Colombo meeting

As we rush to pack up and tidy up of lives in Colombo, Rob is busy planning the next phrase of our trip. He needs to arrange to visit 5 universities in Norway, Finland and Sweden. One university is in the north of Norway, above the artic circle. He sends an email to the woman he has been told to contact. She writes back and says that she is currently out of the office doing some work in Sri Lanka and will get back to him when she returns. Rob writes back that WE are actually in Sri Lanka! We meet at the Gallery Cafe for drinks, only to discover that Signe lived in Canada for many years and considers Canada her second home. She recently visited our university and knows many of our friends and colleagues from SFU! We take a photo of the three of us, vowing to take a similar photo in Norway and Canada.

Strange events such as this one seem common in Sri Lanka, such as Suranga’s mom recognizing Rob in a shop in Nugegoda before she had ever met us - recognizing him from a photo she had once seen. Finding out that our neighbour at King’s court was a good friend of Kumari’s mother. Learning that Shareen’s niece lives 5 minutes from our house in Canada. People here will tell you that Sri Lanka is a small place and that is why there are so many people who know each other and there are so many coincidences. However I think that there is something more than that. It is like every one and every thing is somehow connected in this magical place. In fact, the word “serendipity”, the art of making accidental happy discoveries, comes from “Serendip”, the old Arabic name for Sri Lanka.