I don't have any specific new favorite things because I just have so many. Every day I seem to find a new reason to love it here, to love my life here, or just to love life in general. I find things I miss too, but not with nearly so much frequency or earnestness. Well, I will admit that I am *desperately* craving a cheeseburger, and every couple days someone inevitably mentions a food from home and we all--torturing ourselves--join in, listing the first things we are going to eat upon returning. Amber, who leaves today, will get to realize this dream very soon, but I know she's rather stay here with the elephants than eat a chocolate chip cookie.
I think the most surprising thing about my life here is how well I am acclimating to it. I knew that things would be different here, but I wasn't sure how well I would deal with the changes (ch-ch-ch-changes). Everyone back home will be shocked to find out some of the things I see and experience and which I have started to accept, even take for granted. I haven't had a hot shower in 9 weeks, and the past 8 weeks have actually all been cold. In Galle I had lukewarm water, but the days of such high luxury are gone. It's not the temperature I expect to shock anyone, but the fact that I'm never more than a meter away from at least 8 spiders while I'm showering. Today it was 9.
Living in harmony with nature is a big difference between Sri Lanka and what I am used to. Not only is it a very different environment, which will disorient anyone, but this is an aspect of life that I struggle with even in America. "I can't get into my apartment, there's a wasp on the stairs" is a phrase I have uttered more than once. Being here, however, I am forced to come to terms with all manner of bugs, animals, and general nature. Of all these changes the bugs are definitely the aspect I was most worried about and the coming to terms with them is probably more surprising than the plants or animals. I don't think anyone would be shocked to hear that I'm totally fine with the pair of parrots that next outside my bungalow, so I'll focus on the bugs.
The initial change came about more quickly than I anticipated, and I have continued to improve with each passing mosquito filled day. I attribute the speed to my complete transplantation; I knew I was going into a different way of life, so without knowing what to expect, I tried to open my mind and accept however it ended up. At home I feel a distinct line between "my space" and "their space," and get very territorial over my space. When I go hiking or spend time outdoors I'm usually ok. The problem mainly exists when bugs get into my house because that's my area. In Sri Lanka, there is not space that's mine except for the area under my mosquito net at night. (And I actually stopped using one about 2 weeks ago.) The windows here don't have screens and doors remain open all day. The thing is, if a bug finds its way in, it's likely to find its way out again. At home if a bug finds its way in, it's sort of stuck inside until I kill or remove it (or have someone else kill or remove it).
In Sri Lanka everywhere is everyone's territory. The cockroaches chill in the dark corners of my room, the spiders make their homes on the shower head and the supports of my bunk bead, something mysterious has been crawling on me and biting me at night, and the fruit in the fruit shop is covered in bees. i have surprised myself with how used to all of this I have become, it all freaked me out so much at first, but now I just go about my day normally. Oh, hello bees, I think I'm going to continue chopping this watermelon if you don't mind. Shower time, hm, wonder how many spiders today, 9? fantastic. Oh, and little Dexter--the closest spider to my head while I'm showering, named thus because he probably has a craving for human blood--has moved even closer to my head? cool. That still gives me a good 5 inches of free space while I'm in my most vulnerable state of the day (I say, pretending that I shower every day) If I can get used to that, I think I can deal with beetles and other bugs flying around me while I'm working in the garden.
Things I'm still not ok with: spiders with a wingspan over 1.5 inches that's actually crawling on me (this theory has been confirmed in the garden a couple weeks ago) and leeches. No leeches. Please. Ever.
I even had an encounter with a snake a few weeks ago. I only screamed a tiny bit, it was really more of a squeak for lack of any words being able to come out of my mouth. I was sitting on the ground writing in my journal when I looked to my left and saw him. About 4 feet long and a non-alarming light green color, he was making his way steadily toward me, flicking his tongue and staring. As I turned to look, we made brief eye contact and he froze. I was momentarily stunned, this is the first snake I'd seen (and the only one I ever saw there). I uttered a small squeak, but I wasn't exactly afraid, just very startled. The squeak broke our eye contact and he slithered away. I followed him a bit, taking some pictures.
