Goa in monsoon season...

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I cannot believe I have been in India for over three weeks, it has gone so fast! The sweet smelling flowers in brightly dressed women's hair, the daily rickshaw commute which I now do alone, the lazy cows that motorbikes use as roundabouts and the spices and herbs that infuse themselves in everything from my tea and cake to my morning breakfast - it all feels like home now. I have even surprised myself with how quickly I have adapted!


I've gone really skinny this week from being ill so I am not putting pics up of myself! I will eat myself back to healthyness though, don't worry mum.


Almost getting bored of the daily grind already, so last week I started helping another volunteer with her project (she has been here for aaaages):





This is at the charity home of some lovely young and very intelligent Indian girls with disabilities that need help with their work after school.


I go there after I finish at Rave for a couple of hours. It is nice to be doing something different and something that helps other people as I feel so greedy writing about music I love all day!


Here is Esther and Sulthana hard at work... or maybe just posing for me!





We share knowledge with them... we learned about Indian politics, history and a tiny bit of Hindi and they learned about 17th century english poetry. I swear the work they do in year 8 here is so much harder than what I had to learn. A lot of their work is based on memorising facts and even correct answers, even if they are opinions. I have never met people with such good memories! Maybe next year they will be allowed to write their own ideas down and do well...


Friday there was yet another powercut, they happen a few times each day, but this time it was definitely going to last all day so instead of going to work where the computers, lights, fans and internet wouldnt be on, we did a bit of sightseeing in Banaglore.


A few of us sitting in front of the high court of Karnataka:





And the government buildings:





Even quietly sat here Indian people were sneakily taking pictures or asking to take pictures of us, it is weird being an alien here that everyone wants to capture! I usually say no though, as its pretty weird to have pictures of myself somewhere I don't know. Like I could be someone's 'Girlfriend From England' on their myspace....or maybe worse. At least sometimes they ask!


We then went the the 13th floor of a massive building where a fancy pants restaurant is, but we couldnt afford to eat, just used their view for some sneaky pics.








At the weekend we decided to Go-a for it, and hit the beaches:





(Sorry, Google had better weather!)





Wet, wet.... wet beaches.






Apart from rainy beaches, the thing that you first notice about Goa is the lushness of the green green trees, paddy fields and hills. Monsoon season makes everything so gorgeous!





The two french girls (who flew an met us there) walking from their hotel to the lush beach:





After our 14 hours bus ride we were quite tired so sat at a beach bar and enjoyed the tremendous crashing and roaring of the stormy sea.





Things were fairly cheap as its off season. Goa literally lives for only half the year, which must be so boring for the Goans. We wtill made the most of it though, it was so nice to get some sea air and away from the smogs of Bangalore. Baga beach is gorgeous despite the weather, and hundreds of locals were there, washing and splashing about in the strong waves.


The girls flew home on Sunday and me and the two new volunteers went on a coach tour of Goa. I can conclude there is hardly anything to actually 'see' in Goa, other than beaches, but as there was no sunshine we thought we would try and 'see' some of it.


Here is a piece of Goa, that I am sure looks much lovelier in the sun, but is glorious all the same to me, who never sees the sea!





Then we looked at some temples. In this Christian one was Frances Xavier's body. Nice!





You can't see him that well in this pic, but that is his glass coffin. He is a skeleton...


This is a Hindu temple in the valley of the Goan jungleness..





And another one that had almost exactly the same layout.





There was lots of drumming and chanting going on inside.


By this point I started to go a bit floppy, and the boys were getting bored too, so we moaned a bit until we ate some food. Then we had a bit more energy left for the journey back. Which was loooooooooong. But worth it, I just now know that if you want to go to Goa, don't Goa in monsoon season. Go in December!


One week left of Rave and my beloved India, before I depart for Thailand to meet up with my beautiful friend Laura, so I am very very very excited about that!


Merry monsoon!
Cle -_-* xxxx



Extra Super Bonus Present for Dad


Thought this might amuse/interest you.


Here is some Indian scaffolding...





It is actually made from bits of bamboo or sticks tied up with string.
Safety second!
But Style first...
They wear stuff like white jeans and smart checked shirts and no hard hats on site... usually balancing a pot of concrete on their heads.
These guys are Slick!





Maybe you should use sticks and rope to build the new house...

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