Back in the U.S. of A!!

Ayubowan Everyone!!

So I have been home for about 3 weeks now and have adjusted well back into the American culture. I didn't really have any negative reverse culture shocks thankfully, but it was a bit surreal for a while adjusting to the clean air, clean streets, and tame crowds. I am finding myself a bit day dreamy and foggy headed being home. I spent the first whole week putting together a scrap book of the pictures I printed off. It was nice to sit and reflect on the last 3 months. There were loads of wonderful memories, and some that were rather sketchy, all-in-all though I had the time of my life! Sharing my stories and pictures has also been interesting, my friends and family love hearing about my travels and experiences!

There are parts of me that still can't believe its over, and remembering the good and the bad of the past 3 months is still unbelievable! I was very lucky to have the oportunity of a lifetime, helping people who have been through a lot and learning so much about them! I chearished every moment! Thanks to Projects-Abroad and all their wonderful staff, my voyage was fantastic and something I will hold onto for the rest of my life!!!!

So one last time, my final 'Good Bye' from Sri Lanka! There will be more trips and journeys, so keep an eye out!

<3
Lauren

Traditional New Years with Projects-Abroad

Hello again!
So the new year here in SL is a time where the harvest season is coming to an end and the monsoon season is beginning. Its a time for a new, clean start to the new year. Preparing for the new year is a busy busy time for both Tamil and Sinhalese people. There is lots of cooking and baking of the traditional foods, cleaning of the houses and buisnesses, and always new clothes to wear for the start of the new beginning. There are loads of traditions to this unique culture, and Projects-Abroad wanted to share these traditions with all the volunteers. So they arranged for us to come celebrate with them at one of the resort hotels near Panadura yesterday (April 17th). We had to dress in the traditional sarees for girls and sarongs for boys. We played all sorts of fun games that the local children play every year to celebrate. Things like egg toss, pillow fighting, relay races, and bun eating. We did this all dressed up in our Sunday's best! haha! Jamie and I won the egg toss, his cricket skills and my softball expertise came in handy I guess! haha! The pillow fighting is not what you think, its when two people climb up onto a big log that is about 8 feet off the ground, they straddle it and hit each other with the pillows, aiming to knock the other off. There are people on the ground to catch the person when they fall, it actually looked kinda scary. I didnt volunteer for that one! haha! The bun eating was also very commical! There were these sweet buns or bread rolls that were suspended in the air by a string and the first person to eat it completely off the dangling string won. Well the catch was that you couldnt use your hands! Very difficult! After all these games we had some lunch and spent the rest of the day in the pool!
The whole day was loads of fun! It was nice to experience the traditions frist hand and learn what the new year really means to the people of SL!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the nicer weather! I've heard the snow is finally almost gone, I was hoping for one last day of skiing when I got home but I dont think I'm gonna get it! :(

xoxo
Lauren

New Years in Hikkaduwa!

Hi guys!
I hope that the Easter bunny was nice to all of you! He must have missed the tiny island of Sri Lanka cause there was no Easter basket waiting for me in the morning! Oh well, we celebrated anyways! We all went down to Hikkaduwa for the extra long weekend and the new year! It was really nice to not have to wake up early and go to the hosptial, we just relaxed and sun bathed all weekend. Oh... we also drank a tiny bit of Arrack as well! haha! Monday (April 13th) was "new years eve" and we broke out the "arrack attack" around 9ish or so! Teaching the locals how to play Kings cup and Up and Down the River! haha Good times! Jamie brought his guitar, so around 10:30 we all sat around and sang songs while he played. It was very cool! Right next door to Sunny's Hotel, there's a place/hotel called Mambos. They had a D.J. and dancefloor all ready to go for the late night dancing! You all know how much I like to shimmy around *wink*! haha! To say the least it was a fantastic time! The next day wasnt as bad as I had anticipated, I could actually find my way to the burger house to put some grease in my tummy! All-in-all is was a great weekend!

Peace, Love, and Rock n' Roll from SL!
xoxo
Lauren

Tea Plantations and World's End!

Ayubowan! (hello)
Done tons of traveling this weekend! I had my first experience with the trains here is SL! They are the old style choo choo trains with the engine at the front and everything! I was like a little kid in a candy store with all the pictures I was snapping! It was very neat to get into the mountains and see the most beautiful scenery! Though it was kinda scary to be so close to the edge of the mountain with the cliff just dropping off into the valley! Mom - you would have crapped your pants and passed out if you were there! haha! But it was cool!

