settled (playing house for awhile)

Everybody says that Goa is not REALLY India but anyone who says that hasn't seen all of the cows strutting along the beach without a care in the world... We've been here for 2 weeks, and we're planning on staying for 3 more (Jake may go WWOOF in Kerala or near Bangalore, so may stay here, still undecided), and I'm finally able to sit and think and reflect a bit about this whole crazy trip so far. 2 days ago marked 2 months in India, which feels like a lot of time, but at the same time it feels like absolutely nothing. I'm excited for the routine-ness of the next few weeks, and I thought I'd take you all through a typical day for me (and Jake) here in Anjuna. I've found that a lot of things that happen or that I see here in the "very un-Indian" Goa actually connect to and reflect some of the larger issues I've been thinking about since arriving in India.

First of all, since the new year, Anjuna has calmed down MAJORLY. Maybe it's the fact that we've moved, maybe it's because it's no longer the holidays but I'm liking the vibe of Anjuna a lot. There is the famous flea market here every Wednesday (which we live right across the road from), and on that day it seems as though all of Goa comes here, but every other day is pretty quiet, which is really nice. We've been settling in, making ourselves at home, and getting to know folks around town. People here are really nice, and it's been great meeting folks who have grown up here, as well as other travellers.

So the typical day..

I wake up at 6 or 6:30ish in the morning, usually to the sound of howling and barking dogs. There are SO MANY dogs in India. They're like squirrels, it's quite ridiculous. They're usually scrawny and sad looking. In the cities they sleep all over the place and lurk around in the garbage. It's rare to see someone with a dog as a pet. I'm a HUGE dog lover (my parents have two puppies at home, whom I miss dearly!), but these dogs are just different. In Goa they travel in packs and are extraordinarily territorial. At night they bark and howl and surround anyone who walks by, and to be honest, it's been a little scary leaving the house before sunrise. However, all you need to do is stare at them and remain calm and they won't do a thing. Still, it's pretty amazing to see the dogs take charge during the night. In the day it's too hot and there's too much going on so they usually sleep or scrounge around.

I leave the house at around 7ish and walk for a half hour to pranayama class (breathing and meditation). It's not a bad commute, since for most of it I'm walking on an empty beach alongside the dogs, crows, cows, and the rising sun. Seeing the cows just wandering along the sand, eating grass, eating trash, without a care in the world, is still pretty incredible. Cows are just EVERYWHERE. Along with the cows, however, there comes tons of crows eating the trash that isn't being burned, lots of smoke, and lots of shit. Forgive my language, but there's no other word for it. In fact, three of the biggest constants in India are smoke, dust, and shit. Everywhere we go, the smell lingers. You get used to it, but what you've probably heard is true. In the morning, when the roads are so empty, it's impossible to ignore these things, but at the same time, the quiet makes me appreciate seeing the crows pecking at the coconut shells or the cigarette cartons. Sometimes it's strangely beautiful...

I get to pranayam class for 7:30-8:30 which I take with one of my teachers, Alkilesh. Right now it is just me, and the other girl taking the Yoga teacher training, named Liz. She's American, from Chicago, and has spent the last 7 months living at Mount Madonna Center, studying Ayurveda, oddly enough. Small world (I lived at Mount Madonna in California for a summer). The pranayam class is fantastic because we get to learn a lot about yogic philosophy, ask Alkilesh questions, and just breathe for awhile. It's a wonderful way to wake up!

After class we have 1/2 hour till 9am asana (the yoga postures) class, so we usually get some fresh mint tea and chat. It's really great to meet another American woman who is traveling, and Liz and I definitely share a lot of common ground and interests. I'm very happy to be taking the training course with her. From 9-11am we're in asana class, and usually there are 1-2 drop ins (usually European) who come to the class. It's the Hatha class, so it involves a lot of holding postures and a lot of relaxation, and once again it's taught by Alkilesh, who usually gives another lesson in yogic philosophy or mythology during the class. Alkilesh is a fantastic teacher- in a week or so I think I (and maybe Jake) will take Reiki training with him, so I'm really excited about that.

