brief update

so we made it goa (don't ask about the journey, lets just say, it was on india standard time). and then they put us in a tent for the first night) and not the Air conditioned suite they confirmed and charged me for--but i have to say, it is the first ever air conditioned tent i have ever seen; it also had a western toilet, a sink, and hot and cold running water from an actual shower head. there was also two beds and a desk and a porch. it was the weirdest thing ever. also, when i was trying to argue with the hotel staff to give me a suite, it was difficult cause the conversation went like this.

"I did not pay good money to live in a tent, i want comfort, i want air conditioner"

"Don't worry madame, there is an airconditioner"

"in the tent?"

"Yes yes in the tent"

"well i want a hot shower"

"no problem madame hot and cold running water in the tent"

"i don't want to take another bucket shower"

"no problem madam there is a shower head"

this went on and on about the toilet, sink, and then shortly after arriving at the tent (goa was fully booked, and we got the suite the next day)--we got room service, to our tent. don't worry, carla and i have pictures of the air conditioned tent.

But aside from all that--Goa was amazing. We were in south goa with old people (which was fine with me cause i'm not quite ready for swimsuit season and old european men in speedos and women in g strings make me feel ALOT better about myself). It was quite and there were vast stretches of beach without anyone around. It's nice there because they don't build on the water front, so no big hotels to spoil the view, they are all set back and hidden by palm trees, only beach shacks with food and drinks and souvenirs are around. Also, I got to split a king crab with carla. The crab was twice the size of my head. I'm not joking. And I have never been full just eating crab before. Those of you that know my fettish for snowcrabs (jon, remember the 5 plates of snow crab legs for my birthday?) really understand how much that crab meant to me. But I started to worry about my karma afterwords, cause they were crabs all of the beach, and with the damage I did, I was expecting something in return.

We also visited a spice plantation, and amanda, i could not stop thinking about you! They greeted us with a garland of flowers, a shower of flower petals, two cups of herbal tea and snacks. Then I learned all sorts of cool stuff. I also tried fresh cinnamon (literally, he scrapped the bark off the tree and handed it to me), i learned that both bamboo and banana trees are actually in the grass family. And all sorts of other stuff I have already basically forgotten. Oh! and i saw how cashews grow! They have this fruit attached that they call the cashew apple, and the cashew hangs from the fruit in a shell. So obviously, you eat the cashew, they make poisons from the shell (apparently it's got some evil stuff), and from the fruit, you make... FENI!!! This is a very smooth alcohol my friends, which I had never heard about before. What a great plant--so many uses.

Well now I am sitting in the Mumbai airport writing this on my way to Johdpur where carla and I will be staying in a palace. Travel days rarely go well for us--already one delayed flight. But I'll keep you posted.