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!