09 JUNE 2014

Hi all

Hope you're all well. 

I'm well and enjoying a Chocolate Puff as I type this email!  I'm not much of a biscuit eater, but I have to admit they are exceptionally good! They are both light and chocolatey - just perfect.

 So I have just had another amazing weekend!  I was a real tourist and went to Dambulla, which is slightly west to the centre of Sri Lanka.  We climbed Sigirya Rock, which the guidebook describes as the Asian Ayres Rock. I can't make a comparison, but it was pretty amazing and had incredible views. We also went to Minneriya National Park and saw circa 60 elephants.  They seemed pretty happy and were roaming around naturally, bathing and playing in the lake.  We saw quite a few buba elephants being protected by their mamas and aunties and one big daddy elephant, still with his tusks. Our guide reckoned he was about 40 years old, but sadly he has gunshot wounds on his legs, so poachers have clearly got at some point. I was so pleased to see them. We also saw water buffalo, lots of monkeys and amazing birds.  We didn't see a leopard, but we did see a leopard footprint!  Very exciting! 

 The other big news since the last update is that six of my former housemates have finished their placements and returned home, (miss you ladies!), and new volunteers have arrived and were greeted with a mini extreme monsoon, that basically grinded Horana to a halt! I guess it was a bit snow in the UK - schools were closed, roads were flooded, lots of power cuts - you get the picture… So basically, there are three of us left, plus a project manager to pass on our wisdom to twenty new volunteers. 

In Sri Lanka, there are lots of bank holidays. Over my twelve weeks here, I will have has ten of them! Basically, there's one every month for poya, which is a full moon and then various religious holidays.

In the middle of May, we had a five-day weekend for Vesak, which is the Festival of Light.  It celebrates Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment and basically, all the streets are covered with amazing lanterns. So you know back home all the little Christmas tree shops pop up over the Christmas period, well here, the lantern shops just appear. Some of our students made lanterns too - and my God they were good. One boy did let me help him for all of five minutes before deciding I was not good enough. And that shows how good these boys were because I'm a pretty good crafter.

We went to Kandy for Vesak. Another early start to catch the 5.20 am bus and I still didn't get a seat! I don't mind standing, but being squashed in and holding on for dear life is defo character-building!  Anyway, we eventually arrived and went to the botanical gardens just on the outskirts of Kandy just chilled. We talked. We walked. Listened to some music. It was just lovely and will now be referred to as 'Lovely Wednesday'.

We spent the following days bumming around on some beautiful deserted beaches on the east coast. I say deserted, at the moment they are, but luxury developments are going up fast, so if you're thinking about coming to Sri Lanka, now is the time.  I noticed when we were going through the hill country after Adam's Peak how untouched Sri Lanka is and I really hope it remains so.

Our teaching is going well. We're building good relationships with our

students and seeing an improvement. I'm also excited to get new ideas from volunteers. My timetable has changed - I'm off swimming and going to a psychology hospital instead - very excited about this! 

Also since the last email, we've found a link to dance at the World Youth Conference for your enjoyment! 

So until the next time! 

Love, 

Vid xxx

#lovinglife