Elephants and Buddhas
These are two of the strongest memories we have of this magical place. We were lucky enough to catch a break in the fighting to visit the wonderful country of Sri Lanka. What we found was a land full of people who are tired of the war and just want to get on with their lives. We spoke to both Singhalese and Tamil people who expressed the same frustrations and feelings of loss. Although they tried to be friendly, it sometimes took some effort on our part to get people to open up who have forgotten how to do just that. After a meal and a chat about cricket it was a great reward to see people let their guard down and enjoy a bit of leisurely chat and some laughter. It's no secret that some of the chats were inclusive of arrack, the local coconut palm based alcohol. People who cooked loved to talk to us about food. This was great for us foodies. We even got invited into a kitchen to see how it's done. VERY enlightening. We were so inspired that we bought a local cookbook and have enjoyed a little taste of Sri Lanka in New Zealand. |
