Sri Lanka Entry 4: GALLE LIT FEST 2

Posted on February 1, 2012 by admin

As always I’m delayed in blogging, but never the less I do promise you a compelling read. The previous blog covered the start of the whole adventure, but the rest of the Galle lit fest was so intense that writing about is like stringing a blur.
I just found out that the Galle Fort it self is an actual functioning fort even though it was built ages ago, and it’s walls withstood the last tsunami. There is almost no two identical buildings here, and what would seem like a not noteworthy narrow house would open up to a lavish stretched out living area, and a small manicured garden in the back.

The first walk through the fort revealed a world full of colleges, muslim cafes with delicious Rotis, and plenty of stray dogs and cats. The dogs here seem very disheartened with the human surrounding, as if its our world that they are cursed with dealing with; they go about their daily business with sad eyes, and some love any attention you give them. They effortlessly cross the road amidst traffic, and almost everywhere where you find shade you will see a Sri Lankan short haired dog taking a nap. The advice I was given is never to pat a dog when its sleeping, but I did see somebody have a successful drunken patting session with a three legged stray just the other night. I’m not sure I mentioned this in my previous blog, but I had a great time playing with street puppies within the fort. Their mom looked kinda relieved that someone else took on the responsibility of entertaining them for a bit. A car was driving by and had to stop for a moment trying to get all the puppies organized, and out of the way before it could pass. One kid signaled me and asked me if I wanted to pay 450 Sri Lankan Rupees to see him jump head first off the wall into the water, and apparently a decade before this was just a hobby the local kids came up with, which eventually morphed into a tourist attraction.

Richard Dwakings headlined the day after Tom Stoppard, and to be honest I was expecting a bit more originality. I guess what is common sense to some still feels like something a bit tough to swallow to others; and with that in mind he had to release a book for children focusing on debunking popular modern myths(go and purchase ‘Magic of Reality’). He read out of his new boo, and then took a few questions. This didn’t feel like literature to me at all, but more like a light hearted essay that was meant for an adult reader to chuckle along to. He was definitely there to piss some people off, but to my surprise the audience was more harmonious to his statements than to Sir Stoppard the day before. What was missing for me is imagination, and even though he was saying that imagination is key to science; he felt so dated. Personally I believe that Atheism should’t be an ism at all, and it shouldn’t be a science; it is a lack of a filter that otherwise clouds our judgment, but human beings are so complicated that often in the absence of faith you will see something else congruent to religion fill the void. Literary masters like Stoppard see the world in a non idealistic view, and as long as you are free to decide for your self what you believe in and not brandish your belief around like a gun in the hands of an insecure thug; then all is gravy. The issue that both of them kind of touched on is that the ideals and morals that are archaic are being pushed onto children by their parents, and that is very dangerous. We just saw that happen in Canada when a man murdered his teenage daughters and han ex-wife with the help of his son and the current spouse. In his mind the girls were too sexually liberal and brought shame upon his family, and these are those archaic moral ideals I’m talking about. Most people were appalled by his actions, but I’m sure there is quite a number worldwide of clouded minds that would not only support what he did, but would do exactly the same thing; and not all of them are devout or religious at all.

That week as well I met a local fire fighter that told me about his brother that also played the violin, and in his words had a bigger violin hickey than me; so out of curiosity I asked him to bring him over the next day around 11. By Sri Lankan standards he showed up with his brother the next day at 12:30. This extremely shy kid took a bit of convincing to play a few traditional tunes, and then he took my fiddle and closed his eyes diving into some traditional stuff. The technique was not different, but the phrasing felt very refreshing. He then played on his own violin breaking an E string, so I passed him one of my spares. The next day I was supposed to come over to his placeto jam, but decided to immerse my last day in taking a final walk throughout the

Fort accompanied by Anoushka(the founder of www.colomboartbeinnale.com), who lived there for many years, and raised her sons within these walls. She brought me to a local artist that paints on wood(look up Sithuvili on facebook), and once again I was in a presence of a shy artist. It’s very refreshing to meet so many creative individuals who are not boisterous, and do not live the typical North American standard of being the over confident alpha figures; but rather modest, and purely composed.

