goa...

Happy New Years friends, I can't believe we're less than 24 hours from 2008. Stories and photos from Bhaktidevanta are unfortunately going to have to wait (hopefully will happen soon) as Goa is pretty crazy and we don't really have too much time on the internet. So quick update, and then I'm off to yoga class pre-New years insanity.

So back when we were planning this trip, everybody would ask, "where are you going in India?" The only response we could tell them was that we would be spending New Years at Timeless Camps in Anjuna Beach in Goa. Anjuna, known for hippies, ravers, and now commercialism, but still a crazy holiday scene. We felt very responsible booking this place on hostelworld.com back in July since we were told many times that the holidays are crazy times for hotels. We also felt very responsible calling this place on the morning our train was to depart from Mangalore to Goa, to confirm our reservation. Jake had our reservation print out and I called the first of two numbers listed. No answer and no machine. No problem, that's common in India, so I called the second number. Got a man who told me that that was no longer the number for Timeless Camps. Hmm. That's okay, we'll just call the Goa info line. I call and after getting transferred a few times I'm told they don't know of Timeless Camps. Hmm. We call a directory and they don't know it either. Uh oh. We start calling local hotels, and we're given the mobile number of the man who owns the Sai Prasad hotel supposedly across the street from Timeless Camps. I'm a bit worried now, and I call the Sai Prasad. The man who answers very calmly tells me that Timeless Camps doesn't exist anymore. Oh boy. It's 12/29 and our train leaves in less than 4 hours to arrive at Goa in the evening. We don't have a place to stay... But friends, the raver Gods are looking down on us because this man Prasad told us not to worry that he would find us a room for a good deal. And an hour later, he called us and told us we were all set at a place down the road from him. We have no idea what to expect, but we hop on the train and hope for the best. We arrive in Goa at 9:30ish (every train is horribly delayed, I'm finding) and we run to the last bus that will take us from the south to the north. We're psyched, we're in Goa! There's no honking, people abide by traffic laws, there's road signage that makes sense, this is a beautiful place! I relax in the back seated next to a teenager who plays American pop on his music player. Loudly. I think I'm the only one on the bus who is enjoying hearing Usher and Avril Lavigne, but whatever. About 15 minutes into the 45 minute trip the bus slows down. It stops. Everyone jumps up. The bus has broken down. We all shuffle off the bus and me, Jake, and an Australian try to hitch a ride, but everyone is on motor bikes or wants an exorbitant amount of money. Our phone is about to die, and we're hoping we won't have to camp out on the side of the road. But then, a bus appears! We all run on and continue the trip, finally arriving up north to the city of Panjim at around 11pm. We hop in a rickshaw and call Prasad, our savior. We finally end up at the Oasis cafe guest house, about 10 minute walk from the beautiful beach. It's nearly midnight, but we're here. We check in, enjoy some drinks and falafal (oooh Israeli food), and pass out. Ah Goa... Everything works out for a reason.

We've been here a few days, and I'm loving this place more than I thought I would. It's crowded, yes, and the traffic is insane, but the beach is beautiful, and everyone is pretty friendly. Also, I have found two incredible yoga teachers who have a school up in Dharamsala, but they decided to come down to teach in Goa from December to April. They started classes here two weeks ago, and one of them teaches Hatha in the morning and the other teaches Ashtanga in the evening. I've been practicing Yoga for the past 4 years, and my practice is a mix of Hatha and Ashtanga. Even better, they teach right next door to our guest house! Everything happens for a reason. I went over to check it out, and ended up having a 2 hour conversation with the Ashtanga teacher. I've taken one class with him and one with the Hatha teacher and they were two of the best classes I've ever taken. Their philosophy is right in line with what I want in a teacher, and how I practice. We're thinking we might stay here for the next month, and I'm going to learn from them, possibly take a Yoga teacher training certification course (I would be the only student with these two incredible teachers...), and getting an apartment on the beach so we can cook for ourselves. Or I might take classes with them, and later on in the year take the teacher training course in Dharamsala. We'll see what happens, and roll with whatever comes to us. I feel really blessed to have found these two teachers though, so we'll see what happens.

Also, we bought bicycles! And we painted them! (Pictures soon, I PROMISE) They're the hippest cycles around town, no joke. Since everyone drives or rides motor bikes, we're already kind of known as the "cycle kids", which is kind of funny, but makes it very easy to find each other if we get separated. Oh, and we also bought helmets! Indian traffic in Goa is still Indian traffic...

Other interesting things... There are no Americans here, at least none that we have met. Tons of Europeans, some Israelis, other Asians, Australians, Africans, even, but no Americans. We've been looking out for the New Yawk or Joisey or Bahston accents, or anything, but for some reason (and people have asked us about this), there are very few Americans here. I've also been thinking a TON about race and gender (that's the anthro/soci major in me), but I'll save that for '08.

All right, I'm off for now, more in the New Year, be joyous and safe tonight, and blessings to you all!!!