Fieldbreaks; Pondicherry and Sri Lanka

Even though I never quite “get enough” of the area that I am staying in and the people here, it is very good to get away for a while to gather your thoughts, and also get new perspectives on the things one has already discovered.

I am lucky to have already been in India two times before, and both times I have stayed in the wonderful town of Pondicherry on the east coast in Tamil Nadu. There is an Norwegian school there (www.kulturstudier.no) which have classes in anthropology, history of religion, and peace and conflict studies. When I arrived to India this time I spent some time in Pondy to relax after a long summer of work, and I got to know some of the students there. So it was natural to go back for a fieldbreak, party a little, speak Norwegian, and talk to the anthropologists who work for the school.

When December came, I decided to go to Sri Lanka to get my visa extended and to finally travel on this magnificent island to the east, something I definitely should have done before, because Sri Lanka is truly amazing; from the steep tea hills in the mountains to the white beaches of the south, it really was like going to a green and lush paradise. But then again, the war is still visible, and the presence of military forces everywhere was a bit disturbing, but fortunately it did not overshadow the good things Sri Lanka has to offer.