That night I performed the Festival’s closing party at Aqua (http://cantaloupevillas.com/), and as usual went completely bonkers. The energy was so fresh, as most of the people didn’t see this side of me yet, but still enjoyed the earlier improv sets at the cafe. I met a young couple from Hong Kong that were just so energized by the performance that they were recharging me in return. It was their first time here, and the whole vacation was a surprise gift from the girlfriend to her boyfriend. Then there was this awesome couple from Riga who with their warmth kept the vodka coming till closing time; and ofcourse the trip wouldn’t be complete without meeting a crew from closer to home, so out of nowhere I get introduced to a party family from Quebec that were good friends with the young owners of the club/villaresort….Phew…That was an amazing night, and I passed out on the way back to Colombo in the passenger seat of Viren’s car arriving back in the City at about 7 in the morning. People are still talking about that night, and I’m trying to see if I can make it back south to Galle before I go back home.
I will leave you at this moment, but will continue as soon as I get a piece of mind.

Sri Lanka #2

Posted on January 20, 2012 by admin

COLOMBO TO GALLE (Wednesday 18th of January)

I will no longer complain about biking or scootering in Toronto after witnessing how people drive here. The rule here when behind the wheel is to concentrate to what is ahead, and try not to look at your hind mirror unless of course you are backing up. By having all your attention directed ahead, you can easily react to when people are stoping or turning without signalling; it’s a sort of a chain affect as the driver in front of you becomes your responsibility, and you become the responsibility of who ever is behind. The best part is sitting in the front passenger seat as it’s nothing less than a roller coaster simulator.
My host Viren was advised to take the newly completed highway. By North American standards it looks like a very well kept road, but here it is one of a kind. The one major difference though is that there was absolutely no traffic; just bored cops seen from time to time. After we got off the highway, we took village roads the remaining way dodging motorcycles, tractors, and school children. This led us onto the infamous hippie trail with small coastal cosy hotels, and tourists on scooters. I love that they would have a pizza place, and it would look exactly like pizza hut, but be called something like pizza house. The other one was Burger King as Burger Shack. After dropping two fellow Canadians Paul and Este (hopefully I spelled her name right) at a cosy little hotel on the water which was where Paul stayed at many years ago we were close to Galle; and I could see the old Portuguese fort in the distance.

SUN HOUSE

If you want to experience old colonial living then you definitely have to visit this house. Google it if you get a chance, and you will see pictures of what european wealthy eccentrics did to escape from stress. When we just got here we were greeted by a woman who’s name I don’t recall at the moment, but she had the most colourful get up, with a personality of a beloved teacher of the English Language. You can just imagine her passionately reciting Shakespearian soliloquies, expressing each word with broad hand gestures.
We then ventured next door to meet Geoffrey who I believe is the owner of the estate, and the founder of the Galle Lit Fest. He told me to be less formal and to chill as he sensed that I was little out of my element and needed to relax. We had lunch with two British ladies, of whom one was a known writer. She entertained us with a tragic story of one of her distant relatives who a long time ago was known as the an enchantress of Sri Lanka coming from Britain and breaking many hearts along the way. The story goes that she died a day after she came back home, and her mother said it was from a broken heart (which in her words was a very lady like death), but in reality it was probably a serious opium addiction.

MID AFTERNOON CLUB HOPPING
After lunch Viren drove me around to clubs along the water and introduced me to everyone to make sure that I would be taken care of after he left. We lined up two performances with one starting at sunset at a Arraya (another shitty spelling job) which is a mostly Dutch attended cafe with lots of kids running around, and situated right on top of the beach. This is where were before I performed I took a dive in the extremely warm ocean, and slightly cut my big toe on the rock. The people here were what I call professional clubbers, but a little older than what you usually see and with families(absolutely warm Dutch vibes). I had no idea of how many people move to Sri Lanka to spend their winters here, and not like the snowbirds that occupy Florida, but way hipper and ballsier. These people come mostly from Holland, Ireland, Australia and England.
One place that really stood out was Aqua Hotel and club. This is a Miami like place with amazing rooms, and subtle Luxury. I will write more about it in my next entry as I will be playing there on Saturday night.

