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!!!