's Peak! We're about half
way, and our legs are hurting so much. It's the going down that releases
all that yummy lactic acid. The way up was fine! View was amazing. Can't
type. Pain. Ow. Bye."
Dani writes...
"Lewis said he was a bit vague about Adam's Peak, so I thought I'd fill
you in...
The drive down was OK (ish), but we had a rather bizarre experience in
this weird hotel place. It was the strangest place I've ever been! They
offered us a room for 1000 rupees (which is about £7). But after being
in this place for a while, we couldn't wait to get out! So we decided to
sleep in the van. There were eight of us all together. Seven girls. And
Lewis. Somehow, I ended up on the floor of this dirty van! There was one
bit in the middle big enough to fit my hips, I slotted myself in and
slid down so I was actually stuck. Not really very comfortable, as I'm
sure you can imagine and it did nothing at all for my already sore bum!
However, if you'd seen this place, you would have opted for the van
floor too!
We got up at about 2am and did some very cool stretches to prepare
ourselves for the climb. Not that it prepared us at all! From the bottom
we could see the stairway up into the stars... and it looked very steep.
Which it was.
We can't describe to you the walk now, it's just too painful. We refuse
to revisit those memories. You'll have to just imagine the pain. And if
you can't, here's what we suggest you do:
Close all the windows in your house, turn the central heating up to the
max, create a pile of steps out of jagged rocks so steep that sometimes
you can't get your legs up, then step up it and down it 5200 times, for
a total of 10400 painful slices of hell. And do this at a rate of one
step every two seconds, for seven hours. Then cry. Also, do this with a
bag full of two litre bottles of water, jackets, crisps, fruit, insect
repellent, suncream, hats, first aid kit, torches, cameras and sandals,
whilst three rabid dogs fight around your ankles.
Also, make sure you have absolutely no sleep the night before.
Preferably lying on the floor of a van with seven other people. And then
you'll have an idea of why we refuse to talk about it. So don't ask."
Day 5:
Monday 8th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"Eight wonders of the World?! What? Here they are:
1. The Pyramids of Egypt, 2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 3. Statue of
Zeus (Jupiter) at Olympia, 4. Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus, 5.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 6. Colossus at Rhodes, 7. Pharos of
Alexandria, 8. The Sri Lankan Child.
We've just got back from teaching (12pm) at a school
called Eakala (ek-er-ler), and after introducing ourselves and going
round asking names Dani drew a big picture of a girl on the board. We
told them to copy it into their English books (we would then label it
etc). Some of them didn't have their books, so I went to my bag and
pulled out my clipboard filled with about 200 pieces of plain A4 white
paper which I stole from the printer at home.
Some of the kids went wild and ran toward us cheering and shouting at
the front of the class trying to get their piece as quickly as possible.
It was like we were on a stockmarket trading floor. It seems that
something like that doesn't happen to them very often. Paper! I wonder
how many pieces of paper I've wasted recently. And the pride they have
in their pens is incredible.
The 8th wonder of the world. The gratitude of the Sri Lankan Child."
Dani writes...
"Yesterday we hopped in a tuk tuk and asked to go to
Airport Garden Hotel swimming pool. So off we went.
For those who don't know, a tuk tuk is a three wheeled rickety
taxi-type-thing, with no sides, and a death wish driver. The tuk tuk
driver was going to take us there and back for 500 rupees. He was going
to pick us up at 6.30pm. But at 6.30, another tuk tuk turned up. He
seemed to know where we were going, so we thought he must be from the
same company we phoned to book one in the first place, so we got in.
We paid him the 500 rupees return, as we thought we were supposed to. It
wasn't until later that we discovered that all tuk tuk drivers are
independent. There are no companies. And we then had to pay another 500
rupees to the man who was just left waiting for us at the hotel! It only
worked out as £3 more expensive. But we were scammed.
Teaching is really fun. It's amazing how excited the children get when
they see us! Lewis was telling you about the paper. I wasn't expecting
it to be like this really. They all take such care over their work, and
come running up to show us their biro, or their pencil really, really
proudly. Today, one of the boys tore out a page from his exercise book
and presented it to me as a gift. Unbelievable!
Apart from that, we've done very little. Although, on our way back from
the hotel yesterday (in the death wagon), we went passed a clothes
shop. The sign on the top said 'Fashion Monger'. Lewis then embarrassed
himself by saying 'Hey Dani, I'd like you to call me that from now on.
The Fashion Monger'. I said no."
Lewis writes...
"Another cool day teaching.We were in the same school as the other
day when you will remember we did fruit. We also had the same class!
They remembered us and came up to me and did the cool thumbs up saying
the "Superrr..." thing I taught them, and the High Five "Brilliant..."
thing. Wicked!
They got A4 paper from us too. It got the same reaction. And even though
they were so happy to receive it, only one kid (Maishan) asked for two
pieces. And he did it jokingly..."
Day 6:
Tuesday 9th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"Four peculiar things about Sri Lanka...
1. There are lots of adverts and posters featuring blonde women. Yet I
haven't seen any blonde women at all apart from Dani and a couple of
other Travellers Worldwide volunteers. Interesting to think of what
happens when role models are so out of touch and out of the society's
reach. The school children are facinated with Dani's hair, and lots of
the girls have Barbie pencil cases.
2. All Sri Lankan children are absolutely beautiful. In the UK, a lot of
the kids are just ugly and rotten-looking. You know how some kids hurt
your eyes when you look at them? Not here. In Sri Lanka all the children
will be the most beautiful you'll ever find anywhere.
3. The best food here is the pineapple. If you get the chance, eat a Sri
Lankan pineapple. You can thank me later.
