Sri Lanka

As most of you know by now, for our first vacation Kara and I decided to go to Sri Lanka. This seemed like a fun idea because it was relatively inexpensive and we had heard nothing but good things from people who had gone before. Despite the incomprehensible size of the natural disaster that occurred we did have some good come out of it. Mainly the recreation we had prior to the disaster and revelations we had after it. So I think I should start at the beginning.

It’s not first class

Kara and I have become somewhat spoiled in our flying lately. This has been mainly because my employer has been footing most of the bill. When it was time for us to pay we decided that economy made sense. The only thing that I really appreciated about business and first class was the leg room. Being 6’ 5” does have its disadvantages when you are squeezed into a small rhombus shaped area. I didn’t know traveling wasn’t supposed to be painful until my recruiting trip in June.

Something else that I did not experience up there were raging drunks trying to get my attention. I guess being the only fair skinned individual and Kara being one of about five females helped us to stick out some. Well about an hour into the flight the guys to the left of me wanted to learn about America, if I was a Christian and how to talk with an American accent. At first it seemed like innocent conversation and I thought it would be fun to meet some new people. I first explained that I had no idea how to learn to speak with an American accent because it just came natural to me. I then told them about the differences between a North East accent and a South Texas accent. I also taught them the cultural word of y’all. I told them that they will sound like real Texans if they learned that.

Next topic: Are you a Christian? This seems to be an OK question to be asked around here. Like what color is your car, how old is your kid, how much money do you make and are you a Christian. It’s just information that people want to know about and there is no taboo in asking. So I told him yes and he asked me what I believed and what church I went to. I told him I believed all that the Bible says and that I go to a nondenominational church that basically goes through the Bible. He thought that was cool so we talked about our different points of view. He then told me he was a Christian but he was feeling guilty for stuff that he had done. I talked about forgiveness, how it was free and all that. While all this was going on I watched him down three 10 to 12 ounce glasses of rum. I’ve seen this before so I knew what was coming.

By the time we got to the airport he had moved several times, harassed to the cabin crew for more liquor and cried several times loudly proclaiming he was the f*ing prodigal son. He had asked to speak to Kara but I stopped him there and told him we should just continue our conversation.

Our First Day

So after a sleepless plane ride we get to the airport and our Driver Chris was there to pick us up. It was like the movies where the driver has a sign with your name on it. Chris turned out to be a great guy who was really talkative and wanted to make sure we had a fun time. The only problem was we wanted to sleep so we probably didn’t appreciate it as much at first. The first thing we did was stop at an ATM where I left my card but luckily the guard at the bank noticed and ran out to give it to me. About an hour later we stopped for some fresh pineapples and king coconut juice. The pineapples here were awesome because they had almost zero acidity in them. We then moved on to another restaurant for breakfast french-fries and an amazing view. We were just waking up by then but were still not all there. Next we drove for a few more hours until we got to our hotel. We took a nap for about an hour and got up just in time for the monsoon. I didn’t realize it until later but that was the first time I had seen rain in about 6 months. Woo Hoo.

The first thing we did was ride an elephant through the “jungle”, or more realistically the backyards of the local village, for about an hour. It was actually a lot of fun and we had one guy spend the whole time making jokes and taking our pictures for us. After that we went to Christmas Eve dinner which really didn’t feel like Christmas Eve at all. They had the nativity scene, Santa Clause and all the alcohol you wanted but something was missing.

Day Two

The next day we climbed a rock in a town called Sigiriya that was an ancient fort about a thousand years ago. Everything about it was amazing. Basically instead of using steel and concrete they carved everything out of rock. Even the sizable swimming pool that was the top of the hill was carved out of rock. The pictures are a better at describing it though. All together it was about 1,200 steps to the top. So by the time we made it back down we were ready to relax.

The next thing we did was climb another hill that wasn’t nearly as hard. It is called the mountain temple or something like that. It was a Buddhist temple that was carved into the side of the mountain. I don’t know how to describe it except it was different and that was it.

After this we saw a spice garden and shop where they made hand painted cloth prints. There is an official word for it but you get the point. The tour guide at the spice garden turned into a medicine man who showed us all the cures for your ailments. I think the hair on my leg will eventually grow back from one of his demonstrations but I’m not sure.

After this we made our way to Kandy where we went on a jewel hunt. Kandy is famous for mining different minerals and everybody was ready to tell you how and offer you sample to buy. A green garnet caught Kara’s eye and after several trips to the same store we bought a ring for 40% of the original price. Even our driver was impressed with her bargaining skills. I think it is her matter of fact this is how much I’m going to pay attitude that helps her out. By the end of it I wanted to buy it just because the guy was so willing to bend over backwards to make the sale. I bought a Sri Lankan cricket jersey across the street.

Day Three: Bad News

We started looking at the jewelry on day two but didn’t buy the ring until the next day. When we first got up Chris told us that there had been a small earthquake in Colombo but not to worry. I briefly crossed my mind to call home but I didn’t think it would be more then a blip on the red tape on CNN. Well after ring shopping we heard that it was a little more severe but we were already out of reach of the hotel so I decided we should wait on the call. We got to the train station and this is where we started to hear strange reports of the water level dropping in Colombo by 15 feet and how bad things were in Galle.

