On Sunday I found my way to church for the first Sunday here in Sri Lanka. The International Coordinator facilitated the outing and he also brought along another consultant from a different part of our project. She is a lovely woman who is more than willing to share her many adventures here in Sri Lanka and provide me with plenty of tips. Anyway, church was very nice. The service was in English and they had an LCD they used to facilitate the Mass. I couldn't help but think to myself that we think we are so advanced in the West yet these folks still find a way to create new innovations that I have not yet seen. Very clever. Mass was mostly the same. However, we did not have any wine with the Host and instead of shaking hands and saying "Peace be with you" we made prayer hands and said "Aaibowan" to one another. This is a Sinhala word that means something like I salute the God like qualities in you.

After Mass the group, plus my mentor, went to Blue Water. This is a nice resort by the beach.  I was so happy because this was my first time to be on the beach instead of simply to drive by it. The beach is very nice but very different from Cancun. The waves are huge and one would more than likely get carried away in them if you are more than up to your knees in the water. Supposedly the monsoon season causes the waves on this coast to be very large and they don't settle until around November. We had a great lunch outside. A little sun shower brought some huge drops on us but I enjoyed it because this was my first time in the Sri Lankan rain. 

Then we went shopping. We wanted to go to the Lakpahana which has many things including one of my favs, jewelery. Too bad they are closed on Sunday. So instead we went to the art fence. In Victoria Park there is about 2-3 blocks where art students sell their paintings. There are some truly talented students here in Sri Lanka. I didn't have much money on me so I was not very intent on buying anything. However, near the end of our venture I happened to be followed by one guy who saw me admiring one of his paintings. I told him that it was too bad I only had 2,500 Rupees because I would really like his painting. He tried to get more out of me but I eventually got it for 2,500, which is all that I had on me. This amounts to around $20. It is a very nice oil painting of a Sri Lankan house by a river. It looks great hanging over my bed!

Speaking of bed, it is time for me to retire for the evening. More to come...