Our initial shock upon our arrival in Sri Lanka has faded a bit. We’ve all caught up on some much needed sleep, the ant population in our condo has decreased, and we are appreciating the raw beauty that is around us. This is our last stop before we head back toward Western cultures, so I want to embrace it.
Rooftop Views and a Little Perspective
Our condo has a rooftop deck that feels like an oasis. There’s a constant breeze and the view is beautiful. We can really take in our surroundings up there and observe the neighborhood. There’s an old building we can see that is being restored. It appears that the guy working there is living in the building as he works on it. I saw him hanging his laundry last night and there’s a bed on the upper floor. It’s hard to wrap my head around living in those conditions. It makes the grime around our air conditioned condo not look so bad.
New Country, Same Routine – Schools Back in Session
We have consistently fallen into a pattern of traveling on a Friday, which has been fantastic. It gives us the weekend to recover before we jump back into school on Monday. It always feels good to get back into that routine, and I appreciate how it anchors our day. Braxton had to do a good portion of school in the kitchen (our only charging spot for the laptop) but he didn’t complain. We spent our break on the rooftop deck and the kids kicked Braxton’s sandal back and forth like a soccer ball.
Our First Glimpse of the Indian Ocean at Galle Face
After school today we took a PickMe to Galle Face, which is an ocean side urban park about 20 minutes from our condo. It stretches along the coast, facing the Indian Ocean, and is known for its scenic views. This was our first time ever seeing the Indian Ocean up close! This felt very significant to me and made me pause and think about just how far we’ve traveled on this adventure. There wasn’t much of a beach area, as the water came all the way up to the retaining wall, but it was a beautiful place to walk.
An interesting side note — all the signs we’ve seen here are written in the three official languages of Sri Lanka: Sinhala, English, and Tamil. It’s so nice to be able to read all the signs!
Beautiful Buildings and a Sri Lankan Sunset
After walking along the ocean, we went to check out a place nearby called The Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct. This is an area located in the heart of Colombo. It is known for its upscale boutiques, stylish cafes, restaurants, and bars. It was too early for dinner, so we just wandered around. The architecture was beautiful, but we didn’t stay long. There’s a pretty significant homeless population that was difficult to see.
After eating dinner, we were blown away by the sunset! We had an amazing view as we walked along the street looking for a good location to get a PickMe ride home.
Most things still feel hard here. Although we have a grocery store close by, there is very little food that is familiar making it hard to cook at home. The risk of getting dengue fever is high here, so we have to put insect repellent on whenever we go outside. Yesterday, I decided to start a list of things I hope I never take for granted again. Sri Lanka is beautiful, humbling and hard all at once, and I’m glad we’re experiencing it!
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My goodness the sunset! It’s like a painting! And for whatever reason, being near the Indian Ocean does feel monumental…wild how far you’ve come! Love your list idea, too. I feel like I need to do that just for my everyday life.