The Longest Post Ever!

These past few weeks have been nuts… and now I’m realising that it actually has been two weeks since I wrote last. Sorry for dropping the ball!

After the wedding I got quite sick. The next day I was working as per usual at the orphanage and all of a sudden I just felt terrible. Despite it being evening and having the fans on, I was quite hot and felt very nauseous. The nurse there, Indika, said she was also sick earlier and that I should go home and rest. One of the ladies in charge, Damayanthi, walked me back to the hostel and made it known to the matrons that I was under the weather. I decided to lay down and see what happened. Yamuna came to check on me and said I had a fever after touching my forehead and neck. She said if in one hour I still felt worse then we could go to the doctor. After an hour I was very hot, waiting to vomit, and had a very sore stomach and headache. I was also feeling very weak and ready to pass out. We quickly got a tuk tuk to the same clinic I went to for my ant bites. It is very close to the hostel. The doctor remembered me and said it was good that my ant bites were healed but I was “sensitive, nay?”. He gave me some pills for fever, antibiotics, heartburn (caused by the antibiotics) and ordered a blood test. Maia was with me and Yamuna and made sure we knew what all of the pills were for. About 3 other people/groups let me go in front of them (I must have looked that bad) and I thanked them and we drove to the pharmacy. I got more pills and returned home. I began to get sick again and rushed to the washroom. I had a restless sleep and at 7am got up to go get my blood test. The results were ready about 5 hours later and they all came back negative. Whenever you have a fever here you cannot take it likely. There are many diseases like malaria and dengue fever and you have to make sure you don’t have either of them… they can do serious damage. I was so thankful to have Maia there and the support from everyone at the hostel. I spent the next day in bed.

Sunday, Maia, Chelsea and I went to the Mt. Lavinia Hotel to use the beach. Turned out that there was an insane brunch buffet and the cost included the use of the pool and beach. The buffet included caviar, smoked salmon, sushi, salads, curries, western food, waffles, mousse, cake, and it was all presented beautifully. The Mt. Lavinia Hotel is after all one of the nicest in Sri Lanka I believe. I still had a very upset stomach and did not eat. I did order iced tea, but it was like the sweet tea prepared in the USA. So when the waiter noticed I didn’t like it he offered me something else. I got lime juice (straight up) and it came with a sweet syrup to add to taste. I spent the afternoon reading by the pool while Maia and Chelsea swam. I then had a sandwich (after reminding the server I ordered 45 minutes previous) and we headed back home to headquarters. I spent my day in the shade but I was still exhausted by the evening.

The next day I got up very early to leave on a trip with Shanthi Sena, the Peace Brigade. We were going on a couple day trip to Anuradhapura to do some leadership training for peace skill building and peace groups in the surrounding villages. Unfortunately no one translated from Sinhala or Tamil for me so I was quite bored and I was still feeling pretty sick. The car ride was about 6 hours in an air-conditioned van (luxury!) so leaving for a grungy hostel room with an oscillating fan was not great. The room, although ‘cleaned’, was very dusty and I found what looked like a mouse poop (just one poop haha) on the next bed. There were also cobwebs everywhere, geckos, and several big cockroaches. The electrical outlet was very finicky and I had to tilt the plug and cord to the fan a certain way and rest a pillow on it to keep it in place. Any other position would cut the power. It was sketchy! I’m glad the pillow didn’t catch fire and that the fan stayed on. I was roasting. I went to the doctor later in the day to get more pills because I was still feeling bad and almost out of the other pills I had. That night I went to bed early and was woken up by some guys showering and hanging out outside of my room. They then blasted some Sri Lankan music and were making tons of noise. I figured it was probably 10:00pm and I was just a party pooper, but my clock read 5:30am! It lasted about 5-10 minutes until someone told them to stop. That was just ridiculous. It left me a little grumpy but more dumbfounded by the whole thing. I spent the next day touring the old city of Anuradhapura.