Our first stop was in a small mountain town called Nuwara Eliya where tea was everywhere! We dropped our bags off at our hotel, and had a tuk tuk take us to the Pedro Tea Estates for a lovely tour of the factory and the process of tea making. They use a lot of very old equipment and techniques, it was such a process to see the steps it takes to make the tea! I guess I just figured it grew in the tea bags and we drank it with hot water! haha! After the tour we sat down to sample some of their teas. Again we were swarmed with school children, an all girls school came for a tour that day. All of them giggling at the 4 white girls sitting at the table, they couldnt resist snapping photos with their cameras and cell phones! We just started posing for them! haha! Aftering that we looked around the plantation for a bit and finally got a tuk tuk back to the hotel for the night. In the morning we hired a van to take us to the World's End, which is a national park type of place where there is an 800 meter drop off, straight down, from the plateau on the mountain side. It was a 4 hour walk/hike through the park and the view of the plateau was truely one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen! Kind of scary, the drop to the valley below is seriously bothersome. If I stood there long enough I started to think that the mountain was going to push me over the edge! But it was a leasure walk/hike through the planes and I definately got my excersize!

After our hike the van driver dropped us off at the train station where we could get the train to Ella, which is another mountain town with lovely hikes and walks. It was a 2.5 hour train ride to Ella, and once we arrived we were swept away by a tuk tuk man who brought us to his "brothers hotel" which ended up being exactly what we were looking for! It was clean, the owner was very nice and the rates were cheap! After we showered, we went downtown to get some dinner at this small retaurant. We met some Americans there that were from California who were backpacking Asia for the next year! They were a bit hippy, the guy was an ecological/biologist/tree hugging lover that was histerically funny! I havent met any other Americans traveling SL since I've been here so it was nice to relate to them and talk all night! After dinner we went to bed, the other girls were getting up a little early to take a hike in the morning. I was like... "NO f-ing way am I hiking again!" My legs hurt, my feet hurt and I would have been miserable! So I slept in, wandered to the town for a little tea and breakfast and when they returned we got the first bus back to Panadura!


The whole weekend ended up being fantastic! I really enjoyed being up in the mountains, and the tea country reminded me of the wine country out in California! Also, the climate up there was about 30 degrees cooler then what it is at the beach. So I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt all weekend which was a nice changed from the sweat and smog of Panadura! Oh... almost forgot... I went shopping the other day! I bought a traditional saree, which is what the women here wear for "dress up"! The SL new year is rolling around pretty soon (April 14th) and everyone is suppose to have something new to wear to start the new year. So the department store was PACKED with locals buying new things and staring at us while we had the ladies wrap these sarees around our bodies to make sure we got the one we wanted! I finally picked out the one I loved and cant wait to wear it next week!


Well hope everyone is doing all right!

xoxo
Lauren

Mountain Trip!

Helllloooo!!

I hope that this post finds everyone in good health and spirits! The weather is warming up at home and the snow is slowly melting I hear! And I believe that it is officially SPRING! Woo! The weather here seems to be getting hotter, and the monsoon season seems to be creeping up on us. It rains almost every night now, and I dont mean little scattered showers... it absolutely DOWNPOORS! The raindrops seem like they are the size of mangoostines (which are my new favorite fruit here! They are about the size of golfballs). Too bad I don't have a cute roommate I can go cuddle up in bed with when I get scared at night! haha! I've actually gotten use to all the crazy noises outside at night (cats fighting, dogs doing the hibbidy dibbidy, and other wild animals making wild noises) and I sleep through the night! I've gotten the bugs under control as well... with all the 98% DEET bugspray I've got now there is no way they want my blood. Check the picture out of what they did to my legs! Other then that, life is good hear in SL!

So we took a 3 day trip into the mountains to do some great site seeing this past weekend! We headed out Friday morning for the Elephant Orphanage! I actually skipped the orphanage and took an elephant ride instead! It was amazing!!!! We took a short 15 minutes ride, which was kinda scary. I mean your so far off the ground, so if you lose your grip then your headed straight for a nose dive about 1-15 ft. down!! After the ride we got into the river with them for a bath! SOO neat, they sprayed water on us and stuff... very cool! The elephant I rode was a film star, who had appeared in more then 30 films! It seemed as though they were treated fine, tied up with chains while they weren't bathing or giving a ride. But they also tie up horses and dogs, elephants are just so large they need larger leashes. It seemed alright, but behind closed doors you never know!

