Sousegade: Welcome to Goa

Yes, I am truly on vacation. This means I have no computer or cel phone (actually my phone doesn't work here). It took forever to get here, but I've finally arrived. Hopefully I'll get to post a couple of entries, but getting internet access is a little tough in Goa, India. I'm staying at my grandparents' place with my sister and her husband, and it's absolutely amazing -- they have mango trees and coconut trees in their yard. The coconut guy came today with his machete, climbed the trees and cut down some coconuts (these trees must be 6 or 8 storeys tall).

My flight schedule (Toronto time):
Thurs: Fly Detroit to Toronto (3 day layover, including writing my exam, getting car insurance, and seeing a musical). I was too tired to drive, so I flew.
Sun: Fly Toronto to Amsterdam, 7.5 hours (3 hour stopover)
Mon: Fly Amsterdam to Bombay, 7.5 hours (7 hour stopover)
Tues: Fly Bombay to Goa, plus 1 hour taxi ride
Tues: Arrive at my grandparents place!!!Tues: SLEEP

After just one day here, I've also learned a new word, "Sousegade", which roughly translated means "laid back". I actually learned the meaning of this first hand, which is "VERY VERY VERY laid back"...

This morning, after getting up (believe it or not I have no Jet lag), we were awaiting a courier guy delivering a very important package. We needed this package to start our day, so we waited. And waited. Every couple of hours we would call them or they would call us and we'd learn again that he was "about" to arrive. Finally we decided to stop waiting and we sat down for lunch. The moment we started eating, the dog barked, and it was the courier guy with the package, which I signed for.

As we then ate, my sister's lost-luggage people called, and they wanted to deliver the luggage today, so before we could go to town to use the internet, we waited for them. And waited. And waited. Finally we decided to go out. While we were walking, we actually walked right past the Jet Airways van, and the driver was phoning someone to get better directions (guess who they were trying to phone), so we stopped him and he drove us back to the house to get the luggage sorted out. Finally we left to get our email.

When we arrive, the internet place has one room with three computers, all of which are in use, of course. The guy says there's about 30 minutes waiting time, so we wait. And wait. After 20 minutes, we ask him again, and he says we should come back tomorrow because the power is out. We are a little confused because people are still typing on the computers, and he explains they have a UPS with only 10 minutes left. So we decide to leave. Once we get about 30 metres away, I happen to look over my shoulder and he's waving us back because the power came back on. We come back, and wait another good 40 minutes, at which point we finally get on the internet and I have the chance to write you this story.

So at this rate, when I tell you I'll write another blog entry tomorrow, it'll probably be about 3 days... Happy Sousegade!

Daniel