Podcast recommendations for monolingual Americans in Sri Lanka (plus quick updates)

Another week has passed here at Rajarata University, and while I’ve made progress, I haven’t yet been into the field to see elephants. For the first week since I’ve been in Sri Lanka, there haven’t been any national holidays to delay progress either. It’s driving me crazy being on a small island practically full of elephants and not having seen one yet, but some of my more tangible milestones so far include:

• My residence visa was approved and issued, meaning that my research permit for Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation is complete.

• I gave a lecture about musth and why it’s important to one of Rajnish’s undergraduate wildlife management classes.

• I got my own internet router that actually works! I had been bumming off the University’s WiFi on campus, and Rajnish lent me one of his old routers, but the internet speed wasn’t what I’m used to (#firstworldproblems). The one I got is much better, and I’ll be able to take it with me to my field sites for internet access, but I’m still limited on data since it runs off of 4G.

• I can now navigate to all the good places in Mihintale for food (n = 2) on my own. And when I feel like cooking, I can still make a mean grilled cheese sandwich.

• I’m no longer startled when I hear loud banging on my roof (FYI: the group of monkeys living near the house are super active right at sunrise when you’re still fast asleep).

• Thanks to help from Rajnish, my water pressure works, allowing me to take actual showers again. This means I don’t have to depend on a knee-level spigot in my bathroom anymore, and I don’t look like a cat grooming itself sprawled out on the bathroom floor when I start to smell bad.

Rajnish and I should make it out to one of the national parks later next week, where I’ll see the place I’ll be living and get a lay of the land. Then, I should have more interesting posts to share with you all. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some podcast recommendations. It may seem random, but I’ve come to depend on the podcasts below to help keep my sanity. I passed on Fulbright’s offer of a month of Sinhala lessons so that I could get to work faster, but that means it can be difficult to communicate with many Sri Lankans, especially in rural areas. All of my colleagues speak English perfectly fine, and for a quiet person like me, I didn’t think it would be an issue with everyone else. But everyone here in Mihintale speaks Sinhala almost exclusively, and almost none of the signs are in English (this minor inconvenience is compounded by the fact that Sinhala characters don’t remotely resemble any Latin characters; for some quick background information, click here).

All of this means that I instintively tune out any of the conversations or signs around me, and the thoughts in my head don’t have much verbage to bounce off of. After a few days, I figured out that my growing catalogue of podcasts has helped solve this issue—even if I’m not engaged in the conversation (and I’ll admit it, that’s usually true even back in the US, as I’m a listener by nature), it’s comforting to hear people chatting in English. My taste in podcasts may be eclectic, but I’m a discerning subscriber. I thought some of you might appreciate knowing what’s keeping me going here in Sri Lanka, and hey, maybe you’ll pick up a new favorite podcast of your own:

Podcasts about news and current events:

• Ask Me Another: In college, I got steadfastly watched Jeopardy! almost everyday with the classmates in my dorm (I wasn’t a popular kid, okay?), and this podcast seems like the cool version of that, if you can be cool and listen to NPR at the same time. The trivia is also much more accessible than usual answers on Jeopardy!…more like Teen Jeopardy! I guess.

• Fresh Air: I love Terry Gross (and if you haven’t already, you’ll fall in love too, just watch her latest appearence on Jimmy Fallon’s show). The Fresh Air podcast by NPR is probably the most serious one I listen to, but it covers topics that I think are important

• More Perfect: Yeah, yeah, another NPR podcast. But don’t worry, it’s compelling and interesting: this one tracks important cases from the Supreme Court of the United States. No really, it’s SUPER interesting. There are a few seasons of More Perfect available now, and the latest deals with the 27 amendments to the US Constitution, with the show recruiting musical artists to write songs about each one (Dolly Parton even wrote and performed a catchy tune). The studio that produces this one, Radiolab, also has a podcast of their own that’s very interesting and more often covers science topics.

• Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!: Another NPR gameshow podcast, but this one is based around the events of the preceding week. It’s also very accessible like Ask Me Another, but I think a tad funnier (it’s where I first learned of Paula Poundstone…see my recommendation for Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone below).

