First Impressions of Sri Lanka

The flight attendants for Sri Lankan Airways all wear legitimate saris (bare-tummy and all!)

I arrived at 3:00 this morning. Waited around for 6 hours until 9:00 when I was supposed to be pick up BUT... my coordinator wasnt there. Ultimate fear realized: I was alone in Sri Lanka and there wasnt even a phone I could use to call and straighten things out. After another hour and a half (and several near-melt-downs) I finally met Michael. It was probably the scariest things in my life to that point.
But that is only because the 4 hour ride from Colombo to Galle had not yet occured.
The streets here are suicidal. I thought I would feel nervous riding on the left side of the road, but I actually think we spend more time (illegally) on the right side. And no seatbelts. Belizian drivers look like grandmas compared to this.

General Impression of the Area: Sri Lanka looks EXACTLY like Belize, except:
-there are cows all over the street
-men wear long skirts
-there is a different alphabet
-statues of Buddhas are everywhere (and many of Vishnu and Madonna as well)

We picked up two girls this morning, in addition to myself.
Monica, from Spain, is 32.
Julia, from Austria, is 18. (IRONY: Julia (aka JUELZ) just spent the past few days in a town called Kandy (aka KANDII)...if you get this, then you GET this!)

At lunch today, I ate with my hands for the first time! It is more challenging than one might think, but it is rewarding and quite fun once you get over how messy you get.

Tomorrow I drive the 4 hours back to Colombo to pick up another volunteer who will be at the elephant orphanage with me! I am super excited that I wont be staying by myself with my host family in Pinnawala.

Tomorrow could be my first day at the orphanage, or maybe the next day. Internet in Pinnawala may be difficult to find, probably requiring a bus ride into the nearest town, Kegalle. I will try update as much as I can, but Im not promising much!