Goan holiday

They all made it - finally; despite the snow storms and flight delays. They arrived in Goa as planned and that was a relief. "They" are Monsoon' cousins; Juri, Atanu, Baakhor and Latu, their spouses, kids and her Aunt (Pehi) & Uncle (Peha), from the UK - quite a bunch as you can see in the pic:-). While they stayed at Anjuna at a resort with cosy cottages, we stayed at our regular abode, Santiago, at Calangute - although the signs in russian, splashed all over the place, seemed to get to me. The most stressful, but ultimately hilarious part, was that I had to drive around in an SUV without power-steering! I finally realized that I had to steer using my shoulders instead of wrist and forearm:-)

Our stay had the hallmark of the "Susegaad" goan life: we just ate good food, drank a variety of beverages (till we got a "buzz") and slept till 9:30am. There was enough time "to stand beneath the boughs, and stare as long as sheep and cows". For once, I did could keep office work at bay, an effort that was well-planned and turned out fine for office and me. I loved the late morning beer sessions followed by the afternoon siestas (you must be kidding, right? After waking up at 9:30am!) and then the evening tot (well more like a "one over the eight") of scotch. The Palm Fenny I had at "Infantaria" was disappointing. Shame on goans! They make it seem like an achievement when they got "geographical status" for Fenny (much like "Tequila" is to Mexico) and they cannot provide good-value-for-money fenny in bars and liquor stores. The stuff produced in my village should be valued at 20 Euro, if the "Kirsch" in Germany costs that much. It seems sad that it is priced at only 0.5 Euro in my village - and they make a profit too!

We loved talking and travelling around and laughing and yes, sharing gifts. Afterall it was christmas season. Bryan found sufficient but sometimes worrying (for us) encouragement from Baakhor, who taught him how to ride the Yamaha RX 100. Now I have to brace myself for spending a princely sum on sprucing up my RX 100, that is lying unused and close to decrepit:-) Well, thank God Bryan is only fifteen and I can argue (and buy time and bank interest) that he cannot get a licence till he is eighteen. Bryan was also offered a Bacardi Breezer with the subtle encouragement that the legal age for drinking in the UK is sixteen and that he is "almost" old enough.

Well, the holiday was over for us about two days earlier than the gang and we said frantic goodbyes before zooming off in our "truck":-) The goodbyes were just for a while because we all met up on new year' eve at another cousins place, Ronju, and got thoroughly plastered well beyond midnight. Thereafter, we feasted on a large dinner in the swanky restaurant at the Sheraton in Parel - before they departed for snow bound UK, realizing what a good thing we have going in India - despite the pollution and filth (not in Goa though).