Arrival

Day 1

After what became an almost 24 hour long journey from Manchester to Sri Lanka, after a delayed flight and a missed connection, I've finally arrived at Colombo. I was met at the airport by two Travelteer reps and another volunteer, Annabelle, who'd also arrived that day. Annabelle and I got to know each other during the journey south to Hikkadwua, where we'd be staying for the coming weeks at the Travelteer guesthouse. We quickly discovered we had a lot in common, including our university and our degrees! We watched our driver weave through the madness of Sri Lankan roads, which was both mesmerising and terrifying, until we finally reached our new home.

We were greeted at the guesthouse by co-ordinators Fraser, Trish and Leo, as well as fellow volunteers Becca and Amy. Annabella and myself had arrived at a quiet time at the guesthouse, as we were the only new arrivals this week. The others had been here for months at least, and so we were in capable hands when it came to showing us the ropes. The guesthouse appeared to be fairly relaxed at the moment, due to the small number of us who happened to be here this week, and so this told us that the rest of this week will be of a slightly relaxed, too. It was a nice and welcoming atmosphere, and so we got the chance to get to know the rest of the group quite well and quite quickly. It didn't take us long to feel at home.

We headed out for dinner at our first experience of Sri Lankan restaurants (which, of course, always have the option of pizza thankfully!) before shortly crashing out in our beds for our first night. I'm feeling ready to get stuck in to what I'm here to do - after a good night's sleep that is...