Goa--again!

Within a week of being back in Bangalore, we realized that being cooped up in our apartment complex again wouldn't work.  We needed to get out and travel, if we could.  So while chatting with the DeHarts we made some travel plans.  The first, of which, was Goa.  The kids had a few days off school so we booked flights and accommodations for a trip exactly one year since we went before.  (Coincidentally, it was our last trip we took before covid, and our first since returning from our covid evacuation.)  We also invited along another family that had just moved into the complex, the Malwitzes.

This trip was completely different than our first time coming to Goa.  Our initial flight was cancelled and combined with a later flight, so we lost a half day waiting for our flight out.  We knew of the cancellation beforehand--thank goodness!--but our new flight was also an hour late.  So we had some tired and hungry kids by the time we landed in Goa.

Also, our first trip to Goa was an hour north of the airport in Candolim, and we were close enough to the Old Town that we could see the old churches, etc. while we were there.  This time we were two hours south of the airport at Agonda Beach, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  There was nothing to do but play at the beach and eat at the various restaurants.  Definitely a more relaxed vibe.

We used a friend's recommendation of where to stay and booked it without really realizing just how far it was from the airport and, well, everything.  In fact, the car service we had booked to take us to the hotel also didn't realize how far we had to go.  Even though Brandon had clearly stated that we were going to Agonda, they assumed he meant Aguada.  Nope.  It took a few calls to their boss and an agreed upon new price (3500 INR, about $50 and double what we had expected), but by that time it was late and we were just happy to get to our hotel.

However, calling it a hotel isn't quite accurate.  We stayed at the Agonda Cottages, which were just that--little one room cottages off the beach.  The kids had their own cottage next to ours, and the DeHarts were next to theirs.  (The Malwitzes couldn't get a booking, so they were in a hotel nearby.)  I will say, these were not the nicest accommodations we've ever had; it was akin to glamping, which is fine, but not necessarily what we were going for.

Our first night there, we put the mosquito net down over our bed and then went into the bathroom to get ready.  Brandon went back into the bedroom before me and noticed something on the bedspread.  He thought I was playing a joke on him.  I wasn't.

It took more than one hit with a shoe to kill this guy.  We saw other spiders during our stay, but none so big as this first one.  It was definitely memorable!

The rest of the trip was spent playing at the beach, or watching the kids play, deciding where to eat (this place was my favorite if only for the gluten free chocolate cake!), and relaxing by the ocean.  The waves could get pretty intense, but the kids were mostly up for the challenge.  Everyone had a wonderful time!

All the girls got matching sun hats

The crew!

I walked E (and her friend E) down the beach to a cove where there were less people and the waves were calmer.  I was able to swim out to some large rocks in the ocean, watching the crabs scatter as I got close.  It was my favorite part of the trip, but we went without a camera so all I have are the lovely memories.  

See the fishing boats?

Even with its hiccups, it was a great trip and only made us want to go back to Goa again soon.

Back in India

In my last post, I talked about how we weren't sure what the state of our apartment would be in once we got back.  They said everything was fine, but you never know.  We were pleased to see that, at first glance, things seemed to be ok.  The rugs definitely needed to be cleaned, but otherwise everything seemed ok.  However, within twelve hours, my allergies kicked into high gear.  The allergy medicine I brought from the US seemed to have no affect whatsoever.  I started taking both kinds of allergy pills plus the pseudo-medicine that I had bought in desperation, and it was barely keeping it at bay.  After several days of my sneezing waking me up in the night, Brandon and I walked down the street to a nearby pharmacy and asked for whatever allergy medicine they had, and I bought some nasal spray from the US on Amazon.

At the same time, we got our living room and bedroom rugs cleaned, bought an air purifier for the bedroom, and started to go through all the things we had left behind.  And, folks--we had mold.  We first found mold when we were putting away our suitcases.  The car seat, booster seat, and some duffle bags all had mold growing on them.  Soon Brandon found mold growing on some of his leather belts and shoes that had been left in our closet.  Eventually we went through every. single. thing. we had left behind.  Skirts, hats, bras, pants, shirts, shoes and even a couple of bowls that must have been put away without being fully dry all had mold growing on them.  Some things were too gross to keep, others just needed a good wash.  But even two couple weeks after being home, we opened a cupboard that we had neglected to check and found mold growing inside its walls.  We asked around to other evacuees that had returned and although some people had found mold, we definitely had the worse of it. Clearly the flood had done a number on our apartment.  

Oh, yeah.  And there was water damage on the walls of the guest room, which still has not been fixed.  

Thankfully, after getting things cleaned or thrown out, my allergies got back under control and instead of taking two different allergy pills and a nasal spray everyday, I was able to go back to my normal one pill a day.

Of course, there were other things in our apartment that also needed attention: Our stove wouldn't turn on (they fiddled with the gas and got it to work again), the touchpad of the microwave didn't work (to be fair, this was on the fritz before we left), the AC in our bedroom wasn't working (this was a two-second fix; the repair guy just fiddled with the remote settings), the dishwasher wouldn't turn on (this took a few tries because the repair person would come and mess with it and it would start and then die again after one use.  They finally figured out that they needed to install a new stabilizer), our bedroom and the hall bathroom--the one that flooded--doors wouldn't shut all the way because the wood had warped (they came in and shaved the doors down until they could close again), the vacuum wouldn't start (this was also on the fritz before we left, but the guy came and did some wire welding and it works like a charm--although now the handle is broken), and the breaker--the one that has been the bane of our existence since we moved here despite a stabilizer being installed during lockdown--kept shutting off for no reason.  

Oh yeah.  The wet rugs may have ruined the floor.

We wrote a strongly-worded email to all involved as to ask why they couldn't fix just this one breaker!  The landlord chimed in that if we knew the exact breaker, then WM should have no problem figuring out what the issue was--and to get on it asap.  So the repair people came and within minutes they figured out that there was an outside light that had a short.  They dug up the wires, disconnected it, placed the light upright again, and--voila!  No more breaker problems!  (If only they had listened to us a year ago!)

Beyond all of that, it was just so good to be back in our own space again.

The kids started school (we travelled back at the end of their winter break) and I can not emphasize this enough: remote school is so much better when you are in the same time zone as the school.  What's more, we picked up a kit the school had put together for E and were overwhelmed with all the school supplies they provided.  White board, crayons, poster board, paint--everything we didn't have for the first half of the year and more.  She gets new supplies every month, and CJ's teacher (who lives in our complex) brings her a kit of worksheets and art supplies for CJ every two weeks.  It's awesome!

Our complex had a flag ceremony for India's Independence Day that we made sure to attend.  It was short and socially distanced with a complimentary slice of barfi afterwards.

We also celebrated our two-year anniversary of moving to India (!) by dressing up and ordering our favorite biryani.

We had our first real snake sighting on one of our Sunday afternoon walks, and saw lots of other fun critters around our complex...

The lake next our complex was nearly drained while we were gone to make space for a road (at least we think they're building a road) along its perimeter.  The lake seems cleaner, there is a much wider shoreline, and we are getting so many more birds!  (This is covid, remember, bird watching is a big deal.)  Pelicans, herons, and purple swamhens similar to the ones we saw in the Everglades are all new sightings since we came back.  Did our lake get that much cleaner while we were gone that it's attracting new fowls?  Or did another lake get more polluted or destroyed and these birds needed a new place to go?  We may never know the reason, but we'll enjoy it while we can and hope that it lasts!

And even with all it's inconveniences and frustrations, we are so glad to be back.  We don't regret our time caravanning across the US, but it's nice to have some stability in our lives again.  

And good biryani.