Back to the WOMAD festival.

We had such a good time last night at the WOMAD festival that we came back again tonight with our friend Suranga. The crowd seemed different from last night, which was much more family orientated. Tonight the audience was almost exclusively male – many of them drinking and dancing. As Rob said, the atmosphere was more edgy. He told me, “if something happens, run towards the ocean cause everyone else will be running for the street”



Just like last night the music was amazing –– we heard a local Kandyan drum band (which brought down the house) and another African band. However throughout the night, guys kept brushing into me and touching my ass. At first I thought it was accidental but then when it happened several times and there was a good 10 feet of space around me I realized that these touches were not unintentional. (Apparently this sort of thing is quite common in crowded places). I told Rob and Suranga, and Suranga in particular seemed really pissed off and ready for a confrontation. Not wanting to be the foreign woman who caused a brawl, I ignored the touches, which incidentally were not nearly as offensive as the ways that Donna and I were groped in Italy. (Also here I did not feel that I was singled out as an “easy” Western woman). Personally I was more worried about someone stealing my wallet.

Art Exhibit

Today there was an art exhibit on the side of flower road. There were at least 50 artists there. Most of them seemed young – perhaps many were art students, as there seemed to be many paintings that copied the style of famous artists such as Picasso and da Vinci. We bought two rather large, beautiful paintings. I have no idea how we will get them home. For now we will enjoy them and worry about getting them home in the spring.

World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival

We stayed in town this weekend so that we could attend the WOMAD international drum festival. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. We saw world-class artists in the most amazing venue. The concert was held at the Galle Face Green – a beautiful ocean front park. Behind the stage was the Galle Face Hotel – which is older than the country of Canada! There were colourful flags that represented each of the bands. We listened to a band from Burundi as we watched the sunset into the ocean. The music played from 6pm – 12am. Besides the African band we heard bands from the UK, Japan and Cuba. The concert was absolutely free!



Damien and his wife Carrie (who works for the British Council) invited us to attend the concert. Dinukh, another friend from the gym, his friend Namal, and some of Carrie’s colleagues came as well.

Damien and Carrie


Namal and Dinukh


(Dinukh is the guy that Rob always wants to arm wrest but according to Rob, Dinuk is afraid of him)

Anil

We went for a walk on the beach and met Anil and his two daughters. He told us he was an artist and wanted us to come to and see his paintings. He took us to his house, or rather where his house used to stand, before the Tsunami. The foundation was all that was left. He and his wife had been given some property a mile and a half from the beach (consistent with the new regulations). However they have no money to build a house on their new property. So they built a makeshift house out of the rubble near to where their old house used to stand. The house is about 10 feet by 8 feet. There are holes in the roof and without a foundation, rats crawl under the walls. Surprisingly there is an electricity meter attached to an outter wall and Anil's wife graciously serves us cold drinks from a small fridge. There are about 20 "houses" like this in Anil's village and Anil's village is just one of many.



It is difficult to understand why this family would be given land but no home. Also it seems like it would be difficult for them to leave the beach - their livelihood is here. They fish in the ocean and Anil has access to tourists on the beach who might like to buy his paintings.

Anil showed us his painting of Jesus that survived the Tsunami despite the fact that their home and furnature was destroyed. I asked him how he understood God after the Tsunami. (My friend Marela was featured on the CBC responding to this question). He looked up a passage in his Sinhala bible and asked me to read this same passage in his English bible....

"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:24-27).

Weekend in Wadduwa

This weekend we traveled approximately 30 km South of Colombo to the Blue Water hotel in Wadduaw, which came highly recommend by Kumari’s aunt. The hotel was designed by Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most renown architect. As you can see from Rob’s photos, it is very elegant.





On Saturday morning I chatted with the guy cleaning the pool. He said “today is a good day at the Blue Water Hotel”. It was a poya day (Buddist religious holiday) so I asked, “Why? Is everyone at the temple?” The man laughed and said that all the poor people go to the temple and the rich people go the Blue Water. “The rich have no need for God,” he said.

Friends from the gym

Rob and Suranga


Suranga


Neil

Colombo Pizza Hut

Tonight we went out for dinner at Pizza Hut. Hurray! The pizza was pretty much the same as Pizza Hut pizza at home. The only difference was some of the toppings. For example, here in Colombo you can get “Spicy Veggie” “Tandoori Chicken” and my personal favourite – “Mutton Lovers” (that’s vegetarian right?!)

Trip turns Sour

We had a lovely weekend in Negombo, however our trip quickly turned sour when our taxi hit (and killed) a cat on the way home. Then we received a disturbing call from our friend Sanka – he is in the hospital when Dengue Fever!

We later found out from Ravi that while running over a cat is bad for the cat, it is very very bad for the vehicle. He said that technically if you kill a cat with your vehicle – you must sell the vehicle. He also said that after we hit the cat, we really should have stopped for tea before continuing on our journey.

Weekend in Negombo

This weekend we traveled approximately 45 km North of Colombo to Negombo. We stayed at Browns Beach Hotel, which was not as luxurious as some of the other resorts (eg no tvs) but we had a pleasant stay as the staff was friendly, the food was good and we had a beautiful view of the stormy ocean from our room.

View from Room


Cricket Match on nearby field


Poolside


(photos by Rob)