4. Nothing is wasted. All bottles are recycled. No paper is thrown away.
There are shops on the side of the road selling things we would take to
the tip to send to a landfill. Old coach seats, old bikes, old car
parts, old buckets and barrels, things that you can't even recognise as
being anything.
And a bonus: nice people. Everywhere we go. Except the nutcases who
drive the tuk tuks. They're just insane."
Dani writes...
"It's weird how fast you get used to seeing wildlife
everywhere. You go into the bathroom, and there are ants and spiders
everywhere. In the evening, loads of little orange lizards are running
all over the walls.
Lewis just aided in the capture of a huge tropical spider (the size of
an apple) that was hiding in someone's locker and yesterday, we had a
run in with a two metre long fanged serpent. And on the wall behind us
at this moment, is a tiny frog. It's been there for ages! We're also
covered in flies."
Day 11:
Sunday 14th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"Today was amazing! We had a journey for about an hour in a four
wheeled oven with 15 other people. It is festival day (there's a parade
tomorrow) and Buddhists are celebrating the birth of Siddharta Guatama
(the Buddha) and also his enlightenment and also his death. A pretty
good day to be in the capital city of a predominantly Buddhist country.
We went into a little museum and talked to an orange-robed monk about
monkhood. Outside, in a small temple, there were hundreds of white-robed
Buddhists and yet it was silent. We also cooked our feet on the
absolutely baking marble floor. Part of the celebration is that the
streets get lined with stalls of food. And the food was free. And a bit
weird. And there was loads of it.
And as we are Western, we became top priority. People
were clamouring to give their food away to us. Every time the van
stopped... a tray of drinks appeared through the window! We were
even hounded by the local press. Five men with cameras and notebooks
asked questions and took lots of pictures of us whilst we were standing
in a big long queue for a big long food tent.
We went into the food tent, which was basically a big long school
dinner-type table with lots of chairs lining either side. In front of
each chair was a plastic bowl full of cling film and rice and curry. We
were sat down with about 30 other people, and told to eat. We tried. We
had no cutlery! We were sitting opposite a rice-and-curry-eating pro,
and felt like a couple of right divs. It was really fun though. We were
all just looking round trying to work out what on earth was going on. It
was just all so unbelievable.
Next we visited the second most important temple in Sri Lanka, we burnt
our feet once again on the white-hot floor, we placed flowers at the
foot of a golden statue of the Buddha, we walked through throngs of
white-robed Buddhist followers and we bought an ice-cream each.
The Midnight Vesak Parade was stunning, two hours of absolute
magnificence! 25 elephants wearing coats and hats, 20 foot tall
stilt-walkers, children dancing (and wearing fake beards), men spinning
fire, school children praying, sequins AND glitter, cool elastic jumping
flipping people, thousands of lanterns and lamps and lit up lotus
flowers, dancing skeletons, free ice cream and drinks and tuk tuks
everywhere!
We also have the best photos ever because I'm about three foot taller
than the average Sri Lankan! Have you ever been to a parade you thought
would go on all night? Or one you wished would go on all night?!
We had a thoroughly enjoyable day, and at this moment we are sitting in
the dark on the balcony of our house listening to Buddhist chanting in
the distance. Happy Vesak!"
Day 14:
Wednesday 17th May 2006
Dani writes...
"Yesterday and today, we went to a community centre for
people with disabilities, instead of our usual primary school teaching.
There are probably about 50 people, of all different ages, who go
there three times a week. They do painting, and sewing, 'shell craft',
computer skills, woodwork, music, and they make weird woollen flowers.
We were allowed to join in, sitting with one or two people each.
The things they were making were absolutely amazing! Far far better than
anything we could do. We did more watching and learning, rather than
helping. They sell all the things they make at craft sales to raise
money to keep the centre going.
Lewis was learning how to make roses out of shells (and getting covered
in glue), and I was trying to use a sewing machine (very
unsuccessfully), helping paint, and watching what looked exactly like a
Year Nine DT lesson.
Today one guy got out the most appalling english book ('X' for 'x-mas
tree'), and we spent about an hour and a half saying letters and writing
words. It was really fun, and everyone (the people who go there, and the
volunteers in charge) were all absolutely lovely. And they all thought
Lewis was a girl. Not just hair, but his girlish good looks too. It's a
good thing he has a sense of humour..."
Day 16:
Friday 19th May 2006
Dani writes...
"We were helping in the disabled school again
yesterday, doing much the same stuff... except we did dancing! I found
myself being led upstairs, into the strangest music lesson I have ever
been to!
We had to take our shoes off outside the room and the lesson began with
a short prayer, followed by what I think was the national anthem. I was
then handed a circular piece of wire, with lots of flattened bottle tops
threaded on it. This, along with the weirdest looking guitar I have ever
seen, were the only instruments they used.
They sang lots of Sri Lankan folk-type songs and all took it in turns to
stand and sing solos, or to lead the group in their chosen song. They
also all took it in turns to stand in the middle of the circle and
dance.... Fortunately, Mrs. Meggitt (my old dance teacher) had prepared
me for such an event. It's just a shame I didn't have a sparkly wig, or
a sequined belt/necklace set to demonstrate how it really ought to be
done. The routine is just not the same without it..."
Day 17:
Saturday 20th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"We're
having a change of plan! We're leaving Ja Ela (teaching) for our month
in Kegalle (working with the elephants) next weekend instead of this
weekend because a couple of other people with us here are going there
then, and we are all going to go on a beach trip in the week in the
meantime!
But today (actually at this moment) we are in an incredible bumpy three
hour van ride for a weekend trip to go on a big long walk with tea
plantations and to go white-water rafting! And our van just overtook a
car on a blind bend...
