Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Last day!
My last day is now upon me. Time to pack up all my dirty clothes and souvenirs and head back to a place a little less familiar. I anticipate a bit of culture shock when I land in New York, the city that never sleeps, but first I will get my elephant ride and bath! This will be my last post in Sri Lanka since my flight leaves in 12 hours but I will have plenty of time to think back on my adventures here and write one final entry after I'm home. Cheers!
Sun tans, ocean spray, mojitos and night trains
Beach weekend! Christina and I took the 6:30am train down to Unawatuna beach for the second time for a weekend of relaxation. We arrived around lunchtime and after a minor monsoon we headed out onto the beach for the afternoon. Because we are so close to the equator, the sun is really intense and you can only stay out on the beach for a couple of hours at a time, so around 5:30 we headed in and got ready for an amazing dinner. I had the most delicious grilled tuna fillet at a little restaurant where we had a table literally right on the sand. I even indulged a bit and tried a pineapple-free sex on the beach, which was amazing. After dinner we went for a walk on the beach and ended up getting a drink at a bar with a bunch of Marines from the UK. They were on break from escorting cargo ships around the world and already had been partying it up before we got there. One of the marines particularly fancied Christina, meanwhile I got the slightly drunker one who thought my American accent was quite funny. They ended up buying us mojitos because they didn't understand why we were drinking beer, so we didn't complain. They had such great stories from all of their travels around the world and thought it was really awesome that we were working with elephants. I think that is the latest I've stayed up (midnight) since I arrived! The next day was a short day on the beach because we had to catch the 2:00pm train back (it's a five hour train) so we made the most of it by getting out on the beach by 8am. We concluded our beach vacation with a platter of fresh fruit and smoothies at the Happy Banana before we headed out.
The train ride back was absolutely amazing! We didn't get a seat on the first leg of the trip, which was fine with me because I ended up sitting in the doorway to get into the train and just watched Sri Lanka fly by for three hours. We were going along the coast almost the entire three hours up to Colombo and it was beautiful! The sun was hit the water in such a way that it reflected brilliant blue and white colors without blinding me, giving me the impression that we were just riding a giant wave instead of a train track. We left even more of an impression on me was the fact that people sit, walk, eat, work and live less than a meter from the train tracks! I actually had to tuck in my feet a couple of times to make sure I didn't hit anything as we went flying back. Most of the small village consisted of make shift wooden houses, and you can tell that this part of Sri Lanka has not yet fully recovered from the tsunami. I could tell whenever we passed a village even with my eyes closed because of the mix of fish, curry and smoke smell that separated it from the rest of the salty coastline. The best part, I have to say, was watching the sun set right before we arrived in Colombo. After Colombo we managed to get seats inside the train for the remaining two hours. I was in a seat facing the opposite direction of where the train was going and had an interesting perspective of the landscape on the way back. It's truly amazing how the landscape changes when you see it in reverse. Instead of seeing what is coming up ahead, you witness what has already passed. Once night fell the train was practically empty and everything was so quite. I continued staring out the window, barely catching glimpses of the rice patties before the jungle once again swallowed up the sides of the track. I think the train is the best way to travel and see the countryside. I feel like I have a far better perspective of Sri Lanka after that train ride than the previous four weeks I have lived and traveled here. I simply love trains.
The train ride back was absolutely amazing! We didn't get a seat on the first leg of the trip, which was fine with me because I ended up sitting in the doorway to get into the train and just watched Sri Lanka fly by for three hours. We were going along the coast almost the entire three hours up to Colombo and it was beautiful! The sun was hit the water in such a way that it reflected brilliant blue and white colors without blinding me, giving me the impression that we were just riding a giant wave instead of a train track. We left even more of an impression on me was the fact that people sit, walk, eat, work and live less than a meter from the train tracks! I actually had to tuck in my feet a couple of times to make sure I didn't hit anything as we went flying back. Most of the small village consisted of make shift wooden houses, and you can tell that this part of Sri Lanka has not yet fully recovered from the tsunami. I could tell whenever we passed a village even with my eyes closed because of the mix of fish, curry and smoke smell that separated it from the rest of the salty coastline. The best part, I have to say, was watching the sun set right before we arrived in Colombo. After Colombo we managed to get seats inside the train for the remaining two hours. I was in a seat facing the opposite direction of where the train was going and had an interesting perspective of the landscape on the way back. It's truly amazing how the landscape changes when you see it in reverse. Instead of seeing what is coming up ahead, you witness what has already passed. Once night fell the train was practically empty and everything was so quite. I continued staring out the window, barely catching glimpses of the rice patties before the jungle once again swallowed up the sides of the track. I think the train is the best way to travel and see the countryside. I feel like I have a far better perspective of Sri Lanka after that train ride than the previous four weeks I have lived and traveled here. I simply love trains.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The people will run
"So how do you know if an elephant is going crazy?"
