Goa, Aranbol, December 4, 2008

So today I started my day with the normal 8 km walk in the beach.
Then I rented a scooter and drove down to Vagator. Yesterday I had
set with Ela that I would visit her while over there.
Vagator is a bit north of Anjuna. I visited a place called Little Vagator.
This is a terrific beach. Enclosed in two small bays, the place is like paradise.
White sand, enclosed beach. Full of chairs and beach shacks where you sit and eat or
drink tropical juice fruits. I'm profiting to drink as much as I can pineapple and papaya juices.
I called Ela and we set to met on the area of the Saturday Night Market, which is close to her house and where she needed to make some business. Ela already has a booth on the market and is trying to sell her stuff. So we met there. Last time we talked, I mentioned to Ela that a scooter would be good to her, and today she was already on one. We took sugar-cane juice on the way and went to her house.
Her house is amazing, an old Portuguese house with very high tiled roof. Very big, with many rooms sitting in a very large garden full with palm trees. The floors are cold, something like colored concrete. Really a lovely place. Also very central as Arpora is central to many of the beaches in the Area. Ela has made a flier and wants to start teaching yoga at home, as she has plenty of space. She is also selling on the Saturday night market, which attracts thousands of visitors. But she is not happy with the position of her booth which is not central.
In general she was telling of the difficulties in starting a new business in Goa, also about the incredible bureaucracy that Rishal is having in dealing with Real estate.

Today is Thursday and there is music on the Loeki. Yesterday there was some music in another place, but was not very exciting. I'm starting to know the different musicians which play daily in different places. The guy from my guest house told me that his rooms are all rented. But it feels that Aranbol is not too crowded. I maybe that the financial situation in the world and the terrorism attacks have made an impact.

Goa: Arambol, December 3rd, 2009

So I have decided to do the Yoga continuation class which starts next Friday. This class is in the morning at 7:00 AM for about 3 hours. The teacher Sharrat is the senior teacher in the Himalaya Center here www.hiyogacentre.com. The kind of yoga they teach in the Himalaya center uses plenty of helping props and really gets you to much stronger stretches. I feel that I'm making significant improvement and that my body is more erect. I feel that when I do my morning walks.

Yesterday night I met my Brazilian friend Patricia (which is leaving today) and together with her friends we went to a place which required about 30 minutes walk on the beach to a nearby beach. The place is called Surf-Club. The best decorated I've seen around. Very nice. We had in the group 3 English men, one Irish Woman, one English woman, Myself and Patricia. The English are kind of interesting guys. All traveling for months or years, full of Tattoos and the English girl had plenty of piercing. An interesting group. In the club, which has mostly English people, you drink beers and there is good music. All this group is staying in the same guest house (except me) and after we came back (mostly everybody was a little drunk), they invited me to their rooftop where they continue smoking good stuff and talking. As I don't smoke, even cigarettes I feel a bit out of place in those groups. But I'm getting to know a different kind of crowd. Most work in temporary jobs, make some money and go travel. One of the guys have been traveling for 10 years and have been everywhere.

During my morning walk today I changed my mind about the India dogs. I mentioned before that they are very friendly. Today it was weird. I saw dogs in gangs and barking a lot. Not very friendly. There was an old woman walking with 6-7 dogs. It seems she takes care of them. And they attacked me. She said they wanted to play. But I did not feel very playful at all.
When walking in the beach, I see in the morning more aged people. Not as in the Haifa beach where the average is 60+, but a few guys in their 50s. The interesting thing is that many wear a tanga. It coves only the front and they buttocks are all exposed. My swimwear seems quite outdated (or theirs). Also you find people walking with some weight in their head, which forces right posture while walking.
At about 8:00 AM is when the fisherman come back with their catch, which is nice to watch.

Without the Yoga class I miss something in my routine. But Friday it will restart. I'll go to Hampi probably Wednesday next week.