Day 20:
Tuesday 23rd May 2006
Dani writes...
"We've just had a very exciting, fun filled,
action-packed weekend! I'm going to try and remember everything we did.
Here we go...
We left on Saturday and went to Kitugalle to go white-water rafting,
which was amazing! Very scary; you don't actually sit in the raft, you
have to sort of balance on the edge with your feet in, while you go
through rapids and in between rocks and things. We were given a helmet,
a life jacket, and an oar... and off we went! But it was really fun and
absolutely beautiful, we highly recommend it!
We then went on a beautiful (if slightly bumpy) drive to Nuwara Eliya,
past loads and loads of tea plantations, and found a place to stay. And
got bitten to pieces by bedbugs! I won't share with you where exactly,
but let's just say it hurts to sit down!
Anyway... we weren't there for very long. We got up at 5.30, and drove
to Horton Plains National Park, where we went on a beautiful walk to
World's End, which was just as stunning as it's name suggests. It was a
9km round trip, and on the way we also went past Baker's Fall, which was
also beautiful, another camera man's heaven! It doesn't stop there!
Written down like this, it seems like such a lot! I'm quite shocked.
Anyway, we then went back to Nuwara Eliya, to a tea plantation and
factory. We got a really cool apron and hat to wear, and went on a tour
of the factory. They showed us all about how they make tea. It had the
most amazing smell and they let us try some. A fantastic, fun-filled
weekend!"
Day 22:
Thursday 25th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"Another day in the Disabled School yesterday, and it was
the first day I decided not to do shells!
There are about 50 people at the Disabled School and Dani has grown a
bit of a fan club. She gets on really well with everybody there. There
is a group of maybe 12 or so of the absolute nicest boys you will ever
meet who hold her hand and walk around with her.
Instead of shells, I initially opted for the same task as Dani, which
would have been whatever the 12 boys would be doing. So in came their
volunteer guy to spread the marvellous news that today was woodwork day!
And how do you prepare for a woodwork lesson in Sri Lanka? You exercise.
So we went out into a little courtyard and stood around in what turned
into a routine not unlike a P.E. lesson warm up. Yes, we did star jumps.
Yes, we were bouncing on the spot. Yes, we did (attempt to) touch our
toes. We were ever so graceful. I think there is definately a special
bond between two people only achieved when you have bounced 10 star
jumps in a courtyard in a Sri Lankan Christian School for Differently
Abled Children feeling the stupidest you have ever felt in your whole
entire life, and then discovering that you were being watched throughout
the 10 minute routine by Heather and Jess (cool Travellers Worldwide
volunteers just like us) from one of the windows above!
With our newly discovered respect for each other, we made our way to
where they have their woodwork classes, and looked on in horror as the
volunteer guy handed out actual real saws and real hammers and real
files and actual blocks of wood! I didn't think this was such a great
idea - but Dani had seen it all before! So no big deal...
Until they started walking with the saws sticking out in front of them
as if sawing through the crowd, or when they'd be sawing a big block of
wood and just lose concentration and look around the place and chat, and
forget they're sawing, or when they'd be hammering a nail into a block
of wood and let the point they are aiming for drift slowly to the left,
where their finger is. Or Dani's finger.
I dreamed of shells. How stupid I must have been to leave the safety of
gluing shells with my new friends Gihan and Anushka! The whole woodwork
thing was terrifying, so I ran away.
I went inside and sat for about an hour with a boy called Sujith
Fernando. He learns English. The way he was taught English had him
writing out what were basically lines. Like you would have to do as a
punishment in a UK school. So instead we decided to learn with actions
and pictures I drew. He was amazing! We learnt about 30 words in an
hour! And I tested him at the end by going through each one without the
actual written word in front of him, and he got every single one right.
I think I may do shells today though, just for the memories..."
Day 24:
Saturday 27th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"We've now finished teaching until after our month
working with the elephants, which starts on Monday, so we have taken a
little trip! Remember we said about a trip to the beach? Well we're
here!
We took a bus from Ja Ela (where we're living) to Colombo (the capital)
as the first leg of our long journey South. The bus journey took about
an hour and a half, and it cost us 40 rupees. And that works out as 10p
each. The next bus ride was to Galle, about two and a half hours away,
and that cost us 75p each. And now we're here. At 'Harmony Guest House'
in Hikkaduwa, which is absolutely beautiful. To walk from our room to
the beach would take less than 30 seconds, so we'll have to write more
later. We can't really go and get sand on our BlackBerry now can we..?
Day 26:
Monday 29th May 2006
Dani writes...
"Here's what we did this weekend. We set off on Thursday
afternoon for Hikkaduwa. It was beautiful there. We stayed at Harmony
Guest House, which was right on the beach - palm trees and everything!
We explored Hikkaduwa on the Friday, which was a lovely place. Lots of
little shops, all selling handmade clothes and artwork and things. We
then got absolutely drenched in the rain walking back!
You all keep telling us how wet it is back home, but it's monsoon season
here, so we are also getting our fair share! Not just cats and dogs, but
elephants, hippos, lions and tigers and bears. Oh my.
The next day, after a bit more shopping, we crammed into a taxi (a man
with a car, and a sign stuck on his gate saying 'taxi') and set off for
Unawatuna, the next town round the coast. We found somewhere to stay, a
place called Sea View, which was about 10 steps from the sea. After some
hard bargaining, we managed to get what works out as 50p off the price.
We saved enough to be able to splash out on a lovely restaurant in the
evening, and ate only dessert. Actually, several desserts...
