paces and places

this part of goa is tourism gone wild. there are some parts of the beach that are SO crowded it is unbelievable. in fact, last night, i took the beach route to town to do my fruit and veg shopping (rather than along the main road! what a discovery!). there was such a mass of people at one point that i thought there must be a concert or protest ahead. but no, it was the main opening to the calangute beach. it was predominantly indian families and boys standing around, or swimming en famille fully clothed in their salwar kameezes, while the foreigners line the beach on "sunbaths", long-chairs squeezed side by side ~ with rather large and pink people on them.

there was one group of teenagers with a frisbee, and i thought "o my god they are playing ultimate frisbee!" well, not exactly. it was more like ultimate rugby; the frisbee never took flight, only the guy holding it did. his friends made a human wall, and with a gleeful yelp he ran around the side of them all the way down to some imaginary but agreed upon line, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM went zooming after him in a hailstorm of sand. this is not how we use frisbees back home. i couldn't help but laugh because they were have a ridiculous amount of fun making up a game.

a new chapter begins on monday, as i leave for bangalore and stay at the art of living ashram for two weeks. first nasik staying with nitin and anita and sakhi in their home, then mumbai staying at a five star hotel and then on my own for the first time since arriving at a guest house, then goa in an apartment generously lent to me by a friend's family, then bangalore at an ashram~

the places and paces have all been so different.
and each one seems to be the right thing at the right time.