So right now, a few of us are in town to do some shopping for the community center. This morning we painted probably 30 or 40 signs, and this afternoon we will put lettering on them... not sure what they will say... I'll let you know next time :)
Yesterday we did beach cleanup again in the morning, and in the afternoon half of us went to the community center and half to the camp. I went to the camp and helped to teach a few adults appropriate Englist to use - one was a fisherman and we taought him how to say that he is a fishgerman that uses a net and a canoe, and he needs a net and a canoe. We aloso supervised some coloring, and others made leis of the gorgeous plumeria blooms wil a bunch of the women and girls.
This morning we did the signs as well as cutting out shapes with the spare wood - letters, animals, shapes. It was fun using the jigsaw! This afternoon after we get back from shopping, we will sand them and paint them.
Last night was a treat - we went down to a nearby nice hotel - the Tangerine. Gorgeous... our guesthouse is very nice, much like a dorm but the Tangerine was a beautiful western hotel, full of people from Europe. We had some good food and enjoyed listening and dancing to the local band, performing lots of random stuff, from Tom Jones to Abba, and lots of Ricky Martin :) I got some great pics of the group, including Damien taking over the mike to sing an Irish song.
Back at the guesthouse, we hung out for a while, got the guys that work there to write our names in Singhalese on our hands - a beautiful language. We got our first taste of the local alcohol, Arrak, which tasted alot like vodka. A few of us ended up playing a game similar to baseball - not sure if it is Irish or English or Scottish - that is the mix of folks here. Gillian, Joanne and Damien are Irish, but Nia is Scottish Hailey is English and then there was ne - I'm bad at baseball to begin with. But it was really fun. Unfortunately we were a bit loud, so at 2 or so in the morning Joanne, Hailey, Nia and I went out to the sea (accompanied, of course - we don't go out the gates of the place alone, and should not go out even in a group (especially of women) at night. It sounds worse than it is... you just don't know who you can run into. Then there was the 'motorbike' to try -- before we finally called it a night. Getting up at 7:30 wasn't very easy, and I was glad to do the work at the community center instead of the beach.
One thing that really struck me yesterday while cleaning the beach -- most of the trash is your 'normal' beach trash but what was a bit heartbreaking was the number of flip flops. I probably picked up around 30 or 40, of all shapes and sizes.
On a happier note, tonight a troupe of traditional dancers are coming to the guesthouse. Should be great, for 2000 rupees ($20).
Gotta go shopping -- not sure if I'll be able to check in before we go away this weekend. We leave tomorrow afternoon for Kandy.
Brigid