The next morning we went on an exciting adventure, which Lewis is going
to tell you about just to add a bit of mystery and suspense to our
diary! An essential ingredient to any good story, I'm sure you'll agree.
After our secret adventure and a much needed shower, and some more
food... we all got a van back to Ja Ela. For our last night in the
house!"
Day 27:
Tuesday 30th May 2006
Lewis writes...
"We promised you an exciting story, and here it is... It
is the story of the Sunday which changed my life forever. It all began
after breakfast at the Sea View hotel in Unawatuna. We were on the
beach. We were clutching a bottle of water, some flippers, and some
snorkels. And some suncream. But not enough suncream. We climbed into a
glass bottom boat, and set sail...
It was at this point, about 20 feet from the shore, that I started to
feel sick. Then about 10 minutes into our journey... I was sick. We were
on a trip to Jungle Beach, and, if you haven't guessed yet, we were
going to do some snorkelling. In the ocean!
"But don't you have an irrational fear of the ocean, Lewis?" Yes! Yes I
do!
"And don't you get sea sick even in the bath, Lewis?" Yes! Yes I do!
"And aren't you too cool for flippers, Lewis?" Yes! Yes I am!
But Dani isn't any of these things. She likes the ocean, she doesn't get
sea sick and she isn't cool in the slightest. And this is why I went
along.
We got to Jungle Beach, jumped out of the boat onto the sand, got our
snorkels on, and ran, heroicly, very much like Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid, into the ocean. We were probably in the ocean for about an
hour, and there was no instructor guy with us in the water!
At first I was holding Dani's hand. But this is not a story about a wimp
snorkel boy. It is a story about a hero. So I ventured off alone. On my
own, in the ocean, with fogging up goggles, banging into rocks. I was
fearless. When Dani caught up with me (hehe...) we went around exploring
the coral and swimming with all the colourful fish. We were true Ocean
Explorers. And that is our exciting story..."
Day 28:
Wednesday 31st May 2006
Dani writes...
"After spending Monday packing and sorting (very calmly -
not a headless chicken in sight) we said farewell to Ja Ela and set off
for Kegalle. And here we are!
The house is much smaller than Ja Ela - it only takes up to 14 people at
a time, and that's with the beds really crammed in. There's eight of us
here at the moment, but tomorrow another six are arriving. And there's
only two bathrooms between us all! And one of them is outside. So it's
rather cosy!
Yesterday was our first day with the elephants, which was amazing!
Remember how we told you we were sweaty, smelly, and covered in flies?
Well, now we're covered in elephant poo as well. It is a truly beautiful
sight.
The day started with us all dressing in our very best 'poo clothes', and
after one last check in the mirror to ensure we were looking our most
glamorous, we set off. We were given a pair of gloves (thank God) and
presented with three sheds, each as big as two tennis courts, all full
of sticks, leaves... and lots of poo! Our job is basically just to pick
up all this stuff and throw it onto the back of a trailer. It was really
fun!
Then it was back to the house for a shower (which, given the bathroom
situation, takes quite a long time!) and some lunch. In the afternoon,
we went back to watch the elephants in the river. There are about 75
elephants all together, and they all have names. We helped wash them,
and some of them returned the favour and washed us too... the second
shower of the day! This is how we're going to spend the next month.
Covered in mud, poo, and dirty river water. Excellent!
Then we go back to teach for a month! We're going to have to find out
what "smelly teacher" is in Sinhala so we know when we're being laughed
at!"
Day 31:
Saturday 3rd June 2006
Lewis writes...
"It is true. Elephants really do have trunks! And they
really are absolutely enormous. And they really do lift massive logs of
wood with their trunks. And they really do chase dogs. And they really
do walk in long lines. And they really do listen to their Mahouts. And
they really do make that elephantine trumpeting noise!
And how do we know all this? Because we meet them every day! Yippee!
We fed the baby elephants on Thursday and they hoovered up the cashew
nuts from our hands with their trunks! They will also open their mouth
for you, so you can put one on it's tongue. When we were feeding the
baby elephants we watched the enormous adult elephants eating. They have
mountains of leaves and it seems like they eat all afternoon.
Most afternoons we go to the river next to Pinnewala to watch the 75
elephants mooching about in the water and we also help wash them. They
just stand patiently, looking at you, as you throw water over them.
These animals are absolutely magnificent."
Day 35:
Wednesday 7th June 2006
Lewis writes...
"We did it! We rode an elephant! And it wasn't as scary as you'd think!
We were going round the streets for about 20 minutes on the back of our
10-foot beast, then we went down to the river (at the Millenium Elephant
Foundation), and, still sitting on her back, got absolutely drenched
with water from her trunk! Several times. And I was sitting in front of
Dani.
But we dried quickly and whizzed off in the van back to the house where
we ate, packed some things, and whizzed off in the van again all the way
back to the Ja Ela house... which is where we are now! We're back at the
house we stayed at for our month of teaching. There is so much more
space here, which is good because I feel so trapped in the other house.
We are going to be back at the amazing disabled school tomorrow, and
then we're going on a cool weekend trip to a national park and to a
rainforest! How exciting!"
Day 35:
Wednesday 7th July
Dani writes...
"We've just gotten back from our weekend trip to Kandy and we had a
wonderful time! Here is how our adventure started.
We got the bus on Friday afternoon, which was very cheap, if not very
comfortable! The journey was about an hour and a half, most of which was
spent completely wedged and squished between people, grabbing hold of
anything we could to try and stop ourselves landing on innocent
stranger's laps. I don't think we embarrassed ourselves too much though.
We eventually arrived and made our way to 'Lake Bungalow', the guest
house that other volunteers have stayed at before. It was really lovely,
like being in their family home! Complete with family portraits, lots of
weird ornament type things, and two huge dogs!
