The Yacoub Ramblings v.2: Down the coast

One night we went down the street to meet my father's good friend from his school days, Nanda... One of the first times I've really seen pops with a serious drunken buzz going on. It was just a joy to observe the dynamics of he and his old school mates, a glimpse as to what life was like 50 years ago.

Another night we went out with for a nice Indian dinner with Maq Maama, Golnar Maami, Iqbal, and Shala.

Dinner with the Fam
(ummm... the waiter couldn't get the picture right,
so we obviously aren't too happy about it)

Wednesday night we went to the opening night of a week-long drum festival in Sri Lanka. They had drummers from all over the globe. We saw Kandian dancers, Iranian drummers, and a lively bunch from Cote D'Ivoire.

Kandian Drummers

Thursday we were up early and pop and I went for a drive down the coast with Ismeth Maama to view some of the tsunami devastation. I realize the insensitivity of viewing death and destruction as a tourist, but I don't know what to say. This is something that happened so recently that I wanted to see first hand what I'd been seeing in the news and reading about for months. Maybe wanted to see it to make the whole thing more real in my head... I don't know... I felt strange taking pictures of destruction, but felt I had to document the experience. It was disheartening to see first hand, but it was evident that people were busy rebuilding livilhoods and continuing with what they had to do... life went on...

Tsunami Devastation

Fishermen

Drove down the the city of Galle. Walked around a lovely Dutch (I think) church. Got a tour of a gorgeous renovated Amangalla hotel managed by one of Ismeth Maama's friends. The city was alive and kicking because there was a big volleyball tournament going on.