Lunch and hosts' home

So there are car taxis, they’re just all smart cars, and not very many of them. Also, everyone on a motorcycle here wears a helmet. I don’t know if it’s a law or if it’s just because it’s seriously too dangerous to go without one. But everyone does wear one.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the inside of the home of the hosts I’m staying with. I was renting a room from them for this first week, and I just moved side (but attached) apartment. My internet connection works better there and I’ll be able to be up and working at night without disturbing them like I do now. Anyway, the house is very open. There are windows that close, but in the middle of the first floor, the ceiling is open to the outside. The pool in the middle was full the first day I arrived from rain water. It hasn’t been full since, but I thought it was an indoor pond or pool. No such thing, it just collects rain water. During the day though, all of the windows are open to the air and we keep the bedroom doors closed to keep out mosquitoes. At night they close and lock everything up. Their home is gated as well, so it’s very safe, and my room has its own lock as well.

 

 

 This is a picture of what I’ve been eating for lunch for the past few days. It doesn’t always come wrapped in paper and a leaf, but these ones do because they are “lunch packets.” While perhaps not appetizing to look at by American standards, they are absolutely delicious. This one is with egg, but I’ve also had chicken ones. I do have a hard time not looking around for a fork every time one is put in front of me. 

 

Also, here is a picture of the two rows of necklaces from the office I think I mentioned previously. 

 

This weekend I’m off to do some sight seeing in a different part of the country, so I’ll hopefully have some great pictures for you all next week when I get back!

First Days in the Office

The office here is an apartment that has a room converted into an office for the permanent staff members, a private office for the country director, a living room area with some comfortable seating, a kitchen, and a table near the kitchen that serves as my desk and the lunch table. To get there, I will commute daily in a tuk tuk. This may be defying my "work mothers'" definitions of "stay safe!", but it seems to be one of the primary modes of transportation and is referred to more often than taking the bus to get anywhere. This is a picture I took from the inside on my way to the office.

And here is a picture of some from the outside. You have to be sure you get in one that says "Metered Taxi" or they can rip you off fairly easily. Yes, this is a standard taxi. I have yet to see one that is a car.

The first thing I notice as I walk into the office is that there are necklaces everywhere. They had two drying racks by the windows filled with them, two long curtain rod bars to put them on (one of which is bending in the middle because they're heavy, it's a metal pipe that's an inch in diameter!) and a small pool table with stacks of them. Apparently there are boxes and boxes in the back room as well. They sparkle beautifully every time the sun shines in the windows.

Also, I have eaten lunch with my fingers twice now. There was chicken/egg, beets, some other green vegetables and the seasonings in rice (once it was all in a large leaf for "to go"!). I keep trying to remember to take a picture and forgetting. You mix it all together with your fingers with the rice, then pick up the rice with your fingers and, in my case, hope you don't get it all over yourself. It was interesting to say the least, and absolutely delicious! I did my best to watch the others furtively and copy. The four main staff members know English, and one of them asked me if it's my first time to Sri Lanka, and I said yes and added that it's also the first time I've eaten with my fingers like this. To which she said, "I can tell," with a smile. Not making fun or judging at all, just an observation. So we all smiled a bit at that. =)

I've also eaten roti (coconut and flour pancake) with butter and jam and pitu (rice flour... thing like polenta or small couscous I guess?) with coconut milk and chili sauce for breakfast this week. Both were made by the host I'm staying with and were absolutely delicious.So far everything I've eaten has been fantastic and I want to learn how to make all of it.

There's not too much to explore right around where I'm staying, so I haven't taken too many other pictures yet. I'm hoping to do some sight seeing this weekend though, should be fun!

A bit more refreshed

Well to start off, I just want to say that flying international has its highlights and pitfalls, and while I have been in my fair share of airports, I have never been in one like the Dubai airport. Part of it was more like a huge shopping mall than an airport. It was overwhelming. Especially because the local time I was there was about 11pm to 2:30 am! And to think that the Boston airport shuts down and is completely empty at midnight. I couldn’t believe how many people were there. That and the sheer number of different cultures and clothing. Living in Cambridge and having been in a very cultural / international undergraduate dorm, I’m fairly used to seeing a variety of nationalities all in the same place. It was quite different to see those different nationalities dressed in the clothing they would normally wear in their home countries.

