No Hot Coals for Me

I am not supposed to be in Colombo right now. I was hoping to be taking part in a big festival happening in a town called Kataragama. Most of the Sewalanka staff are there. Kataragama is in the south-east of Sri Lanka and is renowned because there are three big temples there – one Buddhist, one Hindu and one Muslim. Every year, there’s an annual pilgrimage to Kataragama called the Pada Yatra. People walk for days and sleep in Yala National Park on the journey. The pilgrimage ends in Kataragama with a big Perahera, which is a festival that includes adorned elephants and fire walking and people hanging from hooks in their skin.

Sewalanka usually organizes a Pada Yatra pilgrimage. A picture from last year’s walk was the cover of the newsletter that came out just before I arrived. Although I love to walk and hike, at first I wasn’t interested in participating because the thought of camping out in the jungle without the benefit of a tent or sleeping bag scared the crap out of me. But that all changed when the government closed Yala to the public and the plan for Sewalanka’s pilgrimage changed. There’d be only one night of sleeping out instead of three and it would take place near or on a beach (I’m still not sure of the exact location).

Unfortunately, VSO had to say no to the trip. The day before I asked for permission, someone or some people opened fire on a public bus on the route, killing 4 and injuring others. The VSO program office decided that it was safer to not go on the trip. Up until that point, they figured the route was exempt from violence but the shooting proved that that was apparently not so. So I’m in Colombo, not seeing cool things.

It’s a bummer but I totally respect and appreciate VSO’s decision. I know they are walking a fine line between allowing us to see as much of the country as we can and ensuring our safety. It’s likely that nothing else will happen on the pilgrimage or at the perahera but it’s a risk that they can’t take. In the end, I would prefer to be safe and bored. I just wish people would stop being violent whenever I am planning to go somewhere cool. Scratch that. I just wish people would stop being violent period.

Anyway, I’ve asked Jessica to take lots of pictures so I’ll try to put them up (or tell you to go to her blog) when she returns.

So on an unrelated note, I’m spending a lot of time in tri-shaws lately, since I’m spending my nights in the city housesitting. In my description of them way back when I first arrived, I forgot to mention that they almost always have some cheesy poster in the back. It’s usually of a baby or a mother and baby or rainbows with saccharine sayings like “A smiling baby sweet and new is everybody’s dream come true” and “Love is merely chatter, friends are all that matter!” Yesterday’s tri-shaw into town had a kind of unflattering picture of an otherwise cute baby blinged out in gold jewellery. In the shot, she looked like she didn’t understand why the photographer needed to take yet another picture of her. The top of the poster read – and I’m sure this wasn’t ironic – “Charming Baby.” The quote on the bottom was “Beauty is the first gift nature gives to women, and the first it takes away…” Talk about incongruous.

Hey, where’s Petra?