My location is better than yours.... :)

Today I’m going to paint a picture.  It may be a little long, but this is probably the only post for the week.

 I am sitting on a tiny little armchair, watching a Bollywood film without subtitles—the sound being about 2 seconds behind the picture--and consequently my comprehension is severely limited.  The room is quite large, and about five feet away is my bed, surrounded by its rich orange and gold canopy mosquito net.  I, being the cheap person that I am, opted for the non air conditioned room, and it’s good, because otherwise I may not have the opportunity to sleep under a canopy, even if it is for the purpose of keeping out mosquitoes.

Windows fill the wall behind me, and their view is of four small villas (the guesthouses), the large villa style building that houses the restaurant and hotel lobby, a very VERY turquoise swimming pool, and coconut trees.  Lots and lots of coconut trees.  So much so that I am thankful every time one falls near me and doesn’t result in a situation like Goliath’s…

The “resort” (although the only thing resort-y about it is that it’s by the beach) is called Coconut Creek, and for a good reason.  The foliage is quite dense, and where there are not trees with the potential falling coconut are mounds of rocks that are designed to keep the creek flowing in only one direction.  To go to the beach, which is about a three minute walk, I have to cross the creek three times on small, slippery, but cute, bridges, and then I must wade through what appears to be the beginnings of another creek, as it is monsoon season.

The beach is almost empty, save for a few locals and rare tourists.  But even they are far down the beach.  The waves are waves. J None of that wimpy stuff we had in Fort Meyers last summer.  The waves don’t begin until fairly close to the shore, but then they form beautiful rolling waves that crash far into the sand.  It’s truly beautiful to see.  It’s fun to wade in.  It would be more fun to ride on a boogie board or intertube.  However, it’s monsoon season.

What have I learned about monsoons since coming to Goa twenty-four hours ago?  Well, all of a sudden, the sky will produce a few, wet drops.  Sometimes it will sprinkle for a few moments and then the sun peeks back out.  Other times, the few drops instantly become a downpour, and there’s no time to avoid getting soaked. Also, I guess the monsoons sort of make the ocean unsafe.  Drat.  The waves, which are gorgeous, also are known to have a pretty strong undertow.  Therefore, the experiences of feeling those waves knocking me over while actually IN the ocean won’t be happening. Unfortunately, the huge boulders approximately 20 feet off the beach won’t be climbed and become my new study spot.

So, instead, I attract EVERYONE, as few as they may be, on the beach because I practice the verb tenses I just learned in the sand.  At first, one person will stop to look and engage in conversation, and then everyone else heads over to see what’s going on. Nothing to make me feel better than having an audience when you know my grammar isn’t correct anyways J I’m quite glad I had the village to prepare me for so much attention, as it now doesn’t seem like such a big deal when only 20 people are surrounding me and talking about me in whatever language they are using.

Those who I did not attract via writing in the sand, I attracted by making an almost-life-size alligator.  I did the first 5/8 on my own, but I guess sand sculptures are just another one of those things to which privacy doesn’t apply in India! My originally awesome head had coconut eyes peeking through sand eyelids, and it’s nostrils were real holes from the bottlecaps I found.  I don’t know what the result was, but it wasn’t that! I got to practice my hindi with the 2 teens that helped me finish the tail and hind legs so that was fun.  And now I’m in about 30 more family photo albums.  Given, even when I was just sitting reading on the beach, I was the subject for many camera phones, but now, there’s more people who will see me in my American modest/Indian immodest tank top and mid-thigh running shorts. Yay. . .

Either way, my verbs are getting a LOT better, my initiation speed may be improving, and I may be getting a little tanner.

Yesterday I went to the ISKCON temple, which is an enormous Hindu temple. I have yet to decide if I will write about that or not for the world to read. I’m guessing not, since this is a public blog, and, well, not everyone is going to like most of what I have to say.

I’ll be here in Goa, and pretty inaccessible (taking the laptop out in the monsoon weather to get wifi doesn’t seem very smart) until Wednesday.  And then I’m off to Mumbai, and will be in Delhi by the end of the week.

I am slightly anxious about starting Hindi classes next week.  3-5 hours of going at my own pace in reading and writing hindi had me drained at the end of each day last week.  So when I’m in classes where I’m going at the pace of my teacher and classmates, I have no idea if I’ll be up for experiencing the city and hanging out with people, too, after class & homework are finished! Hopefully!

Nothing else is really going on, as I’m kind of in the middle of nowhere in the “Hawaii of India.” I did run on the beach today—the first time in months.  Haha, let’s just say it was a lot easier to run on the beach last year when I was in training. This year, running less than ten minutes after squatting for hours while writing hindi in the sand, my quads are just screaming “WHY?! We were so happy when you were the proper Indian girl who only walked places!!!!” J  Oh the joys I’ll get to face when I get back to America and have to return to ‘normal’ life.
OH!!! The guy sitting next to me at a restaurant is sending me the pics of the croc that he took on his phone. Yay!!! Haha, I told you I was famousJ