More about Colombo, it is humid here. Mostly because it’s the time of the year it will rain off and on without warning, so the water just hangs in the air. They had a car service pick me up and the driver was very friendly. He had driven for US military bases (busses and vans mostly) in the Middle East for 12 years before coming to Sri Lanka and he absolutely loved the US. We talked about law and driving differences in the US and Sri Lanka. There is also a big cricket competition going on in Sri Lanka right now, so the Colombo airport had all sorts of signs and paraphernalia

I tried to get a lot of sleep last night though and am much more rested than I was yesterday. I plan to do some more exploring today. So hopefully I’ll find something interesting and be able to put up a picture or two!

Colombo, Sri Lanka!

24 hours of flying, 4 Airplane meals, 3 flights, 2 layovers and 1 long nap later, I've made it to Sri Lanka!

I'm staying with two hosts in their beautiful gated home in Colombo. Their house is quite large and I'm in a room of the main house with my own bathroom and a small kitchen area to cook in (we share a fridge though). They have a separate apartment connected to the house as well, but that would probably be large and a bit lonely to be in by myself, so I'm staying in the main home.

So far everything has been great though, and I made it here without incident! I'm probably going to go to sleep soon and try to be refreshed for morning, but just wanted to let everyone know that I made it!

Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is where we spent most of our time, though I'm not sure of everything we saw. We mostly toured around in different areas, wandered and rode bikes along the canals and streets. This below though is one of my favorite pictures of Sweden. It was only about a fifteen minute walk to this view from where we were staying. We were at Stockholm's City Hall, which also had some interesting statues, buildings and architecture.


We ate dinner on a "floating restaurant" tied to the side of the canal. It was great as the sun was setting to be out on the water. We saw some hot air balloons go by while we had dinner.



The next day we went to the old part of town and walked through small streets and looked into several unique little stores attempting to do some souvenir shopping.


We saw a great set of guards who we thought were on their way to the palace...

Turns out they were just going to the bus:


The palace was just across the street:


Through the archway on the side of the palace led to the street of all sorts of shopping, with lions to indicate you were on the road.


The next day we went to a couple of museums featuring Swedish history, goods, artifacts, and other trinkets. Eventually we found this indoor market as well.


Later that evening we went to the Icebar! It was a room, bar, walls, everything made entirely of ice! You had to make reservations for a particular time and that got you 45 minutes in the bar. You had to wear parkas to go in and they served the drinks in ice as well. It was very cool. No pun intended. Ok maybe intended a little bit.


And finally, no trip to Sweden would be complete without an order of Swedish meatballs and lingon berries. I split meal with my coworker as we weren't very hungry.


Thus ended our great Swedish journey for the weekend.

Ach... Sweden! Gothenburg!

Earlier this summer I went to Sweden for a work conference. Every other year we plan a conference somewhere in Europe, and this year happened to be in Gothenburg (Göteborg). I did some sightseeing with two of my coworkers for the weekend after the conference. Here are some pictures of Gothenburg, and then I'll put some up of Stockholm.

Our hotel was right across the street from the Liseburg Amusement Park. Many of our clients had a view of this Ferris wheel from their hotel rooms.

We were also within walking distance of a famous fountain at the top of the Avenue featuring Poseidon, Greek god of the ocean.

We took a boat tour of the city and harbor the day we were leaving for Stockholm and went under many of the bridges throughout Gothenburg's canals. Including this one which was called "The Cheese Slicer" and we had to get out of our seats and duck so we didn't hit our heads!

On the tour we passed this tall ship and a building affectionately called "The Lipstick" (Läppstiftet). Unfortunately it was rainy and chilly and cloudy, so the picture is a bit gray.

 

We also saw a very cool water lock and pump system used to raise ships out of the water for repairs. Basically, water is pumped into the long thin blue box-shaped portions to sink the entire thing. The boat is maneuvered into the middle and then water is pumped out of those portions, causing the entire thing to float and raise the ship out of the water!

Finally for the last picture of Gothenburg, I have a blurry picture of a red farm house in the Swedish countryside on our way to Stockholm.

Next stop... Stockholm!

