This is one of my favorite things in all of India, this sign. It always make me laugh. Especially the part about not abusing children and your loved ones are waiting for you at home. This is in the town of Calangute, which has a big bus depot with buses arriving from various parts of India. Many Indians have never seen the sea, so that is often the purpose of the trip. The buses stop on the main road, which ends a bit further at the top of a large concrete municipal stairway leading down to the beach. So people regularly get drunk on the bus, get off and walk down the stairs and across the sand into the ocean and drown. Also, however, these steps are apparently notorious for being the place where married men go to meet boys to have sex with. Hence the reminder that your wife and children are waiting for you. It never fails to make me smile.
I've been here most of a week by now and still do not have a working phone or Internet capability. I cannot seem to get myself worked up enough about it to care too much, though. I'm have too good of a time. My days are very hectic, what with running along the beach at sunrise, then back for a nice breakfast on the veranda of my glamorous abode. Actually the veranda is quite lovely, probably the least filthy part of the place. Then I write out there or take a local excursion. Yesterday I went to the weekly market in Anjuna, about a 30 minute drive north along the beach, to see lots of mirrored bedspreads. Tomorrow I'll go to Mapusa for the second time, it's a town inland about 45 minutes by crowded local bus. Somehow that makes it sound way more glamorous than it really is. Many of the passengers seem to ignore the "No Spitting" sign. I do love the bus, though. The buses are owned by the drivers and each is decorated in the owner's own style; often with various religious pleas. Hindu, Christian, Muslim, doesn't matter. Bless this bus.
Then, if course the belly of the day is spent on the beach right behind my house. I go for a mile swim, then dry off in the sun before discussing the days fresh fish options with the shack owner. I'll have grilled fish and vegetables or, my favorite, fish-curry-rice. Then a walk along the beach to digest lunch and a bit of reading before the next mile swim. Hard work, but somebody's got to do it.
Then onto my main destination, the Punjabi Dhabba. This is a grubby little place, often packed with the Indian bus drivers, searching out some true Indian food, much like I was. I ordered enough food for four people and proceeded to stuff myself. It is such good food and most of the entrees are less than a dollar. You can tell it is a true Indian restaurant when a couple of the waiters just stand there and stare at me as I eat. They were cute, so I didn't mind. I would look up and smile and they would smile back. Sweet, really. After that, the moonlight walk back was very much appreciated to work off a couple of those entrees.
Tomorrow when I'm in Mapusa, I'll go back to the Vodaphone store and see if I can't make further progress. I am not extremely hopeful.
Update: I'm on the bus to Mapusa right now and usually it is such a loud roar and clank and grind of the ancient engine that you can't hear anything else. But this bus is like riding in a hybrid, it is so quiet. Now I understand why. I did not understand why the driver did not stop for me, but only slowed a bit so I could run and grab onto the bar of the moving bus. But now I see that the bus engine stalls at every stop, so whenever the bus is not going uphill, the engine cuts out and we coast. Such blissful silence. At one stop, the fare collecting boy took money then climbed into the drivers seat and drove off. I guess the driver quit. But then at the next stop, the driver climbed back in the window and drove off. I think he was underneath working on the engine while the boy drove!!!???
Yet again there are so many photo ops I miss. Last night in Calangute, in the midst of the crowded street, with thousands I people and motorbikes nearly hitting people left and right, there was a huge black ram walking around, scrounging for food. Now cows, you see every day, but a ram? Black ram, black pavement, black night, I tried to photograph him with no success.
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