Adventure Day 1 : Going
Dear anyone who is reading this,
First off I am not sure how often I will be posting. I will decide that after I get to Sri Lanka. My hope is that I will write every day and post once a week with pictures, but realistically it will probably be every other week (I won't have the greatest access to wi-fi) I will also attach my photo library once I make one (either on Flicker or Some other photo-sharing site. If you have suggestions, please feel free to post them below).
Thank you to all my friends/family who have supported me hitherto. I love you all so much.
Best,
~Eboni White
Day 1: Going
Fun Facts that I learned the Hard Way: Go with your gut. Pack light, and DON'T wait to pack till the night before! See I went out till 4 am with friends and then came home crashed and then tried to pack. Then a different groups of friends came over that night to say bye. They stayed till almost midnight I stayed up till 2 am then woke up at 5:30 am.
My paternal Grandmother, Grandfather, my brother, Mom, Dad and myself all crammed into a Tourag Volkswagen to drive to Chicago. My mom was literally hiding/riding in the trunk with the luggage. After a long hot day in Millennium park, and discovering that Baskin Robins has TERRIBLE frozen strawberry lemonade, we left for the airport.
My brother has down syndrome (this is something you will want to remember since I will inevitably talk about my brother again). Up until I got down from the car, he was fine. But when we pulled into the drop off loop of the airport he copped an attitude. He was angry and upset. He didn't want me to leave, and refused to give me a hug or even say bye. He does that every time. I kissed my grandparents and then hugged my dad. He squeezed me so tight I thought I might burst. He was crying. He was more worried than he ever let on. My mom went in with me to make sure the luggage was all set. It was good thing too since apparently I can only bring one carry-on bag or a personal item. I always thought it was both. So now I have 15kg of extra stuff that I need to make disappear. (Should have packed lighter.) I ended up getting out of line to repack my things 3 different times. The guy felt bad for us. He said to go to the side and repack. I did excess luggage and added everything to the big blue suitcase. We weighed the black suitcase and it came out at 23kg (50ibs). The blue one came out to 37kg, excess luggage is 32kg. After cramming what ever else would fit into backpack we moved 2 kg into the black suitcase. Honestly it was a mess and we still ended up being over weight, but the clerk weighing our bags lied and said it was lighter. So I paid the $75 for the excess luggage and got my boarding past. It was really nice of him to lie on my behalf. I'm always impressed when people do those small acts of kindness that could also get them in trouble. Its a risk for them and they still help you. Thus I am extremely grateful to the man who helped me with my luggage. I hugged my mom and went to security.
It's funny how parents show you they love you and are worried about you. For my mom its planning and obsessing about all the details. Asking me what time my flight it 5 times a day or worrying about how many charging converters I have. What she is really saying is, I love you. My dad is calmer. Checks in often, and will cry.
I was anxious to go though. The city that birthed and raised me was more a place to remember than a place to go. Being there I realized I wasn't the wide-eyed girl who left. That home wasn't my home any more. I had out grown it.
Why Sri Lanka, What I am doing, And where:
Why? why am I going to Sri Lanka? Why do I want the fellowship/what am I hoping to gain?
I am doing this because I needed time and space to grow. I needed to learn how to understand the chaos inside of myself, learn how to hear myself, learn how to be myself and above all how to trust myself. But how can I do that with out knowing about half of me? So it had to be Sri Lanka.
I chose martial arts because its taps into a side of myself. Its ordered chaos, deliberate, powerful and instinctual. I am studying Angampora. I will be learning from an older guru who is about 78yrs old. I will also be learning Sinhalese and I'm not sure what else. I honestly have very little figured out and I'm very okay with that.
I know I'm going to be living in Kandy, the cultural center of Sri Lanka for part of the time, and the other half of the time I will be in Maharagama/Nugegoda area. These regions are near the capitol. Low key I sort of want to learn fire dancing while I'm in Kandy. I'm thinking 4 days a week in Kandy and 3 or more in Nugegoda. I will also probably visit Galle (a tourist port city).