From there we stopped in Kandy, which is the 3rd largest town in SL. Its filled with old traditions, temples, retaurants and sites. We actually went to a traditional Kandyian dance that night. It was filled with elaborate costumes and drummers! After the show we had a traditional rice and curry dinner and hit the hay. We rose early to travel the 3 hours to our next destination which was the cave temples of Dumbulla! The story goes that one of the early kings of SL took refugee in these caves when he was exiled from his kingdom. Once he regained his power he had all the caves turned into his own sacred temples. Some of the Buddha images and statues are more then 1500 years old! Our guide through the caves told us a very humerous story of a German lady that came to visit the caves with her husband in 2003. Well she wanted a picture with this Buddah statue (any pictures or touching with Buddha is not allowed, especially with your back towards Buddha) so she jumped onto the "meditating" Buddha's lap and her husband took the picture. Well, the dumbass broke the cardinal rule of picture taking with Buddha, and she also broke the hands of the Buddha right off the statue! To say the least she had her memory card confinscated from her camera and she also got fined a huge amount of money for breaking the rules and the Buddha! What an idiot huh? haha!

The next day we drove early to Sigiriya, which is another ancient city in the mountains. It is known for the mountain that holds one of the countries most notorious monestaries. Another king took refugee on top of this mountain when he was banished, building a huge palace for his family and a place where he could keep an eye on anyone trying to gain entrance into his kingdom. Well since the school children in SL like to throw rocks as the huge killer bees on the climbing trail, the top of the mountain was closed off to tourists and local hikers because the bees had sent over 15 people to the hospital after being attacked the day before we arrived! So a guide took us to the mountain right next to Sigiriya, gave us the whole history of this king and his mountain top palace, and from the top of the peak we hiked we had the best view of Sigiriya Rock! Very cool check it out!

So to say the least this weekend was filled with traditions and culture of Sri Lanka. It was by far one of my most memorable and favorite trips since I've been here! I cant even begin to describe every little detail of the history, but it was such a great experience!

Hope all is well!

xoxo

LA

Hannah and I on our ride!

Ivory anyone?

Kandyian Dancers!

Rianne and I with the oldest drummer around!

Dumbulla cave temple

Tourists and Scuba Diving!

Hi Guys!

So this past weekend I took a little break from Hikkaduwa and the beach scene. I was all breached out for a bit and needed a new environment to relax in. So a couple of my volunteer friends and I went to lay by the pool at the Blue Water Hotel in Waduwa which is the next town down. It was nice to lay poolside without dealing with the sand and bugs! It was wicked nice to relax without the hussle and bussle of the beach, it was very quiet and a nice change. Its also loads of fun to people watch at the resort because its all white westerners on vacation. Its interesting to guess and see where people are from just by the bathing suits they wear! There were loads of speedos, which leave NOTHING to the imagination! And thongs were also popular, especially among the women that you never want to see in a thong! HAHA! To add to the sites around the pool, a huge elephant was brought in that day to attract the tourists for poses and photos for a small fee. Poor thing, there were three men with it who I'm sure were not very nice to the animal behind closed doors. Though it was neat to see the elephant just hanging out among the palm trees and beach chairs, you couldn't help but feel bad for it. It was a great day though, hanging out at a 5 star hotel and resort for a mear 700 rupees ($7!).