"Oh well the people will run."
This is probably one of the funniest conversations I've had in a while. Yesterday a group of us went to a Perahera in a rural village about 45 minutes north with the Mobile Vet Unit, a division of the Millennium Elephant Foundation. The elephant vet, Dr. D, goes to Peraheras with some of his vet students to supervise and make sure that if any of the elephants goes crazy they can be tranquilized. Apparently one in ten Peraheras has some sort of incident, which is understandable given how loud and stressful a Perahera could be to an elephant. The one we went to yesterday had 5 elephants in the parade and many different groups of male and female dancers. The most important elephant carries a relic on his back and is usually the most colorful and at the front of the parade. Since it was a small village most of the people had probably never seen a white person before so we got stared at more than usual to the point where some of the dancers would stop mid-dance just to gawk at us. I was surprised that the vet with the tranquilizer gun does not ride along with the parade, so I asked him naturally how he could tell when something went wrong (hence the title of this entry).
On another note, we had our first "party" a couple of nights ago up at the house with some of the MEF staff. It was basically a bar be que with alcohol, a nice change of pace from our usual dinner. I finally tried some Arrack, which is very smooth until it hits your stomach and feels very much like you've swallowed a ball of fire. The owner of the place was in rare form after a couple of drinks, which was actually quite amusing to most of us. But because we all had to get up at 5:30 to do a vet check the next morning we all had an early night and excused ourselves around 9:30. This place really takes it out of you even when you aren't doing that much during the day.
"Oh well the people will run."
This is probably one of the funniest conversations I've had in a while. Yesterday a group of us went to a Perahera in a rural village about 45 minutes north with the Mobile Vet Unit, a division of the Millennium Elephant Foundation. The elephant vet, Dr. D, goes to Peraheras with some of his vet students to supervise and make sure that if any of the elephants goes crazy they can be tranquilized. Apparently one in ten Peraheras has some sort of incident, which is understandable given how loud and stressful a Perahera could be to an elephant. The one we went to yesterday had 5 elephants in the parade and many different groups of male and female dancers. The most important elephant carries a relic on his back and is usually the most colorful and at the front of the parade. Since it was a small village most of the people had probably never seen a white person before so we got stared at more than usual to the point where some of the dancers would stop mid-dance just to gawk at us. I was surprised that the vet with the tranquilizer gun does not ride along with the parade, so I asked him naturally how he could tell when something went wrong (hence the title of this entry).
On another note, we had our first "party" a couple of nights ago up at the house with some of the MEF staff. It was basically a bar be que with alcohol, a nice change of pace from our usual dinner. I finally tried some Arrack, which is very smooth until it hits your stomach and feels very much like you've swallowed a ball of fire. The owner of the place was in rare form after a couple of drinks, which was actually quite amusing to most of us. But because we all had to get up at 5:30 to do a vet check the next morning we all had an early night and excused ourselves around 9:30. This place really takes it out of you even when you aren't doing that much during the day.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Too many volunteers!
This week marks the end of my third week here and the start of my fourth and it has been a complete 180 in terms of the number of volunteers. For the first five days it was just Charlotte and I, and then for the next two weeks it was Charlotte, Louise, Jess, Christina, Robbie and myself so there was always plenty to do. This week, we are currently at 17 volunteers with a couple more coming. Only five of us are in the bungalow with a couple more at the house, but 10 volunteers are staying offsite and coming here in the morning. It is clear that they have overbooked the number of volunteers here, so consequently there is not that much to do. After our morning elephant duties there is just too many people and not enough to do. The eco garden is coming along very nicely because there are so many of us, but the afternoon slow period is even more obvious with no tasks at hand for us. I'm glad that this is happening now instead of week one for me. I can't imagine how August will be when they have the highest number of volunteers. Looking forward to a cookout tonight up at the house with drinks provided. I have yet to try aarack, which is a coconut liquor that I'm convinced they drink more than water here.
