After monitoring the situation in Sri Lanka over the past six months, and having contacted my host brother, Deshan, Deb and I decided to head down for a week long visit to the land of serendipity.
The war is effectively over, as the LTTE has been squarely defeated and Prabhakran killed. I will only say that if the killing has truly stopped, I am glad, but as in every war, there is no innocence.
Returning to a place that I love has filled me with nostalgia. I have again been humbled by the beauty and generous spirit of the Sri Lankan people. It feels a little bit like returning home.
Deb and I went directly from the airport to my host families house in Kiribathkumbura, about a three hour bus ride. Walking up to the front door, eyes alight and weighed down by our bags, I yelled, "Deshan! Amma!", and after half a minute began to hear the shuffling of footsteps from within. Deshan opened the door with his arms out, calling back, "Amma, Paul has come!"
Returning conjures complex emotions. Time has passed, six years, and slight changes permeate. Hair styles, furniture, a new building next door. Confronted with both the constancy and change of returning, I am thankful.
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