On sunday, we gave in and made our way down to Hikka, not for the beach or the company at Sunny's but for the SCUBA DIVING!Baracuda Diving Center, 2400 rupees ($24) for a whole lot of fun! We started off watching a 15 minute video on the basics of scuba diving. Then we got fitted for our gear; wetsuit, flippers, goggles, weights, and tank-pack. The tank-pack with air tank and the hoses was wicked heavy, carrying it to the pool I had to walk leaning way over so I wouldnt topple over backwards! What a site!! We had a short training session at a pool down the beach. In the pool we practiced things like taking our breathing mouthpeices out and in underwater, getting water out of our masks underwater, boiency inflatability and we also just got use to swimming around with all our stuff on! After about 30 minutes we got out, took some tea to rest for a bit, then hit the wide open sea for some real fun! We rode a small motor boat out to the dive site, geared up and jumped in, diving 10 meters to the ocean floor. I couldnt find the right balance of boiency with my life vest. So I was struggling to stay where I wanted and flaring my arms around all over the place under water! haha! The next thing I know one of the diving instructors was taking my hand to help guide me. There was one very cute (but scrawny) instructor that I was hoping I was holding hands with, but soon figured out it wasn't him! :( Anyhoo... we swam around the coral, looking at all the fish and stuff. It was very cool to be in another world under the water! Though we didnt see any see turtles, it was still loads of fun! My instructor/guide tried to lead me into this small cave in the coal, and I stopped that real quick! No way in hell was he getting me to swim into a creepy, pitch black, underwater cave!! I almost pissed myself! Before I knew it he was checking my air gauge to see how much air I had left, and it was only then that I noticed I couldnt really get a good breath of air, so we ascended and our underwater voyage was over before we knew it! SO MUCH FUN! Maybe I'll go back before I leave to try my luck with the turtles again. For less then $25 bucks why not?

Hope the spring is coming and the snow is melting at home! The sun seems to be getting hotter and hotter here during the day. But its raining almost every night cooling things off, the monsoon season is coming really fast!

Peace, love and rock n' roll from Sri Lanka!!

xoxo

Lauren

Me and the heavy ass scuba tank!

Rianne, me, Eefje, and Emma ready to go!

The crew with our two favorite diving instructors! Good times!

March Outreach with P.A.

Hi guys!

So once a month Projects-Abroad organizes an outreach group volunteer project. All the volunteers are suppose to come together on that day and give their time to the local Sri Lankans. Last Friday was my first outreach of my stay, and it was fantastic! A P.A. alumni came back to Sri Lanka after his/her stay here, and donated money for a new school house to be built at a tsunami camp in Panadura. Well they finished building it last week, and we came in to decorate!! We drew huge murrals (wall paintings) on the outside of the building, "under the sea" was our theme. We painted all day, and the end product was GREAT! There were all sorts of kids running around and taking a look at what we were doing. Parents also came to watch. They were all excited for the new school house, and seemed very greatfull that their children will have a place to go to school and also play. The tsunami as I have said before has taken almost everything from these people. When the storm hit, all these people fled inland leaving a lot of their belongings behind. They set up these camps in nearby fields, and the people that have stayed and set up permanant residance at these camps are still suffering. Instead of returning to their homes to rebuild, a lot of them have just build at the camps. Its like low income housing I think. Its actually very sad.

But this is why I'm here, to help these people and I feel good about the things this company is doing here. It was such a reward to give back something to them, and see that they were grateful. What a great experience! Take a look at the pictures!

xoxo
Lauren

A mother with a little boy hanging the wash out to dry.
Before...

After... this is the front of the school house.

Me and my octopus! Hard at work! Sweating my ass off actually!

Rianne, Emma and I showing off our wall we painted! B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

Hannah, Emma, Annie and I with a bunch of the local kids!

Kethumathie Women's Hosptial

Hello everyone!
I apologize for my lack in posts here, I haven't been doing as much exciting traveling. Loads of trips to the beach and relaxing at home. And I also haven't had the opportunity to upload anymore pictures to my blog or to my snapfish account, I was hoping to do some today but lost track of time. I'll get them up, I know you all want to see the good juicy ones! haha!
So last week I started a new placement at the Kethumathie Women's Hospital in Panadura. I was kind of getting sick of Base Hospital and not doing much of anything. I can go around and listen to the doctors at home if I want, so why do it here? So... I have spent the last week and a half in the labor room at this maternity hosptial. Watching my first delivery was great! Makes me not want to have kids, but I'll probably change my mind. I am a little timid still about asking to assist or help do much, but the nurses and doctors are all very willing to teach me. I still do a lot of standing around looking dumb, but I help the mothers during delivery, telling them to "push" and "breath". I am learning a lot of new vocabulary! Its interesting to see the techniques they use, not that I've seen a delivery in the U.S. but here they have just one large labor room, with 7 beds. Its all open so there is no privacy for any of the patients! There is no option for epiderals, which makes me cringe just watching! They let the delivery come naturally, when the baby is ready it'll come, unless the labor isn't going well in which case they go straight to the OR for a C-section. They use somewhat of a sterile technique, though there are flies and mosquitos all over the place.
I saw my first set of multiples be born today. It was a lady who gave birth to two healthy baby boys. It exciting to be there for the labor and delivery part, I am learning so much. Hopfully I will be able to assist in a delivery before I leave!

