Remnants of wars and waves: Sri Lanka

For the past week I have been traveling around Sri Lanka. The minute I stepped into this country I felt something very different--more relaxed than India, more tropical, and some other energy that has been unfolding itself to me as I experience more of this land. The military presence is striking, massive, apparently much less than before the war ended. We made a friend, a Tamil, and learned a lot about what people who look a certain way experience here (they are stopped nearly every 30 feet, can't stop on sidewalks, can't take pictures, can't be out late). I have the privilege of hiding behind the veil of my whiteness, and the men with machine guns only smile at me, only ever stopping me to ask where I'm from and never to look for an awaiting bomb.

I met a fellow at the airport who was heading to the east coast, and amazingly a few days later we found him reading on a beach near Trincomalee. He was heading south and then into the mountains with his friend and offered us a ride, which we gladly accepted. Apparently Sri Lanka has some of the best tea in the world and tea country is absolutely incredible (I will try to post pictures later). I noticed a very distinct difference between areas where primarily Tamils live and the mountain villages we visited where there was virtually no military presence. We had the opportunity to see a lot of things I could not have ever imagined -- mountains covered with tea, IDP camps, ruins of homes, villages entirely deserted, homes covered in bullet holes, the rebuilding of lives, some areas seemingly unaffected. The remnants of wars and waves lay heavily here, and yet hope and life shine through it all. There seems to be a general feeling of uncertainty for the future, but things are looking up.

So now I am heading into the mountains for a bit of quiet reflection. I've seen/heard/experienced so much in the past few months and I'm really looking forward to being still. I think in India sometimes the disparity was too much for me to process, and my senses were bombarded with everything that I just didn't allow myself to feel the weight of it all. And here in Sri Lanka, I can't begin to wrap my head around what this country has gone through; decades of war and a tsunami that devastated the land and people. And in it all, the wonderful and the horrific, beauty pervades it all. I am forever grateful for this experience and all the lovely people I have met along the way.

Will be sending you loving kindness from the mountains near Kandy,
Lala

p.s. Happy birthday (early) Grandpa! :)