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Dance- by Sarah Koehler
The most fulfilling part of my Fulbright experience in Sri Lanka was living with and learning traditional dance from my host family in the hill country. From the start this family who did not know me at all proved to be exceptionally hospitable and I always felt taken care of. The first night of my stay they made string hoppers, a special treat. My host grandmother noticed me struggling to eat them and I admitted that I vehemently dislike string hoppers. From then on my host mother adjusted her cooking to my somewhat picky tastes, even making special meals just for me. During the first few days I taught my little brother and sister to make friendship bracelets, which occupied the three of us for several days. I was included in birthday and anniversary parties, trips to the temple, and my host siblings’ school events. I even attended an alms-giving for my deceased host grandmother where I served food to the seven monks present. My dance teacher, the grandfather of the family, decided I should have dance and drumming every day. We jumped right in, beginning with the traditional vannam, including the elephant dance and the cobra dance. My teacher, assistant, host father, and a singer were kind enough to accompany me to a recording studio to record the dances I learned for my use back in the US. We had costumes made for me in anticipation of future performances. After a month of lessons, I was deemed good enough to perform with my host family’s dancing school in their annual show. After much advertising, anticipation, and preparation I danced in front of about a thousand audience members in Kandy. I will never forget kneeling down to worship my teacher on stage as the audience cheered and applauded. After the show my teacher said what he would tell me after every practice: “Good…but just a little bit good.” He reminded me that there is always more to learn and one should never stop exploring, a lesson I applied to my whole experience abroad.