Tito's
After dinner I headed back to the hotel where I met a girl named Pinka, a Pakistani girl from Denmark who had been in Pakistan with her mom and came here for vacation with her friend, a guy who's name I was told repeatedly and still cannot remember who is also Pakistani and living in Denmark. Pinka is very friendly and kind of crazy. She insisted I go out with them so I did despite my long day and a late start on the night's shenanigans. Anyways, we went to a club called Mambo's and I'm very happy I went out, I had a great time. My Pakistani friends bought me a tequila shot (sorry Prasad) we danced all night, I danced with a British girl named Kate who bit my finger and met some Nigerian guys who loved me, especially after I told them I'm Obama's neighbor (just a slight exaggeration) and that I was so happy to see Black people because Bombay has none and I love them.
Today I slept in as much as I could though the hotel staff woke me early to give me a ticket for my free breakfast which I accepted and went back to sleep. Before I made it up to pick my own breakfast out I bumped into Pinkah who had made up a tray of food for me and was bringing it to me. I ate with her then went back to bed for a little. When I woke, finally somewhat refreshed I went to the beach where I took some pictures. Some rain came in so I took shelter in a very nearby bar on the beach. I befriended a worker their named Nike (no long e sound) who got me a beer and informed me that he was a masseuse and would give me a massage for a good price. As I drank my beer three Indian women came up and started showing me some Goan jewelry. I bought quite a few as gifts (get excited ladies) and did my best to haggle them down (though I think I still got a little ripped off). I took a quick cab ride to exchange some travelers checks to pay them and met Boxer, my cab driver. He and I worked out a deal and he's going to take me to Old Goa tomorrow. Anyways I paid the women who, like all Indian hawkers, where very persistent and attempted to sell me even more jewelry as I was paying them. Then Nike gave me an Ayurvedic massage which was fantastic, especially when he cracked my back. As he gave me the massage and later when I went down to the beach to try to peacefully read on the sand and watch the waves I was constantly harassed by other hawkers just like the women who I had bought from. One girl especially would absolutely not leave me alone. She kept telling me that I was her best friend, that if I would just buy one piece of jewelry for 100 rupees she'd leave me alone, that I was breaking her heart, that her auntie will shout at her if she doesn't sell enough. The girl just would not take no for an answer. At one point I told them that if I buy from them I would have no money left and I would have to be a beggar in Goa forever and I started begging, holding out my hands and bringing my hands to my mouth like the beggars do here (they thought this was funny). At another point I started selling my shirt and sandals and anything I could to the girl saying "please, my friend, buy these sandals, 200 rupees. I give you good price. Please just buy one sandal and I will leave you alone I promise. Come on you are breaking my American heart, you make me so sad." It's really been the most disappointing part of the trip so far, not being able to get two seconds of peace on the beach without a hawker trying to sell to me. Literally their tactic is to harass you until you basically pay them to leave, which I haven't done yet because I don't trust that they will. I suppose it's worse now because it's monsoon and fewer people are here, but still. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow when it's not the weekend.
The Beach Was Still Beautiful
The other thing I got to do today was something I've been dying to do since I got here. Play cricket! Right next to my room basically their is an open space that a bunch of kids from the nearby village use to play cricket on. They play with one beaten up old bat, another smaller, equally second-hand, kid's sized bat, and a piece of wood from a fence or something, as well as old tennis balls and sticks as wickets. Anyways it was very fun to play with them. We played for a while, then went to have lunch then played more after lunch. All of them where very helpful teaching me the game and had good English. One of them, Ganesh, was especially helpful (in his way) overloading me with instruction after each pitch whether I was fielding or batting or bowling (pitching). Eventually I started calling him coach and bowing to him calling him my cricket guru. Another boy had a nasty looking open wound on his foot so I cleaned it for him and gave him a bandage. Throughout the many games we played my name basically became "hello" because that's what they always said to get my attention. Regardless Cricket is easily now my favorite international sport. It's interesting, it's different, and it's got all the passion and intensity of Soccer without any of the flopping and whining.
The Kids Playing Cricket
Eventually they wanted to play a game for money, they said each of them was giving in 10 rupees and I had to give in 20. My team bowled first and went down 45-0. We were on the way to winning a boy named Jesh and I scored about 34 runs together. Then a boy caught a line drive I hit and I was out. We were still on our way to winning when another boy asked to bat and got out which I guess ended the game. I can't be certain that they weren't more or less scamming me, but I asked for a double-or-nothing rematch in which I earned no runs and we lost again. Anyways, I can't complain seeing as how 40 rupees is less than a dollar.
Some Other Children and the Banya Tree
As I was filming them playing cricket Jesh insisted I come to take pictures of his chickens (though he asked by saying, no joke, "would you like to take a picture of my cock?") and white pigeons so they took me into their village, which is right next to the hotel. The trip to see the birds turned into a full blown tour. Each boy wanted to show me his house and everyone smiled at me as I walked around. It was very surreal and surprisingly not every house was a tiny shack (though most were), some where actual legit buildings, many, shacks and buildings alike, had satellites and TVs and dvd players. One boy brought me in his house, sat me in a chair and tried to get me to watch TV with them for five minutes but their cable was out as well. The village also had a pretty decently sized Hanuman temple which they showed me but I did not go into.
Jesh's Birds
Obviously it was slightly depressing to see their very poor living conditions but on the other hand it isn't as bad as the slums I saw in Bombay and they live right on the beach in Goa. They may not have lots of money or nice homes but they are very happy. I mean who wouldn't be living in such a beautiful place and playing cricket every day.
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