Monday 18th to Monday 25th February;

Right, where shall I start?! It was a long long week, as we stayed at the school at the weekend (21st-24th) and we had to get up at 4am as well. The school was involved in two sporting events, so we decided to stay and help out and it was absolutely fantastic! We got know the students better, and finally can refer to them by their sign names!

We went to Colombo, the school was involved in Para National Games. There were two other Deaf schools, and most of the participants were ex-soldiers, who were injured. The event was three days long. The Opening Ceremony was great; there were fireworks, drums, dancing and flags. Lien and I felt really proud of our school, it was amazing how attached we felt, just after a couple of weeks. I am not sure if I can just leave, it will be hard but ah well, I still have few weeks left, so I am just going to enjoy every minute of it! Anyway, one of the six Deaf volunteers, Samuel, was teaching at one of the two other schools, so it was great seeing him and catch up, sharing stories. We also met his students, we can see that they sign a bit different to ours. His students were just as lovely as ours...maybe mine are a bit better :p I am biased, hah! Rivalry kicked in, as we cheered on our schools. My school was gobsmacked at how 'fast' Samuel signs, I thought it was normal, it was just typical of Samuel, but the students thought he was weird. It was funny, the way they came to us, going like 'what?! His hands were everywhere and so on.' It was great for them to see Samuel, especially the boys. He is definitely a good role model and the students at his school adore him. Anyway, back to sports, there were many different events, such as 100m, shot putt and so on. Er, it was really good and some of our students won medals :) and there was also a Closing Ceremony, there were dancing, drums and singing again. The school signed Sri Lanka's national anthem, it was beautiful! I will try and find a video, and put it on here :) On Sunday, we went to a different sporting event, it was also in Colombo, so another early start. We were the only Deaf school, there were about 12 schools in total, I think. It was similar to the Para National Games, but we also had to build a 'home' and it was so cool, seeing different ideas. One had an elephant as its entrance, another was a web, a home to spiders. Ours was yellow and covered in glitter and leaves. I didn't get a chance to take a picture, the battery was low! Gutted, but ah well. But again it was a brilliant day, our school didn't do as well as they did in Para National Games, who could blame them?! Four days of waking up at 4am and running, doing shot putt and so on, they were absolutely knackered. The students did a march, the outfits were beautiful and some had music instruments as well. I have a couple of pictures of this. Another thing is the journeys to Colombo and back, some children had to stand, as the bus was small, they swapped seats every half an hour or so. I offered the students my seat, they were like no, no, you are white, sit down! Hah, just because I am white. I insisted that they can take my seat, it took a while but they finally agreed. However they looked really uncomfortable, because I was standing. Amazing how they really looks up to us. Like if they are playing, I would watch and they would make sure that I have a chair. Absolutely big respect to them, they have made my stay so much better, they are always there if I need anything :)

It was my birthday on 25th February, and I am 20 now! Gulps, hah, only a year older, I know but somehow, I feel like '20, woah! I am in my twenties now'. Anyway...yes, it was my birthday and it was a bank holiday as well, so no school. Lien told the students that it was my birthday, but they didn't really say happy birthday or anything, they were like oh, ok, which was weird. But I remember Sophie saying that in Sri Lanka, if it's your birthday, you have to give out cake. And she was correct, one of the students did ask where was the cake. It was Bank Holiday, the shops were closed, so I went to the shops the next day and got three cakes, for the whole school. And the reaction was completely different!! Saying happy birthday, shaking hands, people standing up to receive the cake. Wow!! It was really lovely.

Anyway, we visited the boys' dorm, it was different, bigger and they have a TV! The girls don't have one. The boys were smug about this! Hah! Anyway, one of the boys decided to climb up a tree and got Lien and I some fruits, and boy, they were delicious!! He said he will give us some more in April to take home. How cute is that?! Haha!
It was a lovely birthday, a lot of laughters and...just lovely! :) it made me appreciate small things more.

And folks, thank you for the birthday wishes <3