Arrival:
Arrived in Mumbai at midnight, the end of an 8 hour flight, with a 7 hour layover of boringness as everything was shut. I got out for air and got in trouble from the armed security guards when I came back in so I found a corner to sit and wait until the security check would open at 4:00am with future attempts of escape thwarted. Once through, I found a place to read while the area started to fill up in anticipation of the early morning flights. At about 6:00am, the boards lit up and there were 10 flights scheduled to go within half an hour. With the rains and backup, my flight didn’t end up taking off until after it was expected in Goa. By the time I arrived I was so tired I could barely see, didn’t help that my ride shaved his head and grew a beard but I still manage to recognize him and we were off to Calangute. Once there, I was settled in to La Bamba, a guesthouse near the beach and Papi took me around to reaquaint myself with the town before he had to drive back to Vasco. After an evening of chatting with Vernon, the guesthouse owner, I crashed out until the next afternoon.

Daily Life:
A typical day for me involves sleeping until noon, going to eat at Infantaria, going to the Internet cafe, fending off taxi drivers, getting bitten by mosquitos, reading, watching tele until the power goes out, reading some more (I’m on my sixth book since I arrived 2 weeks ago), doing some lazy yoga, procrastinating on my blog, listening to tunes and catching up with people back home. A couple of nights I stayed out past dark, one night I met a Portuguese Canadian and we sat, drank wine, and he drank so much Fenni I keep thinking I should contact him and see if he’s still alive. Another night, some friends of Papi and Tina, Wayne and Shetta, came down and we hung out at Shooter’s and chatted late into the night. Ainsley, who runs Shooter’s and I met last time, has a new puppy named Shooter who likes to dance around and I freaked out Shetta making her believe that my dog bite scar came from Shooter’s mom. One day I made it Neomi’s, a highly recommended salon, where I had my hair trimmed for the first time since Feb 2009 and it was dried straight but within an hour, the curls were back. I’ll enjoy them while I have them! Another day there was a province wide strike so it was a unique experience to wander the streets with all the shops shut, it surprisingly didn’t feel as strange as I thought it would. Papi’s come to visit a couple times to bring me books and introduce me to friends and markets and somehow our rum-drawn discussions turn into in depth descriptions of Katana sword creation and his new machete named Meanster. What is it with boys and their fascination with stabby things? I’ve also been keeping tabs on the futball matches, especially since Spain has now made it to the finals for the first time ever!!! I keep meaning to bus it to Old Goa but I’ve just been too lazy to get up at a decent time, although I have made it to Infantaria for breakfast once!

People:
As it’s low season, the vast majority of the tourists are from other parts of India. It’s wierd walking on a beach whose population consists of 95% males and I usually get roped into being photographed with what turns into a lineup of tourists as if I were a big horned sheep in Banff or something, it’s pretty funny. When the locals see it happening they holler out the rate I should be charging. I’ve also been offered a paid part in a movie but I turned it down. I’ve now been here long enough that I can tell the Goan’s from the rest of the crowd. Goan’s are more like Canadian’s, pretty chill and relaxed. There aren’t beggars here as this province is one of the wealthiest and has one of the highest rates of literacy in the country. When people ask you if you want a taxi or to purchase something, a simple no thank you and a smile is enough unlike other places I’ve been where any response is an invitation for ‘just one more question’. There’s the old man who shuffles along and wishes me good morning, no matter the time of day; there’s the boy at the Internet cafe who plays K’Naan for me when I come by and told me that when they played the song in the school, most of the kids were so moved that they cried; there’s the Rajesthani woman I met when she was trying to sell me jingle-jangle anklets on the beach and even though I didn’t purchase anything, grins a big hello when she sees me in town. There’s several others who’s aquaintance I’ve made that appear along my path most days that make my lazy days a little more interesting and make me feel like a veteran in this city of tourists.

Monsoon:
The monsoon is amazing. Definitely something that needs to be experienced, even if for a short while. A few downsides are seeing the drowned rats that make their appearance after a big rain, being picked apart by various scavengers, definitely gross. You also have to be careful to hang your clothes around so they don’t start to mold from the humidity. The constant weather changes are not agreeing with my head but so far I’ve only had one knock-me-on-my-butt migraine, though there’s some pain daily. Seeing a street go from dry to flooded in less than 10 minutes is fascinating, except the part where you end up having to wade through ankle deep water unexpectedly. It’s beautiful here though, everything is lush and green and my skin and hair are very happy. The best part for me though is the sound, from my room I can hear the waves crashing on the shore at any given moment and the sound that the rain makes when the sky opens up lulls me to sleep.