True crime podcasts:

• Dr. Death: Drop everything and go listen to this one now. My mom, a newcomer to the world of podcasts, told me about this one, a documentary series about an evil neurosurgeon from Dallas (go Texas!) who is now serving a life sentence in prison for seriously injuring or killing many of his patients. There are less than 10 episodes, but new ones pop up periodically because this is still a developing story. That’s right, this isn’t some old-fashioned, “we now know better” sort of crime…Dr. Christopher was just convicted in 2017, and his lawyers are appealing the decision! I’ve also heard that Dirty John, a podcast by the same studio, is very good.

• My Favorite Murder: This one is probably my favorite. I first listened to this from a tent in South Africa a few years ago as a way to pass the time (there was a drought in the area, and so there weren’t many elephants around), and I’ve been a self-proclaimed murderino ever since. If you’re the sort of person who likes watching Dateline, 20/20, and Making a Murderer, you’re a murderino too. MFM regularly tops the list of comedy podcasts. Yes, it’s funny, but not disrespectful. I’ve gotten my whole family hooked on this one (I was also happy to learn that many of my grad school friends independently discovered the show), and it’s standard listening on the long drives to/from Texas, Florida, and Virginia. The hosts go on tour with the show around the US (and even around the world), but I’m never in the right city it seems. Maybe they’ll visit Sri Lanka?

• Serial: This is usually everyone’s gateway podcast, and for good reason. Serial is now on season three, but I recommend starting with the first season, even though the seasons are discrete stories that don’t relate to each other. You’ll have to begin with the first episode because the show is, well, serial. I didn’t care much for season two to be honest (a sentiment I’ve heard from others too), but the third season redeems the series.

• Up and Vanished: My sister Parker just introduced me to this one, and even though I’ve only listened to a few episodes, I’m hooked. This story about Tara Grinstead, a missing woman, is still developing, as the case was unsolved when the podcast started. If you get hooked on this one like I am, NO SPOILERS!

Science and technology podcasts:

• Inquiring Minds: I think of this podcast as easy listening for scientists, but it’s appealing to a general audience. Each week, one of the hosts sits down to talk with a leading scientist, usually someone who’s recently published a popular science book. I’ll admit that sometimes I skip episodes that seem uninteresting (that’s my loss), but this week is the second week of a series on dinosaurs! The eight-year-old in me is excited.

• Ologies: This is a relatively new podcast, whose non-scientist host Alie Ward, seeks to “ask dumb questions to smart people.” I’ve been pleasantly surprised at a lot of the episodes (who would’ve thought that Deltiology, Egyptology, Ferroequinology, or Rhinology would be so interesting?!…and I bet only one of those things is the study of what you think it is). If you’re a non-science person who wants to ease into the science realm, this is the way to do it.

• Stuff You Should Know: This podcast isn’t exclusively science-based, it’s more of a compendium of, well, stuff you should know. There are thousands of SYSK episodes by now (the show has been running successfully for years), so I usually just scroll through the list and randomly pick one. There are episodes about PEZ dispensers, giraffes, drag queens, ax murders, air traffic control, and more. Okay, maybe you don’t need to know about all this stuff, but you should.

Comedy podcasts:

• Judge John Hodgman: This is one I just picked up this week, but I’m already hooked. I’ve always enjoyed the work of John Hodgman, and this podcast is like listening to stand-up combined with an episode of Judge Judy. Each week, Hodgman hosts an everyday plaintiff and defendant who wish to resolve some sort of casual dispute. In the last episode I listened to, a married couple argued about whether to get rid of grapevines near their house that were attracting raccoons. Really though, it’s funny. Try it out.

• Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone: I think Paula’s voice and perspective are hilarious, so when this weekly podcast started earlier this year, I instantly subscribed. Each week, Paula and her sidekick Adam invite two specialists on the show to talk about their professions, from plumbers to beekeepers to orthodontists to high stakes gamblers. I listened to this week’s episode last night while making a grilled cheese sandwich and found myself laughing out loud. I’ve tried sharing this with other friends with mixed results, so buyer beware; it might be best to start with the first episode to let your appreciation for Paula’s humor appropriately mature.

Pop culture podcasts:

• Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project: I grew up watching Mythbusters (and I even saw Adam and Jamie live when they came to Bowling Green a few years ago on tour), so listening to the projects that Adam’s got going on post-MB are enjoyable. Warning: some of the discussions go deep into science-fiction territory that I don’t usually traverse (Star Wars, Star Trek, superheroes, etc.), so not all episodes will be appealing to everyone. This one’s also cool because they film each episode, which you can watch for free on YouTube or by following the link I gave.