Anuradhapura was the capital city back in like, the 8^th century and has been a very important city for many years, but fell apart and has since been restored… and is still being restored! I began my day at the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree. This tree is super important to Sri Lankan Buddhists… and Buddhists in general because it is a cutting from the tree in India under which Buddha found Enlightenment at some time around 236BC. It is interesting because guards have kept uninterrupted watch over the tree ever since, making it the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world! Next I walked to the Ruvanwelisiya Dagoba. A dagoba is a dome-shaped shrine that contains relics of the Buddha or a Buddhist saint. The whole temple was surrounded by a wall with an elephant wall and had smaller stupas (domes) at the cardinal points. From there I went to Thuparama, the oldest dagoba that is said to house the right collar-bone of the Buddha. I caught a tuk tuk to the next site, Jetavanarama Dagoba, which is said to be the highest brick dagoba of its kind in the world. My last stop for the day was Issurumumiyagala Monastery (say that 5x fast!). It was a very peaceful place with a reflection pool and a temple built into the massive rock that sits there. I got to climb up to the top of the rock and say the countryside and Jetavanarama Dagoba in the distance. The also have a small museum there with some sculptures, notably ‘the lovers’. It is believed to represent Dutthagemunu’s son Saliya and his girlfriend Asokamala, for whom he forsook the throne. (I’m copying all of this from my Footprint Sri Lanka book!) Anuradhapura is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the “Cultural Triangle” of Sri Lanka.

Later in the same day we took a van back to headquarters, where I arrived around 9:00-9:30 at night. I was ready to come back because I did not want to spend more time reading and sleeping in my hot room and feeling sick away from the comforts of home/the hostel. It was a shorter drive home (more like 5 hours) because we made less stops and took a more direct route. I was totally ok with that. The rest of the week I focussed on feeling better and did some more reading for my practicum.

On Friday, Chelsea, Maia and I went out for dinner at K-Zone, the local mall. I got an amazing smoothie and some thai food, but I couldn’t eat it. It was pretty much rice and green onion. It was hard to eat so much onion! My stomach was doing flip-flops. We got some popcorn and came back to watch Anchorman, which Maia had never seen before. I have seen it a couple times before, but it never gets old! Afterwards we made a sign for my friend Karen who was coming to visit from Nepal. It was a beautiful sign and we had a blast colouring all sorts of things that represent Sri Lanka. Some images included a beautiful elephant (Maia), Buddha, the tooth relic, tea, rice, palm trees, and a stupa. I left around 11 for the airport and got there an hour early for Karen’s 1am arrival. I paid the 300Rs to enter the arrival area with my sign. I had a jam bun and another gravol for my wonky stomach. I was waiting among other people with signs for over half an hour before Karen came through the gate at around 1:45am. Everyone, including my new guest, loved the sign and I caught a lot of people staring at it. No one else had a sign like it, only names written in black sharpie on white paper. So lame! I called the driver and he picked us up. We talked a lot on the ride home, but by 3:30 when we got settled in the room, we were dead tired.

Our day started at about 7:30 when we got ready for breakfast. I gave Karen a tour of headquarters and where I work in Suwasetha. She got to meet the girls in the sewing, needlepoint and typing units. At that time, Jayaca invited us to the homecoming ceremony of one of the girls who also worked in the sewing unit. After the wedding and honeymoon, the homecoming ceremony occurs. Basically it is when the bride and groom return to the groom’s house and have another party with food, tea, and gifts. There is also a time when the family gets to say their send off message and then they leave. From this time on, the bride may see her parents a few times a year but her obligation is to run the new house. What a hard transition! Both the bride and groom seemed emotional to say goodbye to their family… it felt like it was the last time they’d see each other! She came over and gave me a hug and I signed that I was very happy for her and Jayaca signed to her for a minute or two before we all left. We were only there for 1.5-2 hours. It was quite hot and it was all outside. I think we were ready to go home. On the way, Jayaca and the driver dropped Karen and I off at the store I got my sarees at, Mafaza. Karen picked out a beauty and from there we headed to K-Zone via bus. We got some groceries for the adventure ahead of us and also got smoothies and did some browsing. K-Zone is very small with about 10-12 stores and 4 food stalls. It did not take long at all. From there we came back to headquarters and lounged around before and after dinner. We also spent time planning our trip with Bandula and I stayed up a little too late working on the logistics of the routes ahead.

