Chad is arriving in 26 hours ... and then we set off on a two week trip through parts of Sri Lanka and then to the Maldives. Life has been pretty all over the place (literally), but I will most certainly have an update after the Commonwealth Games 2018 host city is announced! In case you don't know, Hambantota on the south coast of Sri Lanka is competing against the Gold Cost in Australia. I honestly can't tell you who is going to win and who I want to win because like so many others, I keep flip flopping on the pros and cons. I don't envy the CGAs who have to make a decision on who to vote for!
Back to the adventure ...
So from the Isle of Man we left to go to London, met up with two other CSOs, Wendy (Uganda) and Natalie (Falkland Islands) and spent a night in disappointing 2 star "hotel" in a dingy basement triple room that smelled musty. The company was great though, we had a nice walk around in Covent Garden, and we were thoroughly excited for Cayman Islands!
We flew via Miami and reach Cayman on the evening of the 15th September. Greeted by all the CSOs we were relieved to find beautiful rooms at the Grand Cayamanian Resort and being in the company of familiar faces. Being exhausted, I hit the bed pretty early after dinner so to be ready for the next day!
Despite what some might think, we were in the boardroom from 9 - 5 everyday with the exception of one day ... where we made an afternoon trip to 7 mile beach (SO SO goregous!) I wish I had photos - I forgot my camera that day. :( Needless to say it was relaxing and really enjoyable. Jennie (CSP coordinator) did some one on one meetings, including mine, in the water. Now that is what I call an effective meeting! Aside from that, quite a bit of time was spent in the morning and evenings by and around the pool as the ocean off this resort had jellies in the water. We only learned after Nat and Jennie got stung!
We also met up with the Cayman Hash House Harriers who were an extremely hospitable group and made us feel so welcome! It was a "Hash Bash" meaning they had met some major milestone (in this case, the 1750th hash in the history of the club). The challenge that day was that it was a short run/walk (4km) but every km they had stopping points where participants, if they chose to participate, had to down a beer at each stopping point. Hearing from those who tried it, it was tough!
Anyhow, our midterm training in Cayman was incredibly rewarding. There was a lot of self-discovery through a lot of the nervous and anxious energy I was harbouring. I got some reassurances with what I was doing is in a positive direction and a much needed injection of self-confidence. We worked more on our cross cultural skills, problem solving, assessing our personal and professional progress, as well as evaluating the program thus far. We also did some work on principled negotiation ... I really need to work on that!
It was really hard to leave this group to come back to Sri Lanka. Not that I don't like Sri Lanka, but when you are with people who you are close to and love it's hard to leave them. I had spent the last month with some of the closest friends I have from meeting Linda in India, travelling with Paddye through Ireland and the UK, spending time with Wendy and Nat, then with the awesome CSOs in Cayman Islands. Additionally, for three weeks I had let my guard down and didn't have to deal with the constant questions of whether I needed a taxi, where I'm from, what I'm doing, or the staring. As much as those things don't really bug me, I am consistently in a heightened state of alertness which is a bit tiring and exhausting! This was a really foreign feeling from the first time I left Vancouver. The difference I think was that I didn't have a benchmark of what it would feel like living alone, away from home, for an extended period of time. My trip back to home away from home felt like I was missing something ... but it wasn't long until I got back into my routine and things felt better again.
With that I conclude my Grand Adventure. I did spend one more day (12hr layover) in London on my return trip from Cayman back to Sri Lanka where I wandered around the Museum of Natural History (really cool place!) and Oxford Street. Photos will be on Facebook, eventually!
I also want to take this chance to thank my readers. I know many of you are reading this to just see what I'm up to, but I am also getting hits from some countries I wouldn't expect - particularly on my posts for the Kandy Esala Perhera and my stakeholder map! I also want to say that if you are one of those people who have ended up at my blog because you are searching for an image or information on travelling (or whatever else I have written about), please don't hesitate to send me a message/email if you have any questions!
Back to the adventure ...
So from the Isle of Man we left to go to London, met up with two other CSOs, Wendy (Uganda) and Natalie (Falkland Islands) and spent a night in disappointing 2 star "hotel" in a dingy basement triple room that smelled musty. The company was great though, we had a nice walk around in Covent Garden, and we were thoroughly excited for Cayman Islands!
We flew via Miami and reach Cayman on the evening of the 15th September. Greeted by all the CSOs we were relieved to find beautiful rooms at the Grand Cayamanian Resort and being in the company of familiar faces. Being exhausted, I hit the bed pretty early after dinner so to be ready for the next day!
Despite what some might think, we were in the boardroom from 9 - 5 everyday with the exception of one day ... where we made an afternoon trip to 7 mile beach (SO SO goregous!) I wish I had photos - I forgot my camera that day. :( Needless to say it was relaxing and really enjoyable. Jennie (CSP coordinator) did some one on one meetings, including mine, in the water. Now that is what I call an effective meeting! Aside from that, quite a bit of time was spent in the morning and evenings by and around the pool as the ocean off this resort had jellies in the water. We only learned after Nat and Jennie got stung!
We also met up with the Cayman Hash House Harriers who were an extremely hospitable group and made us feel so welcome! It was a "Hash Bash" meaning they had met some major milestone (in this case, the 1750th hash in the history of the club). The challenge that day was that it was a short run/walk (4km) but every km they had stopping points where participants, if they chose to participate, had to down a beer at each stopping point. Hearing from those who tried it, it was tough!
Anyhow, our midterm training in Cayman was incredibly rewarding. There was a lot of self-discovery through a lot of the nervous and anxious energy I was harbouring. I got some reassurances with what I was doing is in a positive direction and a much needed injection of self-confidence. We worked more on our cross cultural skills, problem solving, assessing our personal and professional progress, as well as evaluating the program thus far. We also did some work on principled negotiation ... I really need to work on that!
It was really hard to leave this group to come back to Sri Lanka. Not that I don't like Sri Lanka, but when you are with people who you are close to and love it's hard to leave them. I had spent the last month with some of the closest friends I have from meeting Linda in India, travelling with Paddye through Ireland and the UK, spending time with Wendy and Nat, then with the awesome CSOs in Cayman Islands. Additionally, for three weeks I had let my guard down and didn't have to deal with the constant questions of whether I needed a taxi, where I'm from, what I'm doing, or the staring. As much as those things don't really bug me, I am consistently in a heightened state of alertness which is a bit tiring and exhausting! This was a really foreign feeling from the first time I left Vancouver. The difference I think was that I didn't have a benchmark of what it would feel like living alone, away from home, for an extended period of time. My trip back to home away from home felt like I was missing something ... but it wasn't long until I got back into my routine and things felt better again.
With that I conclude my Grand Adventure. I did spend one more day (12hr layover) in London on my return trip from Cayman back to Sri Lanka where I wandered around the Museum of Natural History (really cool place!) and Oxford Street. Photos will be on Facebook, eventually!
I also want to take this chance to thank my readers. I know many of you are reading this to just see what I'm up to, but I am also getting hits from some countries I wouldn't expect - particularly on my posts for the Kandy Esala Perhera and my stakeholder map! I also want to say that if you are one of those people who have ended up at my blog because you are searching for an image or information on travelling (or whatever else I have written about), please don't hesitate to send me a message/email if you have any questions!
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