Mar 4, 2005 - Day 241 in Negombo, Sri Lanka

Negombo is a beach with a close proximity to the Colombo airport. There are tons of German tourist here who seem to only desire cheap beer (preferably in a beer garden). Negombo’s economy is based on tourism and fishing. There are tons of oruwas, which are distinctive catamarans built with hollowed-out tree trunks attached to a huge sail. Several were beached on the shore, so I approached them to see how much it would be to take a ride on one of these boats. I had a crew of four Sri Lankans who pulled wooden levers, push wooden rudders and made this seemly primitive oruwas glide through the Indian Ocean with ease. We raced with some other oruwas, checked out some coral in the shallow areas before heading back after sailing around for a couple hours. I took a liking to one of the crew, "shorty", he stood all of about 4 2/3 feet tall and wore his hat low to his eyebrows. He ask me if I wanted to see his mosque at sunset today. I was asked recently why I had so many photos of Christian Churches, Buddist and Hindu Temples and so few Muslim mosques. I thought this to be an opportunity to see shorty’s mosque and even out the number photos between the religious sanctuaries. I met up with Shorty at sunset. As I approached the mosque, all the reasons why I don’t have many photos of mosques (particularly the inside) came back to me. It’s against Muslims’ faith to be photographed, so approaching with a camera gets some bad looks. I did get a photo of the outside of the mosque. We washed our hands and feet and went into the main prayer area. The beard made me fit in a little, the white skin and western clothes made me stick out. Shorty then invited me back to house, to meet his wife and one year old baby boy. Shorty recently moved from the ocean front, his house was wiped out by the tsunami. As we sipped tea and coffee at his house he told me about his experience with the tsunami. He had been on the beach tending to the oruwas, when they could see the tide recede very quickly, from spending the last ten years on the beach everyday shorty and his boss knew a big wave was coming in.. they were pushing the boat on to the beach, as his boss yelled to push harder. At that moment he realized what was happening, and ran off to his house, he told his boss he didn’t care about the boat or his job, he only cared about his wife and child. He made it back to house he and his wife carrying there young baby started hurrying inland. When the wave his it only came up to Shorty’s knees` as they ran inland. They returned to where there house had been and it was gone. The house was made of plywood walls and a corrugated metal ceiling, but was right on the beach. We saw a bunch of children on the beach area where his house used to be ... they loved seeing pictures of themselves on my digital camera. Houses were stacked one next to another, all made of scrap wood. It’s amazing to see the way some communities live...all right on the beach area. There was no running water at any of the houses, only a community water pump in the central area. Shorty was a happy, well adjusted guy, working on the beach taking tourists out on boats to make a living, to support his wife and child.