oh hey there! happy almost new year! bridget and i are just back from spending another day atrophying on the beach, but this one was not nearly as nice as murari beach in kerala! it reminded us of sihanoukville in cambodia, where ppl are constantly pestering you-- either men trying you convince you to have lunch at their cafe, or women and girls trying to sell things like jewelry or manicure treatments. this beach was supposed to be the quieter one of the north, but it was clearly not, though we knew to expect goa to be busy and more touristy than our amazing time in murari.
yesterday was mainly a travel day-- we arrived at our hotel at 3:30 after flying from Cochin to goa via mumbai. but guess WHAT?! literally bridge and i ran through security to catch our connecting flight to goa and saw our plane queuing. as soon as we step to the end of the line this girl with a coffee from "the coffee bean" (a USA chain) steps into line as well and i say to her, "nice call on that" (since good coffee is not the specialty here, so american cafe sounded like a treat) and turn to bridget and say "you sure you don't want one? we can run back into line?". we don't get one so just keep progressing up to the gate and meanwhile the girl behind me has two other girls then join her in line. right before the attendants are about to take my ticket the girls behind me start saying something about a leather bomber jacket, which piqued my attention b/c i've been craving a beautiful leather jacket recently. and then one says, "sandra got a purple one in turkey", which of course made my ears HUGE b/c i only know one sandra and then TURKEY...??!! getting crazy suspicious, but surely she's not the ONLY sands who travels to turkey... but THEN they say something about "she's in livingstone" and i wheel around and say "sandra butler?!" and the girl says "yes!!?? Are you kristin?" to which i say "yes!!! you're cristin, too?!" and give her a huge hug. it was SO crazy. just so hard to believe that she was LITERALLY right behind me. WHAT A WORLD!! she was the friend of a friend i was trying to rendezvous with (the other is a guy from my ski house who was supposed to be here now, too, ironically, but he wasn't able to get a flight afterall). they're an hour and a half away to the south from our place, so we weren't able to meet up with them as we had hoped, but it's still fun that i met her! so so crazy. "oh the webs we weave", to quote my favorite sandra butler!! as cristin and i were saying, sometimes I think god is just laughing at the things that we find are so shocking. he's probably saying, "yeah, you like that?" or "why are you so surprised?!" haha... amazing. it is a small small world.
anyway, so yes, today was another day of relaxation-- first the houseboat in kerala, then the murari beach, then yesterday at the pool here, and today at another beach! neither of us has ever been so slothful on a vacation-- EVER! but in these last destinations there haven't really been places for us to walk and explore, and we don't want to taxi everywhere. i'm really looking forward to seeing and DOING in Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi, as hectic as i expect them to be.
but with all the lounging it's given us ample time to recount stories and laugh, laugh, laugh. we've had so much fun observing things like the head "bob and weave". we actually have started treating it like a game, "you got one!" or "did you see that one?!" and then today on the beach there were some men who were working the cafe/ beach chair area next to ours and they were dressed in red and white striped shirts, to which bridge says "they look like Waldo" so every few hours one of us would yell, "quick! where's waldo?!" and we'd spot one! haha
and we've made friends with a ton of strangers; in addition to the house boat friends today we had lovely chats with a gay couple from amsterdam lounging in chairs beside us and then this brazilian woman from england on the other side who was telling us all about her job (making people over). apparently bridget should never wear brown (or black) and we should apparently both start getting botox, especially me between my eyebrows...! but she thought we looked btwn 25-27, so we're not doing that bad!! as our taxi driver here said, "looking young. well done."
he wasn't the only taxi driver we've been chatting it up with, not surprisingly... we've asked them questions about marriage and other cultural things and learned, among many other tidbits, that women can't get married until after 18 and men at a minimum of 22! all our resort staff have been really great as well. the owner of Carnoustie resort at murari beach was SO nice (but also way more western) and the staff there literally were RUNNING to meet our every need (like getting us bottles of water). like bridget said, "the difference between a 5 star and a 4 star is that the 4 star touts that they provide complimentary drinks. the 5 star just brings it." we have been less than impressed by our hotel here (despite welcome drinks). they seriously kept us waiting for the shuttle at the beach for 45 minutes this afternoon, so we ended up just taking a taxi home! but we've otherwise been happy with the staff here. they've been falling over themselves, extending several requests for "going to the club" or the "disco". but fortunately bridget and i have both been grandmas this trip and have been exhausted still by 9pm!
so tonight will be a big rally for us... our hotel is having a "mandatory gala" which all guests have to pay for-- $100! another reason we're annoyed with the hotel. this was NOT something we planned. we weren't given a choice! but it will be fun regardless. there is a big buffet, live music, salsa dancing, and fireworks at midnight! woo
happy new years to all of YOU and wishing yall the best 2013! talk in the new year...