Mr. President!, annoyances, masks, and chocolate.

A little of a different tone to this post ... and, uh, not so edited as I just regurgitated my thoughts onto here in 20 minutes or so. 

Just got back from a 3.5 hour outing to check out Vesak in Colombo. It was super busy ... and it got me to my wits end (CSP-ers, my Sargeant’s Curve just dipped below the average).

As beautiful all the lights were, it was hard to be walking around alone. Mostly because I was sick and tired of boys and young men staring, saying “hello hello. Hello lady!” with some being rather obnoxious. Kids stare too, but I forgive them because the looks on their faces are usually ones of curiosity. However, one boy who was probably about 9 years old ran right up to me, cut me off, and started shouting and saying things in Sinhala with some English thrown in there somewhere. Then there was a older teenage boy who, wearing a mask (more on that later) who stopped and offered to shake my hand... probably as a dare from his friends. Mostly, there was just some hooting and hollering, but I’m getting tired of it. From what I know, it’s more pronounced because I’m a foreigner, but locals aren’t immune from it either. I've mostly been ignoring it but tonight, I found it hard to handle. And in general, I think males were just more rowdy than usual tonight doing things that I would find annoying even at home in Vancouver (you know, causing trouble, being loud/rude, etc. Yeesh, boys!). Mob mentality. 

So these masks ... it’s odd. I was reading an opinion paper online about how this Vesak celebration has kind of lost it’s real meaning which I related to how Easter and Christmas has lost some of it’s real meaning in the Western culture. Anyways, the paper pointed out that these masks are a new “tradition” that the younger generation have brought into the celebration. So I’m sure you’re wondering what masks ... think Halloween. Yup. Halloween costume masks. The most popular is the mask from Scream so you can imagine how odd it is that in celebrating the Buddha with all this fanfare and fancy lights there are people walking down the street with these masks on.

Oh, and then I guess you can say that I was in the right place at the right time, but I saw the President of Sri Lanka on the street I was walking down. He was making his very smiley grand entrance to what looked like a banquet for very important people on the street. I’ve said all along that I was going to avoid any political events, but I accidentally walked into this one! Needless to say, I then proceeded to be a little nervous and quickly continued to walk down the street away from the event. No photos as I was told while I was taking pictures of a lantern that photos were not allowed in the area (government buildings and such).

Later, there was an older Chinese man who was obviously a tourist as well wandering along the same street I was. I was so hoping he was Cantonese (even though he totally looked like a Mainlander) so I could have someone to walk with, but when he opened his mouth to speak, out came a bunch of Mandarin that I could not understand and could only reply “I only speak Cantonese. Gwong dong wah. Sorry.” I think we were both disappointed.

That moment, coupled with the ongoing unwanted attention, sent me to a bit of a dip in my mood. It made me realize as I was surrounded by families and people out with their friends (especially large groups of young males) I was really missing some familiarity and people to share this experience with. I would compare this to going to the Richmond Night Market alone ... except that you’re totally singled out because you look different. So to all my friends and family, I miss you guys!!!

So after walking over 4km  (I took a wrong turn along the way) I was done. I wanted to go home. My original plan was to walk back, but I couldn’t deal with any more people at that point. So there I am, standing on the side of the road of this uber busy intersection trying to flag down a tuk tuk because when I tried to call a cab, they told me it would be probably a 1.5 – 2 hour wait. I was standing by police which made me feel a bit better and we tried to chat when I asked if it was okay to ask a tuk tuk to stop in the no parking zone they had there. Communication barriers prevented us from having an actual conversation, but at least he understood what I was asking. Anyways, 15 minutes later one finally unloads some passengers and picks me up and whisks me home in the fastest tuk tuk ride I have ever had, traffic and all!

I’ve booked myself on a Colombo City Tour (and got the local rate! Go Residence Visa!) that is doing a special Vesak tour tomorrow night ... I think my experiences tonight will make me really appreciate the tour tomorrow as I’ll be on a bus and not have to fight the crowds!

Anyways, it’s now 11:45 ... just over an hour since I got back and I’m still not really in the mood to put some photos up so that will come later. I just needed to do a bit of venting! I’m likely going to start a Picasa album that I will link from here so you can see more photos than what I post within this blog. Well, good night!

PS: While I was writing this I was nibbling on a Whittaker’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Slab bar from New Zealand and I have to say it’s probably some of the BEST chocolate (with no dairy) that I have ever had along with their Dark Chocolate Caramel bar that I still have some of. I haven’t found anything close to it in Vancouver (and definitely not here in Sri Lanka) and am afraid will be desperately seeking it in the future!