Just checking in....

Hi everyone, just a quick note to say hello. I have not had much time to add to the blog lately, which is a good sign I guess. Things here have been OK in that we have been able to work and to get to the sites. We are building foundations for our 100 homes and making slow, but steady progress. I will try to post some construction pics later this weekend.

I’ve been here for 10 months now and the one-year mark feels like it will be here before I can blink. Many people have come and gone from Trinco since I arrived in Oct last year. I’m starting to feel like a bit of an old hand here. I have met many great people so far and am sure that I will continue to meet more as time goes on.

So whats new? Not too much I guess. Its still hot here and the rainy season is coming in a few months. Im worried that it will start early and put the kibosh on my housing project! This week I went to the south of the Island for a Buddhist and Hindu festival called the Pera Harah (blog entry coming soon), which was a 3-day trip (17 hours of which were in the car…).

The-coolest-news-ever is that my friend Doug (crazy-doug) decided to fly back from London to San Francisco to donate a kidney to our friend Hetal!!!!!!!!! WOW. Im so happy for them and really wish I could be there to support them! Many cheers to Doug for this courageous and selfless act! You are an inspiration to us all! And congratulations to you Hetal! Speedy recovery to you both! I will be pulling for you. { UPDATE: Unfortunately, Hetal and Doug were notified that the surgury has to be put off for a few months due to some test results. Hopefully everything will work itself out and we will celebrate in a few months. Hang in there guys! }

Also, wanted to send my congratulations to Craig and Jessica who got married last weekend! Man, Im really missing out. ;)

Ok, I have to get back to work but wanted to get out a quick post to let you know Im ok. Hope you all are well and thanks for the emails and calls. I haven’t forgotten about you and it is really nice to be remembered occasionally. :)
~Peace

Trip to Polanaruwa

Here are some pics from my trip to Polanarwa, a cultural center about 3 hrs from Trinco. Several of us visited here during one of the evacuations from Trinco this spring.

Tatiana (CESVI) in front of an ancient buddhist Stupa. They still construct these things today but the will be plastered smooth and painted perfectly white.


semi-interesting statue carved in stone.

Monkey enjoying some goodies - stolen, no doubt.

Buddha image carved in stone. Really nice granite here. would be perfect for sport climbing! 

Oddities... cont'

I figure it was time for another installment of oddities. Ok, it hasn't been weekly, but I will try to keep them periodically. Enjoy!

Imagine sitting on the toilet, minding your own business but then you start to feel like someone, or something is watching you. This is what happened to me when I was staying in Colombo with some friends. I can tell you, after looking over and seeing this guy I felt a little vulnerable with my pants around my ankles and all. Scale: the tiles are 6 inches wide.

This is one of my favorites and I know some of you have already seen my dung beetle but I figured he should be up here for posterity. To get an idea of scale, the ball o' dung is about 1.5-2 inches in diameter.

You can find previous oddity posts here and here.

Rest and Recuperation

I can honestly say that this work here in Trinco can be quite stressful and you can feel it building up at times. In fact many organizations including the UN (and the dozens of branches they have spawned e.g. UNICEF) all receive "Hazard" or "Hardship" compensation. This means that they get something like an extra week's vacation every few months and a flight to leave the country. They also receive additional pay for enduring their hardships... Hmmm... sounds pretty nice and yes, I am jealous but not resentful...ok, maybe a little. Anyway, my point is we all make a point to try to relax and have some fun and get your mind off the situation and the work from time to time. For example, last week when my friend Tom was visiting from Colombo, we decided to take a friday afternoon off and hit the beach. Its really amazing to be the only ones on the beach, save a few fisherman!
Kickin it in the pool, enjoying a sundowner on our makeshift beer caddy cum pool bar. We are literally the only ones at this hotel other than the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) folks that have been living here for a couple of years now. This place used to be busier with expats but many have left and most of the others (me included) have stopped coming here so often due to the horrendous service. I sure miss the pool though...

One of the ubiquitous beach dogs spaced evenly down the beach. I want to come back as a beach dog... This has to be one of the greatest existences. Your only responsibility is to chase away the beach cows that threaten your turf (the second best existence?)!

My First Visitor

After being in Trinco for 9 months now, I finally received my first visitor. My friend Tom (another Sewa Lanka volunteer) came up from Colombo for a few days to visit and check out Trinco for the first time. It was fun to have a visitor, because it makes you see your surroundings through fresh eyes. We visited a few places that I have not seen since my first days in Trinco. I forget what a beautiful place this really can be!

Tom standing near a prayer tree at Swami Rock. Not exactly sure what the wooden boxes hanging from the trees are. Steep granite cliffs right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. Their is a nice hindu temple up here that is quite famous but no one visits it. Perhaps it is because you have to travel through a large army camp that is located immediately at its base.

Temple monkeys chillin on the rocks. I have to say these are some of the calmest monkeys I have seen in Sri Lanka. Unlike the ones that stole my cell phone, disconnect my power lines, and wake me up at 530am by playing on my tile roof.

Tom making friends with a Temple cow. Yes, this little heffer is actually in the temple.

Before the BOSS 808 (hell, before the 303!) there were drum machines. Now I have a better idea how these temples can make so much noise!