Today I have been in Sri Lanka one month – I arrived on 26th January and it’s now 26th February. So I thought I should stop and think about what my life’s been like for the last month and how it’s affected me.
I was talking to a friend the other day and likened my trip out here to being on a rollercoaster and the more I thought about it, the more I realised what an accurate analogy that is.
I don’t go on rollercoasters anymore although when I was younger I would be first in the queue. Now, if I found myself on one, it would be by accident (you know the kind of accident where somebody blindfolds you, hits you over the head and puts earplugs in till you get to your destination!) and I have often wondered over the last few weeks how on earth I ended up out here.
It all happened very quickly – I heard about it, went to an info evening two weeks later, applied the next day and within a week or so I’d been through two interviews and been accepted. But to be honest, I didn’t allow myself to think too deeply about what I was about to do in case I chickened out. Only one friend questioned me really. At the time I felt he was being unsupportive but he wasn’t, he said he just wanted to be sure I’d thought it all through. He clearly knows me very well because of course I hadn’t.
If I found myself somehow sitting on the rollercoaster, it would take all the strength I could muster NOT to stand up and walk away and the only thing that would stop me would be the desire not to look like a fool. And again, I will be honest, when I arrived in Sri Lanka, I hated it, I wanted to run a mile. I cried the first night and started trying to work out how I could get home again without losing face. I realised I couldn’t so I stayed in my seat and closed my eyes as the rollercoaster started up.
Even when I liked rollercoasters, I still found that first bit to be scary – you have all the trepidation of what’s in front of you but you know you have to keep your head. So you grin and bear it and you pretend to your friends that you’re actually really excited about it. You comfort yourself by working out how long the ride will last and how long you’ve already done. Even when I started to enjoy being in Sri Lanka, it still took me till I had 81 days left before I stopped using that as a comfort.
(Before anyone worries, I don’t count the days now because there are not enough left and I don’t want to think about that!)
So, 9 days in to my 3 month stay before I stopped counting. That’s not to say I didn’t have good, even great days before then but each night I would say “okay that was really exciting but when can I go home?”.
As everyone knows however, you reach a point on the rollercoaster where you just can’t hold it together any longer – usually just as you’re heading over your first dip. I feel sick just thinking about it. And of course I had a dip as anyone who reads regularly will know. But very very soon after that dip, I was back on the straight and narrow and I realised that often the anticipation is worse than the actual event.
So by the time the next dip comes round, you’re ready for it – you may not relish it but it doesn’t feel quite so bad. And then of course for most people, there comes a point (usually just as you’re coming to the end) where you relax and start to love it.
Luckily for me, that happened on Saturday, when I’d nine weeks left of my stay. I had the most fantastic day. It wasn’t about what I did so much as everyone I met that day. I felt like I was falling in love with the people of Sri Lanka. I realised then that I absolutely LOVE living here and I am so fortunate to have been given this opportunity.
Of course it will be great to go home and see everyone and yes, I still miss some people but I love my life here – it’s exciting, it’s worthwhile and it’s different. You never know what’s around the next corner, you never know when you’ll meet the next dip but you know that you can handle it. To be honest, traveling by tuk tuk is really no different to being on a rollercoaster – except tuks are perhaps not quite as safe!
But that’s all part of the crazy exciting country that is Sri Lanka and just like the plug and socket for your shower being IN the shower and knowing that you’re taking your life in your hands just crossing the road here, you either worry about it or you just stop worrying and love every minute. For me, after one month of living in Sri Lanka, I’ve decided that Doris Day was right when she sang “que sera sera, whatever will be will be”.
So, I’ve managed it, I’ve lasted for a month and I’ll try to make the most of every single minute of the two months or (hang on till I count it up) the 58 days I have left in Sri Lanka.
I was talking to a friend the other day and likened my trip out here to being on a rollercoaster and the more I thought about it, the more I realised what an accurate analogy that is.