• The Cracked Podcast: I find that I’m initially interested in about half of these episodes before I listen to them, but I’m always interested in the topics after listening. The podcast takes the form of an informal discussion among friends who work at Cracked.com, covering topics like movies, TV shows, and general interest. Take a listen to a few of the episodes that pop out at you

• The West Wing Weekly: When I started grad school just outside Washington, DC, I decided to watch the entire series of The West Wing on Netflix to feel more like a political insider. It didn’t help in that regard, but I fell in love with the show. After watching the whole series, I found this podcast, whose hosts (including Joshua Malina, who starred on the show) and special guests discuss an episode each week, in order. Even if you haven’t watched the show before, I recommend watching each episode before listening to the podcast.

• Will You Accept This Rose: I admit that the worst part of me as a human being is my newfound obsession with the ABC franchise that includes The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise. Last year, I put the show on one late night when I couldn’t fall asleep, thinking the mindless conversation would help me pass out, but boy was I wrong. This podcast, which takes a comedic look at each episode as they air, only fuels that obsession. The new season of The Bachelor starts in January…I’ll have to find a way to watch it here in Sri Lanka so I can listen to one of my favorite podcasts!

That list was longer than I anticipated, but I feel like the hosts on each of these shows are my travelling companions in Sri Lanka now. For those not initiated into the world of podcasts, I highly recommend them. They help pass the time on long commutes, during mindless work, and best of all, they’re free! iPhone users: I recommend just using the podcast app that’s automatically installed on your phone. There are other options in the Apple App store, and I’m sure there are equivalents in the Android world. Most of these shows also stream episodes from their websites, or at least they provide directions as to how to listen.

If you’ve got favorite podcasts that aren’t on this list, comment on this post to let me know what I should check out (to comment on this blog post or any of my others, I think you have to click on the title and scroll down to the bottom of the page). I’ve also picked up a lot more reading during my trip…I’ll save book recommendations for another day. Otherwise, happy listening!

Leaving the city

I spent the weekend being a lazy bum in Colombo. In my defense, I had a long week at orientation, and I knew that this weekend in the hotel might be my last touch with Western comforts for a while. To further justify my laziness, I caught up on a bunch of emails from back home that I had been ignoring all week. I spent a bit of time with a few of the other Fulbrighters hanging out (I even learned to play cribbage, which I’ll be honest, I thought was some sort of yard game and not a game played with cards). We also found “the best Italian food in Colombo” on Sunday night, and on my last night in Colombo on Monday, we had homemade chili (which as a Texan, I know really wasn’t chili, because “real chili ain’t got no beans”).

The 2018-19 cohort of Fulbrighters, along with most of the US-SLFC staff, at the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission in Colombo.

I left Colombo on Tuesday morning. Sri Lanka is among countries with the most national holidays (29, according to this list), and Tuesday was Muhammad’s birthday (Milad-un-Nabi). Even though only about 10% of Sri Lankans are Muslim, the holiday shut down most of the country. This was fine with me, because it meant almost no traffic leaving Colombo. I left my hotel early with Buddhika, the go-to guy from the US-SLFC. We had a 4.5-hour drive to Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (RUSL), my host affiliation for the duration of my Fulbright grant. For those that don’t know, Colombo is located on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka where there are no longer any elephants closeby. My research will be taking place in three different national parks that are relatively close to RUSL, but more on that in future posts. True to form, I slept for most of the trip (sorry, Buddhika!), waking up only for breakfast and to snap a quick photo of an elephant crossing sign. I knew then that I was headed in the right direction.

A photo of an elephant crossing sign taken from the ride from Colombo to Mihintale. Elephants pose a serious risk to many human communities surrounding national parks, and many elephants are killed due to train or vehicle collisions. For more elephant photos like this one, find the link to my Instagram on my Contact page.