Yesterday I also got the oportunity to go to the Tsunami camp that a few volunteers help run every day in the afternoon. I had the afternoon off from the hosptial so I joined them at the camp. Its pretty much 12-15 kids that lost almost everything in the tsunami of 2004. So they don't have a lot of school supplies or anything to help them learn. We go over there for 2 hours every day and have some time for an english lesson and also for play. Its fun to just be around them, they are all so happy to see you and have you there. Having their picture taken is like their favorite thing! But watch out, cause if they get ahold of it you might never see it in one peice again! haha! I hope that I can make it over there a few more times before I leave! They LOVE the soccer ball I brought and just kicking it around makes their day.

I hope that's enough to satisfy your cravings from Sri Lanka! Doing some good traveling in a couple of weeks, so keep an eye out!

Love from Sri Lanka
xoxo
Lauren

Kethumathie Woman's Hosptial!

Kitugala & White Water Rafting! Sri Lankan style!

So before I start, you guys have noticed the sweet pictures I've put up for you to enjoy. Well... if you'd like to see more, click the snapfish link below and it will take you to my snapfish account where I have uploaded ALL my photos so far for safe keeping! Check 'em out!

So I obviously haven't put up ALL my photos yet, it just takes SO long to upload them! But I have finally figured out how to connect my camera to the computer in the internet cafe, so its easier now.
But this weekend was by far one of my favorite thus far! I asked Projects Abroad to book us a white water rafting trip so they did!!! haha! They have been sending volunteers to this one spot for the past 5 years, so they got the connections! They booked everything from the air conditioned van to the hotel and the rafting as well. It was a 2.5 hour journey to the small mountain town called Kitugala. We arrived in time for a quick swim in the cool river before dinner. After a long journey it was really nice to relax in the cooler then normal water. For dinner we had a traditional rice and curry meal, which was great! I guess I have started to really enjoy the types of food here! After dinner began the "Arrack Attack" once again. The local liquor suited us well that night, and the seven of us hung out, played cards and went for a midnight swim in the river! It was loads of fun! The next morning we were up and at 'em by 8 a.m. for breakfast, then off to rafting! Once at the rafting site, we were outfitted with helmet and lifevest after signing our life away on their disclaimer. We then decended the crumbly old stone steps to the river valley below, and climbed into the raft after a quick lesson, and off we went! Weren't we a site! haha! The rapids were only class 2 and 3 which are pretty small, but it was still LOADS of fun! We only rafted for about an hour, the river is lower now that it is the dry season. But the raft stopped right at the riverbank of our hotel, we climbed out and had some lunch. In the afternoon we were taken to a secluded swimming hole that was a mile hike into the jungle. It was so neat! It was sort of like Frenchman's hole in Bethal, but there were actually three pools and the cliffs weren't as high. But we swam and relaxed on the rocks. We returned to the hotel for a nice Sri Lankan style BBQ of pork, chicken and fish. We ate them with traditional style noodles, SO GOOD! One of the best meals I've had yet!

So I guess that's it for now! Hopefully by the end of the week or next week I will have the rest of my pictures posted on my Snapfish account. There you guys can find all the good stuff! The link is once again located below! ENJOY!

Hope everyone is doing fine! Love and miss everyone!

xoxo
Lauren

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=276600019/a=133901727_133901727/t_=133901727

Me with a king coconut! They are suppose to be GREAT for hangovers! haha

The girls and I on the river in Kitugala!

Here we are! Ready to RUMBLE!!!

Safari time!

Hi guys!

