From our luxurious beach front hotel in Nogombo, Sri Lanka we packed up our belongings and loaded on a bus to Colombo, Sri Lanka. On our way we had to stop for a heard of cows which were crossing between the buses, the three wheeled taxis, motorcycles and pedestrians without a care in the world. We drove for about 30 minutes and pulled up to a beautiful orphanage where 107 children were waiting on the steps for us with a huge banner reading, "Welcome to Samudra Sri Nursing Students from Northwest University"... No sooner had we begun unloading off the bus, when the youngest children began running towards us with tropical flowers for each of us.
A special BBQ was prepared for our arrival and we were served tuna steaks, seered fish, prawns, chicken, calamari and a variety of rices and fruits (and a random bowl of french fries!). Upon finishing our dinner we watched the bright pink sunset among the palm trees over the Indian ocean end our first day in Colombo.
While the children could not communicate very well with us verbally, they were very good at communicating how happy they were to see us. We played a game of "ice tag"...cricket...volleyball and sat around and sang songs together. The kids were thrilled to chant the English "nursery rhyme they knew... They chanted 12 Little Monkey's jumping on the Bed with great enthusiasm.
The animals we have seen to date include goat, pink, cows, dogs, chipmunk, kitten, geckos, junebugs, a rooster, mosquitos, CROWS... But, no barking-deer, monkeys or elephants...We were warned of the crocidiles that are in the neighborhood! One of the students was sitting in the yard when a green splat came from the sky- you can imagine what it was!!
12 girls slept in one room with bunk beds and the 2 guys slept in the "sick room"... The ocean is about 200 yards from our beds and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore became apart of our dreams. The AC stopped working in the girl's room, but the fans were still going strong...the weather is warm and the humidity high...and we are LOVING IT! Many of the girls were sunburned yesterday at the hotel when they went for a swim...
-Bria Colby