We arrived just before noon at RUSL. The university is in the small town of Mihintale, directly adjacent to the ancient Sri Lankan capital of Anuradhapura. As such, there are a lot of ancient ruins around that I’m sure I’ll explore soon. Buddhika and I met with Dr. Rajnish Vandercone, my Sri Lankan advisor and a member of my PhD committee (just a quick side note to fill you in: it is typical for a US PhD student to have a ‘committee’ of professors oversee their dissertation research; my committee is comprised of my two major advisors, my Sri Lankan advisor [Dr. Vandercone], and two other professors from George Mason University). I first met Rajnish on my quick visit to Sri Lanka last summer, and we’ve been corresponding ever since. Lucky for me, the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation (based in the US) established the Ringling Bros. Center for the Study and Conservation of the Asian Elephant at RUSL about a decade ago. The Center facilitates collaboration between US and Sri Lankan researchers and conservationists, ultimately benefiting Asian elephants as a species. That also means there’s free housing for me to take advantage of while I’m staying at RUSL. As soon as my stuff was unpacked, Rajnisha and I bid a gracious farewell to Buddhika as he drove back to Colombo.

My “bungalow” at the Ringling Bros. Center for the Study and Conservation of the Asian Elephant at RUSL.

The kitchen at the Ringling Bros. Center for the Study and Conservation of the Asian Elephant at Rajarata University. As if I needed another sign, I’m in the right place.

For the rest of the day, Rajnish showed me RUSL’s campus, took me grocery shopping, and showed me restaurants that would be good to order food from (I took that Sri Lankan cooking class last week, but let’s get real, it was going to be a long nine months if I was responsible for cooking my own meals). The Center is on the other side of campus from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, where I’ll be conducting most of my work. Luckily, it’s a beautiful walk (or short tuk ride). On my first day with Rajnish, we were lucky to spot a family of purple-faced langurs in a tree close to the Center. Rajnish told me that a few families of these monkeys live around RUSL’s campus, and that’s a good thing, because purple-faced langurs are endemic to Sri Lanka and regularly make the list of the world’s 25 most endangered primates. In fact, Rajnish is a trained primatologist and still conducts research on these langurs with international collaborators. I hope to follow his team in the field soon to learn more about them. I’ve heard the monkeys close to my bungalow at the center, and on my walks to and from campus, I’ve already seen a few peacocks and a herd of water buffalo.

The friendly herd of water buffalo I regularly pass on my way from the Center to the Faculty of Applied Sciences at RUSL.

On Wednesday, I met more of the faculty members at RUSL (remember, it was a holiday on Tuesday, so campus was almost empty). It’s quite a process to get affiliated with a university through Fulbright, so Im grateful to have been welcomed so warmly by everyone I’ve met so far. Rajnish and I raided a few of the biology labs to figure out what supplies and equipment I’ll need to order to carry out my work. I don’t really consider myself a true-to-form laboratory-based scientist, but the hormone analyses I’ll be conducting require some basic lab skills (and a lot of elephant poop). But, more on that for a future post.

Thursday was Thanksgiving in the US, and there was yet another national holiday here in Sri Lanka (called Ill Full Moon Poya, but I still haven’t figured out what that means…). Rajnish’s family lives in the city of Kandy a few hours away, so he headed home and will be back this weekend. I didn’t have turkey to eat, so I made grilled cheese sandwiches instead (essentially the same thing, right?). I caught up with family and friends back home and spent the rest of the day taking it easy by watching a few movies and working on easy things.

I still haven’t seen an elephant in person on this trip to Sri Lanka. It’s not that they’re not out there, it’s just that I haven’t been in the right place to see them yet. My residence visa is still in processing, which means I can’t carry out any official work in the national parks. Things move slower and take longer here than I’m used to. This isn’t unexpected, just part of the experience. Hopefully I’ll have my visa next week, and that means Rajnish and I can visit my first field site (Wasgamuwa National Park, several hours away from RUSL) to scope things out. I’m sure even more exciting things are coming soon!