The next day we got up and finished packing and after a breakfast of string hoppers with coconut sambal we headed off to catch a bus to Colombo Fort Railway Station. It was warm already, despite a brief downpour. The ride took about 45 minutes or more and was kind of nauseating. I did not feel good and until I got to sit and look out the open window, I thought I would throw up. Once we got to the railway station we got some short eats (snacks) and bought our tickets to Kandy. We waited in the “Ladies Waiting Room” for our train and began our journey.

Our first stop along the way was in Rambukkana. It is a small town known for the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, but the tuk tuk driver we hired to take us there suggested we go to the Millennium Elephant Foundation for the same price but a better experience. On a whim we went for it! For 2000Rs we had the opportunity to bathe one of the elephants that was lying in the river. I think it really enjoyed it and also sprayed water at Karen! We used the rough coconut shells to scrub the sand and dirt off of the skin and rinse off with water. It was so fun! Then we got to ride one of the elephants named Pooja, the first elephant born into captivity by another domesticated elephant. She is 25 years old! Her mother is Lakshmi, a very famous elephant who has been in over 25 international films including Tarzan the Ape Man! It felt like I was among celebrities! Anyways, we rode her for about 10 minutes and then got to feed her some fruit for 200Rs extra. She was very friendly and it was apparent that she loves to eat! We also got a tour of the museum there that houses skeletons and teeth of elephants and gave a great explanation of Asian and African elephants. There are very clear differences such as ear and trunk size, body weight, and temperament. Only 5% of male Asian elephants can grow tusks! There was also a gift shop and a place we left our bags for the tour. Afterwards we got a tuk tuk ride back to Rambukkana Railway Station to grab a quick snack and then we continued to Kandy using our same train ticket.

The train to Kandy was not full (there were no seats available but there was tons of standing room). Karen and I talked to some Slovenian ladies who were touring the country as well. The train ride took way longer than expected due to many random stops along the way and just having a slow train in the hills. We eventually got there and began walking from the railway station to the center of town. We met some other Canadian girls from Calgary who are doing an 8 month tour of Asia. They guided us to the lake area, which is very close to the Temple of the Tooth. Karen and I decided to find a hotel to drop off our heavy bags. After seeing a few places we stumbled upon Olde Empire Hotel, which was also in my book. It was cheap at 1500Rs but had a shared bath. This was not a big deal for us anyways, and the room was gorgeous with lots of character. It was also right beside the Temple of the Tooth. We headed over and went through security. There was a female only line, as is the custom in Asia. There was a long walkway with banners along the way to the ticket booth where we paid for entry. It was packed with people, as we went at ‘the best time’… 6:30-7:30pm. It was quickly apparent why it was such a good time to go… there were drummers and horn players and the casket holding the relic was on display. We got to walk by the shimmering gold casket and saw many people offering money, flowers, and also pay their respects. The casket is said to house one of Buddha’s teeth. It is one of the most important temples/dagobas in Sri Lanka, if not the world. It has a long history and is home to various festivals throughout the year… One being the Esala Perahera, which I hope to attend later in August. After touring the building and seeing old books and statues we headed over to Pizza Hut and ate garlic shrimp pizza and a meat lovers pizza before going to bed early in our historic hotel room.