Japan Day 8: Farewells

On our last day in Japan, we wandered around a bit more, ate some food, and otherwise just took it a bit easy. We DID however happen to run across Ichiro from the Seattle Mariners, promoting a game in Tokyo! Several people were standing around in a crowd and every now and then someone would timidly go up to him for a picture. So unlike America, where he would have been surrounded by security and still mobbed by people. So we sneaked in and snagged a picture!


He wasn't the only famous one out and about either. This character was "signing" autographs as well, he has a stamp in his paw.


Then came the 14+ hour flight back to the states... oof.

Japan Day 7: Akihabara & Karaoke

Our last full day in Japan we went to the electronics district. Satoshi Takahashi and Yuka Nomura helped guide us around Akihabara, the electronics district in Tokyo. You're immediately inundated with video games, manga, anime and other characters on signs, in stores, etc.


Here you can buy actual electronic parts (wire, motherboards, and circuits), or electronics themselves (computers, cell phones, robots, etc.). Like this little robot dinosaur! He reacts to being pet and eats the leaf!


We also searched a bit and our Japanese guide got us into a maid cafe.Basically, the idea is you order a dessert of some type and a drink (tea usually) and are served by girls dressed as maids. The idea is that you have come home and are being served in your actual home. It's a bit strange, but it was fairly entertaining with 10 tourist Americans trying it for the first time and only two native Japanese (one of whom had never been to one either).


Later that evening, after a bit of rest. We enjoyed karaoke, Asian style! Basically, rather than being in a bar in front of a bunch of random strangers, you get a private room to yourself with your own screen and music selections. It's a TON more fun because you're just with your friends! You order food or drinks through a telephone in the room, so you don't even have to wait for a server or be disturbed if you don't want to be!


A classic way to end a trip in Japan.

Japan Day 6: Fish Market and Baseball

Day 5 we challenged the morning and got up early so that we could go to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Though we were not challenging enough to challenge the sunrise and see the tuna auction. Most of our group had sushi for breakfast (fresh fish brought in that morning in fact!). Here is a row of sushi shops.


I walked around with my parents and did some shopping in the market while we waited for them to eat. Then we were able to walk through the fish market (once the actual shoppers had mostly finished their purchases). It's probably the size of a city block and filled with bins of seafood and shopkeeps selling anything from tuna steaks, to octopus, to oysters.






Afterwards, we decided we wanted to go to a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome, and it happened to be opening day! We bought standing room only tickets and watched about 3 innings. They had cheerleaders and girls selling beer who were carrying small kegs on their backs.




Later that night while we were walking around, we found a human robot! Oh the things you see in the streets of Tokyo...


All in all, another successful and tiring day...

Japan Day 5: Asakusa & Tokyo Tower

Back in Tokyo again. The last half of our trip was planned with one of our friends from undergraduate, his girlfriend and her friend, and 3 of his coworkers. Our group jumped from 4 people to 10 overnight! We started off with going to Asakusa, a Buddhist temple famous for its lanterns.







Many of the shrines have rituals that people practice before walking into the sacred areas. At some temples, visitors burn incense (osenko) in large incense burners. You can purchase a bundle, light it, let it burn for a few seconds and then extinguish the flame by waving your hand rather than by blowing it out. Place the incense into the incense burner and fan some smoke towards yourself as the smoke is believed to have healing power.




There are also purification fountains near many shrine entrances. You take one of the ladles and fill it with fresh water running out of the fountain. You rinse both hands by pouring it over the inside of your wrists. Then you are supposed to transfer some water into your cupped hand, rinse your mouth and spit the water beside the fountain, but not drink directly from the ladle or swallow the water. We (along with many others) skipped the water drinking part, but did rinse our hands.


This is a view of the 5 tiered pagoda at Asakusa from inside a zen garden. The garden is only open to visitors a few times per year and we happened to go visit one of the days it was open. We got free green tea!


Next we ventured off in search of Tokyo Tower. Its construction was inspired by the Eiffel Tower, only it is orange and white.




It attracts many tourists each year and we went to the first level to see views of Tokyo as the sun was setting. You can barely see Mount Fuji in the background of this one.

And this is a view of the tower after we left and when it was lit up at night.



That's all for this day!