Well finally I am well again and everything is looking up. We got up early this morning and I did a yoga class for the family - then we went for a walk to the beach for breakfast (fresh fruit juice and muesli), had a swim and came back up to our rooms before it got too hot. We relaxed in our rooms, Mark played guitar, I slept and sang, kids did some emailing, then we had lunch (Greek salad). Life's hard hey?!
Anyway Goa - not at all sure what I think of Goa - its the first place that we've been that I'm not sure if I like or not. Sure it's beautiful, the sea is warm and inviting, the landscape gorgeous, palms, hills, the Goans are friendly and the living (for us) is easy but the downsides are: Brits everywhere! Palolem, where we were first, felt a bit like an 18-30 resort - the girls were gawked at the whole time; lots of booze (really noticeable after being in Kerala which is a dry state and though there is alcohol for sale in the tourist bars it's not obtrusive and we didn't see drunk people around all the time like here); loud music, oh yes and even the Goan dogs are noisier - in Kerala they never barked, here they bark a lot!.
Anyway - we have moved slightly down the coast to a small beach which is quieter and much less populated, the sunsets are amazing and we have seen a snake and starfish. We are staying in a really nice guest house, with really nice clean rooms, bathrooms and balconies. We have 3 double rooms (one for Sati who arrives tomorrow) and we are paying 1050 rupees a night (about 13 pounds) altogether. The guest house is run by a nice Christian Goan family who also have an internet cafe - which is where I am now. They have rented out the restaurant next door to an Anglo-Goan family, who have their English friends staying with them for a couple of months - they have two 9 year old girls between them and this area feels family friendly at least.
Maybe we will explore more of Goa over the next week or two and find other places that don't feel quite so Benidorm or Ibiza ish - I'm sure there must be nice places, but I guess by now we are less interested in a holiday resort - we don't need that - and I feel a little frustrated that we are in India with a bunch of Brits (not all of whom are behaving badly but enough of them are).
We are all really excited that Sati is on her way to us - she is on the plane now and will be arriving early tomorrow morning - me and Melissa are getting up really early - 4.30am to go in a taxi to meet her at the airport. It will be nice for all of us to have someone else we know well to be with us - we can all talk to someone different for a change! We do chat to other people of course but its not the same level of conversation that you have with people you have just met. Mark and I are also looking forward to having a little break from parenting now and again - no pressure Sati!!!
Just started to practise a few Swahili words and getting excited about Africa now - the experience there will be quite different I'm sure and as we go on we all become clearer about what we want and don't want to do. I'm looking forward to Christmas without the hype and materialism, the girls (especially Melissa) are not! they tried to convince us that they should have money for Diwali, Eid and any other festival that we happened to come across in compensation for not having 'proper' Christmas - I have promised them that they can go to church on Christmas day if they really want a proper Christmas! They weren't amused!
Miss you all - please keep in touch - its really nice to hear from people and some of you could ring us too - details here.
lots of love
- Heather
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