The next morning we walked up to Udawattekele Sanctuary for a morning hike. It took about 3.5 hours because we took an unexpected detour and stopped to see a couple deer, turtles on a log, and look at some interesting plants. I was happy to only spend 650Rs for entrance because we did not see much in terms of wildlife, except as we were leaving there was a huge group of monkeys that ran across the street with their babies clinging to their undersides. There must have been 40 or more monkeys! They were very cute. Along the way to the sanctuary Karen and I had an interesting encounter with a young man who asked, “Can I say something to you?” I said sure, and he proceeded to offer us a full body massage for 1500Rs. We told him that we were leaving in a few hours (not a lie) but we would think about it. Deep inside we were screaming “NO WAY!” and when he asked if he could give us his mobile number Karen piped in and said she did not have a phone. I followed suit and apologized. He then continued walking. We laughed about it for a bit. Why would I accept a full body massage from a stranger I met on a winding treed road? Maybe that’s the norm here, but we were a little blown away. We would have never accepted, but I think we politely turned him down in a roundabout way.

From there we did a bit of browsing on our way back to the hotel, about a 20-minute walk away. I got some gifts and a new shirt. We stopped at KFC for lunch. I think we both desperately needed to jump at the chance to have something other than rice and lentils. I’ve had the same thing 2x a day for 8 weeks. I needed a chicken burger, fries, and Pepsi! Then we collected our bags from the Olde Empire Hotel, bussed to the Goods Shed bus stand and found an air-conditioned direct bus to Nuwara Eliya! I felt like we struck gold. It was a nice ride with few stops and I even had a seat. However, the road was very windy. Having the cool air and a view out the window helped me to not feel motion sick, as I usually do. Nuwara Eliya is very high up in the mountains and it took a couple of hours to get there.

Once we arrived in Nuwara Eliya I had to take a minute to sit and relax. My head was spinning a bit. Right after we got a tuk tuk to Labookellie Tea Factory, which we passed on our way into Nuwara Eliya. I was told it would be cold in the hill country. Being a Canadian, and more specifically a Winnipegger, I laughed at the thought of cold. But soon after I was not laughing. It was misting all the time and there was a cold breeze. I think the real feel ended up being around 10-15C, but I swear a cold breeze with the mist just made it feel worse. Sometimes Nuwara Eliya gets frost! I was waiting for that to come! Anyways, we went to the tea factory and learned all about how tea is produced. Basically you pick a piece from the plant with young, green leaves, a bud, and 2 or more leaves. The tea is then dried and chopped up to fine pieces. Then it is ground to become even finer! The leaves are left out to ferment for 3 hours and are heated to remove the last bit of moisture. The stems are shaken off and the rest is taken to be graded. The small and dark leaves make stronger tea than the bigger and lighter pieces. It takes about 5kg of leaves to create 1kg of the finished product. I believe the tea factory produces over 3000kgs a day and houses 1000 workers over 1200 acres. Tea plants can live for 60 years until they are replaced. Every year the plants are cut to be no more than about 2-3ft off the ground, but can grow up to 10ft! In addition, one of the most expensive teas, white tea, is made using only the bud. Green tea does not get chopped up or fermented. There’s some quick facts for you! After the tour we got a free pot of tea and bought a piece of cake. Then we browsed the (overpriced) gift shop and left back for Nuwara Eliya where we began the long hunt for a guesthouse. We stumbled upon a market where I bought a sweater and we jammed to some dance music/mix of top songs from my high school years. We also sampled and bought some fruit, including passion fruit and a tree tomato that tastes like a blueberry! Eventually this man came up to us and asked if we needed a place to stay. He showed us a nice guest house and when we asked for advice to go to Horton Plains the next day, gave us his business card, as he works with tourism in the area. He arranged an early pick up for us (at a price) and cost us a cozy hotel room for 2000Rs. Once at the guesthouse we had dinner and got ready for bed. Our next day was supposed to begin at 5:00am!