As we were absolutely starving at this point we decided to go on a food
adventure. We bought lots of fruit, and cheese and crackers, and looked
for somewhere to sit. We found a bench next to the Temple of the Tooth
opposite the beautiful lake, and we had a picnic in the moonlight.
The next morning we walked into Kandy, which was madness! Imagine
walking down a street, lined with very enthusiatic Big Issue sellers and
charity fundraisers, all scrambling to get your attention. But you are
walking with so many people in a sort of swarm, so you can't actually
move your arms or get out of the crowd! We were just carried along
towards the market, which was like a very crowded car boot sale. Rows
and rows of towels lined up along the floor, each piled high with a very
random selection of absolute junk! It was really fun and we managed to
escape without giving away all we own in exchange for plastic monkeys or
'I love Jesus' hats. Quite an achievement!
After the chaos of the market, we hopped in a tuk tuk and went of to the
Peradeniya Botanic Gardens. They are the largest botanic gardens in Sri
Lanka, and they are beautiful. Really quiet and peaceful. We saw a giant
Javan fig tree, which covers 1600 square metres and coconuts the size of
a car tyres. Amazing!
In the evening, we went to see the Kandyan dancing. It was brilliant!
The costumes were really beautiful and the dancing was very impressive.
They also did a fire throwing and fire walking display at the end! I was
a bit scared because they were just laughing and posing for photographs
and things, whilst throwing around the fire. I would have liked them to
appear as if they were concentrating even just a little on what they
were doing... but they were amazing!
Sunday was another fun-filled adventure. We visited the Temple of the
Tooth, one of the most important temples in Sri Lanka. It was absolutely
beautiful inside, with lots of gold and flowers. Security to get in was
very strict, we had to go through three bag and body searches just to
get in. They nearly didn't let me through because I was wearing a plain
red shirt. Apparently, I was a walking advert for Coca-Cola. Very weird.
Guess what else we saw?! Monkeys! Just running around the streets, like
you might see cats at home! We saw one monkey steal a box of incense
from an old lady's bag and she was not happy! Very funny!
After another wander around the town, and making lots of new friends, we
decided it was probably time to head back to the house. We'd heard that
the drive back was stunning, and since it's rather difficult to admire
the scenery when you're hanging on for dear life on a bus, we jumped in
a tuk tuk. It is, after all, the only way to travel. And that's was our
weekend in Kandy!"
Day 37: Friday 9th June
2006
Lewis writes...
"At this very moment, due to the wonders of our
BlackBerry, we are posting this update whilst standing up in the back of
a Jeep during our three hour Udawalawa National Park Safari. It is just
like you imagine it. Baking sun. Complete silence. Bumpy tracks. And a
safari guide, pointing, who can't speak English.
At this moment we are parked next to a small herd of elephants all
eating tall grass. Three babies and eight adults. I can see a peacock a
bit further behind them. And we can see mountains in the background. It
is all so beautiful, and it is so strange that we're here. And I have an
urge to pick up all the Elephant poo!
Day 42:
Wednesday 14th June 2006
Lewis writes...
"After our adventurous safari, we travelled for many bumpy hours to the
guest house we had decided to stay at. It was close to the rainforest,
so we could be up nice and early with smiles as big as coathangers.
But at about 8pm our smiles faded. We each had leeches burrowing through
the material of our trainers and shoes and sucking our blood. Everytime
we were brave enough to look down we could see leeches moving around on
the ground. The rainforest itself was amazing fun, and the leeches soon
became a harmless joke. We laughed them off. Ok. We weren't exactly
laughing, but we weren't crying either. The bleeding ankles really were
worth it when we were given the opportunity to swim in a waterfall!
Now I know what you're thinking. Lewis, and swimming. Not the greatest
combination. And if you were thinking that, you were spot on. Being an
absolutely rubbish swimmer I nearly sank to the bottom of the calm part
of the water. I was extremely adventurous and swam to where everyone
else was, but I couldn't reach the bottom. So I decided to
sink. Everyone else helped keep me above the water so my hair didn't get
too wet and so I had oxygen going into my lungs. The whole affair was a
roaring success.
We got out of the water, attempted to dry ourselves, failed, put our
clothes back on over our wet bathers, and carried on through Leech
Avenue. We did see a few living things like a lizard and a snake, but
nothing huge and scary like a leopard. Although we did see a cow! She
was huge, if not scary.
And it does rain in the rainforest. It is not a myth. It does, and you
do get drenched. We were in the rainforest for about four and a half
hours and we survived! Would we recommend it to a friend? Dani did find
the leeches quite traumatic, but I think we would!"
Day 48:
Tuesday 20th June 2006
Lewis writes...
"The oldest of all the elephants at Pinnawela is aged 65. His name is
Raja, and he is blind. He was found 15 years ago wandering helplessly in
Anuradhapura after being shot at 22 times by poachers. They were trying
to capture him for his tusks, and two of the 22 bullets blinded him. He
was brought to Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, and he is now 100%
dependent on humans.
That obviously includes his time washing in the river. The rest of the
herd, when they go down to the river, have water thrown over them by
either us or the mahouts (using a bucket). Because Raja is blind he goes
to his own secluded part of the river to get clean and sparkly. And we
went too!
Raja lay down in the water, using his trunk for air, and we scrubbed him
with coconut husks. And we could scrub as hard as we could because his
skin is about an inch thick. He found it very relaxing, and so did we!
And now we can say we've given an elephant a bath!"
We're having a party this evening, actually we are partying at this very
moment! There are 15 Travellers volunteers here this evening. Twelve are
female, so we're having a Girls Pyjama Party. There are 14 Sri Lankan
Old Lady nighties, and my new pyjamas.
