Adventures in Goa-land

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Community Healthcare
WRITTEN BY: Paige Hetherington

(Forgive the title, it reminds me of home it’s what I’ve been calling this blog in my head. If you need me to explain the title, Australia, a long, long, long time ago before the continents broke apart and shifted was called Gondwanaland. Then it was called Gondwana, which according to Wiki is also a region of India, so I’m saying it works.)

Namaste. This blog is a record of the adventures by the November Antipodeans group in Goa, India. Your blog writer is currently feasting on vanilla ice cream between sentences, so you can guess how well the transition is going (although, it did sadly start to melt a few paragraphs in).

Firstly, let’s give Goa a context. Goa is the 25th state of India and it is the smallest with a pretty unique history. While most of India was under British rule, Goa was controlled by the Portuguese and so has developed a completely different culture (maintaining things such as siestas, which we remembered after walking halfway to the supermarket and was told by a local). So you can imagine my disappointment to discover that I can’t really say that I’ve been to India since my exploration will stick to Goa, but I must say, I love it so far. The mixture of cultures is fascinating and in our orientation we were told that people have their Hindu festivals then go and celebrate Christmas. I happen to think that’s wonderful. We are located in a village called Majorda, near a city (I think that’s the correct term) called Margoa, in the south of Goa (which is the west of India – confused yet?).

Anyway, enough with that history lesson. There are some things I want to touch over before I get to the boring details of what we’ve been doing.


Accommodation
The camp is lovely and the staff are all great. Nothing settles a person more (or maybe it’s just me) like a good meal. If I had to complain about one thing, it would be the location. After over a day of flying, a person just wants to sleep, which is difficult when you are located next to train tracks (with loud, constantly tooting trains) and a wedding venue that has loud music and random fireworks that terrify you into an alert state and make you wonder what the emergency number is in this country. But can we get three cheers for Western style toilets and showers (although, if I recall correctly, I already did that). And we all seem to enjoy hiding in our “fortresses” as Jen has dubbed them (which is basically our mosquito net tucked under our mattresses, at which point we refuse to exit the bed). As much as I love a hot shower, cold ones certainly wake you up in the morning (but I doubt I will be continuing the tradition back in Australia). Although, I wouldn’t mind less guests in the form of geckos and mozzies and several volunteers have accidentally peed on frogs that were hiding in their toilets. So everyone has some adjustments to make.

Getting around Goa
To describe driving in India with one word, I would use: noisy. Everyone seems to honk for many reasons such as a greeting, “please get out of the way”, “I’m coming behind you”, “I’m coming around the corner”, and an attempt to startle animals off the road. It takes some getting used to since my reaction to someone honking at me involves rude hand gestures and cursing. I do want to steal one quote from Jess and just say, “Indian driving is like the definition of YOLO” (Mum, if you’re reading this, I’m perfectly safe, I swear).

Adjusting
Goa is a mass of contradictions and in many ways is opposite to everything I’ve ever known (seriously, mandarins and bananas are green when they’re ready or eat, how confusing is that?). The children respectfully call you “ma’am” but will happily throw an eraser at you in order to grab your attention. The slums of Goa seem to really exemplify these contradictions and I’m glad that over the past week I’ve been able to go back a couple of times so I’ve had time to process it. The hardest thing about the slums for me to understand is that people seem to be there by choice. Apparently Goa has plenty of job opportunities and when people move, they move with their families and eventually communities (slums) are built (but don’t quote me on that, I could be completely wrong). My first impression of the slums was that they were dirty and smelly (to the point of nausea – or I was motion sick from the ride, I’m still not completely sure). But if you look again, it is bright and the people (especially the children) seem happy. The girls and women in the projects we attend are really enthused and bright which seems hard to comprehend in such a dingy environment. I suppose it’s good to make me question my own beliefs and prejudices, why do people have to be in a clean environment to be happy? They get their happiness from being with each other, and that is really wonderful. Other contradictions for me include women in elegant saris who cruise along on scooters (although I do think it’s totally awesome) and emaciated cows (although, I should probably end my poetic metaphors with that since I’m not really sure what greenery cows can eat).

