November 19, 2003
Coming home....
Seoul International...
No time to shop...15 minutes before departure, running for the gate
sun rise heading towards the coast of Washington....
Getting close...san francisco/daly city/ pacifica coastline
We're banking hard, left...
About to fly over my apartment in Pacifica
San Francisco Bay...soon to land
Ahhhh! Home!
November 17, 2003
Time to Go
Wow! It's astonishing to think only a month has gone by...it seems like three to me. Alas, the time has come, it is time to leave...back to my home in Pacifica, CA, back to work in San Francisco and...I am ready. I'm certainly not overly eager to get back, yet I am ready to return to be w/ my friends and family and to return to my world, to see how it has changed shape and to see how I will continue to take shape with it. India has grown on me. It has provided a way for me to be blessed many times over. I mean this both literally and figuratively. And it is a special place to me, that allowed me to face, then witness, the true nature of myself in connection w/ others.
November 14, 2003
Lone Traveler
Ulrich left Bombay for Paris Thursday night and I am once again a lone traveler. It seems we are the type of people that are able to easily connect with those in our midst and the two of us together caused quite a sensation. Apparently, THursday when I was sick and couldn't go out to dinner, everyone we knew was asking Ulrich about me...where is your friend? where is your friend? she is sick...oh...now, it's my turn to hear all this. where is your friend? are you feeling better? your friend is gone? ohhh.
So I don't feel lonely. Just alone. But this is good. I have lots to do in a short period of time. I have changed my departure city from Delhi to Bombay so I dont have to worry about sleeper buses or trains from here to Delhi - and this is great! Thank you Singapore Airlines for not fussing over my request to change my itinerary. They didn't even charge me. I leave Bombay for the western world, San Francisco, Monday night and arrive in San Francisco on Tuesday morning, 11AM. Am I ready to return? Yes and no. Ulrich and I find two things about our India experience astonishing...1.) That we're still alive and 2.) That we find this place, India, to be just like home.
Sick...again and McDonald's in India
Thursday morning, 8:30am, a slightly, nauseating feeling from my stomach area comes into my awareness. "Please, no." I think to myself....
I had just gotten rid of my 10+ day long cold/infection only a few days before. This didn't feel like a cold, it was some sort of stomach virus where the symptoms are like burning poker in the stomach, fever, nausea, vomiting, no diarrhea tho, and my tongue has this black/brown film on it that reminds me of the brownish-black mold/mildew stains in the corners of damp walls and ceilings. Yeah! What the hell, is right! What the hell causes a brownish-black film on the tongue. Not food, no drink, no cigarettes and the pollution in the air isn't THAT bad here in Bombay. *sigh* I'll be home Tuesday November 18th and there I will schedule a full physical, etc.
So, I"ve been in bed for the last two days. Finally, today, around 6pm'ish I begin to feel that the worst is over. No more stomach problems, no more lack of strength, fever gone...all that remains is achey muscles and bones and I'm HUNGRY!
I have no idea what to eat, I'ma little freaked out about all this sickness I've been having so what's a safe bet?? McDonald's! Of course! :-)
November 12, 2003
A few more pics to whet the appetite
Sorry, these pics are in email format which means they are low resolution and
prolly pretty crappy looking and i'm running out of time cuz i just spent the last hour showing a local kid how to use the cd burner to make illegal copies of music - haha just kidding, Big Brother! I'd NEVER do THAT!
November 11, 2003
I'm here! Server problems...
ah finally...i can connect.
I've been trying to connect to the blog for daaaays now :-) Is this thing really that popular?
ok. i've got an internet cafe, a usb port and pics to post.
stay tuned
November 08, 2003
Need a map of India to Post
>are you really looking to have to deal with email and comments back to you?
>
>here is a suggestion though. you should upload a map for the righthand side >of the blog to which people can refer when you tell us you are in "Vagator, >Goa" (which to me sounds like a raver dj coalition more than a placename!)
:-) Am I looking to have to deal w/ email and comments? (quickly running through my mind are the different ways in which this could be implied, some make smile and chuckle...)
nope, no looking...the comments option was there when the blog was turned on for me by Mr. Art. i hadn't gave it much thought until after receiving the first comments..and still, i don't give it much thought... so no dealing. i just read a comment, smile and think somebody loves me. right, then! moving right along... and i can't guarantee responses, unless it's an emergency. but email and comments are most welcome.
i had a fleeting thought about doing the map...and that's as far as it got! thanks for suggesting it. the internet is really slow here so no surfing the web for a map of India's gonna happen on my end. If you or anyone come across one I could post (or maybe Art can post - he has access) please send graphic via email -OR- if you have to, post URL in comment section.
