I want KANDY!! (da daa da da da da)

Last week we had a break from our IES classes, so I hopped on a plane with my friend Parvoneh to visit her friend Will in a town called Kandy in Sri Lanka. Even if Sri Lanka had been a miserable place, I think I would have been satisified just by staying in a place called "Kandy," but fortunately it was more, as the postcards say, a taste of paradise. After a long day/night/morning of traveling, Parvoneh and I arrived in Kandy and found the hotel Will had booked for us. We honestly weren't expecting too much because we travel and stay on students' budgets, but our room was very nice. We had a balcony view of the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, the lake in front of it, and the jungle all around. That alone was quite relaxing after buses, trains, and planes. And please ask me what the first thing I did in Kandy was =) haha, right, I ate candy (but that's only because I was starving and the only thing in the fridge at the hotel was pop and chocolate, so it was basically forced on me.) Anyway, Sri Lanka was beautiful. On the train from Colombo (on its west coast) to Kandy (kinda in the middle) we saw the terrain change from beach to marshy farm fields (everything was dripping in green) to jungle. It rained at least 10 times a day in light showers and drive-by downpours, but the rain cooled everything, so the weather there was fabulous (and I can't forget the wonderful lake breeze, which is so refreshing when one is used to Delhi). The people of Sri Lanka are very nice too, which caught us off guard because we are used to friendly people in Delhi, who are almost always up to something. After we let our guard down, we enjoyed their friendliness and hospitality. Probably the best thing we did there was visit a girls' orphanage that Will's study abroad group goes to every week. Basically we were told to just hang out with the girls and talk to them so they could practice their English. It was so much fun, the girls were around 12 or 13 and full of energy and enthusiasm. We discussed our favorite Bollywood heart throbs and played games...I was so sad that we had to tell them we weren't coming back even though everyone else would be. Nevertheless they were truly a delight and blessing. Everything else that was supercool is better told through photos...so I'll be trying to post those soon.
Now I'm back in Delhi almost sad that we have a 2 week break coming up at Ramjas because that means I won't get to see my friends there for quite a while. The timing is pretty good though since I have a test in one of my IES classes next week and some cookie baking lessons to schedule with my girl friends here that have never made chocolate chip cookies (which is a TRAGEDY!) Things here are starting to form into some kind of routine, which is nice, and the weather has actually cooled down for a few days. Manoj, one of our IES staffers, said it'll only stay cool if I believe it will...so I'm trying really hard to maintain faith and not let my conviction that Delhi never cools down win out. I can't really escape the feeling that I'm on some kind of extended vacation (even though I'm taking classes, etc), which kind of frustrates me now and then because I guess I feel like I should be accomplishing something significant, but I think I'm starting to appreciate the opportunity to enjoy experiencing India and the chance to relax and breathe.