Land of Palm Trees, Beaches, and Prem Joshua

Sasha:

Ahh, we landed in Goa.  And what a welcome landing it was after the craziness of Egypt.  We had a one hour flight from Mumbai to Goa with King Fisher Air, and in it they managed to serve us a full meal.  We had tasty vegetarian dal, paneer, and rice.  Ra and I looked at one another and said, 'We're home."

My first impressions were of the lushness here- the weather is sultry, humid, and almost-but-not-quite too hot.  There are green grasses and palm trees, interspersed with lots of dogs and half sized cows.  At night you can hear the alarms of howls as people walk past the packs of canines, and all the time on the road you play chicken with the cows.  (Hint, culturally the cows win).

We are paying too much for our hotel- about $37/ night, but we have a pool, air conditioning, and the food here is pretty good.  What is even better is how awesome the staff is.  Bejamin, Lucky, Mengel. . .  We have been here 3 nights now, and it feels good to know people's names.  We have also met other travelers- Emma from Cambridge with the dreadlocks who is here to volunteer at the animal shelter, Sabastian (like the crab) who is French and was able to guess that Ra was from Israel within the first 5 minutes with whom we engaged in an intense political discussion about the occupied territories, and the two, blonde,  22 year old guys from Sweden, who picked up the poi and got the 2 beat weave in about 45 seconds and the 3 beat weave in about 20 minutes.  But he was drunk, and probably won't remember today.

Last night we went to Mackey's Night Market in Baga.  Every 3 stalls was playing a Prem Joshua mix, and everywhere were strappy dresses, cotton shirts, and carved elephants.  I got a so-so dress for 150 rupees that I probably didn't want, and a leather belt pouch for 475 rupees (about $10.50 instead of $90-150 in the US).  Within 5 minutes of being in the market, Ra recognized a passing couple.  Turns out they are Emam and Yashoda, good friends of Ra's uncle Shabda. Hopefully we will meet up with them later on today.  After shopping, we saw some acrobats from Africa who tumbled, balance, juggled, and put fire torches out with their breeches.  For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was. The people around us were from all over the world, and we had just looked at some earrings for stretched lobes that would fit in as easily in Berkeley as it would have in Baga, or Barcelona.  It was as if we were at a county fair for The World.

I am loving it here.  My skin eats up the humidity, and for the first time since march, my face has cleared up.  Speaking of eating, my body is loving the food.  I have been traveling for a month, and this is the best that my stomach has felt.  My meals of rice, dal, and curry last me a perfect 5-6 hours before I need to eat again, and am starting to loose some of the hummus weight I put on in Israel. And finding something to eat here is so much easier for me!  I have eaten enough Indian food in the states that I know what dishes are safe for me, and which ones aren't.  (okay, I accidently ordered Veggie kufta hoping that kufta was sauce, not the dough balls, whoops.)  My only complaint is that the tourist restaurants make the curries too bland. 

There is poverty here, but I know that it gets much worse.  This is the wealthier part of India, thanks in part to tourism, and in part with some of the local traditions. So far nothing has shocked me- god knows that they drive far crazier and with less clearance between vehicle in Cairo than they do here.  The cars are so narrow here, to go with the narrow streets where cars pass one another with a couple extra motor scooters between them for good measure.  Exploring India by starting out in Goa is kind of like easing into a cold swimming pool by beginning in the kiddie pool.

We haven't decided how long we will stay in Anjuna, much less how much time we will be in Goa.  I am hoping to be in North Goa for perhaps another week, then head down to Palolem Beach and Gokarna.  We will be in Mumbai for Anisa Qureshi's wedding reception from Dec. 28-30th.