south indian paradise...

its been absolutely amazing here in candolim, goa. i started a month long ashtanga yoga intensive that is going swimmingly. today the early group started practice at 4 am, and as i am a newcomer, i started a little before 6. starting my day with the sunrise peeking through the palm trees and a cool breeze blowing through the open air rooftop shala is really where its at.

i'm early to bed, early to rise. today i was rearing to go before most had left the house. i'm aiming to get the most out of my time here by adventuring anywhere a bus will take me in the alloted time, which is basically all day on weekdays, and saturday and sunday. today i went to mapusa, an inland goa town that has a bumping friday market. i perused the aisles while stealthily (or not) took tons of pictures. there is so much going on, that most of the time no one notices that i crouch down and snap away. often times i'll initially aim at something else and then quickly turn and snap at my intended target.

the bus ride to this town took about 30 minutes from where i'm staying and costed 8 rupees, which is about 20 cents. its funny how similar these local bus ride experiences are throughout the world. same as guatemala or nicaragua, or other third world countries. you've got a driver, and one or two bus-whallahs, guys who hang off the side, bark the name of the destination, and take your money. i haven't taken a taxi yet, and want to minimize my exclusive transport as much as possible to soak in as much of the experience as i can. the roads are teeming with cycles, bicycles, taxis, tuk tuks, busses, trucks, cows, dogs, people, etc. and literally its every creature for themselves. one needs to be very aware of their surroundings. i've been walking mostly and taxis line the side of the extremely narrow roadside. if i had a nickel for every time someone said "taxi?" or "allo, where you from?", well...

the food, as expected is top notch. today i think i had the best indian food (and some of the best food in general) of my life. a coconut cashew masala dosa which is basically a thin crepe filled with potatoes, veggies, spices and this time coconut and cashew. you top it off with a warm gravy like stuff, and whoallah - edible bliss. this costs about 38 rupees or 80 cents.

i will say that it is truly humbling though, to feast to my hearts content on whatever i like for a paltry sum of money, and be reminded of the hunger that surrounds me as a presumably 12 year old girl with an infant signals that she needs food, or as happened today, two 4 or 5 year olds with tattered clothes saw me from a mile away walking through a non westerner area and approached me. its hard to say no. the last time i was in india, i had a vision of taking some people out to eat, but never made it happen. i'm going to do it this time.

the evenings are spent strolling the beach, watching the sunset over the west coast of india, just like oregon as a matter of fact. its gorgeous. the interwebs here, like many other things, aren't lightning speed, so uploading my pictures might not be as common or frequent, though i'll try. in any case, here are some stock photos from google to give you a glimpse of reality here...

i'm staying in a small palace in candolim, goa - just south of calangute