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Published: August 6th 2010
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Sri Lanka has been described as a tear drop island falling from the tip of India. Smaller than Ireland, just larger than West Virginia, it is 7 degrees north of the equator in the Indian Ocean. It is full of rare spices, precious stones, palm fringe shores and elephants. There are 19 million people in the entire population (about every US state has more people than that). The name comes from the Arab 'Serendib' for Serendipity, the making of fortuitous discoveries by accident - seems like a good place to be, hope it will live up to it’s name.
*The life expectancy is 75 years
*There is 95%!l(MISSING)iteracy (although in 2008 it ranked 165 out of 173 countries in terms of press freedom, below Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and Somalia)
*It won independence in 1948 from the British
*Smoking is banned in public
*1931 women got the right to vote although they still only occupy 2%!o(MISSING)f the governing body - the same proportion as it was then.
*For the past 30 years Sri Lanka has been consumed with Civil War which was only resolved May 18, 2009.
* The Tamils (Hindus) from Southern India represent 17%!((MISSING)mostly brought
here by the British to work in the tea plantations.)
*69%!a(MISSING)re Singhalese (Buddhists)
*In 2004 on Boxer Day December 26th they were devastated by a Tsunami. In 15 minutes 50,000 people died.
*It has the world’s highest female suicide rate. Humm…
*Flora and fauna… 433 species of birds, 300 different kinds of butterflies, and 98 of the 100 known reptiles in the world can be found here.
*Volleyball is the national sport, although white clad figures swinging wooded sticks (cricketeers?) are frequently seen.
Having never really gotten over the jet lag, we have spent every single day in motion by the time that we get back to our rooms we pass out (or whatever mom’s does because she can’t). We arrived at our beach hotel in Negombo after over 24 hours of travel, missing Friday completely. We pulled ourselves together for dinner where we met the rest of the group (and I’m not the youngest anymore!) Mom was in such a daze (for many reasons) that when it was her turn to introduce herself, she just sat there mouth open, confused, as to what exactly she was supposed to say. “You’re a teacher…” I prompted, and then
she nodded and continued her spiel.
Negombo is a Dutch fishing village with many beautiful canals. We could see the beach and pool from our room. They say that Thailand is the land of smiles, but there is a great calmness that infuses everything - a welcomed contrast to India. It’s not as hot, dirty, or intense. Everything is a lush green due to the centuries old man-made water tanks that flood the fields and form mini lakes and keeps everything fertile. The water tanks were made in the 3rd century BC by diverting the rivers. It is hard to believe that only a year ago the country was rife with civil war.
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