The next morning was a little rough as it was totally freezing! I slept in my clothes and my sweater. We got our breakfast to go and by 5:30 were packed in the van and leaving to Horton Plains. The drive took about an hour and we got there just after the park opened. The cost to enter the park was ridiculous. There were numerous charges for the car park and taxes and all these other things. With the van and the entry it cost over 10,000Rs, or $80 total. The morning was very cold with mist and drizzle accompanied by a low fog/cloud. On our way into the park we saw some deer but nothing else. We began our cold walk to Mini World’s End and the next point was Greater World’s End. At this point the mountains just stop. It is like a lush cliff face that drops over 850 meters! It was really freaky, especially since there was no railing! The clouds were low so we didn’t have a super view looking straight out but looking down you could see the houses far below. It was freaky! We continued on the 9km trek to see Baker’s Falls. We took a path down to the base of the falls. It was about a 20-minute descent sliding down vertical rocks and roots. I’m not sure how I made it down, but I definitely was muddy by the end of it! The view of the falls was just awesome but it was less awesome to come to the realisation that we had to go back up the steep path. Going up proved to be much easier, and since I was already dirty, I wasn’t afraid to get even dirtier. We returned to the van after a total of 3.5 hours in the drizzling rain and wind. While the walk was nice, it was cold at times, and I got an annoying earache, perhaps from the cold, wet, wind. It has since gone away. The driver dropped us off at a tiny train station in Pattipola…

We made it to the train station with about 15 minutes to spare before our departure time. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, our train was late… By about an hour! Karen and I were freezing in a lounge area right beside two bathroom stalls. It was nice to be somewhat out of the cold wind, but it felt like an extra long wait. Finally the train came and we rode it to Haputale, a town that was at a major junction. From there we got to have some lunch of rice and curry (surprise surprise) and after a lot of searching in the bus station found a bus that would take us to Pelmadulla, the next junction along our journey. Along the way the whole bus got off and had tea, a bathroom break, and snacks. It was so funny to have a tea break on the bus. It is really clear how important teatime is in this culture! Our next stop after changing in Pelmadulla would be Deniyaya, the city closest to the Sinharaja Rainforest. Unfortunately no busses would take us there at that time so we took a bus to Rakwana which was along the way at least. It began to rain again and we found a rest house that was also listed in my travel book. It took a while for someone to notice that we were actually there but soon after we got a room for 2000Rs and had dinner. The room and food were nice but the bill was expensive, totalling 3080Rs. We left in the morning for the bus station, but it turned out the bus would have gone right past the guesthouse. Oh well. We got a nice walk in and bought some fruit along the way! From Rakwana we caught a bus to Deniyaya.

In Deniyaya we found a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Mederipitiya Entrance of the Sinharaja Rainforest for 800Rs. The road was really bad near the end so we had to get up and walk to the entrance from maybe .5km away. Once there it began pouring. It is the rainforest; I’m not really sure what I was expecting. A guide was mandatory since there have been deaths in the past in the forest because of many poisonous creatures and angry elephants. Over all it was a little more than 1000Rs each, which I didn’t think was outrageous, given the fact we paid so much at Horton Plains. There were many routes to choose from, but we chose the 8.5km trek of 3 hours. Along the way we saw many big, colourful spiders, geckos, snails, giant millipedes, and a green pit viper. A few days prior an elephant went on a rampage and we saw the damaged tree it knocked down as well as elephant dung. I was surprised to see it looked like big balls of like… string or fibres or grass of sorts. It was weird! We also saw a waterfall. There were many leeches in the rainforest and I had about 6 during our entire journey. The guide rubbed salt on our shoes and legs and picked the leeches off for us. I still have a mark from one sucker, but it’s not bad. The leeches here are like black/grey inchworms, not the nasty ones we have in Canada. It made them a lot less gross. Afterwards we walked an additional 1km to catch another tuk tuk. Our guide took us to his house on the way, where we sat and waited for the tuk tuk he called for us. For another 800Rs we got back to the Deniyaya bus station where we caught the next bus heading south!