A whirlwind week: Starting off with a bang

Orientation continued on Wednesday with a full day of activities. All the Fulbrighters started the morning with a visit to the bank to cash our first paychecks from the US-SLFC. It felt weird holding that much cash at once (1 US dollar equals more than 175 Sri Lankan rupees), but we won’t have a bank account for direct deposits until we all get our residence visas. After the bank, we took a quick drive around Colombo on a sort of historical tour, visiting major landmarks and government buildings. And with money burning holes in our pockets from the morning’s visit to the bank, we stopped at the Pettah Market in the heart of Colombo’s commercial district. Pettah is essentially a maze of open-air shops that line the streets, and the barrage of mesmerizing sights, smells, and sounds is at once overwhelming and energizing. Our first stop was a popular sari shop. Saris are traditional female garments, and many of the Fulbrighters wanted to pick a few up for their teaching placements. Ironically, this was the first time I realized I was the only male Fulbrighter; all of the other Fulbright grantees in Sri Lanka this year are women. Not to worry: years of being dragged to shopping malls prepared me to quickly locate the only chair in the store to wait while the ladies methodically tried on clothes. My patience was rewarded, as we had lunch at a delicious South Indian restaurant, the Sri Suryas Hotel. I tried my first dosa at the recommendation of our Fulbright director. It was really very good, but I’m still building my tolerance for South Asian spices.

We returned to the US-SLFC after lunch for a quick afternoon of lectures. Mr. Rukshan Jayawardene, a Sri Lankan archaeologist, conservationist, and photographer, provided us with an overview of Sri Lanka’s varied landscapes, emphasizing how these landscapes have shaped the country’s history and culture. Rukshan’s photos are truly mesmerizing; you can check some of them out here. We also got a quick Sinhala and Tamil lesson from Michael Meyler, a British expat who will be giving more intensive lessons to the five Fulbright English teaching assistants over the next month or so. Sinhala and Tamil are the two languages most widely spoken by local Sri Lankans, although Sinhala is more common over most of the country. Indeed, Sri Lanka has three official languages: Sinhala, Tamil, and English (thankfully for me…).

Our day still wasn’t over, despite all of our activities. I quickly walked back to my hotel to get ready for dinner, as each Fulbrighter was being treated by their own “host family.” My host was Dr. Nilwala Kottegoda, a chemistry professor at the local Sri Jayewardenepura University (I’m pretty sure the US-SLFC expertly matched each Fulbrighter with a host who had similar interests). I took an Uber to Nilwala’s family’s apartment (yes, Sri Lanka has a host of ridesharing apps, and you can usually even pay cash at the end of your ride), which took about an hour in rush-hour traffic. Nilwala’s husband and son were still on their way back from work and school, so we chatted while we waited. I learned that she was also a Fulbright scholar, having received a scholarship from the US-SLFC to spend six months at Rice University in Houston (in my years of travel, I’ve found that Texas connections are everywhere, even on small islands in the Indian Ocean). We talked about how to adjust to life in Sri Lanka and the differences in university life between Sri Lanka and the US. After a short while, Nilwala’s husband, Sanjeewa, and 13-year-old son joined us, and I had fun talking about his love for animals while Nilwala and Sanjeewa put the finishing touches on dinner. Dinner was excellent too; we had an impressive home-cooked Sri Lankan meal (complete with dessert) that Nilwala prepared herself. The family’s home was very close to the coastline, so the four of us walked on the beach after dinner. I couldn’t have felt more welcomed (I was given a snazzy elephant mug as a gift), and the family even invited me to their Sinhalese New Year celebration in April. These sorts of experience help transition to life on an isolated island where you know almost no one, and I feel even more at ease now that Sanjeewa introduced me to one of his colleagues that lives near Rajarata University, where I’ll be staying most of the time. Rush hour had long since passed, so Nilwala and Sanjeewa were nice enough to give me a ride back to my hotel. Without traffic, it only took ten minutes.

A quick selfie by Nilwala and Sanjeewa’s son, taken after our walk on the beach. I feel pretty tall around most Sri Lankans.

The next day, we spent most of our time at the US-SLFC listening to more lectures about life in Sri Lanka. We learned about food and nutrition around the country from Dr. Jaanaki Gooneratne, including the rich diversity of foods that abound on the island. We participated in a group activity conducted by Ms. Betsy Vegso of the Peace Corps to teach us about intercultural differences we might observe and challenges we may encounter during our time here. Like I’ve said before, my nine months will be a lesson in “Sri Lanka time” and learning to go with the flow. We got an on-the-ground perspective from Fulbright alumni about how to safely conduct ourselves in daily life here. We also listened to Dr. Anila Dias Bandaranaike—a retired economist, statistician, and former Asst. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka—discuss the longitudinal trends of human development in Sri Lanka. It’s true what the US-SLFC staff told us on the first day: Sri Lanka at first appears to be a simple country, but upon further inspection, it is a complex, burgeoning nation that holds much promise despite some of its troubling history.

