Day 2: Our first day waking up at the Janoda Foundation Centre started on a high note, a breakfast of sri lankan fried egg, bread, butter and sri lankan fruit jam. Everybody loved it immensely.
After getting up and dressed into our uniform we got on the coach to the Tzu Chi National School. Upon arrival we were welcomed by our buddies with a selection of flowers and beetle leaves, which was a lovely moment for the entire team. We were led into a large classroom where two sri lankan students welcomed us with a speech. Different students presented small speeches about the following buddy project and the excitement that follows it.
Then, to our teams surprise we were asked to say a few words about our own school. As I was the team leader the teachers asked me to speak and as Alex is known as a good public speaker we decided he could help too. Following on from this we were shown into another classroom where they had prepared a variety of foods for us to eat, we all tried everything and the bananas were especially liked.
After spending some time chatting with our buddies we headed back to the centre, where we had lunch and prepared for the afternoon. Once we had changed, thankfully, the buddies arrived and we got stuck into some games, such as Jenga, and some sports like frisbee, cricket and tennis. We all enjoyed being able to bond with our buddies through games while playing something enjoyable and fun. Afterwards, we had down time and then we tidied up, which was much needed knowing us. The dinner was a lovely vegetable fried rice with spicy sauce and chicken. Once that was all eaten we had a final group meeting where a personal reward was given out, a coke to Madaline for her help and determination today.
Overall the day was exciting for everyone and meeting our buddies was a great experience. We are all missing home but so excited for our journey to continue.