Dinner at the Sri Lankan Ambassador's Residence

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a reception and dinner at the Ambassador of Sri Lanka's Residence.  The event was organized by the International Club of DC and the Embassy of Sri Lanka.  The evening began by being announced then allowed to enter the residence of Sri Lanka's Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya and his family.
(The photo to the left is me with the Ambassador)

Sri Lanka is one of those countries you hear about once in a while but don't know much about the country nor its people. All I knew prior to the experience was that the small country was to the south of India. While there I learned that Sri Lanka was named the #1 on the New York Times lists of 31 Places to Go in 2010.  It's a tropical place surrounded by water were elephants, monkeys, and buffalo roam free. 

The evening began with a little mixing and mingling.  Waiters walked around with various beverages native to the country including a very tasty rose milk drink.  We tried to figure out what exactly was in it but all we ended up figuring out was that it was good so we gave up. We listening to a brief greeting from the Ambassador, the President of the International Club of DC, Sanjaya Hettihewa (a native of Sri Lanka)  welcomed the group, then there was a presentation by Jettway Airlines who is hosting a 10 day trip to Sri Lanka from DC later this summer. 

We continued sampling drinks then were ushered into another room where we sampled a traditional Sri Lankan meal prepared by the Ambassador's chef and were treated to some live music.

After dinner, we were lead downstairs and into the Ambassador's private garden where several dancers performed to live music.  Everyone gathered around the young dancers in their beautiful, vibrant native costumes and watched them elegantly dance to the beat.  It was quite a sight.  After the performance, we thanked the Ambassador for graciously allowing us into his beautiful home and for his hospitality.

What a way to be welcomed into the International Club of DC!  I love to travel and being around diverse people has always excited me.  I can already tell being a member of this organization will continue to expose me to new cultures and people whom I wouldn't typically come across on a daily basis.  I'm definitely adding Sri Lanka onto my list of places to visit.