University of Sri Jayewardenepura (and other unpronounceables!)

Ayubowan! It seemed only appropriate to start this first blog of my travels with the greeting which in Sinhalese means both hello, goodbye and (more literally) "may you live long and healthy". 

The last of these is exactly the opposite of what we wanted to say to this cockroach found on our kitchen counter the morning after our arrival. Fortunately our new friend "Fred" was quickly (with some help from a mug, a leaflet and a very brave individual - not me!) shown the door.

So, other than Fred, what have I found in Sri Lanka so far?

1) I can't pronounce anything.

Not even English things to a Sri Lankan who can speak English. When I felt like I was speaking patronizingly slowly to our taxi driver on the way from the airport (he was really chatty and friendly!) he told me he didn't understand my accent and that I needed to slow down. Fortunately, I understood his so I did.

Try the following words: Nugegoda, Jayewardenepura, නුගේගොඩ. 

Yeah... Not easy, right?? The first (and last) word(s) are the place where we're staying.

"Where are you staying?"
"New-Gey-Godda...."
*Confused look*
"Nu-Gah-Godda...??"
"AHHH....*insert correct pronunciation here*!"

I can tell you now that you DEFINITELY don't get the right translation by putting the word into google translate and getting it to speak. How it is actually said? By day 3, I do not know!!!

2) It's a jungle - of the concrete variety.

Alright, so we're not exactly in the nicest part. We're away from the beach (about 4.5km) and are in the most densely populated area in the Colombo suburbs. The paddy fields we could see on landing are a dream away! There are palm trees everywhere and then a road and some concrete monstrosities are running along as if they have grown through the jungle.

3) Books are my solace. 

I've always loved to read. Here, I have my scriptures and my kindle - all I need! At the moment I'm reading about "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared" - I love it! So deeply funny.

4) Tuk-tuks are unbelievable. 

I don't mean that in a generic way like, "WOW! UNBELIEVABLE!" I mean it is genuinely unbelievable to see what tiny spaces tuk-tuks can wriggle through. The best experience so far has been bombing it down an alleyway to be met with a T-junction full of traffic which we then crossed by diving straight into the middle of the cars. Tuk-tuk drivers are fearless. They take on buses, vans and pedestrians without a second thought. Their first thought is merely a toot of their horn. Beeping the horn around here seems to mean, "I'm here." It's not aggressive nor does it stimulate other drivers to consideration. It's just "by the way, you should know if you're planning on moving that I'm driving here and I don't intend to make room for you."

5) Eating food with my hands. 

For the first time ever today I ate a lunch of dhal and rice with my hands. There's a technique. You have to mush the rice up with the dhal using your fingertips and then collect some in a ball up to the end joint of your fingers and then bring it up to your mouth and push it off with your thumb. I learned how to eat today.

6) The British ruined everything. 

This might be slightly dramatic. We didn't ruin EVERYTHING. In fact, we've heard praise of the infrastructure that was left in place. However, we did import slaves from Southern India to work on the tea plantations and the 'Estate' group of people fall into a category outside of the normal 'Urban' or 'Rural' because their health care is so much worse even after all this time. I guess you can't blame us completely for the plight of the poorest people here; but there is a lot of work to do to enable these people to have the same quality of life that other Sri Lankans enjoy.

7) Stray dogs everywhere. 

So glad I had my rabies jabs!

8) Bad combination: White Skin + Blonde + Blue eyes 

Having one of these things is enough to make people stare. Apparently pale is beautiful here because most of the Bollywood actresses are pale. I've never felt less glamorous than walking down a street (with no pavement) sweating as I carry a large water bottle; frizzy hair that I didn't dry properly; and absolutely zero makeup (it'd melt off my face in gloopy blobs - not a look I'm planning to go with). The staring definitely doesn't help. At least there are three of us - though the other two don't have the blonde problem.

9) Cold showers.

At home I always have the shower so hot that it could practically melt my skin off. On the first morning here I couldn't work out how to get the hot water working so I decided it wouldn't be so bad to have a cold shower. It was the best thing in my world. At 32 degrees with a humidity of 79%; cold showers are your friend.

10) I'm not as young as I once was. 

I'm only 23, granted. It's not like I'm an old lady or anything but I definitely bounce back less quickly from jet-lag than I used to. We landed on Sunday at lunchtime and I'm still not feeling completely normal. I want to fall asleep as I'm typing this and it's only 18:30; but it's hardly surprising as I've felt like this all day. And for the whole of yesterday. I'm hoping a second night of good sleep will cure this. If not, I'm resigning myself to the fact that I may have to start wearing slippers around the house when I get home and calling everyone "dearie".

Fortunately, we're only on day 3. There's hope for me yet!