Our First Morning in Sri Lanka

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It is a little past midnight as we leave the airport and head towards Kandy. We still have several kilometers to travel before reaching our beds. The bus ride only gives us a narrow view of the countryside. Buildings line the street. We never seem to leave the buildings, mostly shops; still at two in the morning several of the shops are open. We stop to buy bottled water. A gas station is open. Several college students came down to the airport to meet us and help us with our luggage. This is our first chance to meet and talk with the people of Sri Lanka.

At 4 AM the bus finally stops; the traveling is complete we have arrived at Mahakande Gal Bungalawa. The name means large rock house, built in the 1800s, and it is a former manager's estate for a tea plantation. It is now a guest house owned by the University of Peradeniya. As study abroad students at the university, this mansion will be our new home for the next three weeks. Everyone helps us get our gear into the assigned rooms. We fall onto our beds and pass out.

Around 9 AM we wake to meet Siri who has coffee and tea waiting for us. Sri Lankans prefer tea and so I shall give up my usual coffee and drink tea. Siri asks if I want it Sri Lankan style and I say, "Sure," not knowing quite what I will get. First, hot milk, then very strong tea, followed by two spoons full of sugar. It tastes great, however, a little too sweet for me. From now on I'll request only one sugar.

Siri has made us breakfast. He will be our cook for the next three weeks. This will be no easy task for anyone. But Siri also runs a motel in Kandy, so he will be constantly driving the twisty road from Kandy to our bungalow to bring us meals.

After breakfast, Victoria and I settle in to our upstairs, corner room. We have a wonderful balcony from which we can spy the rainforest trees and have a great view across the valley.

The first day in Sri Lanka is scheduled for relaxation and acclimating to both the new time zone and the climate change. We take several naps, read, and go on short walks - bird book and binoculars in hand. On the ground are hundreds of sensitive plants. At the slightest touch the leaves fold up flat. I studied this plant years ago in botany class. The class had one fairly small plant in a pot. Not everyone got to touch it. Here there are fields of them, they cover the lawn.

In the afternoon we meet Professor Kulasooriya, the man (along with Professor Pearce, our instructor) who has organized all our classes and field trips. Professor Kulasooriya will be helping and teaching us while we are staying at the university. He joins us for dinner and after dinner, Siri, our cook, gives us our first informal class, "How to Fix Curries." I love to cook and so I'm filling two pages of notes. Several ideas for me to try when I get home.

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