I just returned from Arugam Bay, and although I went there for entirely selfish purposes, I could not help but be reminded of the stark contrast between their lives there and our lives here and how easy it is sometimes to forget that such a difference exists. Especially for us.
Travelling with those that may never have travelled to that part of Sri Lanka before, I was made aware of how ignorant people can become of what lies just outside their door. Do people not know, or do they choose to ignore? Living in Colombo, it is very easy to become like frogs in a well. But I was shocked at how shocked they were by the people in Pottuvil. Sure they stared at us. Sure they stole from us. They tried to cause trouble and ripped us off at any given opportunity. They behaved as though they didn’t want us there. But is their behaviour really so difficult to understand? Wouldn’t you stare if you lived in a situation where electricity was a fickle luxury that could disappear at any moment, and a bunch of people turned up in a tourist coach, wore bikinis and danced to weird music for two days straight? Wouldn’t you be angry and bitter if you had a hard life, and some people turned up in your village, and had a party?
Arugam Bay is not Hikkaduwa. It is still very much a village. And it is for this very reason that it is so great for us; because it is so pristine and untouched, and not commercialized like Hikkaduwa. But for many it is just a place called home.
It is this ignorance that I fear will be the downfall of Sri Lanka. This refusal of the educated and the elite to understand the lifestyle of the average Sri Lankan. To see that this life we live in Colombo is very, very different from the life of other Sri Lankans, and that we make up only a tiny minority.
Sometimes I am very, very afraid of how little we know, and how much we can so easily forget.
definitely a weekend to remember.
surf was very good to us during the day and the party rocked two nights.
we had a great time and we look forward to our next visit to Arugam Bay.
keep in touch,
Goofyfoot
true thats why next time they gonna jump the party ,
and make some damage be carefull ,pottuvil point
is not safe ,go to the bay for the party
I just returned from Arugam Bay, and although I went there for entirely selfish purposes, I could not help but be reminded of the stark contrast between their lives there and our lives here and how easy it is sometimes to forget that such a difference exists. Especially for us.
Travelling with those that may never have travelled to that part of Sri Lanka before, I was made aware of how ignorant people can become of what lies just outside their door. Do people not know, or do they choose to ignore? Living in Colombo, it is very easy to become like frogs in a well. But I was shocked at how shocked they were by the people in Pottuvil. Sure they stared at us. Sure they stole from us. They tried to cause trouble and ripped us off at any given opportunity. They behaved as though they didn’t want us there. But is their behaviour really so difficult to understand? Wouldn’t you stare if you lived in a situation where electricity was a fickle luxury that could disappear at any moment, and a bunch of people turned up in a tourist coach, wore bikinis and danced to weird music for two days straight? Wouldn’t you be angry and bitter if you had a hard life, and some people turned up in your village, and had a party?
Arugam Bay is not Hikkaduwa. It is still very much a village. And it is for this very reason that it is so great for us; because it is so pristine and untouched, and not commercialized like Hikkaduwa. But for many it is just a place called home.
It is this ignorance that I fear will be the downfall of Sri Lanka. This refusal of the educated and the elite to understand the lifestyle of the average Sri Lankan. To see that this life we live in Colombo is very, very different from the life of other Sri Lankans, and that we make up only a tiny minority.
Sometimes I am very, very afraid of how little we know, and how much we can so easily forget.
definitely a weekend to remember.
surf was very good to us during the day and the party rocked two nights.
we had a great time and we look forward to our next visit to Arugam Bay.
keep in touch,
Goofyfoot