We got on the train and headed out on a four hour journey bouncing along the hill country getting a neck strain because I was looking out the window so much. The sites were beautiful and it was interesting see the country side. We had only expected it to be a one to two hour journey for some reason so we were happy when it was time for us to get off. Chris picked us up and we drove to the tea plantation where we saw how tea was made and bought two shopping bags full of tea boxes to give as small gifts. After this Chris drove us back to Kandy. Yes we took a train for four hours and then drove back to where we started from. We’re such tourists.

On the way back Chris told us of the devastation he had been listening to on the radio as he went to pick us up. He also told us how he switched tours with a coworker who was now missing. At that pointed 9,500 were known to be dead in Sri Lanka and I knew that it was a lot bigger then I originally thought. So we headed back in the night and not a whole lot was said. Chris had said he wanted to take us out for our anniversary the night before but at this time it didn’t seem right. He asked if we could postpone it until he could be in a better mood and we had no problem obliging. But on the way to the hotel he decided he should not let this spoil the dinner. So we went to this nice restaurant and had squid and fish. Chris then gave us an extremely nice painted wall hanging. They embroidered a personal message wishing us a happy 2nd anniversary. Coming from a guy who pays for everything in his home on about $150 to $300 a month I didn’t know what to say.

We got to know each other a little better. He told me about being tea boy in Saudi Arabia and how him and his wife met. It was a great dinner to have. Later we finally made it a phone where Kara and I called home. My first instinct had been wrong and my parents had heard about it 12 hours earlier making for a big relief when I finally reached them. Kara’s dad had heard something but didn’t tell her mom until they got home from church and they got my message on the answering machine telling them that we were OK. I put something up on our blog and SMSed my boss. I couldn’t get to my hotmail until later because the computer I was on was so slow.

Day Four

The next day was pretty somber and people were moving from shock to survival. We were told that we needed to get to our hotel in Negombo as soon as possible. So we skipped a couple of tours and stopped to watch elephants for about 30 minutes. We then rambled into Negombo and checked into the Blue Oceanic Hotel that had been flooded the night before. After realizing there was no TVs, the ocean was restricted and all the shops were closed we decided it was time to call it quits. We didn’t want to abandon this place but there wasn’t anything we could do and the tourists had to be housed in the local church the night before. I figured they didn’t need anybody else to worry about. They probably had enough mouths to feed.

I talked to the travel agency and they obliged us. It was strange to describe. It was better for us to leave but you could also tell it was a sign to them of what business would be like for a while. I thought it would be more tasteful if I didn’t ask for any money back.

That night Kara and I ate dinner in the hotel with a couple from Sweden. They had brought their son who they had adopted in Sri Lanka to meet his family. They spoke English well enough for us to have some what of a conversation. Kara and I both told them we had relatives from Sweden but that was the extent of our knowledge on that.

Day Five: Happy Anniversary

When talking to the travel agent I asked if it was possible to do a tour of Colombo while we are here. He said sure and Chris was going to take us around. That morning we got a call from Chris telling us that most of the shops were closed and so were many of the streets. He still picked me up to take care of the plane tickets and to show me a little bit around Negombo. We ran into some camera men who were either coming or going while in line. For the most part the airport was surprisingly not busy. I also noticed on the way in several fox holes with automatic rifles poking out of them. Chris told me three years ago Tamil Tigers from the north came down and blew up ten planes so they put in some extra security.

That reminded me of our first conversation. Chris told us how much he loved George Bush because of the peace he brought to the country. For the past two years there has been a huge growth in their economy and he was thinking about buying a car. I could have never imagined how different things were going to be once we left.

He later took me around to see some of the damaged areas where I took a lot of pictures. It was hard to grasp what happened since we were on the fringes of it but when Chris talked about knowing ten people who had died so far it hit home. A certain hotel where all the staff died, 20 BBC staff members. It’s hard to think about 125,000 but when you break it down it’s even harder to think about.

Kara and I had our anniversary dinner on the plane ride home. It wasn’t as eventful as the way out there but that’s because most of the guys were going back to work instead of leaving for a holiday.

At Church

I was asked with about 5 minutes notice to get up and talk about what happened in Sri Lanka and the experience that I had. Thanks, it’s a lot easier to hide your emotions when you are not in front of a hundred plus people. So while talking about how amazing the people were and how precious and unpredictable life was I broke down a little. I talked about what could have been and what a blessed people we were. I hope I got my point across.

The problem I have is I don’t like to cry so it is usually forced out of me at the most inopportune times. The funeral of my God parents son who I didn’t know popped the bubble on my feelings about bonfire, speaking at my grandmother’s funeral was even worse because I didn’t say me speech out loud until I was in front of everybody then this. It wasn’t bad but I was slightly embarrassed. Especially when a number of other people started crying as well. Kara was able to give her testimony on the situation as well. She was able to do it without breaking down though. Yes, I’m still a man.

If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed this rather long entry. We have pictures posted as well if you haven’t seen them yet.