Weydon T2 – visiting temples and buddies homes

Friday 31st July
This glorious day was started off by the cheers of excitement from Teams 2+3 as we set off towards ‘The Rock Buddhist Temple’ sporting our angelic white linen trousers and shirts. The visit was very interesting (and like all good stories) opened with a painfully slow and bumpy ascent into the dusty hills of Hambantota. We entered the crowded temple in pairs and took a seat on the floor in front of the High Priest and 2nd High Priest. We were welcomed very kindly and the service continued. We then each offered a white cloth to each of the monks and High Priests and left to explore the rest of the temple grounds. At the top of the tallest hill there was a stupa and a very large statue of Buddha. After a few boyband style pictures we wandered down and had an additional service in which we were wished good luck with our exams and a happy life (along with a little bracelet).
We arrived back at the Janoda Foundation for roughly 11am and had a spot of lunch, of course the standard rice and veg. We all then set off to the local orphanage to talk and play with the children (Aged 4-14). The impact of seeing how lucky we are, even in a lower standard of life in Britain compared to the orphans here in Sri Lanka, is humbling.
It was then time for the second temple visit of our day, this time with our Tzu-Chi School buddies! We were greeted at the doors with flowers wrapped in a banana leaf as an offering to Buddha, we placed these in front of the many statues around the grounds and also lit incense given to us by our buddies. It was lovely to watch the full moon come up over the temple.
After the emotional() departure from our buddies, we settled In back at the foundation for a chilled evening (AND DON’T FORGET THE RICE).
In the Team 2 evening meeting it was declared that the team heroine(s) of the day were Maddie Kilpatrick and Anne Hammond for their loving attitudes and care towards the children at the orphanage.
Thanks for reading! Lots of love to everyone at home,
Austen ☺️ xxx (Hi Mum! A welcoming Full English would be great )

Saturday 1st August
The first Day of August and we get to wake up to the sheer heat of Sri Lanka. Both teams were buzzing as today was the day we went to our buddies houses to meet the families. Not gonna lie, I think everyone was a bit nervous!! Amelia’s buddy Paba, offered us all lunch at 12, only team 2, to enjoy the many traditional Sri Lankan foods. We got to her lovely house and settled with our buddies and some of their parents. Paba wanted to wish Amelia a happy birthday as Ameilas birthday was “close” (a month ) to when we set off, we didn’t mind though as we all got the nicest cake EVER! We then ate (with our fingers to be traditional) and we had curry, spice balls (?), tuna, chicken and the nicest popadoms plus we got coke so I was especially happy, along with everyone else! We then all listened to Ellie’s buddy sing an English song which was very brave of her, and then to return the favour, our whole team sang them let it go from Frozen. WHAT A CLASSIC. Let’s not forget the buffalo curd with treacle that we all got to try. It was lovely,but let’s say there were varied opinions! We then said goodbye and headed back to the centre so we could be grouped into who goes to whose buddies house, which ended up being very confusing! We all set off to our buddies houses with mixed emotions. The house I went to, was very welcoming. The whole family, literally, came just to meet me, it was very overwhelming but eventually you settle in, we got fed so much fruit it was untrue! We had to drink a whole coconut as well because if you don’t finish your food or drink they can sometimes get offended so I was absolutely stuffed! They gave everyone lots of gifts to take home and photos. Everyone came home buzzing from this surreal experience and they all seemed to have lots of fun. Another highlight was that most of our project work was finished, or near to being finished, which was very relieving as we didn’t think we would finish it! The vegetable patch is finished, the reading wall is near to complete, the reading area is nearly done along with the globe and hopscotch. We also got a visit from the local buffalos, who invaded our garden, which was rather surreal. The evening was also lovely as some of the buddies stayed and did the most beautiful henna on the girls, which we all absolutely loved and appreciated! In the evening, the centre then set something up called a ‘culture shock’, where we all sat outside to watch a show. Amazingly, Karu’s brother organised a drummer and a traditional fire dancer to perform for us with a very scary mask on! We were shocked for sure. The drummer then set a beat for Joe (team 3) and Charlie to do some traditional dancing, when Buddhi and Tuamanda decided to join in. It was hilarious! Then as a finale a fire eater came out and performed the most amazing fire ticks and fire breathing we have ever seen. An amazing end to an amazing day.
Lots of love Polly ( and James who wishes for his family to bring Dave to the airport) and team 2, we will be seeing you very soon! (hi mum and dad, I am looking forward to seeing you, however I am more excited to see the bacon roll, maybe a dominos or even a Chinese upon arrival in England by the way, love you lots ❤️) byee xx