And Then Something Totally Different

Sri Lanka is a country one can hardly describe. It is a land of controversies. Being the origin for the word “serendipity”, which is some kind of term for a happy coincidence, it is also the battlefield for a long and bloody civil war between the two major ethnic groups – the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The city of Colombo is a buzzing beehive with millions of inhabitants, yet strangely not as chaotic as one could imagine, at least if compared to the neighbouring India’s enormous metropolises. I have never been in India, but I can imagine Sri Lanka being like a more relaxed “little brother”. Anyway, here I am already for a week and by far I am doing just fine.


Our apartment, which I share with 7 other trainees is very nice and comfortable. My work is situated in a kind of “Wallstreety” area in the centre. I take the bus everyday, which is not necessarily as simple as it sounds. Especially the way back around 6PM takes quite long. To ride a few kilometres way takes sometimes more than a half an hour. And at the rush hour it is usually packed so you might end up standing at the very verge of the door step holding onto whatever handle you can reach to. Busses come and go when it suits them. There are no schedules what so ever. But then again, it is quite convenient so. They will come eventually anyway.


I could write a thesis about all the peculiarities one comes across here. Like I said this is an environment of huge controversies. I saw a billboard advertising nutritious puppy food and at the same time you see all these stray dogs chewing whatever they can stick their teeth onto. You see luxurious cars driving alongside with crappy busses full with people, limbs sticking out of the open windows. There are wonderful beaches and 5 star hotels but if you venture a bit further the beach turns into a dumpster and the hotels into shanty towns.


Oh yes. Yesterday afternoon, when getting back from work I experienced yet another difference. It rained…like hell. I mean it was like a huge tap would have been turned open in the sky. I was running the last few hundred meters and got totally soaked of course. Now I know that one should never leave home without an umbrella here in Sri Lanka.


All in all, coming here is an adventure. It is an opportunity to shake my beliefs, my worldview, my assumptions on what makes life go on. I am in the situation of doing some in-depth evaluation of my priorities and direction. I’ll do my best to enjoy the upcoming 3 months or so here. I do miss Brno a lot but after some immediate tears and heartache, I am adapting bit by bit. The work here is definitely better. I have already learned a lot of things and look forward to further expanding my knowledge as I go on.


God damn mosquito is eating my legs. Hehe, those bastards are one of the nuisances of the otherwise lovely warm environment. Well, not that anything is ever perfect…