Suba Aluth Avurudda - Happy New Year!

සුහ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා 

Suba Aluth Avurudda, wishing you a very Happy New Year from Sri Lanka!

April 14th marks the Sinhalese New Year, coinciding with New Year celebrations of many South Asian traditional calendars. The timing for each activity and celebration is determined by astrological calculations, represented across the country with a raucous of firecrackers banging for each and every auspicious time (causing confusion for the huge bats that start circling overhead!). According to Sinhalese astrology, Sri Lankan New Year begins when the sun moves in the celestial sphere from Pisces to Aries, symbolising new beginnings.

This is my third time in Sri Lanka for the most special day on their calendar, yet this week I have learnt so much more about the culture and traditions, getting to experience it all first hand. It has been a beautiful insight into the Sri Lankan celebrations and beliefs deriving from all actions on this day. From fantastic games in the community, to eating the sweetest homemade treats, to offering a betel leaf to your elders.

Earlier in the week we held our PMGY Sri Lanka New Year festival, inviting all the volunteers and students from our teaching and childcare projects. Sinhalese festivals are all about the messiest and funniest traditional games - eating buns on a string (no hands), balloon blowing race (blow until it pops!), finding a coin in flour with your mouth, blindfolded yogurt feeding and the famous balloon dancing. It was a fabulous day with all the kids from our orphanage and rural teaching projects getting excited and competitive with the clueless volunteers!

This morning started with a 7am weekend call (anyone who knows me knows that’s major early for me, but I was probably the last person awake in the country!), preparing for the New Year with the final shower and wearing new clothes. It is also traditional to wear blue on New Year’s Day, so luckily my latest purchases fit the bill! Thamari (my second Sri Lankan mother) has been excitedly teaching me all I need to know about the today’s traditions – proud that her suda duwa (“white daughter”) is able to join her.

We had a peaceful walk in the crisp morning air with the neighbours (and some curious monkeys) to the local Buddhist temple. The usual offerings were made; lighting oil lamps, burning incense sticks and offering freshly picked flowers to Lord Buddha; as well as the special New Year customs of rubbing sandalwood powder on the sacred Bodhi tree and receiving a pirith nula blessing from the monk (tying a white thread around your wrist whilst chanting a Pali pirith – the vibrations become engraved in the thread and carry positive effects to the body).


Even with the bustling New Year crowd, I always find visiting the temple such an illuminating and clarifying experience. After our offerings and blessings, we sat on a straw mat beneath the Bodhi tree, where Thamari and our friends began their chanting. In Buddhism, you don’t exactly pray to Lord Buddha, neither do you view him as a god. Instead you show your ultimate respect, honour and devotion to him and his teachings. The chanting is a beautifully hypnotic song floating up through the leaves and enveloping you. We must have been sat for over half an hour (I realised my legs were numb with pins and needles), so I took the opportunity to embrace the moment and practice mindfulness and a simple breathing meditation. It was fantastic.

After returning home, it was time to prepare for the next task – cooking kiribath ("milk rice" – simply red rice cooked with fresh coconut milk and a pinch of salt). But first, I had to head to the office (only five doors down in the volunteer house), first being abruptly told off for carrying my half empty water bottle out the house, which I had to leave in the garden and couldn’t bring back in until after midday to avoid bad luck! Beliefs are beliefs…

The auspicious time to start cooking this New Year was at 10:40am. The family will make two open fires in their home over cinnamon wood and dried coconut leaves, cooking rice in the kitchen and boiling cow’s milk in the living room, both in clay pots. They wait to see which direction the milk pot overflows, which indicates if their home will have luck and prosperity in the New Year – ours was lucky!

Eating begins at 11:53am (and not a morsel earlier), with a feast of milk rice, chilli sambol, fruits and sweet treats laid out on the table facing Lord Buddha. An oil lamp is lit and the man of the house traditionally eats the first bite, then invites the others to join. I think this part is well earned!

