On rugby.

Alisa:

Since arriving in the beautiful land of Sri Lanka I have had a host of cultural experiences. Ranging from being asked by everyone, “Visiting from America? Have you seen an elephant?” Apparently they’re really exciting. I’ve given up on telling people that I’ve seen and even ridden elephants in the states, thanks to the circus and Winston Wildlife Safari. My new tactic is one that I hope might earn me a free elephant ride. It goes something like this, “Elephants, wait they really exist? I’ve never seen one before. I didn’t know they were real.” I’m going to test it out on the next person who asks; maybe I can get a baby elephant out of the performance. Steph says it’s pretty convincing.

Steph:

It is pretty convincing. I'm thinking about getting her to get two of them, so I can take one home also. Judging by the sheer amount of clothing that I managed to cart over, there is no doubt in my mind that my suit case is big enough.

Alisa:

Something else I’ve experienced unique to the island is it’s humidity. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I have not had the joy of making humidity’s acquaintance until now. I can’t say I’m sad it’s taken so long for us to meet. But, people tell me I’ll get used to it. I hope they’re right.

Escaping the heat - what a rough life.

Another thing I’ve got to participate in, that literally screams culture, was the much-anticipated Bradby match. For those of you who don’t know Bradby is a rugby game between two of the top boys’ schools in Kandy and Colombo, Trinity and Royals respectively.

The game was absolutely crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it. The fans were out of control. There were bands, flags, school songs, face paint, matching shirts, and team spirit galore. Also, to distract the other team, fans would sporadically set off firecrackers to decrease the other team’s chance of scoring. Royals won which, unfortunately, was not the team we were rooting for. But we did go out and celebrated the match Lankan style at Bradby Ball afterwards, which lessened the sting of defeat significantly. Maybe I’ll let Steph tell you all about it.

Steph:

Hmmmmm...yes, Bradby Ball. Losing is no fun but as they say "misery loves company"...in this case, "company" included about twenty of us who met up to dance the night away, well into the wee hours of the morn. Le Garage was hopping, the music pounding and the dance floor popping. 3.00 am rolled round and it was time to call it good. After some cajoling, we got Al a first taste of driving down the potholed, rutted, bedraggled mountain roads of Kandy and she did incredibly well - despite having to drive on the left side and never having driven outside of the states in her life. Not a single dog was hit, we got the car home intact and Alisa became a star pretty instantaneously.

Alisa:

All in all, after roughly four days in the country, I feel like I’ve been ceremoniously immersed in Sri Lankan culture. I may come back with an accent just like Steph’s.

So much love,

Alisa and Steph