Goa: Aranbol, December 2, 2008

I finished my Yoga today and I was quite happy. It put some structure in
my days and I enjoyed the precision of the poses.
As the class was at 14:00, my routine changed.
I wake up at around 7:30, go for a long walk in the beach (about 1:15 hours), then came back to my room. Shower and then go around 9:30-10:00 to my brunch. This meal needs to hold me till 6:30/7:00 in the evening for dinner after the Yoga. Dinner is a big event, the best meal of the day and I'm trying all kinds of different stuff. Mostly not Indian, have been eating fish for a few days. It is pretty good.
After Dinner typically I spend an hour on the internet. Then I go looking for a place with live music. Feels like the season is warming a bit. Yesterday there were two different places with live shows. One in a restaurant in the beach, had Indian Classical music. Another place had a Circus (basically one men doing Circus stuff) and a guitar player.
It is really very nice. I'm typically finishing my days at around 11:30.
I have new neighbors on the guest hour, Ram and Anat, they are recently married and very nice.
He is a Internal Designer, and she does Clothes and has recently learned to be a Conditory.
They decided to quit everything and come to India for 6 months.
Ram (he is about 28) decided to join me in the morning walk. Very nice guy.
We walked 8 kilometers, me on a slower than my typical pace. He had his muscles hurting after that. I did not feel anything. So physically I'm feeling very well. The walks, the Yoga, eating more balanced is making me good. And probably the lack of stress.
So now the big decision. I want to go to Hampi as the next destination, but I'm enjoying so much the Aranbol routine. Therefore I'm seriously thinking in taking another Yoga class in the same place. It is a more intensive one. It starts at 6:30 AM and goes till about 10:00. I talked to the teacher and he said I'd be fine. If I take the class this will hold me in Aranbol for another week or so. Then I'd go to Hampi.
I'd really like to be in Christmas time in this area, everybody says this is the place to be during the year-end holidays.
If not in Aranbol, then in Palolim the most southern beach.
Yesterday there was an amazing sky, and I know the same was seen in Israel. Here we say two very bright stars (maybe planets) with the moon in between. All together and with some cloudiness one could see a grinning face of an old man in the sky. Beautiful. It was so notable that everybody was trying to take pictures of it.
In my yoga class I met a German friend and it was nice as I had someone to talk and eat dinner with. She left yesterday night. She was quite upset to go back to the frozen Munich. My other friend the Brazilian Patricia is also leaving tomorrow. Going back to Brazil. Patricia was really a personality, reminding me of my mom. She talks to everybody and makes friends so easily. It was nice as I met some interesting people through her. Anyway, people are always coming and going and everyday is a new day.

Curious and Humorist Corner: I've been observing the Indian dogs and cats. The dogs which are mostly street dogs are typically well fed but quite ugly. By the other hand they are not aggressive at all. Not to people and not between themselves. They are walking, laying everywhere in the streets, in the restaurants, etc. Part of the landscape. The cats are much fewer, but you still see them. Yesterday we were eating dinner on a beach restaurant and a cat come. I'm never seen this cat behavior (India style). The cat started mowing (don't know if this the right word) for about 15 minutes. Activelly asking loudly for food !!!!!!!!

Goa-Aranbol, November 30, 2008

Yesterday and today have been busy days. On the positive sense.
Yesteday after my Yoga class, one of the participants which I had become friends talked about the saturday night market in Arpora. Arpora is where Ela is living and about 45 minutes from here. I had also heard about this place. So I phoned Ela and she told me that it is a great market, and that she was actually there (it was around 6:00 PM). So me an my german friend decided to go. I rented a scooter and we drove over there. It was my 1st night drive in the scooter, and specially carrying a passenger. It was amazing. This is quite a different market. The sellers are mostly foreigners which decided to do their work in Goa and sell in this market. It is huge, full of food places. The food is international from everywhere. There is a state with music playing continuously. Bands from all over Goa come over. Mostly foreigners but also some Indians with Rajistani Music. So we stayed there till about 11:00 PM and head back. I drank a beer, but did not impact my driving. Driving in the evening is a bit more difficult, specially because of the high-lights of other cars and pedestrians on the side of the road that you almost don't see.
Today I woke up at around 8:00 AM and went for a long walk on the beach. I walked about 8 kms. It was very nice. Until about 9:30 is not too hot. Later is not as pleasant.
Because of the Yoga my routine is walk in the beach on the morning. Around 10:00 Brunch (as I cannot eat until after the Yoga), then shower, internet, dinner and music whereever it happens.
Today during breakfast I met my old Mexican friend. She was very friendly. She told that she finished her silence period. She told me that she does this many times in special while on the menstruation period. Thinking about it, this is a great idea. Her husband is probably a happy man. not having to deal with woman's changing of mood, and this may avoid unnecessary fights.
She seemed very happy and back on track.
The Yoga has been very good. Quite different from the one I did in Israel. It is with all kinds of supporting stuff like cushions, cubes, matresses, belts. The point and focus is on the preciseness of the postures. It is quite slow, but I like it. It is quite difficult for me sometimes. But the teacher is very nice Laila (From Germany) and helpful, so I feel I'm making progress. I have two more days to go. Issue is that to repeat the practice at home as more complicated as you
need all these artifacts for support. Still Tzvia's classes where nicer :-)
In the evening I met my German friend from the Yoga and we had dinner together (nice fish) and went to Lokie. This is a great place which has live music twice a week. People from all kinds come on stage and sing, play, say a poem, etc. The amount of talented people is just amazing. It goes for about 3 hours till 10:00 PM. More and more I feel like in a 70s hippie village. Lots of interesting people, colorful, motorcycles, oldies music, the beach. What one can ask better.
I have plenty of free time, which I'm using to read some Osho books. There is a good bookstore here where you can get very cheap book.
I'm not planning my next step yet. Letting things flow. At some point I'll move to Hampi.
Today I met the 1st and only Brazilian which is around in Aranbol. Very interesting woman in her 40s. She is from Sao Paulo and has been travelling the world for 10 years. She works a bit and travels a bit. She has a German passport and a Brazilian one too. She is so joyful, talking to everybody in the cafes