Another belief they have is offering betel leaves to your elders as respect, a symbol of good fortune and prosperity, bowing down to their feet. After wishing you Suba Aluth Avurudda (with a kind tap on the head) they will often offer you a folded betel leaf, which will include a small sum of money or coins. This is to be spent on something for yourself and your home for the New Year, which only means one thing… more shopping!

Hence the next part of the day consisted of shopping for household gifts, for yourself, so I treated myself to a very exciting lunch box and mug. I did need both!

And that’s my Sinhalese New Year in a nutshell, I’m exhausted now! It has been fabulous to witness the cultural celebrations, even if I only took part in a fraction. It brings together a strong sense of community and refreshing ourselves for new beginnings, which I think is remarkably important. It’s something that I have needed personally in the recent few weeks, which I hope to welcome in the coming days and onwards.

We wish you good health, success and happiness for the next year, no matter where you are in the world!

Island Life

Day 312 - Tuesday 18th April 11.46am

Yesterday I was feeding fresh sardines to sea turtles and nesting turtle eggs in our hatchery, and this morning I have mucked out, hand fed and scrubbed a beautiful elderly elephant in the river. This afternoon will probably be helping our cute little students speak English in the local Tsunami villages. I'm very proud to say this is my job!

It's my sixth week working back in Sri Lanka as a coordinator with Plan My Gap Year and it's already been a whirlwind of laughter, tears, fun and stress; life is still hard in the sunshine don't worry!

There's been a great bunch of volunteers to help me settle into my role easily and it's been amazing to work with all the local staff again each day. The hours end up being long and it becomes every waking moment of your life, but luckily I feel very much part of a big family here which makes it all worth it!

Last week was Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the biggest celebration in Sri Lanka, so we were lucky enough to join in with all the festivals and traditions throughout the week. On Monday and Tuesday we had a fantastic time hosting New Year parties for our Children's Home and our teaching project students, playing traditional games that are surprisingly similar to back home, with an Asian twist! Lime and spoon race, mini marathon, pin the eye on the elephant, blindfolded yogurt feeding, finding a coin in flour with no hands, and a piñata style clay pot filled with coloured water. My favourite one is in a line with your team, passing water with just your hands from a bucket to fill up a bottle the fastest! And all ending in a big water balloon fight!

I’ve somehow been involved in a lot of sports since being in Sri Lanka too. We’ve been playing badminton in the school hall (always gets hilariously competitive) and cricket in the local village grounds against the staff and volunteers; the first time I think I’ve held a cricket bat in my life. Still managed to whollop a few and get some runs, maybe this should be my new hobby? We had a day trip to watch Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in a 20/20 match in Colombo too (I have no idea what that means) – just about worked out what was going on but we were all just loving the atmosphere, cheers and Mexican waves with the locals in the standing pen.

Aside from that my usual Sri Lankan life has continued – lots of curries, coconuts and computer spreadsheets. My role has developed this year as we have now established an office in our new volunteer house, so my tasks involve more admin and organisation, as well as leading orientations and getting more hands on in day to day operations. I still try to find time every week to get stuck in at all the projects too! It’s always fantastic to visit the morning monk teaching project, where we have a class of around fifteen young boys at the local temple. Some are monks, some are in training, and some are just regular to the temple but keen to learn English. It’s slightly different to our regular teaching projects, to respect the cultural etiquette; so no running around or playing games. Some of the boys are super shy and some are super cheeky, but all brilliantly willing to learn. We’ve also been spending time renovating our other teaching project location, a community hall nicknamed the “Old Tsunami project”. Situated in a village that was built inland for those displaced in the 2004 tsunami, this is our longest running project. It had started to look a bit sad, so we’ve given it a proper lick of paint inside and out, clearing the weeds and litter from the entrance, steps and playground too. It looks fantastic already with the hard work from our community renovation volunteers, and the students have even got stuck in too! If you’d like to know about what we do at the projects each day then have a look at my blog from 2016 – Life as Coordinator in Ambalangoda.