I wonder what I would have done if I thought that it was a venomous snake. Possibly a legit scream, probably not pictures. In the garden a few weeks ago I actually screamed upon seeing a spider about 2 inches across crawling up my arm. The watering can was dropped forgotten on the path and I couldn't brush myself off fast enough. For the next few minutes I couldn't shake the feeling that it was still on me, it's extremely hairy legs inching along over the skin of my arms, my legs, the back of my neck. I calmed myself down, stepped out of the mud puddle my upended watering can had created, and continued gardening. Maybe next time I won't be such a baby about it, but my hopes aren't high. (Foreshadowing)
I am pretty proud of my ability to know they're around and function anyway. I even had one crawling up my leg after breakfast one day that was so cute I had to show people before I flicked him off. He was bright yellow and orange, almost translucent, and probably only a quarter of an inch. No real feat. I do know that there are spiders here with at least a 6 inch wingspan, and I will still go use the bathrooms in the restaurant where I know they live. At first we always went in pairs for fear of seeing one, but I've either gotten past needing that or I realize now that having someone else there doesn't actually make me safer.
The much more common thing to see crawling on the walls everywhere are geckos. They are cute, though, so they don't really bother anyone. There is some superstition in Sri Lanka about what happens if a gecko falls on you. The day of the week and the part of your body they fall on goes into determining the meaning. For instance, a gecko falling anywhere on your body on a Sunday is very fortuitous, bringing good luck to those serendipitous enough to be "dropped in" on. If a gecko falls on your head on a Friday, however, it is fatal. Seems harsh.
So here I am, one Friday, minding my own business getting ready to leave for the beach. We are getting picked up at 3:30 AM so that we can miss traffic and have a bit of the day at the beach. I wake up at 3 to get ready, and I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I am leaning over the sink brushing when I feel something fall onto my head. It feels heavy, and I make surprised noise as I reflexively bring my hand up to brush him off. I'm running through the superstitions in my head, trying to remember what day of the week it is, when I glance at the wall I've knocked him onto. It's not a gecko. It's not a gecko at all. It's one of the mammoth spiders. A spider with a 6 inch wingspan sits chilling on the wall next to the sink, taunting me, "yeah, I was just on top of your head, what'cha gunna do about it? You can't scream, it's 3 AM and everyone's asleep." I stare at him, wide eyed and open mouthed, not screaming, but breathing out in a silent stream of air.
Well, he's not on my head anymore, and I need to finish brushing my teeth. I tap the wall next to him so that he runs away fro the sink and I can finish my morning routine in peace. He runs into the door frame, cutting off my exit. Ok, I'll deal with that in a moment. After completing my teeth, I plot my escape. Maybe if I start to open the door, he'll freak and bolt. It worked! I run through the open doorway and--quietly--slam the door behind me. I'm safe! I make it out to the group waiting for the van.
"So, who heard me scream this morning?"
"What, nobody heard you scream."
"Yeah, because I'm a champion!"
I think the most surprising thing about my life here is how well I am acclimating to it. I knew that things would be different here, but I wasn't sure how well I would deal with the changes (ch-ch-ch-changes). Everyone back home will be shocked to find out some of the things I see and experience and which I have started to accept, even take for granted. I haven't had a hot shower in 9 weeks, and the past 8 weeks have actually all been cold. In Galle I had lukewarm water, but the days of such high luxury are gone. It's not the temperature I expect to shock anyone, but the fact that I'm never more than a meter away from at least 8 spiders while I'm showering. Today it was 9.
Living in harmony with nature is a big difference between Sri Lanka and what I am used to. Not only is it a very different environment, which will disorient anyone, but this is an aspect of life that I struggle with even in America. "I can't get into my apartment, there's a wasp on the stairs" is a phrase I have uttered more than once. Being here, however, I am forced to come to terms with all manner of bugs, animals, and general nature. Of all these changes the bugs are definitely the aspect I was most worried about and the coming to terms with them is probably more surprising than the plants or animals. I don't think anyone would be shocked to hear that I'm totally fine with the pair of parrots that next outside my bungalow, so I'll focus on the bugs.
The initial change came about more quickly than I anticipated, and I have continued to improve with each passing mosquito filled day. I attribute the speed to my complete transplantation; I knew I was going into a different way of life, so without knowing what to expect, I tried to open my mind and accept however it ended up. At home I feel a distinct line between "my space" and "their space," and get very territorial over my space. When I go hiking or spend time outdoors I'm usually ok. The problem mainly exists when bugs get into my house because that's my area. In Sri Lanka, there is not space that's mine except for the area under my mosquito net at night. (And I actually stopped using one about 2 weeks ago.) The windows here don't have screens and doors remain open all day. The thing is, if a bug finds its way in, it's likely to find its way out again. At home if a bug finds its way in, it's sort of stuck inside until I kill or remove it (or have someone else kill or remove it).
