The sun rose, giving light to my plants and shadowing my house. The birds were sitting in the trees as if having a conversation of their own. There was nothing more beautiful than chickens walking around making sounds, waking up the neighborhood. My alarm clock vibrated as it fell down from my chair. I was too excited to care about picking up the clock. I heard a phone ring; it was my mom. She wished me good luck and a safe return. I was going to South Korea to explore its culture by visiting N. Seoul Tower. I was a traveler, but so far had been only to South America. Now, I wanted to explore Asia, starting with South Korea.

I did not pack any clothes since I wanted to wear clothes unique to South Korea. Therefore, I only had money, a camera, my passport, my I.D. and my ticket envelope, which I had ordered online and which came in the post. I put them in a luggage; I did not want the security to get suspicious and question me. I took a picture of the ticket and posted it to Instagram. Then I left my house, saying goodbye even though I wasn’t going away for long.

When I went to the airport, it was really early in the morning and everyone was still sleepy. I asked the woman for a window or aisle seat. She asked me to place my checked bags on the scale next to the desk for weighing, and tagged and placed each piece of luggage on a conveyor. No one was even paying attentions to anything that was happening. Then, I went through security.  I waited for security to wave me through the metal detector. I looked at the paper to see which gate I was supposed to go to, quickly, because my flight was about to leave as it read “Boarding,” on the big monitor. I put on my headphones and gave my ticket to the lady. “Have a nice trip to Sri Lanka,” said the lady with no enthusiasm.

I was truly astounded to view my house from a different perspective as I said goodbye to America. At the top of the sky, the windows were covered with clouds, which appeared like the sunset, dark and yellow, as we said goodbye to the sun and welcomed the moon. The moon shined like a glow stick.

I landed in the airport and saw a sign that said, “Welcome to Sri Lanka,” as well as flags that had a Lion instead of a red and blue Yin-Yang. I got my phone to see the picture I had posted on Instagram. I couldn’t believe it really did say Sri Lanka. South Korea and Sri Lanka sounded alike. I mean, they were both in Asia.

I went to the money exchange counter and asked the lady—who was wearing a beautiful dress and a long robe, which went down from her neck and around her shoulders like a long, flowing river with reflective stones attached to it—if I could get a refund.

“No you cannot. You have to pay 81,080 rupees,” said the lady.

“I do not have 81,080 rupees. It doesn’t take that much money to go to South Korea,” I told her.

“Which country are you from?” she asked.

“America,” I told her.

“Okay, 81,080 rupees is the currency in Sri Lanka. 81,080 rupees would equal $554 in America,” she said.

“That is still too much for me. I would have to cancel my plans of traveling to the Forbidden City in China to be able to afford $554,” I said sadly.

“Are you a traveler? There are a bunch of places you can visit in this country. Just go to Kandy, which is one of the most popular tourist destination in Sri Lanka,” she said happily.

“Really? How am I supposed to go to Kandy?” I asked her, confused.

“Oh, just get a three wheel,” she said. 

“What’s a three wheel?” I asked.

“A three wheel is like a cab, but instead of four tires there are three,” she explained.  

I asked her if she could give me Sri Lankan money in exchange for American dollars. I gave her $1,000 and she gave me 146,355 rupees.

I got a three wheel, and went to Kandy. The driver stopped in front of the Temple of the Tooth. He said that if I wanted to travel I should start by going to The Temple of Tooth.  I gave him money and walked to the back of the temple. There were people all over the place, like bees in a hive.

There were people there buying a varieties of of white, pink, red, and purple flowers that I’d never seen before. I saw a girl buying a lot of those pink flowers and decided to go up to her and ask about them. I hoped that she knew English, because I did not know the local language.

“Hi, I’m Regina. What kind of flowers are these?” I asked, hoping she could understand me.

“My name is Hiruni. These flowers are Olu. They are one of the native flowers in Sri Lanka. People buy these flowers to worship Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of Tooth,” said Hiruni.

“Why do you need so many flowers? How do you understand English? What is the Temple of Tooth? What do Sri Lankan people wear? Where can I buy such clothes? I did not bring any with me,” I asked, eager to know the answers to all of my questions.

