Unawatuna

---

---

So for the last week I've been really ill. Last Tuesday I had to half a day off because I had horrible fluey symptoms and an ear infection. I went to the doctors and I ended up seeing an ear surgeon and was prescribed 5 different medications (bit of an overexageration I thought) and it only cost £3! The next day was a poya day which is a national holiday for the full moon and everyone had the day off so I had a chance to rest. I was fine on thursday and friday but was ill for the whole weekend and had to take another day off work this week! I am still feeling coldy but have been back at work today.

At the weekend some of my friends climbed adams peak which is a famous mountain in Sri Lanka but because I was unwell I went to Unawatuna beach with some other girls. It was good to relax on the beach. I preffered Unawatuna to Hikkaduwa beach because there was lots of cute little shops and restaurants and it felt safer at night because it was lighter.

I have included some pictures of Maharagama so you can see where I live during the week. After living here for nearly 6 weeks I am getting used to the sri lankan way off life. When you walk through the streets or you are on the bus lots of people say hello and ask you where you are going and lots of other questions. It took me a while to realise that this is part of the culture and not just really creepy.

I am also getting used to the sri lankan head shake. When you ask people a question they often just move their heads from side to side, not like when you shake your head to say no but they move their head towards one shoulder and then the other shoulder in one fluid motion. This non verbal act is used to mean "ok". So once you get over the fact that it looks like it means no you should be fine right? However, it can be difficult because sri lankan people like to say ok even when something is not ok. For example on monday I got on the wrong bus and I asked for a stop that the bus clearly didnt stop at but the conductor just said ok! Similarly, we got in a tuktuk and asked him to take us home. He said ok but after a few minutes of driving away from our house we realised he had no idea where it was. It can be frustrating but it is good to experience living in another culture. People in Maharagama see us as part of the community and so most of the time we are respected and people help us on the public busses etc. Whereas when we go away at the weekends we are seen as tourists and sometimes people hassle you and try to rip you off.

Anyway hopefully that had given you a small insight into life in sri lanka and hopefully I will feel better before this weekend!

---