Dani is wearing a lilac frilly nightie we bought for £1.80. My pyjamas
were a bit more pricey on account of the silky multi-colouredness.
We've just had coconut oil put in our hair to make our beautiful locks
silky smooth, with cling film wrapped round our heads to keep it on. I'm
just about to have a cucumber, avocado, and yoghurt face mask and Dani
is just having her toe nails painted. What has Sri Lanka done to us?! Or
rather, what has Sri Lanka done to Dani... I do this all the time!"
Day 57:
Thursday June 29, 2006
Dani writes...
"This is a slightly overdue account of our Cultural
Triangle weekend. I realise it has been a long time coming - so make
sure you're sitting comfortably, and here we go...
The Cultural Triangle is made up of the three ancient capital cities of
Sri Lanka - Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy. Within the triangle,
there are lots of other major cultural sites and interesting places to
visit. So, after a morning of mucking out and a quick lunch, we jumped
into our faithful van and set off to explore!
Our first stop was Dambulla Cave Temples. After consulting the Lonely
Planet Guide in the van on the way, we had learnt that "The hike up to
the temples begins along a vast, sloping rock face with steps in some
places." Oh dear me.
But surprisingly, it wasn't that bad! And it was so worth it. There are
five separate caves, containing about 150 buddha paintings and statues,
all very old and very beautiful. Each cave is like a miniature temple -
we had to take off our shoes before going inside, and they were
completely silent with people meditating and coming to leave
flowers. Then we stepped outside, and were mobbed by men trying to sell
us beaded bracelets or wooden Buddhas.
The caves themselves were absolutely beautiful! And the view from the
top of the vast sloping rock face was stunning. So after stumbling our
way back down (fighting off the salesmen as we went), we climbed back
into our van, and set off for our next cultural stop which was Sigiriya
Rock Fortress. I had no idea what this actually was, or what it
involved. I was just happily bumping along in the van.
When I noticed we were heading towards an absolutely enormous rock
thing, I started to feel a little bit worried... So when Manjula (our
driver) stopped at the foot of this 200m high beast, he confirmed what I
had been fearing. We were going to climb it.
My first thought was "How?!" It was literally an absolutely huge square
rock with vertical sides. And we could just about see teeny tiny dots
that were people climbing up the side. Standing at the bottom, wearing
flip flops, clutching a camera and a small amount of water that had been
decanted into a not quite finished Fanta bottle, I felt rather
unprepared. And rather like 'Here we go again...'
So, fighting every natural instinct to turn and run back to the safety
of the van, we set off... and it was amazing! We really enjoyed it. The
views were stunning, and the ancient Buddhist monks had thoughtfully
constructed a metal step ladder type thing. Once we had all climbed
down, Manjula took us off to a guesthouse he knew of, where we had a
lovely dinner and a shower and fell asleep.
The next morning we headed off to Polonnaruwa to see the ruins of the
ancient city. We found our guide, Sunil, who was excellent, and he took
us round and explained it all to us. We spent another night at the same
guest house, and woke up refreshed and ready to explore Anuradhapura,
our last stop.
Anuradhapura is the most extensive and important of the Sri Lankan
ancient cities. We had another guide, Charitha, who was also excellent,
who took us round all the major Buddhist relics and temples. He was very
passionate about Buddhism, and he taught us lots about the religion.
He also took us to an ancient monk's meditation spot (the spot was
ancient - not the monk). It was a sort of cave carved into the side of a
mountain, where the monks would go to meditate as a sort of retreat.
They even had beds carved into the stone, which were actually
surprisingly comfortable! Charitha also treated us to a palm reading!
He read Lewis' first, and said that Lewis takes a lot of strength from
his birth, but he doesn't use it because he is lazy. He warned him to be
careful and not to get too close to people, because they will hurt him
as he is very sensitive. He also said Lewis is often too soft with
people. A few palms later, and it was my turn. Charitha looked at my
hand for a while, then pointed at Lewis. He then smiled at me and said,
wisely, "Birds of a feather flock together."
He said that I, like Lewis, am also very soft - maybe too soft. He went
on to say that I am creative and have a powerful mind.
So after another lovely and very relaxing day, we headed back to
Kegalle, ready for poo-shovelling Monday morning. And that was our
Cultural Triangle weekend!"
Day 61:
Monday 3rd July 2006
Lewis writes...
"Saturday night. Were Dani and I out at the local
discotheque, partying it up Sri Lankan style? Were we out with our
Kandyan friend Ravi, sampling all that the Kandy nightlife has to offer?
Were we in Colombo in Cheers, the British themed pub, watching England
lose to Portugal? Were we sitting at the Ja Ela house with a cup of hot
chocolate and a good book?
No, we were not. We are far too adventurous for any of these things. And
far too cool. We went to the Airport Gardens Hotel, and went swimming in
the moonlight. It was magical! The pool was really nicely lit, and it
was a nice quiet night. And one thing I know is that nightswimming
deserves a quiet night.
We also went for a very tasty meal in the restaurant there. It was very
tasty. We can do the discotheque next Saturday."
Day 74:
Thursday July 16th 2006
Dani writes...
"We've just had our first few days back teaching again,
and it's been great! It was really weird on Monday morning, sitting in
the headteacher's office in Holy Rosary School for the first time in
about 6 weeks, outwardly quite calm and collected, but inwardly
thinking... "What the hell are we going to teach?! What are we going to
do?! What are we going to say?! How are we going to survive?!"
