First Day of Class

This morning we drove to PGIS and performed the opening ceremony for our program. There were introductions and speeches and the Chancellors and professors lit the special oil lamp. We began lecture this morning with the the ecosystems of Sri Lanka. Right now we're having a break and when we resume we will have a lecture on vertebrae diversity. I'm really looking forward to that one!!
Yesterday I met a 10 year old boy named Indie and he took us up to the top of the mountain behind our bungalow. It was amazing! I saw so many types of plants I'd never seen before, things look so different. Except for the pines. When your in the pine area if feels like hiking in Tahoe. After lunch we drove into Kandy and walked around the market place. They have huge covered and uncovered markets with produce everywhere! It's the most amazing sight ever. There are so many people. Everywhere you go there are crowds. The streets are full of three wheeled cars, motorbikes, vans, and pedestrians. I learned very quickly that pedestrians do not have the right of way! They also drive on the other side rode and the driver sits on the right side.
When we were driving from the airport in Colombo to our University I kept looking at the man sitting in the left side passenger seat and gasping. I'd see him with his head turned towards us in the back and I thought he should have been keeping his eyes on the road. It was a pretty wild ride.
Also in Kandy we visited the Temple of the Tooth. That was pretty interesting. You can't wear shoes inside the temple and most of it was ouside. There were puddles and mud everywhere but I guess that's just what happens. I also got to see monkeys. They are everywhere! They are like squirrels in CA. Everyone thinks of them as pests here. They go into construction sites and take tools and they take fruit and throw them. They are so cute though. I was really excited. It's such a shot to see them in the wild.
After dinner last night Siri demonstrated how to make Sri Lankan curry. It was delicious! I took notes so maybe I can make it back at home. Sri Lankan curry is different from Indian curry in that it is more cumin and correander based than chili, and it has mush less oil than Indian curry. It's very flavorful.
I also saw a firefly!! That was pretty cool. Back to lecture for me. Bye

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