I don’t go on rollercoasters anymore although when I was younger I would be first in the queue. Now, if I found myself on one, it would be by accident (you know the kind of accident where somebody blindfolds you, hits you over the head and puts earplugs in till you get to your destination!) and I have often wondered over the last few weeks how on earth I ended up out here.
It all happened very quickly – I heard about it, went to an info evening two weeks later, applied the next day and within a week or so I’d been through two interviews and been accepted. But to be honest, I didn’t allow myself to think too deeply about what I was about to do in case I chickened out. Only one friend questioned me really. At the time I felt he was being unsupportive but he wasn’t, he said he just wanted to be sure I’d thought it all through. He clearly knows me very well because of course I hadn’t.
If I found myself somehow sitting on the rollercoaster, it would take all the strength I could muster NOT to stand up and walk away and the only thing that would stop me would be the desire not to look like a fool. And again, I will be honest, when I arrived in Sri Lanka, I hated it, I wanted to run a mile. I cried the first night and started trying to work out how I could get home again without losing face. I realised I couldn’t so I stayed in my seat and closed my eyes as the rollercoaster started up.
Even when I liked rollercoasters, I still found that first bit to be scary – you have all the trepidation of what’s in front of you but you know you have to keep your head. So you grin and bear it and you pretend to your friends that you’re actually really excited about it. You comfort yourself by working out how long the ride will last and how long you’ve already done. Even when I started to enjoy being in Sri Lanka, it still took me till I had 81 days left before I stopped using that as a comfort.
(Before anyone worries, I don’t count the days now because there are not enough left and I don’t want to think about that!)
So, 9 days in to my 3 month stay before I stopped counting. That’s not to say I didn’t have good, even great days before then but each night I would say “okay that was really exciting but when can I go home?”.
As everyone knows however, you reach a point on the rollercoaster where you just can’t hold it together any longer – usually just as you’re heading over your first dip. I feel sick just thinking about it. And of course I had a dip as anyone who reads regularly will know. But very very soon after that dip, I was back on the straight and narrow and I realised that often the anticipation is worse than the actual event.
So by the time the next dip comes round, you’re ready for it – you may not relish it but it doesn’t feel quite so bad. And then of course for most people, there comes a point (usually just as you’re coming to the end) where you relax and start to love it.
Luckily for me, that happened on Saturday, when I’d nine weeks left of my stay. I had the most fantastic day. It wasn’t about what I did so much as everyone I met that day. I felt like I was falling in love with the people of Sri Lanka. I realised then that I absolutely LOVE living here and I am so fortunate to have been given this opportunity.
Of course it will be great to go home and see everyone and yes, I still miss some people but I love my life here – it’s exciting, it’s worthwhile and it’s different. You never know what’s around the next corner, you never know when you’ll meet the next dip but you know that you can handle it. To be honest, traveling by tuk tuk is really no different to being on a rollercoaster – except tuks are perhaps not quite as safe!
But that’s all part of the crazy exciting country that is Sri Lanka and just like the plug and socket for your shower being IN the shower and knowing that you’re taking your life in your hands just crossing the road here, you either worry about it or you just stop worrying and love every minute. For me, after one month of living in Sri Lanka, I’ve decided that Doris Day was right when she sang “que sera sera, whatever will be will be”.
So, I’ve managed it, I’ve lasted for a month and I’ll try to make the most of every single minute of the two months or (hang on till I count it up) the 58 days I have left in Sri Lanka.
3 comments:
Well done you are a star! What a great journey and a great storyteller you are. I keep comming back for more. What am I going to think about when I can't read your blog every day.
Stay out there if you can!
Thanks Port Burd, what a nice thing to say. I now know you are not my sister who is also a "port burd" as she'd never be that nice to me lol.
And Rot Weiss - what do you mean stay out here ya cheeky sod? Trying to get rid of me are you? Julie will be glad she doesn't like in Grimsby anymore after the earthquake today eh?
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