Blogs from Mapusa, Goa, India, Asia

Thursday - Day 22 Oh my god, I actually just said 'have you tried turning it off and then on again' to an Indian waiter in a bar... The Mango tree network is a bit sketchy and there are also a lot of power cuts, which usually only last for ten minutes or so, but can distrupt one's internet session massively, especially if you're uploading photos or talking on Skype. Today, we went to Mapusa, Kelly, Denis and I. I woke up early enough to be ready and aimed to get to Mapusa by ten ish. Denis tuned up at mine, but realised he needed to go home, so I went to drop my luggage off at Kelly's house because I didn't have a room in the guest house any more. She was pretty much ready, ... read more

We'd met a girl during our lazy days at Liliput who'd mentioned that there was an animal rescue centre in Goa where you could volunteer. As all previous efforts to volunteer had lead to nothing, the 4 weeks we had committed to staying in Arpura meant that we could finally justify spending time doing something altruistic.  So we've spent our first week as Goan residents at the International Animal Rescue Centre, which has it's head office in Sussex. I tried my hardest not to go into recruitment mode, and to this day I have resisted selling them a charity specialist accountant..... The centre in Goa can manage around 100 dogs, plus 50 kittens and puppys, snakes, cows, pigs and other random creatures. It has quite a good name in the local area - 10 years ago ... read more

Deciding on Goa I returned to the UK at the end of August 2006, after making the decision to finish my degree before returning to continue as an English Language Trainer in a similer environment to the one I had worked in on my placement year. At first, life back in England was fun, I had a lot of catching up to do, and things were exciting. However, it wasn't long before I began to regret my decision. I didn't want to be a student anymore. The forward transition from student to employee with responsibility was tough, but one I tried damn hard to make successfully. The transition back to student after a taste of 'the real world' was far far more difficult. And I missed India, terribly. After a less than productive first semester, I ... read more