May 18th - We arrived in Sri Lanka after a long flight only to spend another five hours in a bus, hurtling through Sri Lankan traffic. We managed to view our work site - 19 beautiful small houses in the midst of construction - before settling down at the hotel for a much-needed night of sleep!

Entries: Morgan, Keith

…And so, now we are in Sri Lanka. The first thing I felt, immediately, was the heat, and the humidity. At only 7am SL time, it was hot as… a stove. On the equator. Of the sun. It is so hot and humid, and apparently this is a cooler day (shady and breezy). We’ll see how tomorrow goes, working in the hot hot sun 9-4.

We drove around Colombo for a while, and in suburbs. It was really… is humbling the right word?... touching? Eye-opening?... to see the villages. The houses, or homes, are so dilapidated, the people are so thin, the stores and shops are so rundown, it’s remarkable. It’s seeing those pictures from CNN or National Geographic come to life. There is so much poverty. People are selling fruit everywhere, sometimes old fruit, to make a living. Beggars and the homeless.

But there is also a great vibrancy to the place. It seems so genuine… so… what’s the word… authentic? It’s a way of life so, so different from the one I know. This probably sounds cheesy, but you almost can’t help but see things from a different perspective when you’re here for the first time. I complained about not having a car, or cell phone, while behind our construction site displaced tsunami survivors are living in tents and makeshift shacks. I honestly feel guilty about staying in this gorgeous resort when not only are we here for charitable work, but it’s ironic that we have such great accommodations when we’ll be building for them small, humble houses. Of course, I understand why this is so- there are many survivors who need homes, and this way many can get what they need. And also, the hotel is not very expensive for us because of exchange rates, and we are much safer in a place with air conditioning and safe water (bugs and water diseases). Btw, I’m rooming with Jenny and Nellie, really great girls. We’re going exploring after we finish journaling.

Some brief observations- we saw two men washing an elephant in a pool in the hotel’s yard today. The waves at the beach are rough, I have yet to go in. the fauna here is gorgeous, and really interesting. Jenny found her jackfruit.

Finally, a thought. I’m having a hard time knowing where to draw the line as a tourist. When does taking pictures and talking go from friendly to intrusive? I guess that’s something I’ll get out of this trip, eh? Same with the building site- I’m not sure if we’ll be welcome or not. But regardless, we’ll work our hardest and hopefully earn their respect. I also really can’t wait to meet with the kids.

Alright, that’s all for now. I’m off to make an important decision- to snack, or to nap? Or both??

-Morgan

There are so many thoughts going through my head that I’ll probably end up rambling on a lot. I’ll also probably end up forgetting so much from the trip. Here goes. We left Monday night from Newark at 9:45 pm on Virgin Airlines. It was a nice flight, especially because of the entertainment choices. I stayed up for the entire flight and barely stayed awake for the six hour layover at Heathrow in London. The Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, which took about 10 hours and 30 minutes, wasn’t as nice as the Virgin Airlines flight. I was only able to sleep for about three hours so when we got Colombo I was really tired. The first thing that I noticed upon arrival was the condition of the Colombo airport. There weren’t big terminals like there are in American airports. We had to take a bus from the plane to the airport itself. In the airport, customs was so simple. All that I had to do was show my passport and I was allowed into the country.

When we began to drive through the country, I realized that Colombo was developed despite the destruction. Colombo is a bustling metropolis that seems to be about 40 years behind an American city. Traveling on the roads there however is a real experience. Most of the roads are single lanes and the traffic is pretty slow. Drivers are always passing one another. I am afraid to look forward while traveling because there are so many times that it looks like we’re going to get into a head on collision.

The hotel that we’re staying at, the Villa Ocean View, is amazing. It’s right on the beach and has an awesome pool for all of us to enjoy when we’re not at the housing project. We’re in Wadduwa right now, which is on the western side of the country. This area doesn’t have that much destruction, but a lot of families have been relocated here because they don’t have anywhere else to go. There are about 400 families who live near the site in little tents and shacks, but the village will only have 20 houses in it, each one around 500 square feet.

Our concerns going into the work is how we will be accepted by the workers. We hope that they see us as people doing work and not just tourists. Also, we’ve already noticed that people try to get us to give them money because we are white. They come up to us and in broken English say “tsunami destroy home, family dead, no job.” Despite this, I really enjoyed my first day in the country and look forward to the next two weeks.

-Keith, 9:47 pm