We got on a bus headed to Akuressa. This bus ride was not super long once we hit Pitabeddera. It was very hilly and the road was windy so it took longer to get places. When we hit Pitabeddera I had a very urgent bathroom situation and they stopped the bus for me to run to a public toilet. And run I did. People on the street and the bus were apparently laughing as I was running and darting through traffic (though sparse) to go to the bathroom. I was running not only because it was an emergency, but also because I didn’t want to keep a bus full of people waiting! I was so grateful that they pulled over… I was reaching crisis mode. They have waited for men who just ‘go’ by the bus but this seemed different. We carried on and despite having a ‘scare’ of having to go again, I made it to Akuressa. There I ran to the next public toilet while Karen scouted out the next bus. Luckily there was one headed to Matara that we caught just in time. It was one of the shortest rides so far (yay!) but once we got there it was night.

Once in the busy beachside city we realised we quickly needed to find a rest house and set our things down. It was only 1500Rs and very nice. We even had the company of a cockroach in the bathroom. It doesn’t even bother me anymore. Well, I’m bothered by the fact that they can FLY but I know they won’t hurt me. Karen and I then wandered off in search of food and stumbled upon a Perera and Sons (bakery and restaurant) where we shared a giant plate of mixed fried rice. There was seafood and vegetables as well as egg in it. It was great. We were still wet from the rainforest where we were drenched as well as from all the rain along the way. Getting back to the hotel and showering was amazing. Unfortunately my blue Nepal pants dyed my legs blue because the rain made the colors bleed! It took a couple days to come off but it’s fine. Not the first time it’s happened! I went to bed and we woke up at our leisure… For me that was about 8:30am! Woohoo!

We left the hotel and caught a bus to Mirissa Beach, the beautiful secret getaway I visited earlier in my stay. Karen and I had short eats along the way so we had a late lunch after wading around in the water. Before that, we had some amazing pineapple juice. Fresh juice. Amazing. So we had a seafood platter for lunch with lobster, fish, prawns, and calamari. It was delicious, but very filling. That’s all I could eat! After lunch we decided to get a cabana to store our things in. The same guys I met at the restaurant last trip had their beachfront cabana available. The waves literally came up just below our balcony! It was a little house on stilts! We got this beautiful little space for 2000Rs. I paid $8 for one night in a beachfront cabana. I went to sleep with the sound of the ocean waves! So nice! Before sleeping, however, we played in the very, very strong waves. There were red flags out and lifeguards on duty. I’m glad for that! Despite putting lots of sunscreen on I burned my shoulders, chest, and face again. This equatorial sun is unbelievable! We relaxed on the balcony and Karen and I had some great conversations about all sorts of things! We showered and went to walk the town, which actually takes like 10 minutes, and then returned to the cabana to write some postcards that we purchased on our walk. A few hours later we decided to stroll along the beach and check out some menus along the beachfront restaurants. It was amazing to see tables and chairs in the sand and tables set up with the catch of the day. You could choose your own fish, crab, or calamari for dinner. There were a few different types but I was not feeling like more fish. Karen and I had a cocktail and dinner and then returned home to sleep. Did I mention I went to sleep with the sound of the ocean waves? ;)

Again, we woke up at our leisure. We paid for our room and went to buy a tea bun for breakfast. Our bus came soon after and took us to Ambalangoda. I had a bad experience on the bus with a creepy man but it was still a nice ride once he got off in Galle. Once in Ambalangoda we caught a tuk tuk to take us to the turtle sanctuary. Despite having a translator, the tuk tuk driver took us to a hotel. He seemed confused when we said it was not the place, and tried to charge us more! Finally we got there with some help from the people at the hotel. It was a different sanctuary than the one I visited last time. It was smaller but free. I made a donation anyways. We got to see and hold lots of turtles. They even let us release some baby turtles into the ocean! I became very emotional because I was thinking about the bad tuk tuk driver and experience on the bus, but also because I was thinking I was leading the babies to their deaths. They are adorable and I felt like I was letting them down. They already have a better shot at being rescued because they were protected for a couple of days already. It was still a phenomenal experience! One of the men there showed us to the bus stand. On the way I stubbed my toe really bad. I looked down right away and I was gushing blood. I lost it. My whole day had been very emotional and this was the last straw! The man ran to get bandaids and he cleaned up my toe and put them on. He was so nice and said everyone here is like family and if we are in the area and need food or a hotel he could help us. He also waited for us to get on the right bus. The bus dropped us off at K-Zone and we stopped to get another smoothy and did a bit of shopping. We stocked up on some tea (gifts) and got a tuk tuk back to headquarters with our heavy bags. The rest of the day we just relaxed. It was great to upload pictures, send some emails and finally talk to Max.

