Catch up days

9th/10th August 2010

We spent two days writing up notes and hanging out at the university. On the 9th, Saida and I had a very strange interview with the CEO of Odel. We had thought we were having an interview for a work placement for next week, she obviously thought that we were interviewing for a job and asked us about how we felt about relocating. She said she would call us if she was interested, there will be no call. It did turn out to be a good little trip though as we decided to walk back to the apartment and on the way we found an alcohol shop! So we stocked up on wine, beer and vodka (to be consumed sensibly throughout the next three weeks of course).

On the 10th after a day at the university, we had a presentation in our apartment from the architectural historian Ashley de Vos to which most of the faculty also seemed to come. It was fascinating to learn about the history of a place before going there. He told us about the influence of Portugeuse then Dutch on the architecture of the nation. He specifically told us about Galle Fort and the buildings within, he was a very engaging speaker and we all learn a lot.