Pearl of the Orient

Goa when it's not monsoon season

Romance, Espanol, Portuguese Indians, great Mexican food, monsoon, swaying palms, motorbikes, cliffs, beaches, Baskin Robbins, shark, and wet everything. Yes this just about sums up my time in Goa - West Coast of India. Alot of these words seem to have nothing in common, more like a discombobulated mixture of everything good and bizarre.

It didn't feel like India. This much was for sure. No women in sarees, the men looked different (more spanish, more exotic), the seafood was superb, there were signs I understood (in Spanish), there were lots of churches, and there was the beachside which reminded one of Hawaii.

So besides the 12 hour bus ride and random hindi movies, our trip there wasn't so bad. We left at night on a sleeper charter bus which allowed us to fall asleep and almost wake up when we arrived. Upon arriving, clouds and rain greeted us, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits like it dampened our clothes.

That first day we actually made it in time for the continental breakfast! Afterwards I did heena on myself and two other girls. We napped and while everyone else decided to bounce and explore, we decided us girls would have our own adventures.

We walked around the little neighborhood area not far from our hotel, the Castle House (amazing, I rate it 5 stars). We stopped at a little cafe and bar called Infantaria. I had amazing prawns (shrimp) and some peach iced tea. We went window shopping along the market trying to see if we could gain bargains for some of the cute sandals and rompers hanging in the doorways. One girl convinced me to buy this corn that they grill and douse in lime and masala. It was hands down the best corn on the cob I have ever tasted. (It stopped raining enough for us to do all this. )

That night, as a group we decided to have dinner on the famous Calagunte Beach at Souza Lobo and hookah aftwerwards in candelit benches in the sand facing the sweet ocean's spray.

It rained a little and then I got on the motorbike with a friend and we had a lovely desert of Baskin Robbins on the quieter mystique Baga Beach. The next day my roomate was sick, yet she still toughened up to go out with us. I had gotten a motorbike for the day with gas (guess what, just about 9 US dollars). I had my first accident in the first two seconds without even getting on the bike. Basically my hand was on the accelerator and I ran the bike into the wall and scraped it along with my arm. No serious injuries, but everyone laughed at my clumsiness. Afterwards we would end up pushing our motorbikes miles upon miles (approx. 300 km) around Goa in torrenting violent rains, which I survived unscathed.

Riding around on motorbikes was definitely a highlight to my weekend, regardless of the rain and wetness everywhere. We explored some of the beaches, temples, and beautiful scenery apparent everywhere in Goa. We went back and got ready in the little remaining dry clothes we had left for dinner at Infantaria and desert at Souza Lobo (consisting of Flan).

At Infantaria, we had the best pasta I have ever tasted. That night I went exploring in the vast Jungles on motorbike to discover an old fort with a lighthouse guarding its trenches. If you went around the backside there was a lovely view of Goa, the city lights, the beaches hugging the oceans slapping waves and rocky sides, and this hillside of moss trees. Everything was serene and romantic. I believe Goa is a place for the honeymooners. We went down to another beach that started with an S near the Villanova Taj, which is apparently the king of all hotels. It extended several acres and looked like a 5 star resort only celebrities would stay in. There was a brick walkway border that had a path extending into the ocean and the private beaches with palm tree walls gave it an added touch.

The next day was our last day so we ate at an awesome Mexican Restaurant where I had tostadas and excellent Chai. We then all split up so some of us could see the lighthouse and others could see the cliffside and Anjuna Beach/Fort. The cliffside was lovely, you could see each green hillside jutting out into the ocean like fingers. We went down and took a few pictures and by the time we climbed back up the hillside it started to rain. There was a little market facing the ocean on that hillside where I purchased elephant tusk necklaces with different animals carved intricately in the material.

We traveled back, fully satisfied, maybe a little sick, and ready for dry weather after an unforgettable amazing 3 days in Goa. I loved it all because I got to explore, get closer to my friends in the summer program, and eat richly delicious food.

Love at first sight

Can you say Love at first sight. This is exactly what I felt staring at these big brown mischevious and charming eyes of our resident director's 3 year old angel.

Being around Americans and living in an international hostel that boasts international students every semester seems like the life, especially when you are 3. This angel certainly thinks so as she runs through hallways and into our rooms and lives like a bright firework. She loves to dance and sing, she will only eat the middle of oreo cookies, and she likes to play "I'm teacher, you are student". This 3 year old holds a special place inside my heart as the little sister I never had. I truly care about this young mischief maker. She is definitely spoiled by all of us Americans' and international students, but we don't mind because she is just too cute to resist.

She is also very intelligent. She knows how to be charming alongside her trilinguality (Hindi, Telegu, and English- all fluently for the most part). Her laugh is like a thousand sun beams licking up the dew after rainfall. She gets her cute laugh and beautiful features from her mother, whom I also cherish.

