goa again

shells, originally uploaded by seamonkeylifeboat.

did we talk much about goa before? ummm, let's see... long time colonization by the portuguese and then a hippie invasion in the 60's followed by a rave explosion in the late 80's and general tourism has added some interesting flavors to the mix. the food tends to be diverse and tasty, lots of local fresh seafood and more safe fruit and vegetable choices than most of india (though andy and i did get pretty sick, maybe from fresh salad). it's definitely a party scene and heavily touristed, from fat sunburned retired europeans to intense stoned israelis who look like jesus, but the locals are some of the wealthiest in india, overall, and seem very happy and relaxed (though with an unusally high rate of alcoholism). you don't see the kind of poverty that you do in mumbai. even local women wear knee length skirts regularly; it's just more relaxed and was definitely a welcome break for us over the holidays. we flew down with rajeev and were soon met by rohan, priya, and rohan's friend from new york, stefanie - a really good mix of friends to spend the new year celebrations with.
my side story regarding goa is that i bought a few baby anklets on the beach from one of the kids that peddle goods there. i have a cousin who was adopted from india as an infant and who has never been here, herself. in fact, she was adopted by mormons and may be one of the only indian mormons in existence, i would guess. she just had her first baby and is curious about her roots, so i thought that the baby anklets would be a good present. after i got them i found out that this cousin was actually born in goa, so her new baby girl will have something from her mother's birthplace. i like serendipity, wheeeeee