At 11, I head home to the apartment where Jake (the most fantastic house husband ever) has breakfast waiting. The walk home is such a huge contrast from the morning walk, since the day is in full swing, and all of the people and vendors are out. The market road to the beach, which is virtually empty at 7am, is full of vendors, tourists, drug dealers, and taxi drivers. Since I take the path so often a lot of the regulars recognize me, so they don't bother me, but instead will give a nod or a wave, or I'll actually have a nice conversation with them. For the first few days it was nothing but "Yes, madam taxi?" or "Yes, come look my shop?". It was extremely frustrating because if you so much as look in the direction of a shop or a person, you were immediately propositioned. The taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers started to know us as the "bicycle kids" so they would leave us alone, but since my bicycle got stolen (oh India), I still get asked a lot. Instead of getting irritated and yelling "NO!" or ignoring them, I've learned to ask if the ride would be free. Amazingly, I've managed to hitch a few free rides. The drug scene was pretty intense as well... During the holidays we were asked if we wanted anything from hash to acid to coke every few steps. The men were so desperate to sell, we would sometimes get a "please" from them. It's chilled out A LOT since the holidays, which is really nice.

Even more desperate than the drug dealers are the shop owners who have little stalls along the road and the beach. Most of them sell the same stuff- Goa rave gear, hippie clothes, and long flowy skirts, shirts, and dresses. Even though most of the stuff seems right up my alley, I think I may be officially known as the American who tries on lots of clothes but never buys because VERY FEW of these clothes were made for a woman with curves, ah hem. It's been surreal being a curvy American woman in Goa (in all of India for that matter), since most Indians are very skinny and most foreigners who come are also very tiny. It's been a roller coaster of self image, being told how big I am (whether it's tall, big hands, or needing to lose weight in some cases), but I'm learning that so much of it is just cultural difference. In America (and particularly at Vassar) being a strong, loud, stubborn, and bigger (personality wise and curvy wise) is almost encouraged as a way to meet success. However those qualities are not necessarily viewed the same way in India, at least the way I've experienced it. I'm not saying there aren't strong women here in India, because I've met some of the strongest and most bad-ass women on the planet here. It's just a different kind of strength. It's been kind of a trip being an unmarried, Western, curvy, woman from a city (and forget about the fact that I'm left-handed). My notion of my own feminity is kind of being rocked particularly when we've been in the villages. I'm not very good at cooking (though I'm learning!) and I can't clean clothes on a rock (which I also learned how to do!). Being in Goa has been a good experience so far. It's not quite city, definitely not village, and there's obviously so many foreigners here that just about anything goes. Still, I think my understanding of feminiity and feminism will carry with me through this trip. We'll just see where it goes...

Ah my that was a long tangent. I may have the split this post in half so this one isn't too too long. There's still so much to say! I'll write more soon- also, for the Jake readers out there, he hasn't written many haikus but he is painting up a storm (some BEAUTIFUL pieces, if you ask me), cooking lots of delicious food, biking a lot, doing headstands, and enjoying the sunsets.

One last note: I wanted to address the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, since it's obviously very close to India. We were in Mangalore the night it happened, and every television station was showing footage of riots or telling the story of her life. Since we left the next morning, we didn't really talk to too many people about it, and Goa, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) doesn't really seem like the best place to get political news. If we were up north, near the Pakistani border particuarly, I think we'd be able to report a lot more, but for now we're in a bit of a bubble of beach, tourists, and yoga.

One last last note: Speaking of tourists, there are no Israelis here! We were very surprised because the rumor was that Israelis flock to Goa, especially during the holidays. However, we learned that the Israeli government blocked most, if not almost all, tourist visas to India about 6 months ago. Too many young Israelis were coming to Goa and raving too much, apparently. Crazy, especially considering how much Goa caters to Israeli tourists with middleeastern food on every menu and hebrew keyboards.