1/1/2019 - Sri Lanka
Starting the first day of the year with adventures. We, 4 girls (3 girls and a lady, to be accurate) were taken to a local family’s house somewhere in the middle of the tweaks and turn road in the up and down hills near Kandy, Sri Lanka. We are told to learn doing the Sri Lanka batik painting on fabric. I am definitely not feeling right with the location, the setting doesn’t look like a painting workshop at all. What makes my sense of security worse is I am bringing along a teenage girl wearing spaghetti straps overall shorts in a country that traditional women are wrapped from head to toe. My mind is unrest and alert. I’ve seen many foreigners dressed in the local fabric long pants, just because they didn’t bring pants that covered they knees and shoulders, as this dress code is required to enter the temple. Thank God, the family is super nice and they made us homemade lunch. The batik painting turns out to be great and we all have a good time.
The real challenge came when the four of us decided to stay in Kandy city for tour shopping and dinner. The leader dropped us off on a side street in Kandy, one of the girl is our GPS leading us zigzagging through the crowd. I have my eyes on the teenager, thinking the worse and murmuring to her that she dressed so inappropriately in this country(which I told her not to expose to much ‘meat’, she then changed to this outfit). I could see the eyes of the people, mostly men, scanning on her. I prayed in my heart that we’ll be safe, I rehearsed in my mind what I will do if anything will happen, I even told her not to leave my sight, first time in her life, I guess, she thinks goo jea really is an elder relative to her. I’ve gone through many lessons of conducts for being a conservative female in my mind that I would love to tell her and I did spilled a few words and apparently they are not welcomed.
Lastly, after such a fatigue eye chasing target afternoon, the real adventure came, how to get back to our accommodation? The two other girls said they did it before and it turns out we asked the tourist information center and without much confident, we all hopped on a sardined bus. Those eyes scrolling on her again and I am like a hen protecting my chick. Teens, they really don’t know how dangerous the world can be out here, they can hopped on a not-100%-sure bus without knowing exactly where to get off just because taking the TukTuk costed more which is only 500 rupees (less than $3USD) We ended up getting off the bus too early and walked a long way back home. I am glad to be able to see landmarks which regain my confidence to way back home. Thank God for His protection starting the first day of 2019.
The insight of the day...
In extreme physical fatigue and mental fatigue I force myself to jot down today’s adventurous experience... older people are reluctant to risk as they have gone through too many risky moments in life, so intentional uncertainties are not welcome, without knowing that will let go of many surprises in life.
Young people do not think much about risk as they have been well taken care of in a protected environment though they thought they don’t possess anything therefore nothing can be lose, without knowing they possess the unseen treasure which not worth to risk.
Risk is a tester of age and a tester of faith.
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