So this past weekend I did loads of traveling! But the main point of this trip was to take a safari in the jungles of Yala National Park in Tissamaharama. It was a an 8 hour trip from my home in Panadura. We traveled half the way by bus, stopping in Unawatuna to stay the night on the beach Friday. On Saturday though we hired another van, this time with air conditioning. :) One of the host families set this whole trip up for us, they also traveled along with us. Making sure to stop at the good spots and showing us around. The mother use to run the hotel we stayed at, which her sister now owns. So we got a good deal of 1000 rupees for one night (which equals about 10 bucks!!!). Saturday afternoon after having some lunch we all piled into a rugged old Range Rover SUV with bench seats in the back and no side walls for the jeep tour around the park. It was a 4 hour excursion around the huge park and we saw monkeys, water buffalo, land monitors (which are large lizards that roam everywhere!), some type of deer, crocs, bears, and ELEPHANTS! We were actually very lucky to see one elephant that had two huge tusks, there are only about 12 male elephants in the park and only three aparently have tusks. So we were very lucky! The other elephant we saw was no more then 50 yards from our jeep, she looked a bit pregnant and she was trying to cross the road to get to a water hole. It was VERY cool to bust through this rugged terrane through the jungles. I am hopfully getting some pictures up sometime soon!

After the tour we returned to the hotel for dinner and bed! The next day, Sunday, we woke early to take some breakfast and head out for a boat tour around the lake in Tissa. But before the boat, the host father we traveled with wanted to show us a few temples and historic ruins from the old king. We saw where is palace use to stand around 60 B.C. and also his private Stupa, which is a huge religious monument Buddhists go to pray at. Stupas come in all sizes, but they are all dome shaped and they say that you should walk to the left of the stupa, always keeping it on your left and praying as you go. Many people bring lotus flowers and holy oils to burn as gifts to Buddha.

Later sunday the group of about 8 of us decided to split up and go different ways. Some traveled to Ella in the mountains to do some site seeing and hiking, well as we all know i've already had my fair share of hiking so another volunteer and I took off to spend the Monday holiday on the beach at Hikkaduwa! Utilizing our new local tourist friends to take us surfing again and hang out on the beach. It was a nice weekend, but very tiresome! Maybe i'll try to take a weekend off here pretty soon... haha! Probably not!

Anyhoo... that's all i got for now i guess!

xoxo
Lauren

All of us on the sick jeep ready to see some wild animals!! GRrrr...

This is a stupa.

Hikkaduwa!

I have found my serenity in this crazy world! Its a small town on the south western province of Sri Lanka called Hikkaduwa! I traveled down there for the weekend with 4 or 5 other volunteers and spent a couple of days galavanting on the beach!
So we took another crazy bus ride down to Hikkaduwa Friday night. When we got down there 2 other volunteers were already mixing in with the other tourists visiting this paradise. So we ordered some brews and joined the fun on the beach! The area of the town we stayed was a local hot stop for surfing! The hotels have the beach as their back yard and they served up the most scrumptious food and beer around! The locals drink this liquor called "Arrack" which i think is a cross between rum and tequila. Not my favorite stuff but it was enjoyable to experence the Sri Lankan spirit! We shared the weekend with about 6-8 other tourists vacationing in Sri Lanka for a couple of months! They showed us the local hot spots to eat and drink and be merry! It was LOADS of fun to meet people of all walks of life!
Saturday was by far one of my favorite days of all time! haha! We woke up rejuvinated and ready for the sun. Hitting the beach at around 9ish and laying out almost all day! Later in the evening another volunteer and one of our new friends offered to teach a couple of us how to surf!!! YES SURF! So we found a place to rent a board and they took us out to the small waves. You know me... i was determined to stand on that damn board if it took me all night! I managed to stand and ride a wave all the way to the shore before the sun went down! And I was hooked, i cant wait to go back and practice more!
That night we showered and got ready for a birthday party for one of the local tourists. They hired a 5 peice Sri Lankan band to come play all night long! We danced, had a cook out and drank arrack to celebrate! Before sitting down to eat, I got to experience baby sea turtles hatching on the beach!!! There were about 15-25 of the tiny baby turtles that popped out of the sand on their own and wandered down to the water. Some of them had a hard time finding their way because of all the lights of the hotel, so we gently picked them up and helped them to the water. It was truely AMAZING!

What a weekend! Cant wait to share more! Stay tuned!!!!

xoxo
Lauren

Little tiki huts to get out of the sun and relax in!

