A few days into the trip....

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of blogging action these last few days. Not only have we had a manic, but incredible start to our adventure, but internet/ computer access hasn't always been easy for us.

But, we are all here, all safe, all really really enjoying ourselves and just blown-away by the amazing hospitality of not only our hosts, but pretty much everyone we meet on the way.

We are currently in Colombo, the countries capital city. It has such a rich and diverse history and we only feel we are scratching the surface of it and there is so much still to discover - and we hope we are able to explore a little more!

So far, the whole group have given four of our presentations to various Rotary clubs across the city. The first one we gave to our host club who have been so kind in arranging and organising this side of the visit. The talks have all seemed to have gone down really well - but we still have many more to go and we hope the jokes last the distance!

As far as the vocational visits have gone, we are all learning so much about this country and our areas of work.

I've so far been to a television studio, radio station, a few SL newspapers, daily and weekly, along with a really exciting e edition newsroom. From this visit I've also been invited to give a presentation about social media, and using Facebook, video and twitter as a newspaper journalist. What an amazing opportunity to share our ideas and work practices between countries and cultures. I also found out about SL's college for training journalists, and met some of the young budding writers this country will soon have and was impressed at how the college is working hard to create a standard of practice among the newspapers, just as we have in the UK. I have made sure I took along my brilliant Flip camera to some of these visits, and so when I get the chance, will be editing and uploading them.

Today was our first day off since we arrived last Sunday and we were all so happy to have a bit of time to find our feet, have a small lie-in, and then go and enjoy what the city has to offer - so three of us went to a Spa, and I visited a gym. John went to Galle in the south of the county to see a hospital building the Rotary Club helped re-build following the countries devastating Tsunami. So hopefully we will find out more about that soon.

This evening our hosts took us to a sailing club where we enjoyed a BBQ, music and some amazing company, and also took a ride on a boat. Again, how we have been welcomed into the country and the Sri Lankan lives has been incredible.

We are finding it easier to get onto Facebook sometimes as we have our phones on us, so make sure you check out the now open group page, also called The Sri Lankan Diaries - so please follow us on there too! We will try and put some pics on it soon too!


Claire