Rain and elephants!!

So, we arrived safe and sound in Sri Lanka (we're staying in the capital, Colombo) this morning after an overnight flight, and I think we were all preparing ourselves for an airport experience like the one in Damascus (ie: pure insanity and chaos), but it was actually one of the best and most efficient airports we've been in so far- we sailed through passport control and by the time we were done (which was only about 6 minutes) our luggage was already on the carousel AND nobody's was missing!! (yes I realize I'm probably jinxing us for India-- can you all knock on wood for me please?)

The other surprise when we stepped out of the airport was that we immediately got soaked by this strange water falling from the sky- that's right, it was RAINING!!! I haven't seen rain for over 5 months so it was really odd! And it's not a nice misty rain like in Victoria- here it rains like it means it!!! Apparently this is the monsoon season, which is the least popular time to visit the country- which is evident when you look around- besides a few other people on business at our hotel, Kelly, Wally, AA and I seemed to be the only non-Sri Lankans around.

We arrived at our hotel this morning @ 6am, but since today was our only day off in SL, we decided to re-adopt our motto from Lebanon/Jordan/Syria: "sleep when you're dead"... so after just a few hours of sleep we all met in the lobby to take a van to an elephant orphanage- a place which had been recommended to us by the recruiting agents. It was about 2 hrs away, but the drive was really picturesque and took us through some really beautiful countryside.

I don't think any of us really knew what to expect- I've seen shows on tv about how animals are treated in some countries around here, but when we got there I think we were all pleasantly surprised- the elephants go down to the river twice a day for a "bath" (they didn't seem that clean when they came back, but I think it's a social thing for them...)- we caught them on their way back from their second bath of the day- about 40 of them came storming down a really narrow street- we followed them and had a cup of tea while they got put back in their areas, then after about 10 min, we were told it was safe to go in, so we went to find us some elephants!!

After bathtime, it's feeding time, so when we found them, they were all happily munching away on palm leaves and branches- some of them had a chain on their foot (a long one, don't worry) but I think it was unnecessary, since they didn't even seem to notice that we were there. Kelly bottle-fed one of the baby ones, which was really cute, but he was slurping the stuff so fast that it was getting all over her, so when my turn came, I passed and let someone else go... (yes, princessy, I know..but eeeew!!). There was only one sad part- a poor girl who was missing a foot because she stepped on a landmine :(

Anyway it's getting late so I should get to bed, but here are a few pictures from today. Hope you're all doing well!

xoxo C

PS: (sorry Michael)- Have you seen the news about the hostage swapping with Pallestine/Israel/Lebanon? Although they say this is a step toward peace, I'm glad we're out of that area now...things sometimes have a way of turning nasty in a hurry there...