Someone here in Goa really had an Indian stroke of genius when they decided to put an internet cafe inside the train station. Travelling on trains is definitely the best way to go here, they are affordable and comfortable, but they are reliably unreliable. It's safe to say that every train we've ever taken has been around or at least 2 hours late. So a place for killing time in a time wasted zone is a lifesaver.
So Goa is nice, I think we made the most of it quite well. We had a beach craving we needed to satisfy, and now that we have we can move on. Though Goa is not really like being in India, which is a good and a bad thing. When we first got here we were so relieved, food was realiably good-- my 3 weeks of diarrhea went away, people spoke better english-- now that just sounds awful and spoiled but let me clarify and digress... in India people HATE to say "i don't know" so instead when you ask a question and the person has no idea what you're saying they just say yes. Now eventually you get a little frustrated when it seems everyone in the country is steering you in the wrong direction just because they don't know how to acknowledge they don't know the answer. Some don't say yes and point you on further down the road, to the next person towards a cow, whatever. A straight answer is like gold and perhaps harder to come by.
So what I'm trying to say before I run out of time is that Goa is nice if you need a break of India or if you're one of the many tourists who come to India without actually wanting to come to India anyway. You can pay a lot for everything, spend all day at a abeach, and all night at a bar but right now I'm ready to get back to India on a two hour late train to Kerala.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Beach time
Hmm... 2 weeks since the last post? I believe that. I think Hernando and I have been on another planet for the last 2 weeks, and especially the last few days. Right now I'm actually surprised to find myself on the internet. We're on a remote beach that thus far still doesn't have a proper road to it, though that is unfortunately soon to change as they are working on a road right now. We're in Gokarna, in the state of Karnataka, south of the touristy beaches of Goa. I forget how amazing it is to be on the beach, to operate on beach time, with nothing to do in a hurry.
We are now half way through our India trip. We've seen a lot, done a lot, but now we are relaxed and we're both in very contemplative moods. Our lives have been divided into simple sections, life before the trip, life since the trip began, and what we have ahead, both for the rest of the trip and for daily life once again when we restart in San Francisco. We are both so glad to have stepped out of Boston, and the lives we had there. Hernando's job was better but we both feel like we were just caught up in the rat race with everyone else. It's just too easy to do. Work, make money, spend it, over and over. Traveling like this has given us new perspectives. I feel like I've been given a chance to step outside myself and concentrate on what I want to make happen for myself in the future.
That way of thought comes after observing what I have of life here for people in India. People here are very caught up in the rat race on a level of desperation you don't see in the US. People work and work here for that very last rupee --there is no 8 hour day here, that's the stuff of fairy tales-- and it often will be the difference in having food on the table, but only after the cell phone has some credit on it and they have chewing tobacco in their pocket. The mentality seems to be the same everywhere, we seek modern things and the extra money required to have more of them all the time. The man I mentioned in the last blog from Sanchi seems to have it all figured out just right. He has a house that his whole family shares, three generations and then some under one roof, but everyone gets fed, the kids go to school as opposed to work for extra family income, and he spends his days doing the things he likes to do. Money is not a worry for him so long as he has enough to maintain his way of life, and his way of life doesn't require much.
Speaking of our friend Parihar, our last night in Sanchi we were invited to watch a ceremony he called "husband puja." This is an annual ceremony chosen to take place on a night of the full moon. The wives fast all day, no water even, and prepare special foods to be taken during the ceremony at night. When the moon came out we all went to the roof, surrounded by neighboring families on their rooves. Usually 2 or 3 wives perform the ceremony together. They pray, burn incense, walk in a circle and spill water and grains, then each married couple pairs off and the wives do a prayer for their husbands, touch their feet, and feed them a bit of yummy coconut cake and other things. I took tons of photos so those will have to posted next time I feel inclined to leave the beach and use the internet. It seems to be for the wellness of the family though again my only given explaination was, it's husband puja, with a shrug, just one of those things you understand if you are Indian. Puja is a word used for everything. You have puja with holy monuments, with statues, with anything spiritual, it's just puja, a lovely way of understanding that I don't entirely understand as a foreigner.
Thank you everyone who has left feedback in one form or another. I love to hear from everyone, and to know that people are reading. I'd love to hear from more people though, let me know if you're out there!!
We are now half way through our India trip. We've seen a lot, done a lot, but now we are relaxed and we're both in very contemplative moods. Our lives have been divided into simple sections, life before the trip, life since the trip began, and what we have ahead, both for the rest of the trip and for daily life once again when we restart in San Francisco. We are both so glad to have stepped out of Boston, and the lives we had there. Hernando's job was better but we both feel like we were just caught up in the rat race with everyone else. It's just too easy to do. Work, make money, spend it, over and over. Traveling like this has given us new perspectives. I feel like I've been given a chance to step outside myself and concentrate on what I want to make happen for myself in the future.