:-)
Children Working in Goa
Many of the children here work every day. The pictures I've posted of children on the beach or wherever were trying to sell me something from their "shop." I try to inspire or distract them to think about something else other than money (ironic, isn't it? an american encouraging someone to not think about money!) i ask 9 - 11 year olds what they like to do for fun, what are your hobbies, tell me about your friends, your schoolwork or teachers, books you like... intensely focused they won't be distracted from the job at hand, get bored w/ my questions about their lives and return to what's most important "you come see my shop now. ok? i have nice sarongs for you. many colors." i jokingly responded once that i had 50 sarongs...their response? "50 sarongs! do you have one in blue?" :-) hilarious.
"Cold" Season in India
So many people I talk to either have a cold or know someone who does. I can say this is the worst cold I've EVER had in terms of severity of symptoms and incredible length of time this has gone on. It's way too easy to think the worst thing. Even at work I get disturbed when someones coughing and hacking in such close proximity to my nasal passages. At work, when I hear some sickos, plagued by some ailment or another, cough and hack the first thought that comes to my mind is...Ooooo! Go home! Spare us, please, from your infected self! Sometimes I worry that this isn't really just a cold, that it's something else, that any day now the symptoms are going to quickly escalate into an irreversible death spiral. oh the drama. yes, a cold is nothing...until it turns into something else. many fatal illnesses begin symptomatic of a cold. *cough cough* *sniff*
I don't get much sympathy from Ulrich...Ully, as he likes to be called, if I'm being worrisome about this ache or that pain, he laughs! and then says, these could be your last days. yes, we shall see. we shall see. you need to witness your death, witness your consciousness detach from the senses, from the physical realm. haha!
last night at dinner he said something about feeling slight cold symptoms. :-)
November 07, 2003
Alive and Well in Vagator
Howdy! I am in Vagator, Goa for who knows how long now :-) leaving for Mumbai tomorrow night via all night "sleeper" bus that leaves here at ?? hmmm...*taps fingers on keyboard in deep thought*...well, it leaves sometime tomorrow evening and arrives sometime the next morning. OK! SO! Life is very very good here in Vagator, Goa. As for paradise quality it meets or maybe surpasses that of Palolem. Lots of folks here to talk to who keep coming back over the years, food is good, nightlife is good, locals are sweet, kind and very friendly.
I came here to Vagator after learning that Ulrich (the German practicing Buddhism I met in Palolem) was here and said Vagator was very good. We are having a very good experience together here in Goa as before we were solo travelers. We're both heading to Mumbai tomorrow night.
Damn, it's hotter than hades, the electricity is out (blackouts are very common, daily occurance) I'm signing off and heading to the beach for the last time this trip.
Kisses All!
p.s. Not many email responses from some of you this last couple days. Hoping all is well, that no news is good news :-)
November 03, 2003
Hassan district temple pics
East facing temple entrance:
Will stop uploading now, the internets slow. WIll post later
No newspaper, no television, no clue!...no problem
I have not read a newspaper or watched TV for weeks,and I don't have a clue what's going on in the world. This is an applaudable accomplishment for someone who used to read 15-30 newspapers, periodicals, etc per day. Reading/researching news, statistics, facts, falsehoods is like going thrift or antique shopping. One can look every day for the real deal but come up empty for weeks. It takes time and patience siphoning thru the crap before finding the genuine article. This used to be an indulgence or obsession w/ me, kind of like craving a certain kind of food or listening to a certain song or band over and over and over again...until one day you've had enough and the very idea of consuming that which you overindulged is leaves you w/ a nauseating feeling.
That's how I feel about the world and the news now. When I even think about watching the toob or reading a paper I get this fearful, sickening feeling in my stomach. I just can't bare the idea of it. And frankly, I don't care. I realize the world isn't nearly as concerned about me as I was about it, and it will continue on just fine w/out me :-) Bye-bye world! Hello Natasha's World!