I still love working with Lakshmi and I feel like we are getting more comfortable with each other. She lifts her trunk in the morning we she sees me, which is a sign of greeting I hope, and she messes with me in the river by splashing me and whacking me with her tail. I think she is the most intelligent of the elephants here, especially since she does most of the elephant paintings. Elephants are so expressive and you can tell when one of them in unhappy about something. One of the mahouts got kicked in the head by his elephant yesterday. A strong reminder that they are still very strong and dangerous animals.
I still love working with Lakshmi and I feel like we are getting more comfortable with each other. She lifts her trunk in the morning we she sees me, which is a sign of greeting I hope, and she messes with me in the river by splashing me and whacking me with her tail. I think she is the most intelligent of the elephants here, especially since she does most of the elephant paintings. Elephants are so expressive and you can tell when one of them in unhappy about something. One of the mahouts got kicked in the head by his elephant yesterday. A strong reminder that they are still very strong and dangerous animals.
Bus hopping around Sri Lanka (Part 2)
Saturday- Today started with a 5am van ride up to the middle of the island for a day of tourism. We started the morning with a climb up Sigiria National Park. Sigiria is a giant rock that just juts out of the landscape and was home to a magnificent palace and temple belonging to the king of Sri Lanka. The climb up contains many flights of stairs, some a little more narrow than others. About halfway up there are these small walk through caves with early cave paintings of the Sri Lankan nobility which are amazingly well preserved. About 3/4th of the way further up the rock is the start of the Lion staircase which is marked by two massive lion paws carved into the side of the mountain and straddling the staircase. The stairs towards the top of the rock were obviously fairly recent since they were made of metal, but you could still see the remnants of the ancient staircase which looked more like holds to be used for rock climbing than places to put your feet. At the top of Sigiria were the ruins of the temple and an amazing view of the surrounding jungle and landscape. The climb down was more challenging than going up because of how narrow some of the steps were, but I made it to the bottom just fine and bought myself a stone Buddha, which I bought for a third of the asked price thanks to my acquired bargaining skills (a necessity here). After Sigiria we went to a woodcarving workshop and watched them carve out masks and sculptures from a variety of wood. There is a type of wood called ebony wood which is a beautiful black color and very rare. Only 200 trees can be harvest for wood every year. The carvers showed us how they naturally dye the wood using tree bark, water and lime powder. Very cool. After the workshop we stopped at a spice garden and a tour of the various herbs and spices and all of the medicinal properties. We got a free neck and arm massage using a type of oil called red palm oil, which felt a lot like icy hot. They brought us some hot cocoa made from black tea instead of milk and it was amazing! I bought a packet of cocoa powder and vanilla to sample at home. I also bought some cinnamon powder (Sri Lanka exports 75% of the worlds cinnamon). Our last stop for the day was the cave temple of Dambulla. The cave temple was located on the side of the mountain above the city and it was literally caves with multiple statues of Buddha in each room, some life size and some extremely massive, all of which were carved out of the side of the mountain. The whole ceiling was painting with images of the Buddha in his many different poses. I imagine this temple as being somewhat of a Mecca for Buddhists because there seemed to be people from all over the world in the different rooms praying. It was also very quiet up at the temple and I must admit I felt very much at peace there. It was a little bit of a challenge convincing myself to leave. After a relatively uneventful drive back (less terrifying than usual) we came back to MEF with just enough time to rinse off and change before being wisked away to a Perahera in a small village not too far away. A Perahera is a religious parade where there are dancers, musicians and elephants adorned with colorful cloths and blinking lights. The big male tusker from MEF, Raja, was there to be in the parade along with 5 other elephants. Before the parade we were taken down a back alley to a little shop where we were served some of the sweetest tea I have ever tasted. Because it was such a small village, most of the people had never seen a white person before, so we got even more stared at than usual. I didn't go into the temple because I felt like it would be too much of an intrusion considering how small the village was, and I didn't have anything to offer. The Perahera was relatively quick and we all crashed as soon was we got back. 5am to nearly midnight is a long day.
