Triumph of the month:  I made curry.  And it was delicious.  Today I shelled out for a $30 cookbook, but I needed help, and badly.  In it I found a recipe for a cauliflower, cashew, and green pea curry that looked doable.  So off I went to the supermarket, where the exceedingly helpful staff marveled at the fact that I was about to make something quite possibly edible.  I had to find such ingredients as coconut milk powder and karapincha, which are fresh Sri Lankan curry leaves.  The cashews got a bit toasty and I can't say that no cookware was harmed in the process, but I came out with a delicious meal and leftovers for days.  (But not too many days.  Thanks for that lesson, lasagna.)

I am still incredibly sore.  The entire Kandyan dance technique is based upon one position called the mandiya.  This is a turned out, very deep second position plié.  In other words, you stand with your feet far apart and turned out and then bend the knees at a 90 degree angle.  I'm getting quite the quad workout, to say the least.  We also work out our abs, arms, backs, faces, and eyebrows.  I'm especially good at the eyebrows. 

I had the opportunity to take a private ballet class last weekend with Niloufer Pieris, a Sri Lankan woman who was the first Asian to join the Royal Ballet.  She noted that I had good training and lamented the fact that there is no good ballet to be seen in Sri Lanka.  Having studied Kandyan dance as well as ballet, she had some fascinating opinions and projects in the works. I certainly hope to spend more time with her. 

Living alone in a different country can be very lonely at times, but I've been making a few friends.  By chance, I met the entire American embassy staff at Sri Lankan Oktoberfest.  I had tea with an artist from New York living in Colombo who is helping me figure out how to cook.  I just dropped by for a glass of wine with my neighbor, a beautiful but eccentric Austrian woman who used to be a flight attendant.  It's easy to relate to foreigners but it's more difficult to make friends with the locals, who aren't necessarily looking for a giant, clueless, American friend.   I can only hope that someone will find me endearing.  At least I could make them some curry.

I made this!