Tired as hell I got back to the Sun House around 9:30 to entertain the Lit Fest Authors with a little impact set, and then stayed up till 2 am with a new Sri Lankan friend who produced the film Perfume, and who spend most of his early years in Toronto; him and I shared an extremely similar outlook on culture and life.

(There are little bugs crawling into my lap top right now, and I’m on my third cup of coffee sitting at Serendipity cafe in the fort which has its on counterculture press company, and enviro conscious art on the walls.)

I had the luxury of staying at the Sun House that night, and I took a few pictures of the room. To help me sleep I lit an incent, and after crawling through the mosquito netting I fell into deep sleep not to awake till late next morning.

Next Blog Post(sunday 22nd of January): The Galle Literary Festival

Sri Lanka (1st blog entry)

Posted on January 16, 2012 by admin

“There is no need to say thank you, by just accepting what you are giving is in itself gratefulness”
Viren Perena (my host)

After approximately a complete day of traveling plus the time difference of eleven and a half hours I have arrived in Colombo. The simplicity of the airport felt very familiar, especially after standing in line to acquire an arrival visa alongside bitching and frustrated vacationers from the Russian Federation this was no different from Cuba. I had to wait another 30 minutes to go through immigration, but after that everything was went smoothly; picked up my luggage, saw my name on a sign, and then I was in a car heading to Colombo.
My driver Mohammad was a catalyst of Sri Lankan driving skills. He complained on how everyone drives extremely disrespectfully, and that bus drivers here are suicidal drivers. We might have just stopped only three times to let people pass the street, but otherwise the whole forty minute drive from the airport to Colombo could not be more of a cliche comparison to a roller coaster ride. Same as in china I saw families of three people on a single motorcycle effortlessly zigzagging in between cars, as girls dressed in their sunday best were attempting to cross the road.

WE HAVE ARRIVED

At the moment I’m staying at a friend’s place who I met in Toronto this past summer at a birthday party. He is an enchanting fellow who lives with his two wonderful children in an apartment that faces the ocean. The building where it’s situated is next to the ‘the Galle face hotel’ established in 1864, which makes it the oldest hotels in this part of the world being.
This morning I was told that the building were I’m staying was build on purpose to block the sun light from the hotel till mid day; as a result of one’s man fury at not being allowed into the hotel.
According to Wikipedia Arthur C. Clark wrote the final chapters of 3001 – The Final Odyssey at the hotel, and from I hear he spent a lot of time in Sri Lanka writing.
Right outside the building there is a busy beach visible through my window. This early morning a group of soldiers were doing sit ups, as another group ran alongside the water. Last night the beach was bustling with people singing songs, and enjoying a holiday. There are many religions here and with them comes an abundance of holidays. I was told that whenever there is a full moon the country takes a day off. People here love to take time off work, and who wouldn’t with and ocean surrounding them and perfect weather pretty much all year round.

I’m borrowing an amp from my host’s sixteen year old son, and even though it is quite small it sounds great. It was refreshing to play a bit after the intensity of the past week trying to cram as much as possible into the littlest amount of time. I brought a new Yamaha violin with me here, and as well my trusted 200 year old violin that sounds great in this apartment of extremely high ceilings and wooden flooring.

I guess it’s the child in me, but I’m excited to venture out of the city soon and go explore the rural areas in search of wildlife, especially the wild monkeys.
Tonight Viren is planning a party at one of his restaurants, and I will perform a few songs. He said here everything is done last minute, and you can invite people to a party just a night before. This perfect for someone like me who has the worst time managing ability ever.

I will do the next blog entry this Wednesday, and feel free to ask questions or suggest places to visit or people to meet.

Cheers,

Eugene Draw