through my eyes » Sri Lanka

(Coaching) Rugby in Sri Lanka

IAmBritsky — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 02:39:05 +0000

I came to Sri Lanka with a desire to see and learn about the culture of the country and be able to shed my identity as just another tourist. Since Sri Lanka is a former British colony, rugby is pretty popular. I decided that the best way to do that would be to connect with local rugby players, to get to meet people with whom I’d have something in common. I just happened to get way more than I bargained for!

From the first morning in Sri Lanka, I started asking around. “Do you play rugby?”, “Do you know anyone who plays rugby?”, etc. On my first train ride to Kandy for the Perahera festival, I found out that there was apparently a mens game the following day, but my informant didn’t have many other details. I went on with my travels, keeping my goal of finding rugby in the forefront of my interactions. When I was looking for a hotel in town, I asked the man at one of the first I visited if he had any connection to rugby. He had a slightly confused look on his face, wondering why I might be interested, but after I shared that I actually was a rugby player and actually did coach in the US, then we started chatting. Not only did he help me figure out when the game was, but he actually took me to the game and got me VIP access to watch!

I also noticed the fliers around town:

The day of the game, my new rugby friend took me to the Kandy sports center, where we got to watch the game:

And from the pavillion, we watched the action (please ignore my screaming!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSO8ZZMU4oE

And some more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vryGdJWBowY

And an amazing try scored by Kandy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kTZF6epPD4

After a fun game, Kandy was victorious! (They are the best team in Sri Lanka and have been nearly undefeated for the last 5 or so years) And the crowd stormed the field:

It felt great to be back in the rugby world, having been sidelined since I broke my finger, then traveling, I had taken too many months off.

After the game, I met their South African coach and he invited me to a practice a few days later. I was excited for the opportunity to watch and learn, but after a phone conversation beforehand, I realized he was expecting a bit more than an observer… he invited me to guest-coach! I figured I’d just be running a short activity. However, when I showed up two days later, he asked what I was planning to do. “Excuse me?” I asked. I quickly realized, he was putting the entire practice in my hands. We discussed things a few minutes, then he left to sit on the bleachers and it was up to me. Their coach had simply told the men that they had a “surprise” that evening, not that I was coaching. Needless to say, when I came out in front of the crowd, they were rather confused.

After some good wrestling warm ups, contact drills, and even a brief introduction to American football, we made it through the 2 hours. The guys were hard-working and respectful, and made it a lot of fun.

Here’s a photo after the practice I coached:

Here’s a picture of the full team on a billboard in the stadium:

After my coaching debut, I still came back and watched another practice and started training with the guys during the day to help me prepare for my upcoming season. My whole rugby experience from start to finish was a unique way to have a cultural exchange, and was the source of a few who became my Sri Lankan friends. I will definitely stay in touch with the team, and hope to have more opportunities to meet and work together in the future!

The Land of the Elephants

IAmBritsky — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:35:24 +0000

I’ve managed to find myself in a place where seeing elephants is no big deal. I’ve found myself in conversations with my new Sri Lankan friends where the topic of conversation is “that time he got kicked in the head by an elephant” or discussing what one must do when being charged by a wild elephant. It’s in moments like these that I really get a reality check that I’m in a foreign country.

There have been at least three occasions where I’ve turned a corner and an elephant has been there. Thankfully, these were all in or around a temple and obviously trained, so I wasn’t thinking of needing to evade stampeding elephant feet. However, I’d never been so up close to one before this trip.

In the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, they house elephants there as it’s the base for the Perahera festival. The temple itself has a casket that contains a tooth from when Buddha was cremated, and is considered a big Buddhist relic. As I’ve come to understand it, elephants are holy to Buddhists, hence having them at one of the more important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

When I visited the temple, people were paying 100 rupees (the equivalent of a dollar), to be blessed by the elephant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-SJlUvhtA

I saw many a kid approach the elephant, and run away in tears, but most people just let themselves be led around before tapping their head on the elephant’s body. As for me, I watched from the sidelines.

After a while, the elephant was led away, and I followed thinking how silly it was to share the street with the ginormous creature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzL10YstxxY

As the Perahera parade was dwindling down, I also caught glimpses of elephants being led down the street in one lane, cars driving back on the other. (the elephants are in the left lane, wearing the red and gold cloth)

I even saw elephants being hauled in trucks.

My Sri Lankan friends definitely laugh at my excitement over elephants, but it’s not every day you see an elephant strutting down the streets of DC!

Perahera Festival

IAmBritsky — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:25:40 +0000

I arrived in Sri Lanka on August 12, and after a quick night in Colombo, I was on an early morning train destined for Kandy. I boarded the rickety, old train (which was awesome), and squished up against my fellow passengers. Since I was arriving for the last night of the parades, which is coincidentally the most popular, transportation was quite cozy. 4 hours of standing later, I arrived in Kandy.

I had heard of the Esala Perahera festival from my research on Sri Lanka, and I was curious to see what this 2-week Buddhist holiday had to offer. That night, I joined my friends I met on the train to squirm our way through the crowds to try to get a glimpse of the elephants, fire dancers and drummers. The streets were jammed with Sri Lankans and a few foreigners, but most people planned ahead and bought seats close to the road. But as I’m sure you can imagine, I did not plan ahead, so I got to join the mass of people craning their necks on their tippy toes, which was still a cultural experience. I got a glimpse of some of the action too.
The elephants were dressed with lights:

And the Temple of the Tooth, where the relic of Buddha’s tooth is houses, was lit up on the main lake in Kandy:

After a while, we lost steam and called it a night, but thankfully, the next day was the ending procession and I was able to get a much better glimpse of the action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAHSHo3S9Zg

The most jaw-dropping was the dancers who were being pulled by ropes that were attached through metal hooks in their backs. I had never seen anything like it.

Here’s about a minute and a half of the parade, including these dancers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1IA8-TSHGU

I was grateful for the opportunity to see the festival. It was fascinating and elaborate, and an awesome glimpse into real Sri Lankan Buddhist culture.

For more information on the Esala Perahera festival, you can read about it on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esala_Perahera