They have made my future departing that much harder because I know I will miss them the most. When I come back to India, I will definitely repay them a visit. Our resident director is an amazing and strong woman who lets nothing get her down. Her contagious happiness is a silver lining to everyone's cloud and she is willing to do what she can for us (crazy rickshaw rides to the middle of town, staying up late to do heena, and stopping on the side of the road so we can take photos of monkeys). She is also very smart, with knowledge of several languages; her newest goal is to learn Urdu, Arabic and Japanese. Her passion is teaching and children and it is because of her that I am more than willing to volunteer a few hours out of my week to teach the poor migrant workers' children down the road.

I wish them both the best of luck and a happy life because they have both made my stay here that much more enjoyable. <3 <3

Modeling my glasses

Going Bananas!

On our way to a church service in a nearby village town two hours away, we saw a bunch of monkeys monkeying around on the trees, running along the dirt pathways by the road, and of course eating fruits. Although I have seen monkeys in Agra-in the main cities and towns- and in Jaipur when we visited the old king's fort, they never cease to capture my interest. They are little human animals and very intelligent. The monkeys we saw in Agra were sitting on walls or lamp-posts and drinking from bottles which they later smashed against the wall. The monkey in Jaipur was a wild hooligan jumping over and under cars while screetching out in fear. It finally reached the side of the palace, climbed up the side, sat there looking distrustfully at the crowd, and left a lovely gift of excretion on the ground.

I was talking to my German friend the other day about his interaction with these creatures and he told me when he was at the Taj Mahal, he saw a cute smaller monkey and tried to take a picture of it. All of a sudden it started crying out and some of the larger monkeys/apes came over in response to the baby monkey's fear. Needless to say, my german friend gave up his pursuit of photographing a monkey. One of my other friends actually got attacked by a monkey who ran off with her shoe!

Our program director further elaborated on his experiences with monkeys. He said that many of them are conniving and manipulative. Monkeys will steal babies or valuable items and then ask for a bribe to convince them to return the items they stole from you. One must learn to carry a batch of bananas or fruits to lure them away from either your child or your camera. My director also said that one time in his hostel, a monkey came in, found his fruit (hidden very well, mind you) peeled and ate his fruit leaving peels sprinkled all over the room, made a mess of his room, and then left his waste in the middle of the floor.

Although I have heard all these wild stories of monkeys, I don't mind interacting with them, so today on our way home from the church, I was determined to take some good photos of them. I couldn't get any decent shots until we ran into a tribe of monkeys running amok the middle of the road with bananas and jackfruits in their hands. We pulled over to the side of the road and I stuck my camera out to take shots of them. Some of them posed with their babies holding tightly onto their bellies, others showed us their prized possessions of food, and others kept running around in circles. They all put on a great show until several more cars and trucks came and then they had to scatter to various parts of the dense green forest around them.

Monkeys usually don't thrive in very populated city areas and so it is very hard to see them where I am staying now; I did site two galavantly strolling in the park the other day on campus. Because the church we were going to was in the countryside, we were able to see many monkeys and wildlife here.

The church is actually the second tallest and third oldest in India. It was built with the help of a British missionary and has been carrying on since, mainly in the Telegu language for people from all over South India (Church of South India). The paster did notice some of us internationals in the crowd and did his best to throw in three or four sentences in English. It was still a beautiful church service with many telegu worship songs about God and his goodness. They also try to pack in as many people as possible. People come in during all times of the service, even at the end, in order to get blessed from the pastor or hear announcements.

The service mirrors a catholic mass in style and architecture with great stain glassed windows depicting the story of christ. At one point I was almost sitting on top of the lady behind me because they kept moving closer and packing more people. The oldest, largest church stands proudly in Goa, originally a Portuguese colony bringing the catholicism and christianity of the spanish. I will be visiting Goa this upcoming weekend with a group of my fellow friends in this study abroad program. While there, I will have the opportunity to experience the birthplace of Christianity in this country.

Warangal Pilgrimage

A Sacred Journey Paying Omage to the Cow for entrance into the Thousand Pillar Temple

Sharpening my thousand year old knives at Warangal Fort-Ruins Warangal Thousand Pillar Temple (Only 600 pillars stand here)

Practicing Yoga at the Kali Temple, Warangal India

Go several thousand years back in time and these ruins would have boasted of the grand splendor of Hindu Architecture. While the Taj Mahal is persian in design and built by a Muslim King, the temples in Warangwal are selectively only Hindu architecture.
Another Day long excursion started off at 6:30 a.m. when we all got up to hop the train a few hours to this place. When we got there, we were greeted with the smell of the morning and other less desirable smells of pollution and sewage. The smells here were a bit more potent than in the city of Hyderabad, because Warangal is a much smaller city and more rural in many places.
But along with the rural communities, one can uncover the beauty of ages past. First is the thousand pillar temple set in front of a breathtaking landscape of mountains. Next was the Kali (Female God of destruction, war, protection) Temple where one could also see Gods Vishnu, Shiva, and Rama. Upon entering this temple sitting on the edge of a large lotus lake, the guardians Rama and Sati gazed at you with the knowing look of the divine. The story behind Rama and Sati is a very interesting one. I will not go into detail, but basically Rama was the perfect king, man, and husband. His marriage with Sati is the ideal of a loving Hindu marriage and one all Indians aspire to attain. Going a bit further, and you are immediately greeted by the smells of incense and spice being offered around the different altars that are supposed to represent worship places for the different deities.
The location, with the lake and mountains in the background provided such a serene peaceful environment; most likely not coincidental.
My favorite part was the DJ. On the main platform of the temple were shops and a music stand that played Hindi Worship music, but the bass was turned all the way up and it had an epic rhythym to it that made you just want to dance all your worries away.