That way of thought comes after observing what I have of life here for people in India. People here are very caught up in the rat race on a level of desperation you don't see in the US. People work and work here for that very last rupee --there is no 8 hour day here, that's the stuff of fairy tales-- and it often will be the difference in having food on the table, but only after the cell phone has some credit on it and they have chewing tobacco in their pocket. The mentality seems to be the same everywhere, we seek modern things and the extra money required to have more of them all the time. The man I mentioned in the last blog from Sanchi seems to have it all figured out just right. He has a house that his whole family shares, three generations and then some under one roof, but everyone gets fed, the kids go to school as opposed to work for extra family income, and he spends his days doing the things he likes to do. Money is not a worry for him so long as he has enough to maintain his way of life, and his way of life doesn't require much.
Speaking of our friend Parihar, our last night in Sanchi we were invited to watch a ceremony he called "husband puja." This is an annual ceremony chosen to take place on a night of the full moon. The wives fast all day, no water even, and prepare special foods to be taken during the ceremony at night. When the moon came out we all went to the roof, surrounded by neighboring families on their rooves. Usually 2 or 3 wives perform the ceremony together. They pray, burn incense, walk in a circle and spill water and grains, then each married couple pairs off and the wives do a prayer for their husbands, touch their feet, and feed them a bit of yummy coconut cake and other things. I took tons of photos so those will have to posted next time I feel inclined to leave the beach and use the internet. It seems to be for the wellness of the family though again my only given explaination was, it's husband puja, with a shrug, just one of those things you understand if you are Indian. Puja is a word used for everything. You have puja with holy monuments, with statues, with anything spiritual, it's just puja, a lovely way of understanding that I don't entirely understand as a foreigner.
Thank you everyone who has left feedback in one form or another. I love to hear from everyone, and to know that people are reading. I'd love to hear from more people though, let me know if you're out there!!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Lazy days in rainy Sanchi
Finally after weeks of draining rushing about we have found a sleepy little town to relax for a few days. We came here for the famous Buddhist Stupa I studied at the Museum School, though we've been so relaxed that after 4 days we still haven't seen it! We hadn't anticipated spending so much time here but we met a truly friendly Indian man who befriended us and has been showing us around. He's lived here all his life and takes an interest in cultural things that travelers enjoy as well so he often befriends the travelers who come to this town. Most fascinating are the ancient rock paintings he took us to the first day. This region is somewhat covered with them though the famous ones are further South. But since these are minor ones we got to have the place to ourselves for hours just relaxing and enjoying the ancient paintings and trying to figure out what they all are. We also saw an ancient temple that was reduced to rubble but it currently being excavated and renovated. When they finish I'm sure it will be amazing, though for now it is somewhat of a secret apparently it's not known about by any guidebooks, just a local treasure.
The nights we have been spending with him and his large family in their home. It's such a treat to be invited into someone's home. The family is very sweet. He has 3 kids, his parents and sister in law and her kids live there too at times making a total of 10-12 people on a regular basis! His 18 year old daughter has been teaching Hernando Hindi and I've been playing with Annu his energetic 12 year old daughter. She's a total riot. The girls covered my left hand and arm up to the elbow with henna one night and it turned out beautifully.
The last 2 days have been very rainy so we've been taking it easy and reading a lot. Tomorrow we hope that the weather will actually clear up enough to let us see the Stupa we came for in the first place before we head off to Mumbai for 3 days.
We are on our way South to the beaches. Though large areas have been absolutely devasted by torrential rains in the past few days. It seems that the areas we want to go to are ok though. We'll see!
check out some photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37516374@N02/
The nights we have been spending with him and his large family in their home. It's such a treat to be invited into someone's home. The family is very sweet. He has 3 kids, his parents and sister in law and her kids live there too at times making a total of 10-12 people on a regular basis! His 18 year old daughter has been teaching Hernando Hindi and I've been playing with Annu his energetic 12 year old daughter. She's a total riot. The girls covered my left hand and arm up to the elbow with henna one night and it turned out beautifully.
The last 2 days have been very rainy so we've been taking it easy and reading a lot. Tomorrow we hope that the weather will actually clear up enough to let us see the Stupa we came for in the first place before we head off to Mumbai for 3 days.
We are on our way South to the beaches. Though large areas have been absolutely devasted by torrential rains in the past few days. It seems that the areas we want to go to are ok though. We'll see!
check out some photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37516374@N02/
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