Adam's Peak

Hi guys!Sorry for not writing and depriving you of life in Sri Lanka! I've been a busy little bee!Loads to tell you all about this past weekend! So... where to start?Saturday morning 10 volunteers including myself set out early morning for the mountains and a town called Dalhousie. We road the local public bus from Panadura (my town) to the capital, Colombo where we were suppose to take the train up to the mountains, but arrived to late to get a seat. As soon as we looked confused on the next step to take, we were approached my a local man offering to take us where we needed in a private 10 passenger van. I guess this happens regularly to tourists like us, I'm glad there were other volunteers there to barter him a good deal and make sure the offer wasnt some crazy scandal. But we made sure the van was safe to get into and the man wasnt taking us off to some weird jungle somewhere... haha! It was a bit more expensive to travel this way then by bus, but it was a 6-7 hour trip to the mountains and if we took the bus we might not get a seat as well. And standing that long was not an option for me! I was very glad we took the van because the roads in the mountains were a bit scary we found out!! they were only wide enough for one vehicle, but busses, vans, cars and trucks alike squished on these roads that had no gaurd rales and a shear cliff on one side! OH MY GOD it was scary. anyhoo... we got to Dalhousie, found our hotel for the night and had some dinner.The mountain we were there to climb is called Adam's Peak. Its a mountain that is more that 2500km high and over 5000 steps to climb to the top. It is believed that this mountain is the footstep of buddah, Adam, and some other religious figures i cant remember. millions of people come to climb this mountain to worship him between the months of december and may (go figure we choose the pilgramage season to climb, one of the busiest times of the year!). the best time to climb is during the night to reach to top by sunrise and experience something magical. well... we started our acent around 11:30 at night all excited about the hike... only to find out that everyone else and their mom had the same idea we all had. SO... it was a brawl trying to move anywhere. Squished in like sardines and not to mention the sri lankan men that couldnt resist any oportunity to grab our butts or make comments to us. it was one of the most frustraiting and belittleing things i have ever experienced. I cant even explain to you how i felt. I delt with it though, trudged on cause how many times will i be here to climb this amazing mountain. from the bottom you could see the trail lit with lights all the way to the top, the only way i can describe it is that it looked exactly like the last scene of Mamma Mia where the mother is climbing the path up to the chaple for the wedding, how beautiful the lights made the mountain look! We climbed for about 7 hours until i couldnt take the locals and their games. i was another 3 hours from the summit and to me i had just broken down. so just as the sun was rising i was on my way down with 2 other volunteers, exhausted beyond belief! but the trip down was just as vicious at going up. i was afraid for my life at one point where so many people were trying to go down while others were trying to go up, people shoving and pushing their way through. it was so nasty!!! but we arrived back at the hotel around 8 or 9 in the morning and was immediately served breakfast and a cold drink. thank god!As the rest of the pack trickled in, only 2 of us conquered the peak! We finally made it into another private van to take us home around 1pm and off we went for another crazy ride over the mountains! only... every other van/bus/truck or car had the same idea we had! there were traffic jams and problems getting out of Dalhousie. we waited in traffic, inching forward every 20 minutes or so... we hadnt moved more than 4 miles in about 4 hours! so by 6 pm the driver turned the van around and attempted to go another way. only the road he wanted to take closed in 5 MINUTES! he was weaving around these switchbacks like it was his job! speeding i dont know how fast on these mountain roads, i though for a minute that i was on some crazy rollercoaster in universal studios!!!!! people were grabbing "oh shit" handles left and right! i though i was going to die... but luckily we made it in time and we were all alive! HAHA! for the next 4.5 hours i was in and out of sleep, not remembering much of that part of the drive home. i was running on my 40th straight hour of being awake! but we made it, safe and sound. i finally layed my head on my pillow around 11 pm that night. and oh... on top of ALL of this extravaganza... i was jet lagged, sick with a fever and cough/congestion. kinda misserable actually. but worth every minute!what a crazy couple of days i was thrown into my first weekend in sri lanka! i slept in the next day, did some laundry, read my book (by the way... i'm on the 4th book of twilight! bella just had that monster of a baby! i cant believe this shit!) and took naps! it was a good day of recooperating. i needed some quality R&R!!!!stay tuned for more from Sri Lanka!!xoxoLauren

This is the crazy van we rode in all weekend!

Switchbacks through the mountains!

This is the madness I delt with for 8 hours climbing this mountain! uggh.... gives me anxiety just thinking about it! All the locals are bundled up because the elevation has dropped the temperature a considerable amount! I was fine... but I guess it was a bit chilly! Brrr...

The spectacular view from the top of Adam's Peak! BEAUTIFUL!

