Weligama

And on the third week, we went surfing.

Though our shipment of household goods arrived earlier in the week, and we could have very easily spent the weekend putting away and organizing the house, we decided it was time to get out of Colombo and start seeing a little bit more of Sri Lanka. 

We had a three day weekend to play with. In the Buddhist religion, every full moon is a holiday, or poya in Sinhala. Unfortunately, we don't get a day off for every poya, but the kids do get many of them off from school, including the September, or Binara poya. 

Though we did spend part of  Friday unpacking, we decided to head down to the beaches in the south of Sri Lanka and spend the night on Saturday. 

Thanks to the E01 superhighway, the beaches in the south of Sri Lanka are a short, two hour drive away. It evens has an American-style rest area with an American-style food court with Subway and Pizza Hut, along with several more local options. On the way back from the beach, Elise and I tried the fish bun, a Sri Lankan pastry which is basically a dinner roll with room temperature minced fished filling. I liked it. Elise emphatically did not.

The kids had Subway which has been one of the few constants in a life growing up abroad. There is Subway in every country we have lived in overseas. The kids are automatically drawn to it, ironically, not because it reminds them of the States, even though it is an American chain, yet it is still familiar because it reminds them of being overseas. Six inch turkey on white Italian for all. 

Getting on the E01 in Colombo and off in Weligama was the true test of my driving ability. I'm glad we didn't buy anything larger than a Ford Ecosport, because navigating the narrow streets of Sri Lanka around bicycles and tuk-tuks was challenging enough as it was. 

We stayed at Weligama Bay Resort. I accidentally booked a room on line for Wednesday night instead of Saturday night, not realizing mistake until Saturday morning when I received an email from the resort asking me to rate my stay. I immediately called them in a panic. Fortunately, they were able to change the reservation to Saturday without charging us for two nights (I hope). 

We sat down at the restaurant for a quick lunch of fish fingers and fried calamari before hitting the beach. 

It didn't take long before we found a surf school and both Peter and Sam leaped at the chance to take their first surf lesson. 

It wasn't long before they were out in the waves and up on the board. 

Peter:

Then Sam:

And both boys together: 

As the boys were taking their lesson, Clementine played in the surf, and Elise and I looked on.  Meanwhile, a fishing boat glided up on shore next to us. 

After the surf lesson, the boys were understandably wiped out.  

We had a lobster dinner that night by the ocean, chatting with new friends by candlelight, still pinching ourselves we were actually here.  

Sri Lanka is a heartbreakingly beautiful country. We drove back on the E01 following our weekend in Weligama surrounded by the lush jungle and mountains that opened up to flatland rice paddies and cinnamon farms.  black-skinned water buffalo waded in the fields, white egrets perched on their backs. The peaks of bone-white Buddhist temples peeked from between the palms.  I am already thinking about how difficult it will be to leave, but I have to put those thoughts aside for now and make the most of every minute we have here.