In Sri Lanka everywhere is everyone's territory. The cockroaches chill in the dark corners of my room, the spiders make their homes on the shower head and the supports of my bunk bead, something mysterious has been crawling on me and biting me at night, and the fruit in the fruit shop is covered in bees. i have surprised myself with how used to all of this I have become, it all freaked me out so much at first, but now I just go about my day normally. Oh, hello bees, I think I'm going to continue chopping this watermelon if you don't mind. Shower time, hm, wonder how many spiders today, 9? fantastic. Oh, and little Dexter--the closest spider to my head while I'm showering, named thus because he probably has a craving for human blood--has moved even closer to my head? cool. That still gives me a good 5 inches of free space while I'm in my most vulnerable state of the day (I say, pretending that I shower every day) If I can get used to that, I think I can deal with beetles and other bugs flying around me while I'm working in the garden.
Things I'm still not ok with: spiders with a wingspan over 1.5 inches that's actually crawling on me (this theory has been confirmed in the garden a couple weeks ago) and leeches. No leeches. Please. Ever.
I even had an encounter with a snake a few weeks ago. I only screamed a tiny bit, it was really more of a squeak for lack of any words being able to come out of my mouth. I was sitting on the ground writing in my journal when I looked to my left and saw him. About 4 feet long and a non-alarming light green color, he was making his way steadily toward me, flicking his tongue and staring. As I turned to look, we made brief eye contact and he froze. I was momentarily stunned, this is the first snake I'd seen (and the only one I ever saw there). I uttered a small squeak, but I wasn't exactly afraid, just very startled. The squeak broke our eye contact and he slithered away. I followed him a bit, taking some pictures.
I wonder what I would have done if I thought that it was a venomous snake. Possibly a legit scream, probably not pictures. In the garden a few weeks ago I actually screamed upon seeing a spider about 2 inches across crawling up my arm. The watering can was dropped forgotten on the path and I couldn't brush myself off fast enough. For the next few minutes I couldn't shake the feeling that it was still on me, it's extremely hairy legs inching along over the skin of my arms, my legs, the back of my neck. I calmed myself down, stepped out of the mud puddle my upended watering can had created, and continued gardening. Maybe next time I won't be such a baby about it, but my hopes aren't high. (Foreshadowing)
I am pretty proud of my ability to know they're around and function anyway. I even had one crawling up my leg after breakfast one day that was so cute I had to show people before I flicked him off. He was bright yellow and orange, almost translucent, and probably only a quarter of an inch. No real feat. I do know that there are spiders here with at least a 6 inch wingspan, and I will still go use the bathrooms in the restaurant where I know they live. At first we always went in pairs for fear of seeing one, but I've either gotten past needing that or I realize now that having someone else there doesn't actually make me safer.
The much more common thing to see crawling on the walls everywhere are geckos. They are cute, though, so they don't really bother anyone. There is some superstition in Sri Lanka about what happens if a gecko falls on you. The day of the week and the part of your body they fall on goes into determining the meaning. For instance, a gecko falling anywhere on your body on a Sunday is very fortuitous, bringing good luck to those serendipitous enough to be "dropped in" on. If a gecko falls on your head on a Friday, however, it is fatal. Seems harsh.
So here I am, one Friday, minding my own business getting ready to leave for the beach. We are getting picked up at 3:30 AM so that we can miss traffic and have a bit of the day at the beach. I wake up at 3 to get ready, and I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I am leaning over the sink brushing when I feel something fall onto my head. It feels heavy, and I make surprised noise as I reflexively bring my hand up to brush him off. I'm running through the superstitions in my head, trying to remember what day of the week it is, when I glance at the wall I've knocked him onto. It's not a gecko. It's not a gecko at all. It's one of the mammoth spiders. A spider with a 6 inch wingspan sits chilling on the wall next to the sink, taunting me, "yeah, I was just on top of your head, what'cha gunna do about it? You can't scream, it's 3 AM and everyone's asleep." I stare at him, wide eyed and open mouthed, not screaming, but breathing out in a silent stream of air.
Well, he's not on my head anymore, and I need to finish brushing my teeth. I tap the wall next to him so that he runs away fro the sink and I can finish my morning routine in peace. He runs into the door frame, cutting off my exit. Ok, I'll deal with that in a moment. After completing my teeth, I plot my escape. Maybe if I start to open the door, he'll freak and bolt. It worked! I run through the open doorway and--quietly--slam the door behind me. I'm safe! I make it out to the group waiting for the van.
"So, who heard me scream this morning?"
"What, nobody heard you scream."
"Yeah, because I'm a champion!"
