Feb 19 2014.
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Meet Juanita Saffarano
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• Full Name: Juana Saffarano
• Nickname: Juanita
• Languages spoken: Spanish and English
• Eye colour: Dark Brown
• Hair colour: Black
• Life’s Motto: Never Stop
• Age: 26
Along the years we’ve introduced many foreign faces exploring our island paradise. Today we meet Juanita Saffarano from Argentina. In 2013 April, she landed in Sri Lanka for her internship with a Sri Lankan IT Company, through AIESEC, a NGO that facilitates internships for foreign students in Sri Lanka. Juanita likes adventure and exploring. So unlike other interns she decided to explore Sri Lanka by travelling, working here and more. This has helped her to gain life experience and specially to learn the lifestyles of our people. She often travels around the island to experience our rich culture.
I met her for a chat.
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Why did you choose Sri Lanka for your internship?
I have never been in Asia before, and Sri Lanka for me, coming from South America, is a different, very exotic destination. It’s a tropical island where the weather is year-round summer. I can explore many interesting things, like food with a lot of spices. Also observe different religions and beautiful languages like Sinhala and Tamil. I find gemstones, rare fruits like durians and rambutan very interesting; also not forgetting the excellent Ceylon tea, beautiful nature, and tropical landscapes. It is another world, intriguing and beautiful. I was enthusiastic to come here to a paradise island. From Sri Lanka I could also easily visit other interesting countries like Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.
What have the people of Argentina heard about Sri Lanka?
Very few people from South America know about this country, and the ones who do, associate Sri Lanka with tea. After I accepted to work here and told people I would live in Sri Lanka, most people did not know about the existence of this country. Some thought it belongs to India. I am happy to share with them the beautiful and diverse aspects of Sri Lanka, especially the countless breathtaking beaches, extreme sports, water activities, safaris, exotic birds, jungles and tea estates that produce some of the best tea in the world. I believe that many more people should discover Sri Lanka.
Your story of arriving here?
I arrived in Colombo in April 2013. It took me around two months to adapt, primarily because I arrived in the hottest and most humid month of the year. I only wanted to swim in the water to get away from the heat. This was also my first time living abroad, away from my mother tongue of Spanish, so I had to get used to hearing Sinhala language. At the same time to communicate in English 24 hours a day. I also had to adapt to the food, which seemed too spicy at first, as in Argentina we season our food only with salt and pepper, which is very boring.
I worked for 9 months as an Assistant Manager - Business Development, doing an internship in a local IT company. There were four of us from abroad, working side-by-side with Sri Lankan colleagues, and it was a great experience.
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I met a lot of nice people and I made really good friends. This was both Sri Lankans and foreigners. So now I have friends almost everywhere in the world I would like to visit.
In Sri Lanka I also took wonderful trips. I love Sigiriya, Ella, sleeping in the jungle in a tent, the city of Kandy, the national parks full of elephants and peacocks and temples. One of my favourite places is the Galle Fort, as it has another atmosphere, along with stunning southern beaches like Talpe, Hikkaduwa, and Unawatuna.
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How has this exposure helped you in life?
Exposure to the world of commercial marketing has given me the opportunity to be more outgoing. Gave me a chance to explore different cultures, and to learn how different people think. I also met a lot of new people from all over the world who are interested to explore this island, like me.
Your favourite food from Sri Lanka?
I discovered that I love sweet and sour prawns with rice, and also rice and vegetable curries. And my favourite vegetable cheese kotthu. Banana chocolate rotti is also excellent to have after parties. I really like the food here, and before I leave Sri Lanka I would like to learn how to cook all of them. My dream is to cook my favourite Sri Lankan dishes for my family and friends in Argentina.
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Have you had any bad experiences here?
When I arrived, I discovered, much to my dismay, that there is no Wi-fi at the Bandaranaike International Airport. I had arrived from abroad, from South America, after 27 hours of flying. After such long flights, I wanted to communicate with my family at home to let them know I had arrived safely, and I also wanted to speak with the people who were supposed to pick me up, but I could not. I also found public transportation extremely difficult to use such as buses, trains and tuk-tuks.
Tuk-tuk drivers in particular were annoying because they tried to take me on the longest routes to increase their fares. Lastly, when I tried to visit public places, as soon as they saw I was a foreigner, they would try to charge me, when the entrance was free, or charge me more than the official price. I had to insist to pay the official price. It would be better if everyone realised that it is good for Sri Lanka when people from other countries visit their country to exchange cultures and new ideas.
Future plans?
Soon I will return home to Argentina, and I will start my Masters Degree in Finance. I will also continue to help my family business “Vitolio”, which produces sunflower oil.
Ever thought of settling down here?
I like to explore the world, and Sri Lanka is on my list of countries that I will visit again. If I have the opportunity to return to Sri Lanka to work, I would embrace that opportunity. It is a beautiful place to live and I have enjoyed my time here.
What do you love most here?
What I love most about Sri Lanka is being at the beach at night, sitting in front of a fire, in the sand, looking at the stars, with the shapes of the coconuts trees contrasting against the sky. I also love having a really good breakfast with a Sri Lankan omelette, fruit and toast, and coffee, early in the morning, looking at the beautiful ocean. Sri Lanka has too many gifts from God. You have really nice people, tons of exotic fruits, vegetables, tea, gemstones, flowers, beaches, mountains, and elephants. I love this island. Thank you Sri Lanka for everything!
Interview & pics by Jayantha Fernando
Photo shoot location : Casa Colombo
0 Comments
Observer says:
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:00 amWelcome to this beautiful Island! Unfortunately you have already figured out some not so beautiful ways of certain people. Of course you will see this behaviour in many countries especially the third world. Most everyone is after a buck forgetting hospitality. Thank you for being honest about your unfortunate experiences here, hopefully these comments will be helpful to bring in a change!!
Sampath Fernando says:
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:00 amWhat's the point of this article. Useless!!
Catherine Sheen says:
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:00 amLovely interview and glad you are enjoying the Island. Those who criticize her like Sampath and Leena are the very people who harass foreigners like her in Sri lanka
Leena says:
Feb 20, 2014 at 12:00 amHer favourite Sri Lankan dish is "sweet and sour prawns" ahaha And her favourite vegetable is cheese koththu ? What a great interview
Gamarala says:
Feb 21, 2014 at 12:00 am#Achala Hasthanayake: Why so close minded. Its an article about a young woman from a foreign country visiting our beautiful island., Whats wrong with that? Tourism is very important to us. Its good to see articles such as this with very positive comments. .
Achala Hasthanayake says:
Feb 21, 2014 at 12:00 am@ Catherine Sheen: Sampath and Leena are both right. Tell me one good thing about this article. It's useless. Prefer reading something about a talented Sri Lankan youngster than reading this..
Nizam says:
Feb 24, 2014 at 12:00 amIf she really wants to enjoy Sri Lankan food, then why not try Red Rice with Sambol, Rotti with Katta Sambo, String Hoppers with a Kiri Hodda, without looking for Omlettes and bananas......one thing for sure the Tuk Tuks have taken her for a gooooooooood ride....... better luck next time...
Jinko says:
Feb 24, 2014 at 12:00 amWhy did you waste your time coming to this hell hole?
Nihan says:
Feb 24, 2014 at 12:00 amMore than 80% of the population are under the poverty line. Most go starving.