November 02, 2003
The Garbage and Dead Animals
I'm going to play Nichola and start playing photojournalist. I feel there's a lot that needs to be exposed in this country. First, its the corrupt minstry who effects peoples lives directly on an every day basis...The next is the garbage. It's everywhere and I don't understand why. It's NOT that there are a lot of people because honestly...i haven't been to Mumbai or Delhi yet but I"m hardpressed to believe there are over a billion people here. where are all these people??? It's not anything like I expected. I figured it'd be back to back people. It's not. I"m sure it is in Mumbai, Delhi. Can you say 30 million? Fascinating. I've been in the smallest temple villages where there are hardly any tourists, the larger ones and the larger towns and the garbages and the dirt and the filth is everywhere. An animal dies? Leave it on the road to rot! *sigh* so much for my zen-like, ghuru outlook, huh? i get very cranky when i'm ill, having to walk around dead animals on my way to dinner is starting to annoy the hell out of me.
Pics soon.
i am william looking for a girl for a close relation
hehe....when i click in the Title text box for this new blog entry that is what comes up the drop down menu
'i am william looking for a girl for a close relation'
PG-13 BLOG
Baga/Calangute are nothing like Palolem. Palolem is a paradise. The beach people there are good, caring, kind and friendly. The beach itself is far superior to Baga/Calangute beaches. Palolem beach is flattish, the surf is smooth for a ways out. Here, the locals are more aggressive and greedy...all they want is my money, my ass or an invitation from me to come to the US. The invitation part surprises me, the rest is predictable. The invitation part surprises me because I thought this was a democratic country. I've heard of this requirement from the Arab or communist countries. But India?? The more and more I listen and learn from the people here and am coming to understand this place is terribly corrupt.
Baga/Calangute does have a lot more "action" if you will. It reminds me of the Spanish Islands in the Med...Ibiza (ibitha), Mallorca. I didn't realize it was going to be like this. I knew something was up when I got here yesterday around 2'ish and there was nobody around, really. the shops, restaurants were so slow, virtually shut down. I walked from Baga down the beach to Candolim (I later found out) almost to the Port/Fort, then back up the road, to the Baga River and got back to my hotel around 5'ish, went to dinner and still...nobody around. was kind of weird. no, a lot weird. after dinner, i come back to my room and crash, because i've got this cold thing or some f'n disease perhaps and i can't stay up. around 11:30 i'm awaken to A LOT OF NOISE! police blowing their whistles, people hootin and hollerin, and the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of the base from disco near by. then it dawns on me....This is a RAVE town. hehe i get up, get dressed, try to look "hip" and make my way down the road. I go to a bar called Mambos ? and a native from India who has British citizenship, now living in Canada (By the way...what's up w/ you Brits claiming multiple citzenship? It's confusing - Naw, Mate! I'm not really Bri'ish. I'm Australian...w/ a Bri'ish passport. -or - I"m New Zealander...w/ a Bri'ish passport :-) Anyway, so we drink and talk about what good neighbors we are USA/Canada and head over the disco and get bored and this is a PG-13 blog so sorry, the rest just can't be told. :-)
Bad News/Good News
My laptop is dying it would seem. It won't power on. I'm going to put it away until I come back home. On a brighter note! I found....hold your breath...it's unbelievable...an internet cafe w/ a CD Writer! Wooooo Hooooooo!!!!!!! hehe....so i've copied pics from my camera->hard drive-> writable cd. yipeeeee! hehe. yes, i am very happy.
November 01, 2003
Maegan!
Hello sweetie! I love and miss you, and think of you a lot. The cows in the street here say Hello! I'm sure of it. I asked them to repeat themselves, twice! haha! kisses, mom
p.s. thanks for the emails
Troubles w/ pic transfer
I've been unable to transfer pics from camera->computer. soon, tho. think there's something wrong w/ my floppy drive or floppy diskette. if i can't fix it soon then Art's getting a bunch of pics sent his way via email very soon. if not, i can't take any more pics and the best is yet to come :-(
Full Blown Cold - In Baga
ack! i've got a cold. it's not so bad. last night, some girls from Haifa gave me some pain pill and i'm floating above the annoying symptoms. all is as well as can be. I have moved north to another beach town area Baga/Anjuna/Calangute. I'll stay until Wednesday or Thursday. I'll have to decided at that time where my next move is. I might meet the girls from Haifa in Pune (poona) or skip it and go to Hampi - OR - train to Jasailmer. For now, I'll continue to work on my tan and enjoy the beautiful beach weather.
The lonely planet guide has proved to be a wonderful resource, once again, choosing a hotel. I'm at Angelina Resort Hotel. They wanted 400 Rs but I said 300 and the very nice woman, Perska, said, ok. It's family run, very clean, the rooms are large and it's situated away from the beach. The hotel "boy," Peter, says, "I am hotel boy. YOu just shout, PETER! and I come running w/ a happy face. I take care of all your needs!"