Hello to all of my fans (and other inanimate objects in my possession)!
Also, hello to friends and family.

I've taken to playing a couple of popular* games here. The first game is played mostly amongst the ISLE students here**, and it's called "Guess which giant, unwelcome invertebrate will be in my bathroom tonight." So far, I've encountered a giant cockroach, a giant beetle, a giant slug (or may have been a snail), and of course the infamous giant spider. I accidentally stepped on a centipede on my way TO the bathroom, but I don't think that counts. Also, a couple of winged insects were trying to mate on my bed, and that was WAY inappropriate.

Sri Lanka certainly does help put things in perspective though. Of course, there are the sobering things like poverty, freedom, peace, etc. that SL puts in perspective. On a lighter note though, where else would I think something like "EEEEK! ...Oh, thank God! It's only a giant cockroach."

My birthday celebration was stellar. My amma baked a pinapple cake for me, and my atamma (grandmother) decorated it. It was delicious. They also made some western food for me, including a pasta and vegetable dish that was divine. Best of all though, the rest of the family came over. My uncle and aunt are real characters, and it was a real pleasure to have them. People brought gifts too! It was so unexpected and wonderful! My family gave me a tailored shirt and matching sarong, my grandmother gave me a shirt that looks pretty good on me, my uncle gave me a sweet looking sarong, and my aunt gave me a book on buddhism. It was a good night.

Okay, the rest of the posting will have to wait 'till another time. I may be wrong, but I think there's a couple doing something uncomfortable right next to me. Take care!

*compared to the sport of full contact duck duck goose
**Whether they want to play or not