Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a big, traditional Thanksgiving meal. There was turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, a tomato and mozzarella salad, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. While AC's turkey last year was delicious, I have to give this year's spread the edge.

South Goa: Palolem Beach Nights

Nights in Palolem were very quiet. The beach was asleep by around 11:00. As a result, you had to create your own mischief.

Only one bar was open late: Cafe Del Mar. Everyone would drift there after the other restaurants / bars closed. It had two pool tables and a fire pit in front.

For dinner you walk the beach and peer into glowing boxes. Each has a flourescent light, topped with a block of ice, and the catch of the day sitting on top. Gigantic shrimp called tiger prawns and small hammerhead sharks were plentiful. Pick what you want to eat and then it's whisked away to be cooked. Generally it will be made with Goan curry - it's not very spicy, and has a pleasant coconut flavor.

South Goa: Palolem Beach Days

Last weekend I flew to Goa with my friends Christine and Vijay. Goa is a sixty mile long beach, and the opposite ends have extremely different charateristics. The north end is full of clubs and bars; the south end is undeveloped and very laid back. We ended up in Palolem, which is as far south as you can go in Goa. The picture above was the first view I had when I arrived. The faint twilight revealed the most undeveloped beach I've ever seen.

We stayed in beach huts that were thrown together from plywood and blue tarps. They were elevated up on bamboo poles, which provides a physical defense against any potential bugs, and a great view of the beach. While we sat in the lounge chairs, people would occasionally come up and try to sell trinkets. My favorite were the people selling fresh fruit. I had a pineapple chopped up into little bits right in front of me. It was delicious!

The two pictures above were taken just after dawn. There was nobody on the beach except for me and the local fishermen. I caught them folding their nets, and preparing to head out for the day. A portion of every day's catch would end up at the restaurants for dinner that night.


Since it is India, no beach would be complete without dogs and cows. A cow even wandered into an Italian restaurant while we were eating pizza.

Ripped from the headlines 2

This story is from '01, but I like it.

"Monkey man" hysteria has swept the Indian capital following the confirmation that injuries sustained by victims are animal bites. Reports were so prolific that police ran short of vehicles following up complaints. The public's fear of the monkey man is so great that residents of Noida, a New Delhi suburb, caught and beat up a 4-foot-tall wandering Hindu mystic, mistaking him for the simian terror. Residents said the creature was "as small as a cat" and had metallic hands, while a few others claimed it was a monkey who could turn into a cat.

I came across this one as I was looking for a different monkey attack story. This past weekend the Delhi monkeys went crazy again and attacked people.

Ripped from the headlines

P. Selvakumar, left, places a garland on a sari-draped former stray female dog named Selvi , during a marriage ceremony in Manamadurai, 470 kilometers (494 miles) south of Chennai, India, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007. Selvakumar married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony as an attempt to atone for stoning two other dogs to death, an act he believes cursed him. An astrologer had told Selvakumar the wedding was the only way he could be cured.

Also... more bands of roaming monkies.

Happy Diwali! Night 2

The second night of Diwali started at a house party. We didn't stay very long, but they had boxes and boxes of fireworks. I've never seen so many - even on the 4th of July. It's also worth noting that the fireworks in India are super-powered. They come straight out of China and wouldn't pass any US safety tests. When you're a few feet away from one of the tubes that goes off, it's deafening - it's an enormous explosion.

After the house party, we moved on to a mansion party. It's hard to describe. There was a winding driveway with christmas lights strung over it like a spiderweb. The parking lot could easily hold 50 cars. There were bartenders with only super-premium liquor. There was a buffet. There was a pool immediately behind the house, and tables were spread out on both sides. After people ate, card games broke out at $5,000 US per hand. Behind that there was a dancefloor and a DJ. I did my best impression of punjabi / bollywood dancing - it seems to involve a lot of throwing your hands in the air and shrugging your shoulders. I had a great time, and we were out until five in the morning.

Happy Diwali! Night 1

Diwali (pronounced "Divali") is one of the biggest festivals of the year. It runs for three days, starting on Thursday and running through Saturday. It's the festival of lights, but there's also a sense of renewal and the promise of making more money next year. It ends up being a cross between New Year's Eve and the fourth of July.

On Thursday night I met up with a couple friends (and a bunch of new people) at a restaurant called Ebony. It's on the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in Bangalore, and we had seats on the outdoor patio. We had a beautiful panoramic view. We spent the evening drinking beer, eating spicy chicken tikka, and hanging out. In the background there were fireworks constantly exploding over the city - it went on for three hours, and you could always hear the faint pops and crackles of the distant "crackers."

I negotiated an auto!

I just haggled with an auto rickshaw driver (aka "auto," aka "rickshaw," aka "rick"), and that's a landmark moment for me in terms of living in India. Autos are the equivalent of taxis here - three-wheeled over-grown motorcycles, with a back seat and a roof. They're bright yellow, they're everywhere, they have no shocks, they belch diesel exhaust - and I think they're kind of charming. Things that this required on my part:

- A mannerism that showed I knew what I was doing
- A knowledge of where I was starting from, i.e. where I was catching the auto
- The ability to communicate my destination
- A good feel for the fair price of an auto, and what makes a reasonable tip

We settled on $1.53. That's still a little high and I wanted to take him down to $1.27. But I was just elated that I was able to get a ride home, and at a fair price, so I let it slide. I also figured he deserved a little extra because 1) it's a long ride, which hurts his ability to catch the next fare, 2) it's late at night, and he didn't try to charge me double or 1.5x, which can happen, and 3) he instantly knew where I lived. I feel like I'm getting it.

Lots of excitement may be coming up. I might run off to the Maldives next weekend, and then Goa (India) the weekend after that.