Our new volunteer accommodation (London House) opened fresh in January and is purpose built to host our volunteers, which should be a lot easier to manage than multiple houses spread across the village! It’s been great living and working so close with all the volunteers so far and I’m happy to say I’ve made some pretty cool friends along the way. Most of all my new companion and her beautiful little girl – Colby and Flora. Singing and laughing in the office has made each day brighter, especially when I get to go home cuddle Flora too! We’ve got a long summer ahead, and I know already these are the things that will keep me smiling.

Day 322 - Friday 28th April 4.24pm

There's not been a cloud in the sky, the breeze is delightful, and I've finally had a day off laying on the beach! After seven weeks of working in an office my 'golden goddess tan' has certainly fallen to very low, pale standards.

I’ve been missing home a little bit recently, still feeling like I'm settling in and I haven't quite started a routine of things yet. Slowly slowly! I’ve got a fantastic support of family, staff and friends around me though, helping me to feel a little bit more at home.

My daily diet is now a breakfast of rice flakes, buffalo curd and honey, or milk rice and spicy coconut sambal. Proper Sri Lankan curry that makes your eyes run for lunch and dinner, with fresh king coconut and green tea as snacks. Does make you fancy a spag bol once in a while though!

The rest of my time has involved eyebrow threading for 75p, shopping for granny skirts and jeans, playing cards until 3am, rainbow sunsets and alms giving at the temple. It’s just been Flora’s 2nd birthday, so we celebrated with lots of cake and ice cream at Hiro’s, the only place in Ambalangoda with English music and sundaes! It is also coming up to the season for Vesak, the commemoration of Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. Every house, shop and corner is decorated with majestic lights and lanterns (Vesak koodu), signifying an offering to the memory of the Lord Buddha. No doubt we’ll be visiting temples in our best white dress all week, offering flowers and burning incense. During Vesak there are thousands of Dansalas all over the country, freely giving food, teas and coffee on the street to all that pass by. The best of these is the ice cream cones they give at the junction down our road!

Day 363 - Thursday 8th June 11.28am

I feel full of gratitude and joy today, after a beautifully humbling morning. We have been to visit the rural village of Pahalawalivitiya, a very small community of 18 families that were strongly affected by the recent floods. Two families homes were destroyed completely, others damaged and still two weeks later they have no clean water or electricity. We spent the morning at their school, which hosts the eighteen students from grade 1 to 5 with their five teachers and principal. The school is located on the banks of Gin Ganga, a large river that bore the flow of rainfall from up-country. The water level at the school reached the tops of the doors, ruining the entire contents within. The school books and documents are currently drying inside one of the classrooms, with hope to salvage as much as possible.

As we arrived you could tell the children had never experienced western visitors, by the look of novelty, excitement and curiosity on their faces! The school consists of two small simple buildings, with mesh wire windows, worn wooded bookcases and rickety rustic chairs. You can't even begin to imagine yourself in that situation, and still they are trying to cope. Even simple tasks of cooking or drinking a cup of water when you're thirsty is not possible, but as a community they are really coming together to help in any way they can.

Together with our volunteers, we had put together help packages for each of the families in the village, including dried food and school supplies. After our welcoming assembly, crammed into a small brick classroom, we gave out a package to each student, with teachers and families grateful beyond belief. It really makes you appreciate how lucky we are to have access to all the bare necessities and simple things in life, as well as the luxuries we take for granted. There is so much more to learn in the world than we can ever imagine.

We spent the rest of the day playing games and singing songs with all the kids, from Zap to Duck Duck Goose. It really was a special day and the smiles on their faces as we waved goodbye is an honourable memory that will stay with me.

Day 379 - Saturday 24th June 2.18am

A truly Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan evening. By truly Sri Lankan I mean manic, disorganised, weird and wonderful. A full performance of spiritual and cultural blessings for a good four hours with a broken mic that went on and off every three seconds, dancing around like there's no tomorrow, how we often like to dance in the office. The whole performance has eleven scenes and actually lasted throughout the night, with fire and chanting and a chicken sacrifice. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, baffled by each coming minute. Hence a truly Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan evening.

