Getting fat

Getting fat, a set on Flickr.

A recent exchange between me and a trishaw driver at the end of a short journey....

Driver “Very wait”
Me “Sorry?”
Driver “Very very wait”
Me “Huh? Oh...no, we don't need you to wait.”
Driver “No. very WEIGHT” *gestures with hands to clarify his meaning*
Me “Oh! Very weight. Yes, um...thank you”
Driver *smiles broadly, waggles head, drives off*

Ok, so I was not the sole occupant of the trishaw on the journey in question. However, there is no getting away from the fact that I am in great danger of putting on a few pounds during my time here. In fact, I imagine that I'm already placing more of a strain on the humble trishaw engine than I was on my arrival. This is no surprise considering how well I am eating. And boy am I eating well! Apart from a few unfortunate experiences, I am thoroughly enjoying the Sri Lankan cuisine. A low point was chewing on (and swallowing!) a dried sprat as a result of a rather unfortunate miscommunication with one of the support workers at the hospital. It turns out the Sinhala word for fish, malu, is used only for freshly cooked fish and not the dried variety! And they do seem to like their dried fish. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident, but I am starting to recognise the dried sprat and it's many guises.

Apart from these fish related incidents, I am embracing the opportunities to enjoy new and interesting food. My greatest joy is the plentiful fruit and vegetables in the Sri Lankan diet which has led to me, at least for now, leading a vegetarian existence. Rice and curry, Sri Lankan style, is masses of rice with a few dollups of curry, a spot of dal and some sambol (finely chopped onion, chilli and coconut). The curries are tasty, varied and delicately flavoured, with many being just spicy enough to cause your eyes to sweat. My favourites so far have been the brinjal (aubergine) curry which is cooked with dates or raisins for sweetness. But I've also enjoyed discovering some local vegetables less familiar to me including ash plantain, bitter gourd and jack fruit. A rice packet is my usual lunch bought from a street vendor near the hospital. It's sold bundled up in a plastic sheet and yesterday's news and costs me a little under 100 rupees (less than 60p). I'm still perfecting the art of eating with my fingers. However, my efforts in this area seem to please and entertain my colleagues.

Aside from the rice and curry, there are plenty of other foods to keep up my weight including string hoppers (little round stringy balls of noodles), hoppers (doughy pancakes made in a bowl shaped pan, sometimes with an egg cooked in the middle), many different types of roti (vegetable, egg and kottu), and lamprais (rice baked with spices in a plantain leaf). And there's plenty of south Indian fare too (vadais and dosas). And that's before I even get started on the sweet stuff like curd and kittul (sweet honey from the kittul palm) and various ridiculously sweet deserts such as wattalapan and dodal made from jaggery (boiled and hardened kittul). Of course, it's also impossible to resist an occasional ice cream to cool you down.

So you see, there is little danger of me wasting away and every chance of me returning with very very very weight indeed.