Family, Volunteers, Culture

Ok so i know you guys are wondering about the situation I'll be living in for the next three months... well here's the low down real quick!

I live in a town called Panadura with the Pieris family. Lal (dad), Chandra (mom), Erandra(son, 23), and Manoj (son, 20). They are all very very nice, hard to understand at times though the oldest son speaks the best english and he may be leaving soon to go to college in Australia (go figure). The house is large and very nice. I have my own bedroom, though they can hold up to 5 volunteers at a time. I am by myself right now, but i hear that there are 2 more volunteers coming this month, one from America! The other volunteers are all VERY nice! I have a Dutch girl next door, and two British kids down the street. But there are about 6 more volunteers that live about 4 hours south of us, one of them being another American girl from Penn. We do a lot of traveling together as a group which is nice to kind of hang out with english speaking people and do some cool traveling.

The hospital is a quick 5 mintue walk from home. Me and another volunteer go together, and this first week we are starting off in the pediatrics ward. There isnt much to do but follow the doctor on her rounds in the morning and once again in the afternoon. There are about 4 interns that are also following her every move, so its hard to hear what she is saying most of the time during her exams. And she also flips from explaining in Sinhala then to english, so i only catch bits and peices. Its hard...
The hospital is very limited on what equipment they have available. i've noticed that sanitation is not a high priority on their list and techniques are just different from home. hopefully i can snap some pictures to show you what i mean, but taking pictures outside is somewhat forbidden because of all the terrorism going on. hope this answers some questions!

love and peace from Sri Lanka!!
stay tuned....

xoxo
Lauren

Travel Extravaganza!

Hi all!

So a few things i meant to cover last time:
1.) its HOTTTT!!! like i mean i shower twice or three times a day i sweat so much!
2.) nasty street dogs all over the place. kinda weird, they arent exactly the ones you want to cuddle up with at night that's for sure!
3.) i've never had so many people stare at me before walking down the street!
4.) i'm beyond tired... woke up at 4:00 am this morning completely jet lagged!
5.) curry isnt bad... but isnt cheese pizza either! oh how i could go for some portland pie right now!

I'm traveling to the mountains and doing a hiking trip this weekend at a place called Adam's Peak with about 10 other volunteers... so i cant wait to come back monday or tuesday and update you on everything. Hopefully i can get some pictures up and share everything with you!

Love from Sri Lanka!
LA xoxo

Sweat, Heat and Curry!

Hi everyone!

I hope that you have all found your way to my blog! This way I can write more (they restrict how long e-mails can be) and I dont have to e-mail everyone! You can also show whoever you want as well, share the wealth from Sri Lanka! So after my 29 hours of traveling I MADE IT! I'm here in once piece with all my luggage and most of my wits about me! I'm a little jet lagged, but there is no time to stop and rest! I have been GO, GO, GO since i stepped foot in this country! I was very nerve racking traveling by myself to this country. Usually blending in is a bit easier, but not here! Not that i wasnt a specticle anyways being the only while girl for miles, but i had quite the time trying to manuver my luggage around the airport looking for some taxi service which was suppose to take me to my hotel! jeesh wasnt that a site! But i found it, and they got me there safely. I actually arrived on their Independance Day, so there were roads shut off and detours to take. After settling into my room in Colombo, I took a shower and hit the hay.
Today I got up nice and early (3:00am! My sleep cylce is messed up!) took my time getting ready, a desk officer from Projects-abroad picked me up around 9:00 and we made the voyage down to Panadura which is the town i'll be living in for the next 3 months! He gave me the tour, introduced me to my host family that I'll be staying with, and then took me to the hospital i'll be working at. Holy smokes... what a difference in medical care. Gurneys or "stretchers" look like the army ones you see in the show *MASH*, completely metal and no matress! I only got a glimps of the ER and boy was that a site as well! I havent actually had an official tour of the facility yet because the doc wasnt there, but tomorrow i'll get to see what it's really like! I cant wait!!!! So curry and rice isnt so bad!!! I have actually had good experences with it so far. Though i'll let you know in a couple days how my bowels like it! anyhoo... i guess that is it for now.

Way more from Sir Lanka when i get a chance!
STAY TUNED.....

xoxo
Lauren

Trial Run

Just kind of seeing how this thing works out. It's three weeks before I leave and just kind of setting things up for my three months away!