Arrival in Sri Lanka (13-14th January 2013)

I board my plane, transit in Singapore, finally arrive Sri Lanka. In the airport, I meet other interns from India and Brazil. Their project is teaching English to primary school children in Colombo. In the other hand, my task is to teach girls in Sarana Orphanage, Anuradhapura. My TN Manager accompany me to Anuradhapura. It was a very long, exhausting, sleepless journey. I arrive the Sri Lankan airport during midnight, ride a car to Colombo (where University of Moratuwa is located), catch a bus to train station, and use a train for ~5 hours to reach Anuradhapura, and then stay at the TN Manager’s house by tuk-tuk (3-wheels transport) for a while. I was served fried rice by my TN Manager’s father and that was the first time I taste a Sri Lankan meal. The surprising thing is their portion of rice is huge and for me, it will take 2 days to finish it. Curry with rice, potatoes, coconut-dishes are the staple food. They are really nice and very welcoming. In the afternoon, we visit the Sarana Sevana Children’s Home to get a confirmation whether I can stay, but unfortunately there has been no electricity due to heavy rain and flood for the past few weeks. Hence, in the evening it is decided that I will stay in a female monk’s temple just 3 minutes away from the orphanage.

Honestly it was quite of a cultural shock for me, as I have been so fortunate to live in a comfortable place like my home in Jakarta, and my accommodation place in Australia. Moreover, I am working alone in Anuradhapura, other intern who works with me will be coming next week. There is no one to share the experience with at the time, but I am glad to have a very supportive family and friends. I hardly can communicate with the people here, as they know little or even none at all about English language. It is a challenge for me to keep my composure and just go ahead according to plan. Dogs, reptiles and various kinds of insects, especially Mosquitoes and cockroach are common here. I even sleep covered my mosquito nets (gladly). This keeps me safe from being bitten by those mosquitoes. My first night is quite fine and I have no trouble sleeping as I feel physically and mentally exhausted.