The next day we left the hostel after breakfast for Colombo Fort Railway Station again. There we were directed to take a bus to our requested destination: Negombo. Along our search for the proper bus stand, a man came up to us and offered us a free ride in his vehicle since he was ‘going to Negombo’. We politely declined but he was very persistent. He asked our names and ages, and also if we had Facebook or mobile numbers. I said I didn’t have either Facebook or a phone. Karen and I were pretty annoyed. People do take interest in us and talk to us but not like this. He walked with us and wanted us in his car. We saw a post office and told him we had to mail something and we said goodbye. He stopped us and showed me his phone. On it he had typed “I wud like f-cking with u”. I loudly said “No! I’m married! She (pointing to Karen) is married!” He replied with “No problem, 10,000Rs.” Disgusted, I said “No!” again and walked away. Karen followed and I told her what was on the phone. He disappeared. We mailed our postcards and went to the bus station. At this time it started pouring. We got very wet even though we used our umbrellas. It is easy to tell when it will rain here because it gets very dark, very windy, very fast. The rain falls very heavily too! But we got on our bus to Negombo and after we got there we had some lunch. We bought a lunch packet for less than a dollar that had enough food for 3 people. We also got drinks and a dessert at a restaurant so we could sit and eat lunch. Another woman joined us and we asked her for directions to the fish market. She was going there anyways and she said she could show us. It was just a mini market but it still had crazy fish! Afterwards we went to the beach fish market, which is much bigger and right on the ocean. We saw shark meat, seer fish, cuttlefish, calamari, yellow fin, grouper, red snapper, giant tuna, salmon, crabs and prawns of all sizes. Get this, 1kg of both shrimp and tuna costs $3.12 and 1kg of salmon is $2.34. It is so cheap! I wish I could bring some back home. The fish was not kept on ice, but water was poured over them often. There were lots of flies and blood everywhere. Cleavers were flying and fish parts littered some of the tables. It was a different experience. I was worried about my toe (which had a giant chunk of skin torn off from when I stubbed it) as there were lots of puddles. These puddles probably had pee (cows close by), spit, blood, salt, and other germs in it. I was so ready to be home and clean it! Karen and I bought a pineapple for about 50cents and carried it all the way to Colombo via train, through a shopping mall called Majestic City (dad!) and on the bus home. Majestic City had many of the same stores. At least 10 watch stores, 10 jewellery stores, 10 video game stores… They all had the same things! I have no idea how people make money. It was super confusing and 5 levels. It wasn’t great. I didn’t buy anything and I won’t go back.

That evening I took Karen to the airport and said goodbye. Since then I have slept in and cleaned my room. Today Chelsea also left so I said goodbye to her. We had a little part with cake and we went out for lunch. Chelsea and I went to K-Zone for one last smoothy but I had ice cream since it was so dang hot and I was in long black leggings! That was a mistake. I’ve been off and on writing this post for 6 hours. I think I’m really done with writing now and have a sore hand because it’s resting funny on my laptop. I will update more often than this! That is a lesson I have surely learned! I’m not sure what’s up for this week… maybe I’ll fill you in tomorrow? Or at least when I have a plan! One month left!