Summer is creeping up and I now have my new accomplice Steph to help me battle it out, let’s do this Sri Lanka!

Day 398 - Thursday 13th July 11.44am

Suddenly the time has nearly sprung that I get a weekend holiday in England, it's strange to think about all that I have experienced, achieved, learnt and been challenged by in the past five months living in Sri Lanka. I can't wait for a salad and hot shower!

The weeks roll by as a blur of endless hours at work, curry, nonstop laughter with Colby and Steph, cuddles with Flora, bumpy bus rides to Mirissa and longing to be soaking up the sunshine and blue skies as I stand at my office desk organising tuk tuks and turtles and ten million volunteers. Pushing myself through each challenge thrown at me, I'm trying to keep positive and my head above water, no matter how much I want to let go and sink some days. Working in a developing country can be draining - the culture and language and difference in reactions or behaviour has been my love and my challenge for living in Sri Lanka. If only I could have down time to enjoy it!

It's always amazing to hear the volunteers come home excited about how many newly hatched turtles they were able to release into the wild or how their quietest student got top marks in their test paper. When I'm stuck behind the desk working out logistics and updating spreadsheets I ache to be getting hands on at the projects again, but it's really inspiring to see how the volunteers learn and blossom from their experiences too. I know that exploring further away from home helped me in so many ways to figure out what it was that set my soul on fire, and I've become close to others who I can see are discovering their own path. Thank you all for being my motivation, inspiration and for making my job a real pleasure!

There are so many others that have inspired me, unaware they are teaching me things. My Sri Lankan families, colleagues, friends and the local community around me. Especially the PMGY team - I have never met such dedicated, hardworking and grateful people, who will never hesitate to lend a helping hand. In the western world we easily take things for granted - basic necessities and skills and luxuries and our family or friends. Stepping further than your hometown helps you to see a different perspective on many things, which is why I have continued to travel and encourage others to give it a go. Who knows what you might find?

I have certainly found a lot for my own life, but nonetheless I am extremely excited to be visiting everyone at home, to cuddle my mummy and puppies and get bullied by my sister and a foot rub from my Pa (I need one after a year in flip flops...) and to celebrate a very exciting time with my best friends and the Bride to be... Pass us the Prosecco!!



Day 405 - Thursday 20th July 2.31am

Sat at Gate 14, Bandaranayake airport, about to board the flight that has always been too far away to think about. My mind cannot comprehend that right now I am about to fly home, leaving Asia for the first time in thirteen months, and being reunited with my family and friends after my longest adventure so far. Are you sure this is real?!

The past few weeks have been a blur of excitement and stress and work challenges making me feel emotional. I don't know if it's because I've had four hours sleep for the past two nights but now I don't really seem to feel anything, I know I am extremely excited to see everyone again, and fill my belly with home food (BBQ, lasagne, fresh salad, Cadbury's, full English, real milk and a good old takeaway curry would be ideal). I have even disconnected myself from work, preparing to shut down my PMGY brain for a week of quietness and clearing my mind. I've just treated myself to an airport foot massage to kick start the journey - it was absolute bliss and felt dreamy as I dozed off for a bit! I was almost tempted by a 12$ spaghetti bolognese at the new airport Pizza Hut but thought I would save it for a real one when I'm home!


6.06am - Landing at Dubai International Airport

Well this is the snazziest plane journey I've ever been on (apart from our accidental business class flight from Australia); can you believe there's wifi, plug sockets and even star mood lighting for the night flight!

I was squeezed between two rather large men, but when one spotted a free row of seats I was in luck and the big guy even agreed to swap so I could have the window seat. It's a boring flight sat anywhere else, I watched the sun rise over the hazy city, thinking about all the lives I'm passing beneath me.

