Goan Fantasy

The view off the balcony of our hotel
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So we had a weekend getaway, to Goa!  For those who dont know, it's an hour south (by plane) from Mumbai (I guess the map might have showed you that, and I thought I was being all smart).  It is a resort area with lots and lots of beaches.  Since this is Monsoon season, I may have not seen the best of Goa, but it sure was peaceful, serene, and green!  Plus, the prices are out of control, and Monsoon discounts are fabulous!

The difference between Mumbai and Goa is just ridiculous.  Mumbai is jam packed with people on dirty streets with lots of cars and nonstop honking, and Goa is green forever with small patches of people in the villages.  The language of Mumbai is Marathi, and in Goa they speak Portugues, and EVERYONE in Goa knows English, but I guess that goes with the tourist effect.  Everyone also seems a lot richer in general and its a heck of a lot cleaner.  It also takes forever to get anywhere because you have to go on one road or another with minimal back roads.  At least from what I saw.

VIP style

Portugues minfluenced section, Panjim. Buildings are colorful, churches are white.
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We stayed at Cidade de Goa, a resort on Vainguinim Beach just east of Panjim.  It was lovely, and it only drizzled a tiny bit all weekend.  No complaints there, especially with those discounts!  The first night there we met a girl who was sitting at the bar at happy hour drinking with herself waiting for a friend.  She just happened to be the 19 year old heir of the guy who invented the printing press!  Let me just say one thing...shes nuts!  She went to a prestigious boarding school in San Diego, got kicked out, finished high school at a private school, trained horses and decided to move to India.  She lived with the man of her dreams since October and broke up with him and met this married 34 year old man with a daughter who gave her a part in a Bollywod movie about an Indian guy who wanted to marry a foreigner (shes the foreigner!).  Ill leave the rest up to your imagination.  He found her this beautiful apartment, which we hung out at while she fed us burrs from her fridge?  Did I mention this girl is 19.  Oh what money can do to the youth of America...apparently get them out of the country?  If only I could have brought her home and hung her on the fridge...she was a piece of work. I really hope no one she knows reads this.

Me in front of a white church
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On Saturday we took a pre-paid taxi to Anjuna, where there is a huge market (closed during Monsoon).  We found some sort of market, where there are tables lined up in a small muddy section with people trying to get you to look at their "shop, which are just tables covered in crap and cloth."  Actually, some of the things they sell are stunning.  Because it was monsoon season, the people were DESPERATE for a sale, and you could get anything for pennies.  Ok, maybe not pennies but the most I paid for anything was about 8 dollars.  And I am talking some extravagant stuff.  Beautiful hand made bed covers, tapestries, tank tops, absolutely beautiful dresses, jewelry, bags, you name it, someone convinced me to buy it.  Whether it was a guilt trip..."this is my business, I dont have a business, it is so cheap, you are my first customer, I will make good price..." or I actually wanted it, I came home with more things then I have bought the rest of this entire trip!  No, that is not an exaggeration.

Us three rockin out at the Budweiser launch party at Tito's
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The people there crack me up, though.  One woman was trying to sell me a fake gold anklet.  She blatantly told me the anklet was not gold but just metal.  I told her I had a silver one already and didnt need a gold, and she took this as please make it silver, and she was like one minute, it IS silver!  So she picks up some red mud from the ground, plops it in her hand, pours some water over it, and then rubs the bracelet with it.  In no time, wahlah, like magic the anklet was silver.  Im a nut....I bought it.  Along with a toe ring, which is "silver."  "I would not lie, I am an honets person, you can trust me, it is silver."  It did not have the 925 engraved inside, but hey, maybe she made it herself like all the others seemed to with their things...yeahhhhh right.

My lovely toes hangin out in the overcast sun!
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Goa has its own wine and its own hard alcohol, which is quite awesome.  Their wine that we made use of is Mandera, which is a red wine and is quite good.  Unfortunately I was not able to pick up a bottle before we left.  Their liquor is called Feni, and holy crap is it strong.  It is 42% alcohol and tastes like rubbing alcohol mixed with roots.  They make two kinds: palm (coconut) and cashew.  We tried both.  Dont do it unless you are prepared for a burn.  However, its pretty good in mixed drinks.  I got a drink called the Goan Fantasy, which was like a glorified mojito made with Feni.  Yaya.  It was good.  I liked the sugar =)

Street sign in Hindi, the national language
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Saturday night we hit the jackpot.  Azeem apparently met some dude on the plane (he flew separate from us, it was him, Alex, Susan and I) who works for Budweiser.  They were having a Bubweiser launch party at a club called Tito's in Anjuna.  We got invited, VIP style.  We spend the night dancing up in a lounge area behind the DJ with a great view of the bar below, not to mention the fire train they kept lighting.  If anyone wanted a Bud, the bartender would pop one open, stand on the bar and hand 'em up! It was fabulous, and I did not spend a penny all night.  Rock on Budweiser.

The girl on the right is the 19 year old, the guy is the movie director guy, amoungst other things..
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We flew SpiceJet to and from Goa, and this cracks me up because the flight attendants are too funny.  During the safety demonstation it was like the were doing a coordinated dance.  They were bouncing all over and flipping there hands around all pretty to point to the exits.  I would recommend this airline just for the show.  However, I dont know if its coincidence but the landings both way were pretty rough.  We would hit the ground and then hop back up and smack back down again, kind of like when you hit a bump in a bus with no shock absorbers (lots of those around here too).  But the flight was only an hour and they gave us little candies...butterscotch (yes!) or mint.  Nice.

Funny thing about Indians, that I noticed mostly because we were on the beach.  Ok, so I didnt notice it but I figured it out.   While us Americans do everything we can to be tan, or as dark as possible, Indians strive to be lighter.  It might have something to do with the farmer thing, if you are outside all day then you get darker, but they wear the most ridiculous bathing suits here to cover and have like spf60 for sunblock!  And they pretend the shall is a respect thing!  No way, they just dont want the sun to get them!  No wonder they stare so much at us white folk.  I dont think I have ever referred to myself to much as white until this trip.  Cant wait til that thought stops.  Its kind of strange.

So last but certainly not least...the showers.  They are a Goan Fantasy in themselves!  I will say that I finally figured out how the showers work in the guet house in Mumbai, so I have been getting a shower from above my head daily...but they are certainly cold.  In the warm weather its kind of refreshing, but everytime I am in the bathroom I have to like hold my breath and mentally prepare for my plunge under the spout.  Its a good time.  Being so used to this, I flip on the water at the hotel in Goa, and jump right in with it pretty chilly. All of a sudden the water glides smoothly into warm!!  The transition from cold to warm water was like Christmas time!  It was absolutely fabulous.  I was so spoiled.  I dont think it would have been as good if I hadnt jumped in when it was cold, but if you ever want a completely natural high deprive youreslf of warm water for a few weeks and then try this.  Just hop in while its cold and gradually switch it over to hot.  It really is something else!

Lesson of the weekend: Barter low...reallllly low!  If it is Monsoon season, you will get it for whatever price you want!

Awesome thing of the weekend:  Not one bug bite!

News of the weekend:  Bush had a colonoscopy?  I have been so out of the news loop in America, and sitting in the hotel room in Goa across the screen it says "Bush resumes presidency after colonoscopy."   Is that really something Goans need to know?  Guess so.

Tummy talking:  "One week left, can you do it?  And didnt I warn you about taking doxy on a empty stomach?  No more jerk!  I cant believe you have to take it for a month when you get back." (tell me about it!)