Sunday- We decided to have a bit of a lie-in today considering how long our day was yesterday, which means sleeping in until 7:30! After breakfast we took a bus into Colombo for a day of shopping and eating. We walked, at my request, from the bus station to Odel and by the end of our hour walk around the city I thought the group was going to kill me for wanting to walk. At Odel we had a light sushi lunch (fortunately everyone in our group of 5 loved sushi) followed my ice cream/cupcakes and a mooch around the shop. For all my American readers, mooching is the act of walking around the stores with no particular goal, sort of like window shopping. We then took a Tuktuk (best described as a three wheeled motercycle with a roof) to Barefoot and had a delicious beer and fries. Aside from being a cafe, Barefoot is a shop with many different types of fabrics and Sri Lankan crafts. It is seen as the fair trade shop in Sri Lanka that all the wealthy tourists go to. Most everything was well out of my price range. We caught a bus up to Galle face green, the only patch of grass is all of Colombo and walked along the ocean (not to be confused with a beach) until we eventually made our way back to the bus station. Along the way we stopped at this really nice hotel to use the toilet and no one stopped to ask us if we were actually guests because of the color of our skin, I'm sure. First time in air conditioning in weeks was very strange. The bus ride back from Colombo was ridiculous. We took one of the local buses for 85 rupees (less than a dollar) and got the craziest driver yet. At one point he almost hit a person because he was swerving into the other lane to avoid hitting a stopped bus! In Sri Lanka they drive on the left side of the road, officially, but most people drive on the left, middle and right side of the road. A bus overtaking another bus in blind turn at night is not out of the question. I was very relieved to be back in Kegalle after that bus ride. I will definitely be taking the train to Galle next weekend, especially after hearing about the massive bus crash in Kandy that killed two people and left dozens in the hospital. Hard to imagine the driving is worse in India.
We also had to say goodbye to Charlotte, who was the only other volunteer here when I arrived and my room mate in the bungalow. For the first 5 or so days here it was just the two of us and I've done all of my traveling with her. Even though there are many volunteers here now, I will miss her and look forward to her visit to the States in the future.
Sunday- We decided to have a bit of a lie-in today considering how long our day was yesterday, which means sleeping in until 7:30! After breakfast we took a bus into Colombo for a day of shopping and eating. We walked, at my request, from the bus station to Odel and by the end of our hour walk around the city I thought the group was going to kill me for wanting to walk. At Odel we had a light sushi lunch (fortunately everyone in our group of 5 loved sushi) followed my ice cream/cupcakes and a mooch around the shop. For all my American readers, mooching is the act of walking around the stores with no particular goal, sort of like window shopping. We then took a Tuktuk (best described as a three wheeled motercycle with a roof) to Barefoot and had a delicious beer and fries. Aside from being a cafe, Barefoot is a shop with many different types of fabrics and Sri Lankan crafts. It is seen as the fair trade shop in Sri Lanka that all the wealthy tourists go to. Most everything was well out of my price range. We caught a bus up to Galle face green, the only patch of grass is all of Colombo and walked along the ocean (not to be confused with a beach) until we eventually made our way back to the bus station. Along the way we stopped at this really nice hotel to use the toilet and no one stopped to ask us if we were actually guests because of the color of our skin, I'm sure. First time in air conditioning in weeks was very strange. The bus ride back from Colombo was ridiculous. We took one of the local buses for 85 rupees (less than a dollar) and got the craziest driver yet. At one point he almost hit a person because he was swerving into the other lane to avoid hitting a stopped bus! In Sri Lanka they drive on the left side of the road, officially, but most people drive on the left, middle and right side of the road. A bus overtaking another bus in blind turn at night is not out of the question. I was very relieved to be back in Kegalle after that bus ride. I will definitely be taking the train to Galle next weekend, especially after hearing about the massive bus crash in Kandy that killed two people and left dozens in the hospital. Hard to imagine the driving is worse in India.
We also had to say goodbye to Charlotte, who was the only other volunteer here when I arrived and my room mate in the bungalow. For the first 5 or so days here it was just the two of us and I've done all of my traveling with her. Even though there are many volunteers here now, I will miss her and look forward to her visit to the States in the future.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Bus hopping around Sri Lanka
Awesome epic weekend number 2! I'm going to have to do this in chunks.
Friday- We decided after our usual morning duties to take a bus into Kandy to see the Temple of the Tooth. The Temple of the Tooth is named such because it contains a shrine which holds the sacred tooth of the Buddha in the interior of the temple. The Buddhists sparred no expense in creating a very elaborate and beautiful temple for this sacred relic. It felt strange going to visit a place of worship and taking pictures so I took some time to sit in the temple and meditate in my own way. I really need to learn more about this religion. After the temple we went across the street to Pizza Hut (after a couple of weeks here you miss the Western food a bit) and had pizza and really delicious fizzy drinks. I had the equivalent of a Tequila Sunrise without Tequila and added Mango juice. So good! We mooched around a bit in Kandy and got led by a very friendly local to a small market where I absolutely loaded up on incense and tea. The vendors are very good at getting you to buy stuff and I almost ended up buying 20 rupees of chili for no reason. Came home on the public bus later and went to bed early because Saturday was a very long day.
