Explore Sean’s Essays:
Brownie
He hadn't noticed me approaching in the predawn darkness. Sitting, it seemed that he had fallen asleep while watching the gate. It was only as I opened the gate did he regain consciousness, startled by the clamor of the latch and sliding of the heavy door. Rising, he limped...
Maps, Apps, and Finding My Dinner
A few days ago I ordered dinner from Maldivian Bliss, a restaurant that is right up the road from the bungalow where I am staying. I stopped in on my walk back from the grocery store, around 5 pm, and ordered food to be delivered between 6:30 and 7pm. After getting home and...
A Sing Along in Colombo
Last weekend I went to a Sing-A-Long fundraiser for the Peter Weeraekera Children's Home. This was my first introduction to Colombo society, and it was a great deal of fun. I attended the event with several other Fulbrighters, it was held at the BMICH hall in Colombo. The...
Expectations
As a 6'1" tall white guy, I stand out in Sri Lanka. My looks really influence people's interactions with me here. When speaking Sinhala I take people off guard, as they don't expect a foreigner to know the language. At the store today I thanked an attended in Sinhalese, ඉස්තුති...
Voting as a Signal
This past week the news in Sri Lanka has prominently featured two main stories: Hurricane Sandy and the American Presidential Election. Most of the world was following Hurricane Sandy as Cyclone Nilam - which displaced 70,000 Sri Lankans - raged through the Bay of Bengal. Now,...
Sigiriya
While in Kandy we decided to make the trip out to Sigriya, the ancient rock fortress and monastery near the center of Sri Lanka. From Kandy it was a two hour drive out to the historical site, and we arrived shortly after nine in the morning. It is an impressive site, and the...
Poya
October 29, 2012 Darkness surrounds me as I’m awoken by the rhythmic sounds of chanting in the early morning hours. I lie awake for some time, and make out the sound of rain falling; eventually my alarm alerts me that five am has arrived, and it is time to rise....
Galle and Unawatuna
This weekend I traveled south to Galle and Unawatuna with a few fellow Fulbrighters. We left Colombo via train and headed south, only to realize that the train we were on was the wrong one; we were able to transfer a few miles outside of Colombo onto a train headed to Galle,...
Cultrual Norms
During my sophomore year at Fordham I traveled to Kenya with a group of students as apart of the Fair Trade Micro Finance program, Amani. There are many challenges to working in a foreign, and many opportunities to unwittingly violate cultural norms. While in Nyabigena, a small...