goa

hi!

here i am in goa, after a long, but fine train ride. palolem beach is gorgeous! but all the europeans in their skimpy man bikinis are NOT! the guide book called this a very laid back beach...perfect for chilling out. but only if you are trying to not be in india. there are so many westerners here and i am not real psyched about it.

i am not sure what to do. on my last trip i enjoyed the beach so much as i was able to make friends with the people that ran the beach side resaraunt and such...this place has way too many westerners for the indians to care about making friends. plus, i liked how the restaraunts would play indian music last time and here they are playing western techno pop which i hate anyway...

so i am debating about hopping on a bus and going back up the beach a bit to colva beach where i stayed last time. much more peaceful and enjoyable....but is it still? or have we westerners just taken over these spots and ruined them? i feel guilty...and a bit sad about it.

also, the 1st thing i did after calling jamie when i got here this morning was to go buy some sunscreen. i liberally lathered myself with it, and went and laid in the sun for about 1.5 hours. guess what? it didn't work. i am burnt!!! and pissed! so now i have to stay out of the sun for at least 2 days. i can still lay on the beach under an umbrella, but c'mon! i took precautions....to no avail.

the other very sad thing is that my water bottle came open in my bag. as of now, my camera and my ipod are not working. my fingers are crossed and i am trying not to stress about it, but that would mean i have lost all my pictures, and i do not want that to be the case. plus, abuot $1000 of great equipment over a DUMB accident! i even had them in a protective case, which got water in it and didn't leak out because it was ummm..."protective".

not to be a sorry sack here, but also i am feeling lonely and honestly a little bored. in 2.5 weeks, i have read 5 books...none of them small. so...la la la...what to do? i am going to try to go find something to do such as some needlepoint or something like that as that is all i can think of to keep my fingers busy. i am missing jamie, as the beach would be a great place for us to hang out and do nothing together. but right now...this doing nothing by myself is kinda boring.

kora is talking about coming to join me, i am waiting to hear back from her about that. it would be good, so we'll see.

on the positive side, i just had a most delicious fish vindaloo, quite spicy and rich. also for breakfast i enjoyed some fruit porridge with banana, watermelon, oranges, and papaya. very good.

i saw a flock of fruit bats the other night which was interesting. they are vry graceful, yet also totally bumbling! maybe about 100 of them. there are lots of puppies here at the beach, hopefully none of their mothers will eat them. though this young indian girl today told me they do that because they have to for the other pups. like eating the runt i guess...i dunno.

also there are some wild boar here, and they are always good for a laugh! little curly tails wagging around incessantly and fat stomachs hanging almost to the ground!

and my room has a comfy bed on the floor and a lovely mosquito net, which is quite romantic...and helpful!

and a cold bucket bath feels delightful at the beach!

bye!
jo