With the time off I have on the weekends, I have had the chance to enjoy some of the beautiful beaches Sri Lanka has to offer. A few weekends ago, a group of us traveled down the west coast to a beach town called Hikkaduwa, for a little R'n'R. It was the first beach I had made it to here, and it was gorgeous. White sand that would burn the bottom of your feet, bright blue water, crazy hot sun and restaurants and little hotels like you wouldn't believe. The area was what I'd call a hipster Surfer's Paradise. Very touristy, mellow, fun, and cheerful. Unfortunately I learned the hard way what 'sensitivity to the sun' as a side effect to my malaria medication meant, as I turned a nice lobster shade of red, even though I was covered in sunscreen from head to toe. No more planned out sun bathing for me on this adventure! The group of us stayed in a little hotel called Hansa Surf that had a mix of people staying for the weekend and people who had been there for weeks, just bumming it on the beach.
This past weekend was Sinhalese New Year! Sri Lanka follows a regular calendar year but the New Year celebration, now, is really just holiday to take time off for celebration and time with family. We were given a 4-day long weekend, so most of the volunteers decided to take it off at the beach. Another 4:45AM wake up had me on Saturday morning, to get the good ol' 6AM train to Colombo. There were 6 of us traveling together, jumping from one train to another that took us from Colombo to Bentota, which is where we were spending 1 night on our way down to Mirissa (south coast of Sri Lanka). Sara, the general manager here at MEF, who happens to also have friends in high places, had invited all of us volunteers to a New Years party at the 5-star Eden Beach Resort and Spa, as he is friends with the Chairman/owner. Well, let's just say we had no idea what we were in for. We arrived to the resort, by Tuk Tuk, around 2PM, to be greeted by an army of staff and two beautiful ladies, ready to 'lei' us with Eden-branded elephant scarves. It appeared we were expected and were pointed in the direction to where Sara was sitting, in the giant, air-conditioned, fishbowl-like lobby, overlooking the inviting pool, chaise longues, swim-up bar and view of the beach.
The group of us were already acting like giddy children on Christmas (or just me on Christmas morning :) ) in aw over the place we found ourselves standing - a far cry from slinging elephant dung!
Sara escorted us down to one of the many restaurant/lounges on the property, where a table was waiting for us and we were introduced to a few of his friends and their families, including Ishara, the owner. They were all very welcoming, kind and interested to hear where we were from and how we were finding Sri Lanka so far. We were immediately asked for our drink orders, and out came plates of fries (that tasted like McDonald's) and delicious calamari. All prearranged by Sara who knew what we'd be looking for. After stuffing our faces, and I mean that in the classiest of ways of course, we were told to go off and enjoy the facilities! Lilly and I rushed off to the spa to get massages and the rest of the group enjoyed to the pool. An hour later we were all showering and getting ourselves ready for the evening as we had been asked to meet back in the lounge for 5:30.
Sara promptly met us at 5:30 and up we went to the 7th Heaven Rooftop Bar - stunning. Overlooking the whole hotel, the beach and the sunset. We were sat in a very comfortable group of lounge chairs and greeted again by the group we had met earlier. Out came a gentleman with a silver tray of champagne flutes....pop, fizz, clink, *cheers*! We were all still having a hard time processing all of this. Following the champagne (or not necessarily following, as it seemed the champagne bottles were bottomless all night) we were served a mix of Sri Lankan, Japanese and Italian hors d'oeuvres, which we finished up quite quickly. Once the sun had set, we were told it was almost time for dinner, and to head down to the beach. As we got closer to the beach, we could see white tents that were setup to cover a very extensive buffet, bar and just four 8-10 person tables (that's how small this party was). The buffet included fresh lobster, prawns, real salad (!!!), sushi, various grilled vegetables, soups and a table of desserts that I won't even get into, other than what I had - creme brulee, fried ice cream, pineapple, papaya, watermelon, petits fours, macaroons (too much?...nah). 
Throughout the night, at random times, we would be startled and then amazed by fireworks going off right in front of us. There was a dance floor, great music and a fairly epic bonfire with mats to sit on and space carved out to put your feet. By far the most elaborate beach party I had ever been to!
The following day, we had been invited back to use the pool, etc. so we spent the afternoon there before jumping on our train headed for magnificent Mirissa.
HONEST THOUGHT...
It was very interesting meeting the friends of Sara's and their families. They were obviously quite wealthy, which is very different than families I have seen or met so far here, 'showingly' had nice things and the women didn't follow the normal 'rules' when it came to attire. Which may or may not have been because we were in the confines of the resort. They were all very polite, sweet and gentle with their children, and spoke only English to the kids. The families were slightly mixed - all men being Sri Lankan, while one wife was British, one Chinese and one Sri Lankan. By the sounds of things, they had lived all over the world - Australia, England, Japan (it's quite amazing how much we learned about Ishara, so quickly). It was almost like a slightly more 'westernized' scene than what I had been experiencing the last few weeks. The evening went a little differently, unfortunately. It was quickly realized/understood that this wasn't all for nothing. That in fact, to put it bluntly, we were the group of white girls (excluding the 3 guys with us) that were there to dance, more specifically, with these 'VIP' men. As the night wore on, we would be politely asked and then told or physically pulled, to go dance, and be matched up, at which point all 11 of us would jump up to head to the dance floor together, so to not leave anyone hanging. What made the situation stranger was that all of their families and wives were there, too. It dampened the night somewhat, as we were unable to really just relax, dance because we wanted to, or feel totally comfortable. It was behavior none of us were really used to, which is just another thing I know I will be learning about as I go along - different behaviors and cultures. After a very long afternoon, Chloe and I graciously excused ourselves at 10 to head back to our humble guesthouse where we were spending the night, with the rest of the group not too far behind us.
XOXO Nicky
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