For now I think that's everything. Look up my name on Flickr for pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142506689@N05
First off I am not sure how often I will be posting. I will decide that after I get to Sri Lanka. My hope is that I will write every day and post once a week with pictures, but realistically it will probably be every other week (I won't have the greatest access to wi-fi) I will also attach my photo library once I make one (either on Flicker or Some other photo-sharing site. If you have suggestions, please feel free to post them below).
Thank you to all my friends/family who have supported me hitherto. I love you all so much.
Best,
~Eboni White
Day 1: Going
Fun Facts that I learned the Hard Way: Go with your gut. Pack light, and DON'T wait to pack till the night before! See I went out till 4 am with friends and then came home crashed and then tried to pack. Then a different groups of friends came over that night to say bye. They stayed till almost midnight I stayed up till 2 am then woke up at 5:30 am.
My paternal Grandmother, Grandfather, my brother, Mom, Dad and myself all crammed into a Tourag Volkswagen to drive to Chicago. My mom was literally hiding/riding in the trunk with the luggage. After a long hot day in Millennium park, and discovering that Baskin Robins has TERRIBLE frozen strawberry lemonade, we left for the airport.
My brother has down syndrome (this is something you will want to remember since I will inevitably talk about my brother again). Up until I got down from the car, he was fine. But when we pulled into the drop off loop of the airport he copped an attitude. He was angry and upset. He didn't want me to leave, and refused to give me a hug or even say bye. He does that every time. I kissed my grandparents and then hugged my dad. He squeezed me so tight I thought I might burst. He was crying. He was more worried than he ever let on. My mom went in with me to make sure the luggage was all set. It was good thing too since apparently I can only bring one carry-on bag or a personal item. I always thought it was both. So now I have 15kg of extra stuff that I need to make disappear. (Should have packed lighter.) I ended up getting out of line to repack my things 3 different times. The guy felt bad for us. He said to go to the side and repack. I did excess luggage and added everything to the big blue suitcase. We weighed the black suitcase and it came out at 23kg (50ibs). The blue one came out to 37kg, excess luggage is 32kg. After cramming what ever else would fit into backpack we moved 2 kg into the black suitcase. Honestly it was a mess and we still ended up being over weight, but the clerk weighing our bags lied and said it was lighter. So I paid the $75 for the excess luggage and got my boarding past. It was really nice of him to lie on my behalf. I'm always impressed when people do those small acts of kindness that could also get them in trouble. Its a risk for them and they still help you. Thus I am extremely grateful to the man who helped me with my luggage. I hugged my mom and went to security.
It's funny how parents show you they love you and are worried about you. For my mom its planning and obsessing about all the details. Asking me what time my flight it 5 times a day or worrying about how many charging converters I have. What she is really saying is, I love you. My dad is calmer. Checks in often, and will cry.
I was anxious to go though. The city that birthed and raised me was more a place to remember than a place to go. Being there I realized I wasn't the wide-eyed girl who left. That home wasn't my home any more. I had out grown it.
Why Sri Lanka, What I am doing, And where:
Why? why am I going to Sri Lanka? Why do I want the fellowship/what am I hoping to gain?
I am doing this because I needed time and space to grow. I needed to learn how to understand the chaos inside of myself, learn how to hear myself, learn how to be myself and above all how to trust myself. But how can I do that with out knowing about half of me? So it had to be Sri Lanka.
I chose martial arts because its taps into a side of myself. Its ordered chaos, deliberate, powerful and instinctual. I am studying Angampora. I will be learning from an older guru who is about 78yrs old. I will also be learning Sinhalese and I'm not sure what else. I honestly have very little figured out and I'm very okay with that.
I know I'm going to be living in Kandy, the cultural center of Sri Lanka for part of the time, and the other half of the time I will be in Maharagama/Nugegoda area. These regions are near the capitol. Low key I sort of want to learn fire dancing while I'm in Kandy. I'm thinking 4 days a week in Kandy and 3 or more in Nugegoda. I will also probably visit Galle (a tourist port city).
For now I think that's everything. Look up my name on Flickr for pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142506689@N05
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