by Sean | Apr 2, 2013 | Education, Fulbright, Politics, Sri Lanka
I’m continually surprised by the challenges of working in a post conflict area. Trinco, the town where I live and teach, was relatively unaffected by the war. By this I mean there were a few bombings in town, but they did not suffer from heavy fighting. Just a...
by Sean | Mar 6, 2013 | Business, business ethics, Culinary, Emerging Markets, Fulbright, Politics, Sri Lanka, Travel
Coffee is something I’ve struggled to live without while living abroad. After a month of living off of instant coffee, a friend turned me on to Hansa Coffee. Hansa is a local coffee producer, and they’ve quickly turned into my favorite coffee brand. They...
by Sean | Feb 5, 2013 | Emerging Markets, Fulbright, Politics, Sri Lanka, Travel
While most of the world was watching the Super Bowl I was standing in the rain to watch the celebration of Sri Lanka’s 65th Independence Day. Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was known at the time, gained its independence from the British Empire on February 4, 1948....
by Sean | Jan 21, 2013 | Economics, Emerging Markets, Fulbright, Politics, Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, Teaching English
What do Sri Lankan students, an American English Teaching Assistant (ETA), and a Korean rapper share in common? For one thing, we all possess a love of dance and music. Psy’s top charting song, Gangnam Style, has taken the world by storm. With its gripping lyrics and...
by Sean | Jan 16, 2013 | Food, Fulbright, Politics, Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, Teaching English, Travel
Today marks the final day of the Tamil harvest festival, Pongal. The first day of Pongal is spent worshiping the Sun; the Sun is the giver of life, and without it crops would not grow. The second day is spent paying respect to cows. They are critical to life on a...
by Sean | Nov 27, 2012 | Education, Fulbright, Politics, Sri Lanka, Teaching English, Travel
Trinco is a town dominated by the military. As you enter the main city you have to pass through multiple checkpoints, where uniform clad youths clutch their presumably Chinese made kalashnikovs. In the town itself, Tamil is the language of choice. Sinhalese is about...