And so we intrepidly walked the 2 miles to our lab on Monday morning, with visions of solving the worlds most poignant scientific problems, and being home for tea and medals. Alas, it wasn’t to be, as everyone in the Lab either spoke no English, or were busy organising the 2nd year Vet exams at the university, so we were instructed to go for a walk. There are a few spoilers on my Facebook photos, but in essence, we found our way to the small Railway station next to our Lab, and noticed people were casually walking along the track. Not wanting to miss out on some potential danger, and some exciting culture, we started to explore the track between Kandy and Peradeniya.
The locals were evidently not used to tourists using this method of getting around, and we got a good few odd glances, as well has fruit handed to us by a friendly family who lives by the track (this was a jack fruit, which was in essence slimey sweet pulp covering a mysteriously testicle like seed – a fruit arrangement common of the fruits of the region that are not exported, I wonder why). The old school stations, with the original colonial signalling systems, as well as the tropical surroundings made the whole experience feel like something out of an early Indiana Jones movie, and made for excessive photography only equalled by Japanese tourists in Cambridge!
Finally there was THE BRIDGE, which was just south west of our local station. It was about 100m long, with a narrow maintanece walkway comprised of steel strips to one side. It spanned a large river, and gave breathtaking views up and down the valley, although (apart from making sure we had a couple of pictures) we did not linger there for too long, for obvious reasons.
The wildlife here just keeps giving and giving, and a group of wild monkeys, casually wandering around the university campus, a flock (right collective noun?) of fruit bats which must have numbered in the thousands flying over campus in a continuous stream for about an hour, and a disturbingly large scorpion (lukily dead) have kept our eyes peeled, checking around for the next taxonomical surprise which lies around the corner. (We have been told that in the area there are small leapods, mongeese, porcupines and deer, which I am still eager to see, along with the hundreds of frogs I hear every night, but never see!)
Bens money woes were almost deepened the other day when we tried for a second time to cash his travellers cheques after the mishap in Kandy on Sunday. After signing his cheques (I don’t know whether he used his new or old signature), they cashier disappeared for about 10 minutes, without warning. Now I was ready to go “wait outside”, and watch the arrest of my friend, as the fraud police swept in to take him away, primarily so that there was only one bail that our host out here would have to pay, but before I fled the wrath of the Sri Lankan legal system (just as an example, trying to take drugs into the country is the death penalty – as we were repeatedly told at the airport), they returned with his money, and Ben is now solvent again.
As for the more normal aspects of our life here (if there are any), we have now gone entirely local, eating Rice and Curry for every meal (and at 100 rupees – 60p a pop, who can blame us), although the lack of cutlery was disconcerting at first… I like knives and forks! Getting around the place also took a slightly more crazy turn as we decided to take the 9p busses to and from Kandy. Just a few facts to give you the feel of these busses: Imagine how packed the tube is at absolute rush hour – Now imagine you are in a 1970s Indian built bus which has a clutch that gives the whole bus a parkinsonian tremor as you pull away – put this bus onto the roads described in an earlier blog, and imagine a driver that doesn’t ever want to come to a complete stop (even at bus STOPS)… and you are pretty much there. They are a fantastic way to make small journeys, but for anything longer I am inclined to take the train!
Now, being in a hot country, especially with the propensity to sweat excessively that I have meant that we decided some washing was in order. It was much to my surprise when I asked my host where to get my washing done that he brought me a bucket and some washing powder. Now I don’t know if any of you will have hand washed your clothes, but I can assure you that it is not fun – 1 minute to wash the clothes in the suds, and 15 mins to rinse all the suds out of the clothes, to ensure that next time there is tropical rain, I don’t turn into a one man foam party! I am writing this having just finished washing my clothes, and have decided that I can wear shirts more than one day before changing them! I also feel that this is a good time to mention the fact that we only have a cold shower here too, as this is the only time that I might be able to squeeze the slightest bit of sympathy out of you all for my strife :P.
I have just realised that I didn’t really mention anything else about the lab work, but that’s because there is nothing else really. A few more railway wanders and an afternoon of immunoflouresence assays to find anti-rickettsial antibodys in patient serum from the local hospital is all that we have to show for our efforts (not that I’m complaining). However, we have talked to the Prof. of Medicine at the medical school here, and hopefully we should be going into the hospital for the next two days to get a 1st hand experience of tropical diseases like Dengue, Leptospirosis and Rickettsia, and I for one am looking forward to putting on my white coat tomorrow (here you still have to wear one) and really experiencing tropical medicine!
xx
No comments:
Post a Comment