Last week, I spent the weekend in Ahangama, a town in the southern province of Sri Lanka, just a two-hour drive from Colombo. I went with some family and friends for a special occasion, my close friend’s birthday! In the days leading up to the trip, I was rushing to get my school work in order and complete any tasks due the following week so that I could have a stress-free weekend. I felt as though an important goal for me should be to focus all of my energy into a different outlet than the daily, exercise, and work. This weekend to me, was all about letting my mind be creative and dabbling in some of my other interests that I have not had enough time to focus on. This relates to the learning outcome of initiative and planning as I took it upon myself to set a goal that would allow me to make productive efforts towards having an action-packed and meaningful weekend where I will be able to not only explore my country but my interests as well!
Since one of my passions is taking pictures, especially just candid and unedited pictures that I take simply on my iPhone, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to capture some breathtaking places and moments. The ride was longer than planned mainly because of random stops and bathroom breaks, we took about two hours and 45 minutes to get to the villa we were staying in. When we arrived, we took some time to settle into our rooms, met our other friends at the hotel, and had a chit-chat. We consumed our welcome drinks while simultaneously taking a tour of the place.
On the first day, I was quite tired, we had an early dinner and at night we all got dressed up for the birthday celebrations around a campfire on the beach with BBQ and smores. Truth be told, I was far too exhausted to get up and take photos. This reminded me of the learning outcome of commitment and perseverance, and so, I promised myself that I would take photographs the following day at the other hotel we were staying at. I knew that in order to feel productive and use my free time effectively, I needed to find the energy to enjoy things that I usually do not have time for.
The next day, I went for a morning walk with one of my friends and family, when we were done, we showered and had some breakfast. After that, all of us got together by the pool for a few laughs and a mini pool party, it was super refreshing on such a hot day. My friends and I went for lunch later on in the day to a famous restaurant by the beach called ‘Wijaya Beach’, we had a nice meal on the balcony. Straight after this, my family left for another hotel, leaving our friends and extended family behind was not as sad as you would expect because we were going to another super cool place where we could spend quality parent-daughter time before I leave in a few months.
In order to continue focusing on my goal and the learning outcome of commitment and perseverance, I pulled out my phone and took a solitary walk to get some good pictures of the hotel. The place we stayed at is called ‘PALM’, they are an eco-friendly and innovative hotel in Ahangama so it did not look like your average holiday getaway. Although we only stayed one night, it was a cool and very relaxing experience. It makes me think about despite going to an unconventional hotel where environmental concerns were taken into account when developing the guests’ experience, I had a really great time. This relates to the learning outcome of ethics of choices and actions, in the future I will be supporting places that allow people to enjoy places in the countryside, while also being environmentally conscious.