Adjusting here is a process that for me took many days and couldn’t have been done without the people I’m with (and probably the food). Now that I’ve seen the projects and figured out what I want to try and do, I feel more relaxed and confident and ready to just begin.

Summary: Your blogger questions her life decisions and is betrayed by a dear friend by the name of chocolate.

Day 0 (which really should be Days 0) – Saturday and Sunday
My journey began in the little International departure section of the Adelaide airport on Saturday (the 23rd). Truth be told, leaving the country for the first time terrified me and I was plagued with doubts about the wisdom of my decisions for a couple of days (even after landing). The flight from Adelaide to Singapore was quite good (I probably should learn to stop crying at children’s movies) however, I did not expect the food to upset me already (I thought I should actually arrive in Delhi before getting ‘Delhi belly’). I also learnt a lesson that would be reinforced for the next 18 or so hours: I do not have the ability to sleep on planes. So, I arrived sleep deprived in Singapore, questioning my life decisions only to be quickly jolted awake (just as a side note, I may be in love with Singapore airport so my opinion is probably biased). Singapore airport is awesome. There is no eloquent way to put it. It’s filled with gardens and ponds and butterflies and has a Sky Train! I realize that it’s just a train that goes a couple of hundred feet of the ground, but it was still totally awesome. I spent most of the flight to Mumbai trying to sleep (a wasted effort) and so my first thoughts of Mumbai were: “This city is huge. Seriously huge” (the good thing about not sleeping is that you can blame it for your lack of eloquence). I am probably still terrified of this airport with its constant security checks and questionable bus rides. It probably didn’t help that my Travel Money Card and MasterCard were both declined when I tried to pay for my extra luggage so I kind of associate this airport with a sense of mass panic (please, don’t ever make me go back there). Then we finally arrived in Goa, probably around 27 hours later, although it was only 2pm when we arrived (having left around 7pm on the previous Saturday). It was muggy and kind of smelly and I just wanted to sleep, so not the best of first impressions.

Throughout the flights I questioned why I was doing this, I found this place terrifying and I kept wondering why I wasn’t in my own bed fast asleep. But Goa has this surprising beauty, and like in most things, you just have to be open to see it. There is beauty in its excessive plant life (is this what happens when you don’t live in the driest state in the driest country?) and it’s comforting that wherever you go, you can always find a beautiful sunset. By this point, I felt somewhat ready to start my adventure in this strange place.

Day 1 - Monday
Cow count: 7 (yes, I am seriously doing this, it’s so cool just to see cows wandering about everywhere)

Ah, sleep, I had missed you, old friend. On Day 1 of our adventure, I felt much more confident, everyone in the camp and our group seemed lovely and the food was amazing (how can I go back to cooking my own bland meals?). On Day 1 we were orientated to our morning projects and it was so interesting (and probably useless) to compare schools in India and Australia. But the children here have been raised in a different culture and so would most likely require different methods. It makes sense in my head that comparisons are useless, but all the logic in the world doesn’t stop me from making them.

We also watched a Bollywood movie today (titled Gori Tere Pyaar Mein) and from what we understood it seemed quite good, although, possibly overly dramatic at times (I think our storyline was probably better anyway). I think we were all a little stunned when there was an intermission, but to be fair, it is a pretty good idea if you need the toilet but don’t want to miss out on the movie (and it was quite long, they should probably consider it for The Hobbit). On another note, Kareena Kapoor Khan is seriously beautiful.

