In addition to the above, I've also jumped into a science course after nearly a decade of not working in a related field (okay, maybe volunteering occasionally at the zoo counted for a little). The consequence of this is that I found myself in a class of mostly younger people who are more qualified, focused and academically sharper.
I've had to adapt to some new behaviours too. No one eats with cutlery here unless they have some kind of hand injury. Some restaurants look unhygienic and makes stomachs cringe. Students here also are used to eating together and sharing lunches. This is an effective arrangement to minimise food wastage and save money. It was a little awkward at first and years of being psychologically put down as a left-hander made me wonder if my lunch mates feel uncomfortable sharing food with me. But my two lunchmates seem to take no notice and they even voluntarily eat vegetarian food with me just so one half of a packed lunch does not go to waste.
On a related note and coming from Singapore where good hygiene is overly emphasized to reduce the spread of diseases, I find it appalling that a vast majority of public toilets in Sri Lanka do not have soap to wash hands. Even my institute that calls itself a leader in postgraduate Science education does not provide soap in the student toilets. I once voluntarily left a piece of soap for public use. Now it's over and needs replacing. I guess I'm going to be the unsung toilet hero that helped reduce the spread of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections in female students till the end of 2017. I now also carry a small bottle of hand wash wherever I travel.
Singing on class (field) trips in my native language is also something I am not used to. I have not actively paid attention to pop culture in my country for about twelve years so I've missed a lot. I also grew up in a multicultural setting in all educational institutions I've been to so it was hard to find songs for which everyone knew the lyrics to. And even for the English ones which everyone knew (mostly from singing class), we had no capable musical conductors to take the lead or musicians who could play a guitar or the conga drums. Anyhow, for this trip, I had to settle to mostly clapping and joining only when classics and songs older than twelve years were sung. I must admit, these students are very experienced at musical entertainment and even carry tiny song books with them!
"Conga" drums are a must-have on all long distance group trips in Sri Lanka.
(Image source: Tremuloumusic)
(Image source: Tremuloumusic)
After a couple of months here, I've started to fit in, find ways to promote harmony and feel humbled observing those around me. In most ways, I have an easy life. I live closer to the university than most (about 15 km away). I don't have a full time job or dependents to tend to, which is highly advantageous when pursuing studies. Though lacking in core subject knowledge and work experience, my English standard is above the class average which also helps. There are students who work full time jobs and travel hundreds of kilometers from various corners of the country, enduring a lot of hardships every weekend just to come for lectures. Some stay alone in hostels for the weekend and not see their families for many months on end. Some, I also learnt, do serious hands-on work in their respective environmental fields and are working hard with the goal to move onto better opportunities outside this country.
Lack of privilege is a cruel thing. If some of these driven, hardworking and capable students had the same privileges and opportunities I was fortunate enough to have while growing up, I'm sure they would have put it to better use and be in much better places by now.
According to an interesting interactive tool from the BBC called "How equal are you?", Sri Lanka ranks 84 in terms of gender equality.
That's a positive sign too. Although, the same tool also states that only 39% of women are currently in a job or looking for work. This could imply that a vast proportion of female university graduates eventually take up stay-at-home roles (temporarily or otherwise).
In our class of 24 students, the female to male ratio is about 50:50. About 30% make up minority ethnicities. In a country that was war-torn for two and a half decades and where racial tensions with other minorities still bubble beneath the surface, one's race is a sensitive issue. When I first joined the course, I could feel the walls that the students erected around themselves and their comfort groups. There was hardly any mixing around.
Two months later, as we get to know each other better, core personalities are becoming apparent. Some are clearly leaders who like to take charge. They like to be the voice of the class and take the trouble to gather everyone on social media or worry about refreshments for everyone on class trips. Some are the suspicious and distant types who are not yet ready to be vulnerable with others. Some are the responsible types who assist the leaders and are given jobs that require accountability like being class monitors or photocopying precious notes for the whole class. Some are the leech-y types who like to take shortcuts and form alliances to receive advantages. Some are the helpful types who help other students with information, lecture notes or teach them how to do complex calculations. Some are comedians who maintain an air of lightness and joy. Some are good musicians who entertain everyone during class trips. Some are like neutrons. They keep a good balance by doing nothing good or nothing bad (this also helps reduce too much negativity).
Then there's me. I see myself as a neutral party that closely observes this fascinating ecosystem and occasionally anticipates and springs to action if someone needs help or something needs to be done to bridge gaps or maintain harmony.
It won't be long before we are more united as a class. After two field trips and some group projects, the walls between different races are very slowly coming down, trust is building up and people are connecting on a human level. Like for example, we were in groups of six in each safari vehicle during our last trip to Kaudulla National Park. At first, they laughed at me for putting on sunscreen lotion. Then they changed their minds and borrowed my lotion. Later the idiots thanked me for helping them minimise exposure to harmful UV radiation. Soon after, everyone was asking each other's life histories, work places, ages, showing photos of their partners, joking about being bald, exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch, congratulating some who just became new parents or newly engaged, etc.
Most of these migratory elephant herds spotted at Minneriya National Park last month have moved through the Elephant Corridor at Kaudulla-Minneriya to Kaudulla National Park.
We went on a field trip to Kaudulla National Park see elephants, other mammals and loads of birds. Thanks to the sharp eyes of our lecturer and the collective group, we spotted a Ruddy mongoose, Golden jackals, Toque macaques, Grey langurs and the Sri Lankan axis deer for mammals (that's 6 out of a reported 24 mammals in this park). The lecturer is a huge fan of birds so he was clearly biased towards them and had to help us out in identifying nearly 35 species of birds (out of a reported 160 species of birds). Honestly, some types of birds looked the same to me so I have a lot to catching up to do to become familiar with identifying birds. And just to make my day complete with reptiles, we spotted a Water monitor lizard, Common garden lizard and a freshwater testudine that looked like an Indian black turtle (that's 3 out of 25 reported reptiles).
Overall, it was a fun trip and perhaps a sign of good things to come.
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