Day 331

I've had quite an eventful past few weeks. One of the highlights was definitely a big trip with 4 of my friends from college. 

We've been planning a big girly trip for ages (have been discussing it all through college) and it finally happened. The many hours of planning over google hangouts, the 101 changes to the itinerary and many pictures of beach clothes trials at home and then they were here. 

It was the craziest of all itineraries- 7 destinations, all possible modes of transport, places from beaches to the city to the mountains across the country in just 5 days. 

It's kind of hard to summarize. The first leg of the trip covered the south western coast- the beaches, Dutch fort and Geoffrey Bawa's hotels in our luxury van. 

After a day in Colombo, we set off to the East coast on the overnight train and spent a glorious day snorkeling with the sharks off Pigeon Island. Once we got back we immediately left by bus to the mountains in Nuwara Eliya to cool off from all that sun and humidity in our very own cottage with a fireplace.

(Shall save all the exciting details for the exclusive blogposts once I have time to sort through my pictures) 

Aside from the actual site seeing and traveling we spent a good amount of time taking pictures of ourselves and talking endlessly and making monkey faces in the mirror with face packs on :)

Another highlight from the past few weeks is all the music and drama! Last weekend we had our Easter musical. All those choir practices are now over, sadly, but it came out really well. We had another musical programme in the evening for which we did a hand mime with white gloves and UV lights- enough reasons for a super weekend. 

And then the ultimate highlight (and probably one of the highlights of the whole Sri Lanka year)-- the three of us auditioned for roles in the Colombo version of The Phantom of the Opera. 

Only a few of you or less will actually get why this is a highlight. It is the greatest musical of all time, the craziest set design and the most amazing score ever and The Workshop Players were going to stage it. Now, I knew that I wouldn't even be here in October for the performance, but even being a part of the audition process was exciting enough. 

Once we chose which roles we could try out for, we struggled with difficult tracks and the horribly difficult vocal ranges required that we almost chickened out of going. But, for the sake of having fun, we went to audition for the ensemble cast. 

To summarize the few hours we spent there- insanely talented people, super energy, fun vocal exercises and some scary ballet lessons-- and the three of us got through the auditions to be part of the ensemble. Not just general singing ensemble, but (believe it or not) singing and dancing ensemble!!!

We came back singing all the songs and walking with pointed toes. It's just really sad that I can't be part of it. Oh well. :(

So, my year here is coming to an end. A few more weeks to enjoy this lovely country. Probably only time to squeeze in one more trip. :) More about that coming soon.