Life of Pi- who's Pi?

So far, I have finished reading up until chapter 3. I know, I should start really start reading faster. But it's so hard getting into the story when the beginning of the book is, what can I say- a bit boring.. In the first three chapters, there hasn't been any event, or anything exciting yet. Martel focused mainly on explaining the character "Pi", mainly through Pi telling stories about himself. 

Pi seems to be a very intelligent person, maybe even a genius. In the first paragraph, Pi starts explaining about his education. He attended University of Toronto only after one year of high school. He took a double major Bachelor's degree, which were religious studies and zoology. In zoology, he focused his studies on sloths. He was tops at St. Michael's College four years in a row, and got every possible student award from the Department of Zoology. We can clearly tell that Pi is an extremely smart guy, and a very good student. 

Pi is from India. He misses the heat, the food, and small things in everyday life from India. but he loves Canada too. 

Pi is small, slim, about five foot five. He has hair graying at the temples, but he's not any older than forty. He has pleasing coffee-colored complexion and an expressive face.

The name "Pi" comes from the word "Piscine". Piscine might sound familiar to some people, as "la piscine" means swimming pool in French. His uncle Mamaji was a champion competitive swimmer, and had quite the passion for swimming. His favorite pool in France, the Piscine Molitor is a pool that Mamaji would never forget, and his nephew was named after this pool. Piscine Molitor Patel- Pi.