2/3 Sri Lanka

For 2 weeks, Julia, Kathi, and I were alone in the children's home. One person completely cancelled and another postponed everything by a week. During that time, we went on a tour with our trusted Tuk Tuk driver, Sujith. (L-R: Me, Julia, Kathi)

One afternoon, we went to the 'Blow Hole', 'Big Buddha', and the Rock Temple with him. The Blow Hole is a hole in the rock cliffs where water fountains occasionally shoot out.

We were lucky enough to see many (large) fountains because the waves were quite rough. This beautiful snapshot was also taken during that time.

Next, we went to the Big Buddha, which was really big. First, we walked through a tunnel that depicted how one is punished in hell for doing certain things. It was very vivid and a bit disturbing.

Then Sujith showed us the temple elephant, which was very sad (again). It was chained by its front and back feet and could only move minimally, showing the typical swaying movement. The saddest part was that our Tuk Tuk driver, despite our critical questions, wanted to excite us and said we could go to the elephant and take photos, even while it was chained, standing up and sleeping, for 20 years. The last stop was the Rock Temple. Of course...a temple complex that extends on a large rock. We were alone the whole time, except for all the monkeys hanging around.

Once we reached the top, on a rock ledge, we could enjoy a half sunset and a breathtaking view!

Then we finally met Angelika, the founder of the children's home, because she was on home leave in Germany for the entire month of April. Through her, we always learn new background information, and she is very open and tells us a lot.

On May 11th, another volunteer arrived, the dear Johanna from Pirmasens. Thanks to her, I discovered my new passion as an exterminator;) Catching cockroaches at 2 a.m., no problem for Mrs. Günthör!

On Monday, May 13th, I actually celebrated my 6-month anniversary! It's crazy how quickly time flies. I can feel it especially here, the second month in Sri Lanka went by so fast! In any case, I'm very proud that 1. I have been away for so long, 2. I have been traveling alone for 4 months, and 3. I have seen and experienced so many cool things!

Three days later, another volunteer, Sarah, arrived. She didn't have time to settle in because we had a lot planned. On Sunday, we all went on a safari to Yala National Park together. Since we went on the last safari in the afternoon, we decided to take the morning tour this time. That meant we were picked up at 4 a.m. and sat in our jeep at half past five.

The special thing about Yala National Park is that it is much larger than Udawalawe National Park and has the largest population of leopards.

Due to the dryness and the corresponding heat, unfortunately, we didn't see any leopards or elephants. But we did see a beautiful landscape, water buffalo, deer, wild boars, crocodiles, and monkeys.

On Monday, we continued directly. Sarah, Johanna, and I went to Galle for 2 days after lunch. Galle has a beautiful old town built in the Dutch style and is a top tourist destination. The funny thing was that we could practically count all the tourists in the 2 days on one hand. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time!

Our accommodation was right by the sea. Sunset at the doorstep, breakfast on the rooftop terrace with a sea view, lots of damn good ice cream, delicious food, wine, and great encounters with locals! (Johanna in the middle, Sarah in the back)

We also did some shopping and had an incredibly good Ayurvedic massage as a finale!

Shortly afterward - on Thursday, May 23rd - we were invited to the wedding of the gardener's daughter. Of course, we had to wear traditional saris for that.

(L-R) Cook Malani, Wasanthi, Me, Julia, Kathi, Sarah, Anoma

The wedding was very interesting and different...Several ceremonies were carried out one after the other. I say 'carried out' because the strict wedding schedule had to be followed, with x minutes allocated for each ceremony. And practically, everything was done for the perfect picture/video.

The ceremonies were often interrupted and things were rearranged to make it look good on the video. The bridal couple stood there for almost an hour just to take a photo with each guest. We were also stared at a lot and often treated preferentially, so for example, we were allowed to eat right after the bridal couple. -This all sounds quite negative, but it actually wasn't at all!- Speaking of food, the bride's mother came to all the guests with a glass on a plate because touching the plate practically meant you were 'invited' and could then get food. The food was really, really delicious but damn spicy! After eating, we left and the children in the home were amazed. Naduni, a girl, almost had her eyes pop out when she saw us and couldn't say a word!:D

The following Sunday, we all went surfing together. About 15km from Tangalle, there is a beach or bay (in Hiriketiya) where it is perfect for surfing and one of the surfer hotspots in the south. So we tried our luck, but with a teacher. Without one, it probably would have been a disaster, but we all managed to stand up quite often and even caught some really good waves.

It was so much fun!! But the days after, we all had killer muscle soreness!!! It was my first time, but hopefully not the last:)

In my last week, I also visited the associated kindergarten.

And that's it for my 2-month internship at the Eliya children's home. I have really grown fond of the children, and I have to say, saying goodbye was a bit harder than I thought.

Here's a picture made of sugar from my favorite child, Wihansi. I would have loved to take her with me!

It was also a bit sad to say goodbye to Julia and Kathi (after all, we spent 2 months together here) because we had a lot of fun and laughter together! As mentioned before, the second month went by very quickly, and on June 1st, I left this beautiful place and will travel through Sri Lanka for another 2 1/2 weeks. On June 18th, I'll go to the next country, which I've been looking forward to forever! But now, it's all about Sri Lanka:)

And with this picture, I say goodbye!