“Wait, one question at a time. I need so many flowers because some of them are to put in the Temple and some of them are for my father. He is sick and these flowers can also be used as medicine. My father has an upset stomach. I know English because I am so interested to learn about America and its culture. I cannot afford to go to America. The Temple of Tooth has one of the teeth of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Sri Lankan people wear Saris, which consist of a cloth wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder and a blouse underneath. You can buy these things at Olu. I can come with you to help. The store is named after the Flower Olu too,” said Hiruni.

 “Okay, but is the Temple of Tooth the only place we can see?” I asked Hiruni.

“No, there are a bunch of places you can visit in Sri Lanka. Sigiriya is an ancient rock, maybe the world’s biggest. The Royal Palace of Kandy was the royal residence of the Sinhalese monarchy. Adam's Peak, a mountain in Sri Lanka, actually took me two days to climb.”

“Wait, what is the Adam’s Peak? Did Adam Levine climb it?” I asked, confused.

“Who’s Adam Levine? The Adam’s Peak has the footprint of the Buddha. It has existed for thousands of years,” said Hiruni.

“Adam Levine is a famous singer in America. Can we visit the Temple of Tooth and the Royal Palace? I’m only here for only three days,” I said to her, excited. 

“I forgot to tell you about the Vesak celebration we have right now, as it is the month of May. We celebrate it because it is the day Buddha was born,” Hiruni said to me.

“Wow, let’s go to Olu first,” I said.  

When we went to Olu, it did not look like a normal American store. Everything was decorated with lanterns for Vesak. It was four stories high. On the third floor we found the saris, made with fabrics of different colors.

“What’s your favorite color?” Hiruni asked

“Yellow,” I said.

“That looks good. You should try it. Go to the fourth floor,” Hiruni said.

The fourth floor was divided for people to try on clothes.

Hiruni told me step by step how to wear one of the saris. I told her that it fit me perfectly and that I wanted to buy it. When I got to the counter I had some troubles. I did not know how to speak Sinhala. Hiruni had to do all the talking and when I gave her my debit card, she said it wouldn’t work in Sri Lanka. I remembered having the money I’d gotten earlier, at the airport, and paid with that instead. I wore the siri to the Temple of Tooth. 

Hiruni got the flowers to put in the Temple. When I got there I couldn’t believe what I saw! Everything was colored in gold! There were magnificent statues of Buddha, although the tooth was not really visible; it was protected by a little golden case covered with necklaces. There were monks in robes, and people playing Gata Bara, a traditional form of drums, with their bare hands. 

Next, I went to see the Royal Palace of Kandy with Hiruni. She said that her father was fine, thanks to the flower. Hiruni said that elephants were there because of the Esala Perahera, a parade joined by hundreds of people, which would take place next month. The elephants were a big part of the Perahera because they were one of the native Animals of Sri Lanka. There was a museum inside, dedicated to the palace, and to the king and queen who lived there.

Tomorrow would be my last day in the country, but also the most exciting, since I would be there to celebrate. Hiruni let me stay at her house, which was much smaller than my house. It took us about an hour to get to Hiruni’s house since she lived in the village. She was kind enough to take me; in America people would have never trusted me enough to take me to their houses. Overall, I’d found the Sri Lankan people to be really welcoming and kind, totally different from Americans. 

The sun came up from the top of the mountain, like the yolk of the egg that Hiruni made me for breakfast. The food she made was very spicy. She told me that Sri Lankan people ate a lot of spicy food. She made me rice, beet root, and Parippu, which looked like yellow circles. It was my first time ever seeing anything like that.

For Vesak we made lanterns in the shapes of stars, circles, and squares. There was one lantern shaped like a dress. When me and Hiruni’s family went to the city to see how the town was decorated, we saw a lot of lanterns, some as big as skyscrapers. Some of the lanterns also had motors, which made them move in all directions. There were places on the road that gave out food for free.

“It’s time to go to home,” said Hiruni sadly.

“I guess so. I have to leave to America tomorrow,” I said.

I took some photos to remember what the day had looked like. The next day came around quickly, and I only packed my camera, my money, and the clothes I had worn in Sri Lanka. Hiruni insisted on going to the airport with me.

We said goodbye to each other. I gave Hiruni an envelope and told her to open it after I’d gone.

“Good bye Hiruni,” I said as I hugged her.

“Goodbye to you too, Regina,” she said.

Entering my plane, I looked back to see her waving her hand goodbye.

“Looks like you’ve had the best days of your life. I hope you come here again,” said the lady at the counter.

 

I told her, “Yes, I did have the best time of my life.”