For those of you who do not know I have been in Sri Lanka for the past 10 days. I'm sad to say that I fly out tonight at 1 am and with the bad flu bug going about I'm going to be an absolute weirdo and wear a face mask on my flights....
Sri Lanka though has been truly magical. The country is 3rd world, but the vibrancy of the sarees and the amazing weather keeps you too distracted to notice. The first day I got here I arrived here I got in a 9pm, so not too much happened met Charith parents, had dinner, which is customary to have around 9 pm and then went to bed. Also a common custom is to get up before the sun.... Needless to say after not really sleeping the night before my flight and a few shenanigans that happened that same night as well getting up at 6:00 am was not really something I was doing too well with. Also I'm a super light sleeper so actually I was awake at about 4 am when my friend was coughing. In a way it was nice though because I was able to chat with Charith's family and get to know them better.
The rest of the day was spent doing errands and a few special items that needed to be done first. We changed money (at a black market currency exchange place, which gives better rates than the banks) then we went to look for a saree for me! (*see saree situation at bottom for more info :) ) I'll add a picture of my saree, but it is a very bright, rich pinky red color. I don't admit that it is pink so it's pinky red ;)
Around lunch time (which it should be noted this list is not in chronological order) we went to visit Charith's grandparents. Which was so interesting as his grandparents live in a primarily Muslim community and as they say sort of a poorer part of town. That being said I was excited because I really got to see how most people live. Even though they were in that part of town it was still just bursting with color and life. His grandparents live by themselves without any assistance and they get around quite well. His Grandmother is an expert crocheter and made a a fantastic top that is short sleeved and white in color. The pattern is a flower and she links them all together. Apparently this particular top took her about 2 months, but it fits shockingly well. She also goes to the local temple at around 4:45 to 7 in the afternoon. First she sweeps the temple and after she prays and gives blessings for the family and others as well as participates in some chanting. Chantings include 3 basic categories of; blessings for everything, improving our minds, and impermanence** as I was told my Charith's mom. The Grandparents are both extremely nice and accepting. And have a wonderful sense of humor. I greatly enjoyed visiting with them.
The next morning we started the trip...
*A sari or saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles which is native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word sari is derived from Sanskrit (an ancient form of writing) शाटी śāṭī which means 'strip of cloth' and शाडी śāḍī or साडी sāḍī in Prakrit, and which was corrupted to sāṛī in Hindi.The word 'Sattika' is mentioned as describing women's attire in ancient India in Buddhist Jain literature called Jatakas.
**Impermanence (Pāli: अनिच्चा anicca; Sanskrit: अनित्य anitya; Tibetan: མི་རྟག་པ་ mi rtag pa; Chinese: 無常 wúcháng; Japanese: 無常 mujō; Korean: 무상 musang; Thai: อนิจจัง anitchang, from Pali "aniccaŋ") is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux. This is a very simplistic way of stating it, so please feel free to look into it more :)
Sri Lanka though has been truly magical. The country is 3rd world, but the vibrancy of the sarees and the amazing weather keeps you too distracted to notice. The first day I got here I arrived here I got in a 9pm, so not too much happened met Charith parents, had dinner, which is customary to have around 9 pm and then went to bed. Also a common custom is to get up before the sun.... Needless to say after not really sleeping the night before my flight and a few shenanigans that happened that same night as well getting up at 6:00 am was not really something I was doing too well with. Also I'm a super light sleeper so actually I was awake at about 4 am when my friend was coughing. In a way it was nice though because I was able to chat with Charith's family and get to know them better.
The rest of the day was spent doing errands and a few special items that needed to be done first. We changed money (at a black market currency exchange place, which gives better rates than the banks) then we went to look for a saree for me! (*see saree situation at bottom for more info :) ) I'll add a picture of my saree, but it is a very bright, rich pinky red color. I don't admit that it is pink so it's pinky red ;)
Around lunch time (which it should be noted this list is not in chronological order) we went to visit Charith's grandparents. Which was so interesting as his grandparents live in a primarily Muslim community and as they say sort of a poorer part of town. That being said I was excited because I really got to see how most people live. Even though they were in that part of town it was still just bursting with color and life. His grandparents live by themselves without any assistance and they get around quite well. His Grandmother is an expert crocheter and made a a fantastic top that is short sleeved and white in color. The pattern is a flower and she links them all together. Apparently this particular top took her about 2 months, but it fits shockingly well. She also goes to the local temple at around 4:45 to 7 in the afternoon. First she sweeps the temple and after she prays and gives blessings for the family and others as well as participates in some chanting. Chantings include 3 basic categories of; blessings for everything, improving our minds, and impermanence** as I was told my Charith's mom. The Grandparents are both extremely nice and accepting. And have a wonderful sense of humor. I greatly enjoyed visiting with them.
The next morning we started the trip...
*A sari or saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles which is native to the Indian Subcontinent. The word sari is derived from Sanskrit (an ancient form of writing) शाटी śāṭī which means 'strip of cloth' and शाडी śāḍī or साडी sāḍī in Prakrit, and which was corrupted to sāṛī in Hindi.The word 'Sattika' is mentioned as describing women's attire in ancient India in Buddhist Jain literature called Jatakas.
**Impermanence (Pāli: अनिच्चा anicca; Sanskrit: अनित्य anitya; Tibetan: མི་རྟག་པ་ mi rtag pa; Chinese: 無常 wúcháng; Japanese: 無常 mujō; Korean: 무상 musang; Thai: อนิจจัง anitchang, from Pali "aniccaŋ") is one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux. This is a very simplistic way of stating it, so please feel free to look into it more :)