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Published: October 28th 2008
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Washed up Boat
The name on the side was "Hand of Hope" - not much hope here! This is just my last blog from Sri Lanka, just to say thank you to all my friends and family back home, for all their help over the past few years and for making this trip possible, there are too many people to list but you know who you are. I am just going to put a few photos together and a few words. Sri Lanka is a beautiful island and I would recommend anyone to visit it, but one month is probably long enough, particularly if you are situated up north, where I am. There is very little to do once you have seen all the major attractions unless you want to travel for 4 or 5 hours to get to a major city! Although I have loved my time here, my new family, and a special thank you to the new friends I have made who have made my stay here even more memorable and I hope that we will remain friends, they are Gill McAlistair, Karen Bradley, Katie Chester, Sandra Wallace and Hannah K. You've all been fantastic and I hope that you enjoyed your time here. One thing I feel I must mention, on my trip to
Galle Face Hotel
A beautiful bride Sigiriya, the most amazing thing happened to me. I was at the foot of the mountain with my rucksack on my bag, inside was my bum bag and inside that zipped in a small compartment was a little bag with a silver "wish stone", a silver guardian heart and a silver guardian angel that my dearest friend, Nickie Aiston gave me to keep me safe on my travels. I was just taking the top of a bottle of water to drink when Gill said to me "Jo, why have you got a guardian angel stuck to your t-shirt?" - oh my god, the feeling I had was total disbelief!! How did that angel get out of 4 zipped compartments and end up on my t-shirt? I felt that Brian was there with me, keeping me safe, he knew that I didn't really like climbing and I was scared, but with the knowledge that he was with me gave me the strength to get to the top!!! I guess that was one of life's little mysteries! The monsoons have now reached Sri Lanka which, as it would anywhere in the world, makes it a bit miserable, particularly as the rain brings
out some horrid little creatures, they are black, hard, a bit like a beetle but arrive in their thousands, you cannot sit anywhere near a light bulb because your entire body gets covered in these vile insects!! So although they say that the tourist season begins in November, I cant understand, because the best weather is between May and September, if you like it hot of course! The people here are extremely friendly, as with most places there are a few bad apples, who like to bug you. The only unusual trait I have found with the locals is that they do like to criticize others. We all do it to some extent, and most of us, if we're honest might THINK IT, but they actually do say exactly what is on their minds, like "aren't you spotty, why have you got so many spots, you're fat aren't you, why is your skin all funny" and so on, which we have tried to explain to them at great length that it is not the English custom to actually tell people what you think of them! Hopefully some of what we have taught them will stay with them after we've gone.
Colombo
Galle Face Hotel at sunset One great thing is when you've taught some of them, particularly the children, a word, a sentence or a phrase and then the next time you see them, they've remembered it, not always in the right context but some of it has sunk in, which for me, feels like a tremendous achievement. I don't feel like I have been able to do as much as I initially envisaged but hopefully I've made a small dent in our quest to help these people. In Pollonawura, my home town at the moment, when you walk the streets, every shop is almost identical to the last one, they all sell the same items, the price of each item is marked up on the product to avoid shops over charging - good idea I thought, the noise from the ancient trucks, which I cant actually believe go, judging by the rust on them and the noise, the smell of the burning diesel coming out the back of them, the heat and finally the CURRY smell - these are smells I have become accustomed to it. It has helped me living with such a lovely family and the other volunteers that I shared with, each
one, like myself,had a story do tell, the reason behind each and everyone of us braving the "unknown". I am glad that I've met these people, they have made me a stronger person, each one of them giving me something different. I arrived on the same day as Sandra Wallace, and we left together, spending our last night in Negumbo together. We went for a walk along the beach, staring at the Indian Ocean for the very last time, shared a meal together, which was not that great, but edible. Sandra has given me so much inspiration and I want to thank her for that. Long after everyone had gone to bed, I couldn't sleep and had to be up at 3am to catch my flight, so was very restless, I sat on the balcony alone, listening to the sounds of the city muted in the early hours of the morning, hushed into silence by the steady lapping of water, just looking at the ocean in the moonlight, there was a barely visible seam that met the sky, tears just rolled down my face and I suddenly felt so alone, my heart still feels so empty after losing Brian, I
"Angel"
Lighting a candle on Poya Day (full moon) can only liken it to a coconut shell with the inside scooped out. I hope that this journey will help me learn to love myself like I loved him. I shall close now and once again thank you all for taking the time to read my blogs, and hope that you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have writing them. Thank you Mum, Dad, Bobby, Samii, Mark, Nickie, Paul, Bev, Debbie, Steve, Andrew, Teresa and everyone else in my family (too many to mention) and my friends, Rosey, Caroline, Gail, Sean, Heidi, Tracey, Sharon, Carolyn, Barry, Donna, Jackie, Carol, Karen, Colin, Carlie, Lauren, Sue, Gill, Andy, Jane, Mick, Rose, Shane, Maureen, Brian, Doreen, Mai, Connie, Matt and Nic, Val, Don, Vera, Brian, No 11 Brook St. If I have forgotten anyone, I am really sorry, but you are all my heart and if it weren't for all of you guys none of this would have been possible. You all gave me the strength and courage to do this and I am so glad that I have. Thank you for your support.
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Karen
non-member comment
Go girl!!
Hi, my friend, I miss you heaps but can't wait to see you in oz. Blog entry amazing and open and true just like the writer love Karen xxx