Sri Lanka Travel Blogs

Nikki, AnnaKins and Jackson here reporting for blog duty part 2!   So let's start with yesterday. Nikki spent the morning, and we mean all morning, slicing the ends of the green beans. When you think Smile have to feed 150plus people, that equates ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today I was amused by one of the questions Melanii (a teacher) asked me...."do you have servants in England?" The thing is, it was a genuine question so I explained indeed we didn't.   Today the older preschoolers started to learn how to write the ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Yesterday was a picnic compared to Thursday's antics! The older preschool class where drawing with stencils and grasping the concept of using scissors. The younger class colored in a bunch of bananas that I had drawn - that's the height of my creativity. ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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A video to sum up the past 5 and a half months.....enjoy!! www.smileinternationl.org 

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today Gourie who helps in the kitchen, was off so Milani helped to cook meaning she asked to teach her Preschool class. It just so happened that the 3 loudest and worst behaved where all present so it was all fun! I'm well used to them now and to be fair ...

A travel blog entry from Hamnbantota by carjack83
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... they were despite how little they had.   On Sunday morning we attended, quite possibly, the longest church service in Sri Lanka. It started as 930am and finished after Midday. The service was translated into English for us, and was lead by Anita, ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... preparing them. They also have exams in maths, Sinhala and I think the final subject is along the lines of Social Studies. Had another Sri Lanka breakfast today. This time it was noodles and potatoes in a sauce. It's funny how this now seems normal!!

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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We left the hotel at 5am to travel back to Hambantota. Made it back just before 10am so it really pays off to set off before hitting the rush hour traffic.   Yesterday was a very relaxing day at the hotel. While Mark slept for a few hours, I caught ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... supposed to be taking it, but ended up doing so. So the first thing we played was "musical statues" - that's culture for you!  Sri Lankans have some good dance moves! They enjoyed it and by the end of it, it was hard to get anyone out. I then taught ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... our new housemate (translator) is coming on Friday after his driving test. To be fair, from experiencing their driving, you wouldn't think Sri Lankans took driving tests, but apparently they do! It'll be good to see a few different faces about the place.

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today was the start of the 2.5day kids camp at church. It is running from 8am-10pm, and finishing before the Sunday morning church service. Ages range from about 4 right up until 15 and I counted around 40 kids. All the children are sleeping in the church ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Another day without electricity. Apparently the day long powercuts are on purpose. They are working on the generators. It wasn't too bad as I was outside most of the day, but the others felt the heat! There is still limited power and i'm expecting ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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In Preschool today, they were drawing fruit bowls! It is something else when a 4/5year old can produce a better drawing than you. There was also a parents meeting for the preschool parents. This was to inform of the Sports day that is happening at the ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... empty, which will fill overnight, so we have 1 shower between 5 of us! On the plus side, we were at the beach to see Sri Lanka's amazing sunset.   And as I type, Mr Gordon is flying back to England. He shall return as he's left his beloved hat!! It ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... night!   The comical highlight of today was Gordon learning how to cook! He wanted to know how to make this delicious Sri Lankan steamed pudding so Parody (the cook) with Gourie her able assistant, came over for a cooking demonstration. Mark and I ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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So it has rained on and off all day today, but our spirits weren't dampened! I was interested to see how the day would work, especially for preschool, as they spend most of their time outside. It all worked out well - we were able to improvise and all in ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today we left at 8a, for Galle. Galle is the fourth largest town in Sri Lanka and is divided into the old town, which is contained within a fort, and the new town.   Before exploring Galle, we went a few miles outside to a beach where you can go in ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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It's been a busy and tiring few days. Wednesday was Poya, which is a Buddhist festival. It happens every month when there's a full moon so everywhere, including the school, are closed for the day. On Tuesday after school we traveled up to Colombo as we ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today we went to an elephant park where 500 wild elephants roam free over 73000acres, or maybe it was 7300acres! This meant another jeep ride, although I have to say it was the tamest so far. The elephants came right up to the jeep. The tour guide seemed ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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How independent the preschoolers have come - today they didn't want the teachers to do the Hokey Pokey with them, so we had to stand back and watch from afar. Well they needed some prompts now and then!   Today didn't do too badly with the lack of ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Yesterday afternoon while sitting outside listening to music, a lovely snake crawled out in front of me. It's been a few weeks now since the last sighting. Maybe it was the mysterious one that was never found in the school or perhaps ones of its friends. ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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After 5 weeks, we are well into our Sunday routine! It has also become the day that makes up for our lack of exercise throughout the week! We make the 1.5 km stroll to church and back again. In the heat of the morning, it seems like quite a distance! Then ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Have just put dinner in the oven - am very hungry so looking forward to our chicken, potatoes and carrots! the electric has been off from 9am and came on again around 5pm so it's been a very laxy day. The height of our expeditions was a walk down to ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... Hong Kong has been on a spending spree with my card, totaling 3000! This is the second time it has happened to me while in Sri Lanka - it happened in August with someone in Oz living a fine life on my money! If you are by chance the person who is spending ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Another Friday and another afternoon of rain and power cuts. As I keep saying, I can't believe the weekend has come around again!   The afterschool class on Friday is the one that has the most knowledge so they are actually the most challenging ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today we had a teacher's meeting with Naomi. She is an American lady who we met at the pot luck dinner. She's has trained as a child psychologist and came along today to find out the problems and issues the teachers had with the children and then advise ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... our Qatar Airlines (which had an amazing personal A/V system!) flight touched down yesterday in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Buddhism dramatically influenced the history of this teardrop-shaped island off the southern tip of India.  Originally, ...

A travel blog entry from Colombo by globedecker
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... climbing through the windows-no fish deserve to die in such a way! I think we'll just have to come to the conclusion that Smile Lanka won't have any fish as mascots! Sadly we already had the names picked as well- Ham, Ban and Tota the fish!

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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... ! It is at times like these that I'm sure people are wondering if it was wise allowing me to be let loose on the kids of Sri Lanka! Anyway there was fits of laughter so all enjoyed - as they say back home, it was the best craic!   Preschool again ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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Today Mark and I were tasked with being in charge of the Preschool's entertainment from start to finish. When this has happened before, they usually told me 5mins before the class was due to start but this time we were told yesterday. We did everything ...

A travel blog entry from Hambantota by carjack83
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