I woke up the following morning to another feast spread out over the table. Like waking up on Christmas. The presents: dahl (a great lentil curry), pol sambol (ground up coconut with other spices), noodles (noodles), bittara (fried egg), kiritea (tea), and a glass of papol (papaya juice). Nick - you would love it here: you eat everything with your hands. You wouldn't eat the food since nothing resembles a cheeseburger and fries, but still, you could forget the fork and knife without mom yelling at you. Only the right hand, however. The left one is, well, reserved for other purposes. After the enormous breakfast, Senaka drove us to a lookout point over Kandy. It had been dark as we drove from the airport the night before, so we were really seeing the city for the first time. This is also where I had my first bargaining experience in Sri Lanka. Rather, where I first saw Senaka bargain. I guess I was about to pay a ridiculous price for a simple shirt, and Senaka wasn't gonna let it happen. He took over and got into an intense argument with 3 of the vendors. I ultimately got the shirt for about 60% less. We then headed for the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, the largest in Sri Lanka. We had a great guide that knew the origins of all the flora in sight, and he often picked a leaf or flower, crushed it in his hands, and held it up to our noses. Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Clove. Marijuana (just kidding). How many people can say that they saw the largest umbrella tree in the world? To answer that rhetorical question: at least 1,000, because it once held that many for a picnic, we were told. We left the gardens to make it just in time for bathing at the Pinnawela elephant orphanage. More than fifty elephants, all different sizes, gathered in clusters across a large river. Free to roam around the area as they pleased, splash around like children as they pleased. The elephants were so wild and natural at that moment; It reminded me of Jurassic Park. On the way back to Kandy, the bats came out. There were only patches of sky visible as thousands of them swarmed through the city. And we're talkin big bats, at least 2 feet from wing to wing. They made the ones from the Cu Chi Tunnels seem like flies. We went to bed early (after another feast from Tharanga, of course) so that we could get up at 6 and prepare a program for the schools. We got up at 6 and prepared a program for the schools. Kyle and I sifted through the large suitcase of stickers, glue, scissors, coloring books, paper, stamps, pipe cleaners, googly eyes...and came up with a game plan: to warm everyone up with the classic and reliable "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," then use flashcards to see what level of students we were dealing with, and then give each kid a flashcard and ask them to make their own version on a piece of construction paper, with crayons, glue, glitter, etc. We spent 2 hours at Talatuoya Junior College and an hour at Bootawatta Junior College (right nextdoor to Senaka's house and where Mihiri has spent much time). We started off a little rough at the first school when the principle simply handed over the class of 60 students to us as he and the other teachers watched us intently. It was obvious that our presence made the situation very formal and that the students were on their best behavior, so I stepped up and belted out an "Aybovan!" followed by a "Mama Charlie, mama ave amerikaven. Mama vayesa daha-athe. Mama kamathi obathe tikkak kiladena chitra aha sindu." I (hope I) said: "Hello! I'm Charlie, I'm from America. I am 18. I would now like to teach you all some songs and crafts." Senaka told me that I said everything he had taught me correctly, though 60 blank stares followed. We then managed to screw up the "reliable" "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Kyle continued on to "eyes and ears and nose and mouth" while I did a faster version of the title. This happened a few times. Two minutes later, however, things really got rolling. We split up the classroom (30 students each) and used the flashcards, chalkboards, and our box of other materials. At the end of the 2 hours, there were 60 enthusiastic kids proud of their English words and matching drawings. After an equally successful session at the second school (we skipped the song this time), we went to the famous Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa). Legend has it that one of Buddha's teeth is protected at the heart of the temple (I guess the Toothfairy missed that one). There's an extravagant 10-day festival in August where a specially trained elephant, along with many other elephants and dancers, walks the streets of Kandy with an ivory replica of the tooth. I'll have to make it back here for that next year. After working at 2 schools and touring Kandy, you guessed it: massage time. But this wasn't just your average Vietnamese massage, this was an Ayurveda massage with herbs and oils and a steam bath and a sauna. The best one yet. It was now 6:30 and, relaxed and refreshed, we headed over to the Kandyan Art Associations Hall to catch the last half of the dancing and cultural show. Some great dancing with masks and traditional instruments and, my favorite part, fire-walkers/eaters. I had seen people play around with fire before (at circuses or whatever), but this was the most legit and ridiculous fire spectacle I've ever witnessed. Two guys rubbing flames all over their bodies and walking across burning coals. It was hot. It's weird having to catch up on the past 3 days. Unlike Vietnam, internet is not easily accesible here. And Kandy is one of the major cities. Oh well, I'll do my best... So we're at the end of day 2. Senaka had been talking about a party for Kyle and I the entire day, but he never said more than that. We stopped by a beer bar and then went back to the house. Five minutes later he says we're leaving, and as we're walking to the car he asks me if I have a flashlight. I was like, "I don't even know where we're going! I don't usually bring a flashlight with me to parties, but let me go get one." The air of mystery lingered until we pulled up to one of the coolest places I've ever seen. They call it "Moragolla;" It's essentially a treehouse off the edge of a mountain overlooking all of Kandy. Senaka, Tharanga, Gamini (our driver), their friend, Kyle, and I had a picnic there from 9 to 11. Unforgettable. Fun facts! - Sri Lanka is a Democratic Socialist Republic, whatever that means. - As I was flipping through my 500-page Sinhala book, I was seeing a lot of random words that sounded Spanish. Glass = viduruwa, shirt = kamisaya, shoes = sapathu...This led me to discover that Sri Lanka was originally a Portuguese colony (before being a Dutch colony, then a British colony, then "Sri Lanka," or free country). - I'm typing at a computer that has "NO PORN PLEASE!" posted at the top. That's no fun. - Once again, cars are the minority on the streets. In Vietnam, motorcycles dominate. Here, "attas" do. They're also called 3-wheelers and are essentially a cross between a golf cart and a tuktuk. - In Vietnam, honking is constant, and it is a sign of aggression and haste. In Sri Lanka, however, drivers honk after letting one another pass on the narrow roads. A sound of cooperation. It means "Nice to meet you," Gamini told me. - I have underwear.

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