And other not particularly comforting or helpful thoughts. It was just
like our first ever morning teaching, all over again. We walked into a
class of what looked like about 70 children (but I'd guess it was about
30), smiled, introduced ourselves, decided on a topic to teach. And that
was the last time we spoke to each other for the next two hours. They
kept us rather busy!
We'd decided to teach 'My Favourite'. We went through lots of different
things (food, animal, colour...) getting them to fill in the gap what
their favourite is. But in between each topic, every child insisted on
having their work marked and having us draw a star on their books!
So we spent the lesson with books being thrust in our faces from all
directions, frantically drawing stars, and running to and from the board
like maniacs to change the favourite topic. It's great to be back!"
Day 75:
Monday 17th July 2006
Lewis writes...
"So we set off. We pack our bathers and our tooth brushes, get in
another bumpy van, and head south. With our thoughts on newly-hatched
turtles, we arrive in Mirissa. Further south along the coast than our
previous trip to Hikkaduwa, Mirissa is known for nothing other than it's
beach. So we went to the beach and it was absolutely perfect. The type
of beach where, if in a film, there'd be a haggered old man launching a
message in a bottle into the ocean. There were palm trees lining the
beach and blazing sun and unlike the movie beach, there were lots of Sri
Lankan boys playing football.
As for my love affair with the ocean... I am now officially a water
baby. As you know, I am afraid of the water. Even the bath scares me
which is why I still smell of elephant poo. I am also scared of big huge
gigantic massive enormous titanic waves but we went swimming anyway!
Dani was so impressed, she gushed, 'Your family would not believe you're
doing this right now! I'm just so shocked!' Then she ran out of the
water to take some photos of me to prove it.
Because all of our trips seem to involve us climbing a rock, we found
one called Parrot Rock, which was a bit taller than a house, and we
climbed it in the evening to watch the sunset. We spent two days at the
beach, and I spent two days in the ocean. No sharks.
On our way back to Ja Ela we stopped at a turtle hatchery and made
friends with some cool teeny tiny turtles who easily fitted into the
palm of our hands. Then it was off to Pizza Hut takeaway, and home
again."
Day 79: Friday 21st July 2006
Lewis writes...
"Four interesting things about Sri Lanka...
1. Young Sri Lankan men laugh when they kick dogs. There are just as
many stray dogs in Sri Lanka as there are school children. Possibly
more. None of them would attack you. They're not dangerous because
they're scared of people, which is fairly understandable. Plus I highly
doubt there is anything in place in Sri Lanka similar to the RSPCA. I
also highly doubt there is any plan to introduce anything similar. But
is this any different to how we treat non-domesticated animals in the
UK?
2. In Britain, and most other countries, we nod our head to mean yes and
shake our head to mean no. I have even read somewhere that people who
were born blind do exactly the same. Even though they've never being
told to. In Sri Lanka, there is a third option. It is the Head Wobble.
And even the children do it, without ever being told to. It means yes or
no. It means I don't know. It means I haven't heard you. It means your
joke was funny. It means your joke wasn't funny. It means they stock
what you've asked for. It means they don't stock what you've asked for.
It means the bus is going where you want it to. And it means the bus
isn't going where you want it to. It basically means anything they want
it to. And what's even crazier is to watch two Sri Lankans have an
entire conversation consisting of only wobbling heads. No words. It's an
entire language.
3. Let's pretend you have a piece of paper to throw away, and you are
walking the streets. If you're in the UK you will probably find a bin in
about three minutes. Here, you will not find one in three years. We see
lots of people burning their house rubbish instead of it going through
any kind of waste collection landfill setup like in the UK. We also see
massive piles of rubbish dotted round. A bit like fly tipping gone
crazy.
4. In poorer parts of Sri Lanka there are lottery stalls dotted along
the side of all the busiest streets. A lottery stall is a big booth with
lottery tickets hanging on little washing lines, with stereo speakers
bellowing words about how people should buy lottery tickets. On every
street corner is a lottery man. A lottery man is someone with a big
plank of wood with lottery tickets stuck to it with pins and clips.
There is also a lottery bike man riding round on every street. This man
has a big wooden board hanging off his handlebars with lottery tickets
stuck to it with pins and clips. These people will only sell tickets in
the poorer areas of Sri Lanka and they will sell hundreds of tickets.
The poorer the person the more they want believe in the long shot, but I
guess that's the same anywhere."
Volunteer work in Sri Lanka: Final
update
Day 81:
Sunday 23rd July 2006
Lewis writes...
"I'm a hero! Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes. Not me. I
caught a rattlesnake trying to get into my groundfloor bedroom. It was
trying to get through the window which is about a foot off the ground. I
scared it away. Then it scared me away, because it was a rattlesnake.
I didn't need to use my BlackBerry this time to find out whether my
latest foe could kill me or not. I've seen Steve Irwin and Indiana Jones
wouldn't be scared of them for nothing! It was only about as thick as a
hose pipe, but the rattle sound is rather terrifying.
What if it had made it into my room? What if I had gone to bed? Lying in
the dark and I suddenly hear this horrendous rattle near my head. I'd be
hysterical for days.
When I saw it first it was less than a foot away from me, he had his
head through the window and was on his way into my room. So I acted. I
scared it away heroicly by leaping backwards and shouting 'Woah! There's
a snake trying to get into my room!' Then it scared me away by moving
towards me. But I lived!And more importantly, so did my BlackBerry."
Day 85:
Thursday 27th July 2006
Dani writes...
"On Saturday morning we travelled south along the West
Coast to Bentota. Once one of the top tourist beaches in Sri Lanka,
Bentota is now a bit overshadowed by the beaches further south, such as
Hikkaduwa or Unawatuna, but it is still the biggest attraction on the
West Coast. It was beautiful!