Day 2 - Tuesday
Cow count: 22 (Old Goa seems to have a lot of cows)

Day 2 began with exploration of Old Goa, by visiting two temples and a church. I believe the first temple was a Shiva temple (ladies, if you want to visit, you have to make sure you’re not on your “menses”). They had a pretty epic chariot that is apparently two centuries old and needs 200 people to pull it. That would be a sight to see. The Burma (possibly Brahma) temple was beautiful and very bright, although we had a bit of a comedic run back to our shoes because the ground became really hot. I don’t know how they do it. Next we visited the Church of St. Francis Xavier (who has his own public holiday next Tuesday). It was very shocking to exit the car and be swamped by people pressing flower garland into your hands and then demanding money. I eventually paid just so I could walk away but I really should have copied Hanna who only had 10 Rupees on her. When she offered this, her garland was snatched away. There are supposed to be around 100,000 people coming next Tuesday for the festival and his body is displayed in the church (minus one hand and two toes).

We also visited our afternoon projects, which as I have mentioned are filled with wonderful girls and women. In the morning I will be working in a Government run Day Care Centre and in the afternoon work with adolescent girls.

Day 3 - Wednesday
Cow count: 32 (thank you to Renee who spotted an additional 18 on her way back from the Cancer Hospital)

By this point I had some reservations about my morning project, mainly because it’s pretty much the polar opposite to Day Care in Australia. Children here are instructed in their numbers and ABCs so they can pass a test to enter school. This contrast brought back all my doubts about why I was here and wondered what good I could actually do with my time here (I’ve given the whole ‘link in a chain’ speech to people, but sometimes it’s hard to believe one link can make much of a difference). My reservations may also be due to the teacher noticing me and turning to a volunteer from another country to say, “Only one?” (My ego wanted to explain my worth but I just decided to reply with my name instead). Most of my first impressions here have been changed so I hope this one does too. It was interesting to then work with adolescent girls in the afternoon, although I don’t think anyone should be allowed to complain about me talking fast again (it makes it so difficult to learn their names). We had the best escort out of the slums today (where the afternoon project is held) as several of the girls led us by hand to our car and we were greeted by children playing in the streets. It was very touching.

The idea of an ‘Observation Day’ was not the same for everyone as several volunteers were thrown right into the deep end of their projects. I feel that we’ll all do better once we actually have time to take a breath.

I also learnt today that I am a terrible haggler (probably due to my lack of poker face and excessive naivety). The evening consisted of shopping in the markets of Colva, but I feel I’ll do better next week since I know that if I don’t like a price, I can probably try again with a similar item at the next stall. I want some more anklets now but I wonder if Indian jewelry has a similar purpose to Australian cork hats (literally hats with corks around them to keep flies away). Do the bangles and anklets help ward mosquitoes (if so, I could use some more right now)?

There was another wedding on Day 3. It’s making me associate weddings with annoyance and a desire to sleep (so there’s not much change of opinion).

Day 4 – Thursday
Cow count: 13 (5 walking in the middle of the road, 1 of which seemed to have stolen a dress)

The report for Day 4 is very dull. The routine of the days is helping me to relax and feel more confident although the chocolate and ice cream I bought may have helped (although, the chocolate was more short-term pleasure, of all the food here to give me an upset stomach, it had to be chocolate – although I’m still probably going to eat the rest, it’s chocolate after all). I probably spent too long swishing my anklet around – it makes me weirdly happy.

Day 5 – Friday
Cow count: 12 (I think most of these counts are wrong, I may or may not forget)

I have never actually seen children fight over who gets to clean up before, it’s usually quite the opposite. That’s one of the things that stands out the most to me is how helpful the children are in tidying up, without being asked. I don’t want Australian children to sound spoilt, but how many three to five year olds help pack up items and put them out without being asked, and want to do it to the point where they fight over the items? After the morning session I created some plans I want to implement which are most likely unfeasible for the short time I am here. I find that I don’t actually mind that, I want to gradually bring my expectations down and it seems to me that it’s better to aim high and fall than to have no goals at all. We shall see.

Overall cow count: 86 (plus Renee’s 18)

Next week on Adventures in Goaland: Our blogger visits a Spice Plantation and rides an elephant, she also continues her task to help a Day Care Centre and an Adolescent Girls group in the small Indian village of Majorda.

Paige Hetherington signing out (and proceeds to flee back to her room to find some mosquito repellent)