Just before dinnertime, all the Fulbrighters were brought to Dunee’s Kitchen, a facility owned and operated by Ms. Duneeshya Bogoda that gives traditional Sri Lankan cooking classes. We were in for a real treat: over three hours (that really turned to four or five hours), we learned how make 11 traditional Sri Lankan dishes. Many people asked me before I left what Sri Lankan food was like, and being me, I gave the short answer of “it’s a lot like Indian food.” While that’s somewhat true, I’ve quickly learned that Sri Lankan cuisine is unique and has its own style. Spices and curries are common, and there is a lot of coconut in many dishes. I’ve also learned that Sri Lankan food takes painstaking dedication to prepare (this experience gave me an even deeper appreciation for Nilwala’s dinner the night before). We all got hit with jetlag about halfway through cooking, but we pulled through in response to the tantalizing smells and had an amazing feast afterwards. I thought I was going to lose some weight during my time here, but the opposite may happen if I keep eating like this!

The beginning: Duneeshya explains some of the ingredients we’ll be using to prepare our traditional Sri Lankan feast (as US-SLFC Executive Director Sandarshi looks on).

The end product: the dishes we learned how to prepare at Dunee’s Kitchen. Even though it was all delicious, we couldn’t finish about half of this!

We all reconvened at the US-SLFC the next morning, still in a food coma and exhausted from the week before. It was a good thing our first lecturer, Prof. Neluka Silva, was engaging as she introduced us to some of the mainstays of Sri Lankan art and literature. We also got another visit from Rukshan to discuss the biodiversity of Sri Lanka (my favorite topic!). Even though Rukshan is a trained archaeologist, he has developed a strong passion for leopards, Sri Lanka’s apex predator. He’s spent decades tracking these cats, able to recognize some adults from when they were cubs. Rukshan’s photos and stories makes me even more eager to get into the field to see the elephants. We heard about various community service opportunities from local NGOs (most of the English teaching assistants will have more time to engage in community activities outside of their teaching responsibilities). We also learned of some health issues we may run into here in Sri Lanka from Dr. Godwin Constantine; dengue fever is the biggest worry, but I’ll be careful and I’ve brought a lot of insect repellent laced with DEET from the US. We closed our lecture series with talks about the Sri Lankan media (from Mr. Arun Dias Bandaranaike) and women and the law (from Ms. Shyamala Gomez). A few of us stopped for drinks before dinner (don’t get excited parents, I’m still on my water-only regimen), and then we were spoiled with an all-you-can-eat buffet at the very fancy Kingsbury Hotel. The dinner signified the end of our orientation, and this would be the last time (at least for a while) all of us Fulbrighters will be together. The English teaching assistants will be together in Colombo until late December as they receive language courses, but the three researchers (including me) will be departing for our research assignments soon. I’ve got a few days to spend in Colombo to catch up on work before I leave for Rajarata University on Tuesday.

Orientation provided great insight into the complexity that I’m sure to discover over the next nine months, and the week went by much quicker than I anticipated. But that wasn’t the most exciting thing to happen to me this week. On Thursday night, I found out that I received an Early Career Grant from the National Geographic Society to partially fund my work here in Sri Lanka. As my family and friends know, I’ve always enjoyed NatGeo’s magazines, television programs, and other content, so I’m super excited to be an official National Geographic Explorer. Part of being a grad student in the sciences is learning how to find and acquire funding for your research, and my academic advisors can attest to the seemingly countless proposals we’ve submitted over the past year or so. When I applied for NatGeo funding, I thought it was a long-shot; the funding is fairly prestigious, NatGeo almost only supports compelling projects that can have a strong storytelling component, and I even had to film myself giving a short explanation of why my research is important (I’ll even admit I’m awkward to talk to in person, and even more so in front of a camera). I’ve been enjoying my time here in Sri Lanka, but this news helped re-affirm why I’m supposed to be here. I thought the title of “Fulbright Scholar” was cool, but I like the ring of “National Geographic Explorer” even better.