After wandering along the beach on Saturday afternoon, we decided on
Sunday to explore the town, so off we went! We had been walking for less
than five minutes when we found a friendly, helpful and intersting chap
we'd never met before. Or rather, he found us... His name was Ravi, and
he was a tuk tuk driver and what an adventure we went on! He took us -
not in his tuk tuk, but on foot - on a walk through the tiny Buddhist
village, which was a dusty road, lined with banana trees and beautiful
little houses. It was absolutely stunning and completely silent - apart
from the children shouting, dogs barking in the distance, and Ravi
pointing out the different trees and animals and local sites (such as
the primary school) and waving to his friends.
We asked him to take us to some shops, and he took us to a beautiful
craft shop with lots of wooden carvings and statues of elephants and
Buddhas. Our newest friend told us he would take us back via the river
to see the birds and take pictures. That's what he meant too... via the
river on a cool Sri Lankan fishing raft! It was so amazing! Ravi's
fisherman friends rowed us along the river, which was so peaceful and
relaxing. We saw all sorts of creatures too. We saw a chameleon and
loads of huge two foot long iguana things swimming in the river. They
were a bit scary looking, actually. We even went through a miniature
Forbidden Forest. It was like a tunnel of tree roots growing up and out
of the water, as if they were trying to close in on us and block out all
light. How amazing. We then landed on the sand, and went back to our
guest house for some ice-cream!"
Day 90:
Tuesday 1st August
Lewis and Dani write...
We've tasted poo. We've fed baby elephants. We've ridden
an elephant and been sprayed with water from her trunk. We've learnt the
names of entire classrooms of children. We've gone on safari. We've
climbed up a mountain, and we've stumbled down again. We've seen the
Buddha's tooth, and we've had a Buddhist lecturer read our palms. We've
risked life and limb getting driven in tuk tuks and we've risked life
and limb driving in tuk tuks.
We've squashed ourselves into dozens of buses, and we've travelled a
million miles standing on our feet. We've braved river rapids and
floated in our life jackets downstream. We ventured into the
rainforest, where we were attacked by leaches. We've seen the ruins of
great palaces, and we've eaten a lifetime supply of pasta. We've washed
behind an elephant's ear, and we've climbed a tree with two Mahouts.
We've written 'Beautiful Work' ten thousand times, and we've met ten
thousand beautiful children. We've climbed a rock to see cave paintings,
and we've climbed hundreds of rocks to watch the sunset.
We now have friends in Ja-Ela, Kandy, Bentota, every school we've taught
in, the disabled centre at Pinnawela, and now across the UK. We've been
bitten thousands of times by thousands of mosquitos. We've faught off
spiders, cockroaches, snakes, rabid dogs, Sri Lankan men, the blistering
heat, and twenty million flies. We've been taken on mystery tours, we've
floated through Harry Potter's Forbidden Forest on a rickety Sri Lankan
fishing raft with two foot iguanas swimming right past. We've seen a
family of five driving on one motorcycle, and an elephant hitch hiking
on a flat-bed truck. We've seen real-live tea pluckers on the hillside,
and we dressed like oompa loompas to take a tour of tea machinery in a
tea factory. We even spent one memorable afternoon in a Sri Lankan
cinema.
We've been given hundreds of phone numbers from both school children...
and Sri Lankan men. We swam in the ocean at every opportunity. We've
experienced the most perfect beaches we've ever seen. We've sat under
palm trees terrified of falling coconuts. We've seen fire-walkers and
Kandyan dancers. We've watched a mischievous monkey steal things from an
old lady's bag, then sit on a wall just out of reach clutching his
winnings. We've eaten more than our body weight in Cadburys chocolate
eclairs.
We've seen 80 elephants march past wearing hats and coats, and we've
seen the orphanage elephants curiously and carefully poke new baby
Vishua with their trunks welcoming him to the herd. We've seen Vishua's
first days on his feet, we watched him fall asleep standing up, and
we've watched him use his trunk to pick up invisible leaves. We've taken
part in Poo And Spoon relay races with the Pinnawela cleaners. And we've
given them our shoes. We've slept on the floor of the van at the foot of
our impending pilgrimage. We've stayed in rooms which have been growing.
We've been attacked by bedbugs. We've been dressed up in old-lady
nighties and snazzy 'retro print' pyjamas and put on facepacks and
wrapped our coconut oiled hair in clingfilm. We've been snorkelling in
the scary scary ocean, and we've held baby turtles.
We've taken over 1000 photos, and written on average just shy of one
post a day. We've laid flowers at the foot of Buddha statues on the most
important day of the Buddhist Calender, and we cooked our feet on
sunbaked marble floors. We've had poems written for us, songs sung to
us, presents given to us, seats given up to us, and pictures drawn for
us. We have witnessed the effects of the tsunami on the south coast.
We've taken part in the scariest woodwork lesson ever, and we have also
taken part in the funniest exercise session ever.
We have had three months of cold showers, and we've been to a Sri Lankan
British themed pub in the basement of a five star hotel. We've taught
the children about family, food, hobbies, parts of the body, fruit,
animals, transport, the weather, hangman, the home, and favourite
things. We read with them, we sang with them, we danced with them, and
we played with them. We remembered their names, and they remembered
ours. They copied down our home addresses, they gave us theirs. We have
given them paper, stickers, and pencils. We've been featured on the
homepage of gapyear.com because of everything we've done, and have had
thousands of eyes witness our fame. And we even made it to page five of
a Sri Lankan newspaper.
We've dangled our legs over the end of the World. We've been in Sri
Lanka, done all this and more, and we've had the best time we've ever
had. Until next time!"
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