To be continued tomorrow...the office is closing for the night.
Friday- We decided after our usual morning duties to take a bus into Kandy to see the Temple of the Tooth. The Temple of the Tooth is named such because it contains a shrine which holds the sacred tooth of the Buddha in the interior of the temple. The Buddhists sparred no expense in creating a very elaborate and beautiful temple for this sacred relic. It felt strange going to visit a place of worship and taking pictures so I took some time to sit in the temple and meditate in my own way. I really need to learn more about this religion. After the temple we went across the street to Pizza Hut (after a couple of weeks here you miss the Western food a bit) and had pizza and really delicious fizzy drinks. I had the equivalent of a Tequila Sunrise without Tequila and added Mango juice. So good! We mooched around a bit in Kandy and got led by a very friendly local to a small market where I absolutely loaded up on incense and tea. The vendors are very good at getting you to buy stuff and I almost ended up buying 20 rupees of chili for no reason. Came home on the public bus later and went to bed early because Saturday was a very long day.
To be continued tomorrow...the office is closing for the night.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Long days and heat waves
It seems that things here go from being extremely busy from 7am to 5pm to barely having anything to do. Yesterday and today so far seem to be the later. Lakshmi, my elephant has been getting a little cheekier with me each time I bathe her. This morning she tried to thump me on the head with her tail, which ended up splashing water all over me. Scrubbing an elephant is much harder work than I previously thought.
Yesterday we worked in the eco garden for most of the morning planting pineapples and weeding. Pineapple plants are surprisingly sharp and we all ended up with some awesome cuts on our legs and arms. The way pineapple grows is very interesting because instead of planting a seed each time into the soil, you just replant an old pineapple and a new one will start to grow in its place. The tools we use are very basic, so it takes longer for us to do anything, but luckily that is countered by the fact that we now have close to a dozen volunteers. In the afternoon we have been working on an enrichment bag (burlap sack filled with mineral grass and fruit) for the elderly elephant Sumina. She is 75 years old with a giant wound in her side from when she was a temple elephant. Each day we have to clean out all the pus and dead tissues and rinse it out with hydrogen peroxide. It has gotten a lot better since I've been here, but she has quite a bit of edema in one of her legs. We've been giving her injections of an antibiotic as well as a ton of vitamins and minerals. It's funny giving an elephant 15 pills of vitamin C when I'm used to giving one or two to a dog, but then again they are about 10 times their size!
I'm slowly getting a bit tired of rice and curry. We have it every day for lunch and sometimes dinner. It's not particularly spicy, just very repetitive. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we are going to Kandy to see the Temple of the Tooth and get some different food. Tonight we are going to see a Perahera, which is a religious parade, because today is Poya, or the new moon. This is the season for Peraheras so they are many of them all over the countryside, and several of the elephants here are frequent participants in them. Oh my goodness it is hot.
Yesterday we worked in the eco garden for most of the morning planting pineapples and weeding. Pineapple plants are surprisingly sharp and we all ended up with some awesome cuts on our legs and arms. The way pineapple grows is very interesting because instead of planting a seed each time into the soil, you just replant an old pineapple and a new one will start to grow in its place. The tools we use are very basic, so it takes longer for us to do anything, but luckily that is countered by the fact that we now have close to a dozen volunteers. In the afternoon we have been working on an enrichment bag (burlap sack filled with mineral grass and fruit) for the elderly elephant Sumina. She is 75 years old with a giant wound in her side from when she was a temple elephant. Each day we have to clean out all the pus and dead tissues and rinse it out with hydrogen peroxide. It has gotten a lot better since I've been here, but she has quite a bit of edema in one of her legs. We've been giving her injections of an antibiotic as well as a ton of vitamins and minerals. It's funny giving an elephant 15 pills of vitamin C when I'm used to giving one or two to a dog, but then again they are about 10 times their size!
I'm slowly getting a bit tired of rice and curry. We have it every day for lunch and sometimes dinner. It's not particularly spicy, just very repetitive. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we are going to Kandy to see the Temple of the Tooth and get some different food. Tonight we are going to see a Perahera, which is a religious parade, because today is Poya, or the new moon. This is the season for Peraheras so they are many of them all over the countryside, and several of the elephants here are frequent participants in them. Oh my goodness it is hot.
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