"Our future is the children whom we teach"

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
We all learned this rhyme as pre-schoolers or even younger, but this bit of English is invaluable to the many poor migrant workers' children whom we taught today. A school has been founded only last semester right down the road from where I study, where these children can go daily to learn.

It gives me great joy to be going twice a week to teach migrant workers' children English, colors, numbers and playing games with them. We have a class size around 25-30 students ranging in age from 18 months - 10 years old. Today they all remembered my name which was precious. They enjoy us coming each time and greet us as teacher. “Hello teacher, teacher look”. They all speak Telegu which is the colloquial language and understand and speak some Hindi, but the English barrier can be tough which is why we are starting off really basic. I go with a group of two or three other study abroad students.

Beneath the surface of their smiling faces, you know they are living in impoverished conditions and many of them suffer from malnutrition or other diseases. The flies are rampantly making homes on the babies’ faces and I constantly shoo them away to no avail. Bhavani and a young man named Evan organized the creation of this school just this year before we came. It was their vision to provide some knowledge to the children of migrant workers so that they can enter into government public schools and continue on with their education. Currently they are in need of a doctor who is willing to volunteer his/her time to giving the children checkups and diagnosing them for illnesses all at little cost so that the school teachers can still be paid and overall, so the school can still function. I have a dream to help out even if it is through reaching out to other health professionals or teachers in the area to do something for the future of these children.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

When I say tattoo, I really mean Heena or Mehndi. India's version of a temporary inking. The dark clay paste feels like a mixture of hot and cold at the same time, while the lady sribbles away elaborate designs all inspired by Indian architecture and textile prints. From flowers, to peacocks to the elaborate tassels elephants wear, anything can be drawn and called a heena. Hands and palms are the most common, while feet and back or arms can also be done. The easiest to do are hands because of their flat surface and ability to absorb moisture. Once the drawing is done, one must let it dry for at least an hour, wetting it every now and then to make sure the color is absorbed into your skin. If done properly, the color should be a dark orange red. These tattoos last about 1-2 weeks. My dad told me a common superstition Indians believe is that the lighter your heena the less attractive your potential husband will be. Of course, the color all depends on the material of the paste you are getting. Some pastes naturally produce lighter colors than others.


Heena are usually reserved for very special occasions such as birthdays and weddings or anniversaries. All the women get heena's done for these occasions on their arms and legs. They each get the most extensive designs possible as if it is a competition to see who can fill their arm up the most with random designs. The men usually do not get heena.I have already gotten heena done twice while here. Once was at the craft village in Jaipur and the second was courtesy of Bhavani, our resident director, who is extremely talented in this art. Mehndi is art; the human body your canvas and this pastel clay your paint.


To learn more about Mehndi and Heena check out the below webpage: http://www/mehndidesigns.in/

Food for Thought

Spicy, Sweet, and everything Good A complete meal! Including the several pieces of mango on the side.

All the variety of food we get on a daily basis at the Tagore International Hostel

Lassi Faluda is a party in your mouth of pistachio ice cream, sugar, bubbles, rose water, vanilla milk, and gummies

Thali at Jaipur Cultural Heritage Village (Thali is like a curry buffet)

TEA Time! Chai or Masala Tea is a daily must and can be enjoyed at any time.

Chai. It is easily the best mixture of spicy, sweet, and strong tea in a little china cup that never seems to fill you up, even after maybe 3 servings. It is also my newest addiction. I am certain I will have to obtain some and learn how to make it the “masala” way before returning to the states.

But you can’t have tea time without having your main courses first. The food here is one of the richest and most enjoyable things I have come to love about India. Each day there are three servings, unless we go out on an excursion, in which case there are meals at local hip restaurants boasting of the best kababs in the region. Kababs and chicken tikka are some of my favorites, but I have also sampled chicken biryani, cauliflower curry, dahl (yellow lentil curry), mango pickle, spicy salad, naan, roti, rice, yellow rice, and a plethora more dishes. The variety seems endless.

Sweet tooth that I am, the best part is yet to come after the meal. The desert! Sometimes this includes authentic indian deserts such as rasmalai, hulva, or other custard and porridge sweets. Other times it is the softest, light as a cloud, sweetest ice cream I have ever tasted, in the flavors of mango, butterscotch, and vanilla. I could eat butterscotch icecream at all times, anytime. In the mornings, we usually get power shakes to boost our energy which include a mixture of either watermelon or pomegranate and raspberry. My breakfasts are no longer granola bars, they are full fledged meals boasting of toast with jam or butter, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, idleys (sponge cakes), pancakes, omelet, dosa (crispy pancakes), and chai.