Feeling welcome

 I certainly felt welcome on landing at Colombo airport, Sri Lanka, for look who met us as we approached the arrival hall!

My hosts, Professor Damith and his wife Sharlene. Sharlene is a PhD student.

Then, as I was walking to immigration, I saw decorations all around, so figured some big celebration had recently taken place recently.

Passengers walking down the well decorated arrival passage to immigration.

I was right about a recent celebration for I subsequently learnt that had I arrived two days earlier, I would have witnessed the annual birthday celebrations of the birth of  Lord Buddha.

 Darn, wish I knew about it before booking my flight.😩 I would have given anything to have witnessed some of that annual ritual.

My hosts Damith and Sharlene have gone all out to accommodate me. For when I said I could take a cab to their home, Damith insisted on making arrangements for me to be picked up since he said I don't know the language.

 I had just assumed English was widely spoken here, (it was a former British colony known as Ceylon) as it is taught in the schools. It clearly isn't though, for not even the taxi man who took me to their home, did not spoke a word.

Sinhalese is the lingua franca here.  (93% speak Sinhalese, 15% Tamil and around 70% speak English. The Sinhalese won the civil war against the Tamil 1983-2009 hence the dominance of their language I guess.)

First Lesson to myself therefore is Assume nothing😊.

I know I am going to have a wonderful  time here though for the vibes are good.

 It's so green and lush too but the rains just started coming after a prolonged drought, I hear. 

 (Of course as you probably know Sri Lanka is an island around six times as large as Jamaica and with a population of over 22 million.)

The drive from the airport to the town of Homagama, took over an hour and that was on a toll road.

My first impressions are: how clean the place is and how careful the drivers are as the roads (outside of the highway,) are extremely narrow but well maintained , for I am yet to see a pot hole.

 

Haven't seen too many big cars either as clearly they import mostly small cars, bikes and tuk tuks aka three wheel, vehicles that fit within their environment and pocket.

Tuk tuk

(Living within your means is clearly an integral part of how your society develops, for despite the political upheaval in 2022 which led to the overthrow of the government and massive economic consequences, according to Georank.org, in 2024, Sri Lanka's GDP per capita (PPP adjusted) was higher than Jamaica's. Sri Lanka's PPP adjusted GDP per capita is estimated at $13,000, while Jamaica's is estimated at $9,400. Thanks Professor Damith😊.)

But back to my first impressions, my favorite vehicle is the tuk tuk, that's what you see in most of the smaller countries in Asia.

Driving to Mount Clifford Range where I will be staying, took me through a section of Homagama which reminded me of sections of Santa Cruz in my home parish of St. Elizabeth. But I didn't see one sidewalk vendor!

Will share my impressions between this island and my island home from time to time. 

Today it's all about getting over jet lag and getting rid of the germs that I picked up on the flight from Dubai to Colombo on the final leg of the long journey here, which has left me feeling slightly fluey.

More anon.

Ps. We are about 9 1/2  hours ahead of Jamaica time.

First memories in pics.

A Sarong.

The Sarong is  a traditional male outfit 

Damith in a sarong, posing beside a Wesak lantern. These were put up all over the island as part of the decoration to celebrate Lord Buddha' s birthday.