I'm pretty shattered after three nights without proper sleep, so it took me four hours to eventually watch Beauty and the Beast - it was too good to miss! The journey is surreal to me too, not only doing it alone after so many with Megan, but thinking about Sri Lanka and even missing that already. My dear friend and big sister is due to give birth any moment and my life here really has grown to become home.


7.55am - Seat 79k, 3633 miles away at DXB

Well this is snazzier - my first double decker flight! I forgot how long I haven't flown with a non-budget airline. I have my aquarium hole view of the morning sunshine (apparently reaching a casual 44 degrees today) and right now two empty seats next to me... is this my lucky day?!

Time to catch more movies and probably no sleep. Before I know it I'll be embracing my family in the frosty air of England!



Day 442 - Saturday 26th August 5.08pm

Wedding madness and moving house, crammed into the limited hours at home, it certainly was eventful! It was fantastic to be home again, to see Kathryn walk down the aisle, to say goodbye to my childhood home, and to devour as much real chocolate as possible. Going home for a weekend was definitely not long enough, making it more intense and emotional and surreal. As I landed into Gatwick I was also at the tear-jerking scene in Lion, a film about an adopted boy on a quest to find his family in rural India. Wheels hitting the run way, Saroo embracing his long lost mother, tears filling my eyes as I knew that was about to be me after 400 days away.

I was very grateful to be able to make that trip, but just as grateful to return to Sri Lanka and feel I was at home yet again there too.

But as for now, I’M IN THE MOOFOOKIN MALDIVES!

Oh wow. Yes, here I am. In the Maldives.

As an incredibly kind and (surprisingly) well-kept surprise, I have joined one of our #PMGYMaldives weekend trips with Tharindu and five other volunteers, for four days of the most beautiful beaches, reef snorkelling and a splash of Maldivian luxury.

We are currently at the Andaraan Prestige Vadoo Resort, a tiny little island with the iconic wooden huts branching out into the turquoise seas. The snorkelling here is out of this world, I can’t get enough of it. Just this morning we saw star fish, eels, baby reef shark, giant parrot fish, long pike fish, sea cucumbers, fish camouflaged in the sand, yellow stripey ones, funny Pinocchio noses, all the friends from Finding Nemo and the best of all – right up close to a wild turtle. This was all just at the bank of the gleaming sand at our feet, with a spectacular and slightly scary drop off point. Wow wow wow.

The beauty of the Maldives is right up there with the Philippines, but luckily being on much smaller islands there are less crowds around us too. Today we got a pass to the Andaraan Resort for a taster of honeymoon luxury, with fancy food and the most divine beach to enjoy. Yesterday we took a boat trip to spot turtles, snorkel in the best reefs nearby and enjoy our fresh catch of tuna upon a divine sand bank. Absolute bliss!

We’ve been lucky to have perfect weather, although I’ve managed to painfully burn my calves after getting too excited at the views and forgetting to put on sun cream for a while. Oops. There’s been plenty of opportunities to relish the fresh seafood, enjoy the turquoise seas and take in the glory of the Maldives. Beautiful country, fantastic company, and one very happy Emma. Thank you Philip and Ashika for making this possible!

Day 464 - Sunday 17th September 6.14pm

Be present. Be grateful. Be alive.

My six months in Sri Lanka have come to a close, packing up my laptop and notebook for the year and saying goodbye to the students, staff and my family. But this time it wasn't quite so bad, because I know in less than four months I'll be back again.

It’s taken me a whole day to pack up my room, realising quite how many cobwebs were lingering, and how many clothes I'd forgotten to wear. It feels a bit strange that I will be leaving the PMGY office and returning the chilly air of England, not quite sure what my next few months will embrace. I have fully cherished this rollercoaster of a year, laughs and challenges and all, and I’ve got a couple of weeks to take it all in whilst I collect my thoughts in Mirissa and then with my family in Wadduwa for my final few days. Time to get on the yoga mat, appreciate the seafood and feel the sand between my toes.

Let the next chapter begin.