Thank You India

I find it fascinating that with all this Oscar buzz about Slumdog, that I am IN India. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you really should.

I am exhausted. I realize that I have just got off my fourth plane this month. And that involves a lot of hours of waiting, lifting luggage, and eating tiny meals with not a lot of leg room and uncomfortable sleeping positions. But anyway, as a warning, this is the all-encompassing India blog.
First of all, it was kind of a fluke that I decided to make a side trip to India, and it worked out, because a lot of my cousins ended up being there at the same time, thus making it a very family oriented adventure. Since most of us in Canada have parents from other countries, you know that going 'back home' if you get the chance to go to where your parents are from, is an amazing opportunity.
On the first night, me and my cousin Diane made the unfortunate decision of taking a cab to the beach clubs and ordering ourselves a bottle of rum and a 2L bottle of coke.
This was what was left by 5am. Yeah the clubs stay open till about 6am, and we were there till the lights came on. And I'll say this, dancing ensued.
Diane decided to get a tattoo while we were in India, it was the last day of her trip, and the first day of mine, and I didn't want to sacrifice being able to go swimming for 10 days...and opted not to get one :(
The next day, I literally puked all day till around dinner time, when I fed myself every kind of anti-throwing up medicine I could find in my suitcase. I don't know if it was the food...or the rum, either way...I've never been that sick before, and I already had a sore throat for a couple days before, so I ended up completely losing my voice down to a whisper.

Above is a pic I took of Diane walking down the street known as Baga Beach Road. It's always jam packed with tourists, and beach huts, restaurants, and little stalls selling all the fun things I bring home for everyone. There's no sidewalks, so stay close to the side unless you wanna get sideswiped by a motorcycle with a family of 5 on it.
Haha so random, all of a sudden its like, BAM! EEL! We went to a beach resort called Montego Bay, and saw this little guy washed up on the shore. We wrapped him in a banana leaf and put him on one of my cousins' beach beds. haha.
Look at the little chompers on this guy!
My cousin's 9 year old son Kieran playing in the sand.
mmmmm
My cousn Danielle writing "DE SOUZA" in the sand
My cousin was writing this in the sand when I said, "Hey! we should totally make the eel the exclamation mark!" bahahha

Just keep swinging
um yeeah...this was probably the best picture...I love my cousins! They are both from England, and we spent the majority of the trip making fun of eachother's accents. They said my english accent was pretty good, but their 'canadian' accents could use some work.
They had shisha in India too! this one was grape flavour. I guess I kind of look like a grape in this picture too...
Not far from where we were staying at my aunt's house, there was this guy on the corner selling Sugar Cane juice. Everytime we drove by my cousins wanted some, till finally my uncle stopped one day. I warned them that it looked pretty damn dirty and never in the past had my parents let me get sugar cane from this guy BUT they did it anyway.
Needless to say, they ended up paying the poor guy double because as soon as they took a sip they regretted it but felt bad for making the guy make the juice!
Palm trees outside the family home
My cousins sitting in the trunk or 'boot' as they called it. Personally, I think, the best seats in the jeep, makes you a little car sick on the crazy Indian roads though.
Check it out! he's got a giant cricket in his mouth!
The reason a lot of my fam was in India was for my dad's cousin's 70th birthday but it turned out to be a really nice party, outdoors, at night, with a live band. I didn't realize my cousins were being so stupid in this picture.
Speaking of being stupid...haha...here's my cousin Danielle posing again with the cows in the farm at my aunt's house. I wasn't aware they were providing the milk in my coffee every morning! mooo
It was hot. So hot. Look at Shenzi the dog! he's so old...I love him...and he flops down and lies on the ground funny....There is no option for looking good in this weather, I think. Hair frizzes...you sweat...I had like 2 showers a day everyday...makeup melts off your face...I felt like i was being suffocated by humidity.
This was the view from my bedroom window...The windo that inspired that painting I did years and years ago for those of you who have seen it hanging up in my house.
This is the view lying down in bed. Now come on, who wouldn't want to wake up to the sun and palm trees and a warm breeze coming from the window...ahhh

Which way to the beach?
If we weren't out in the city markets, or at resort lying by the pool, we were at the beach.
These guys were pretty awesome.
Goa has some of the world's most beautiful beaches.
I caught the sunset just before it dipped into the ocean
The prettiest moth I have ever seen
One day we took a day trip to "Old Goa". Goa is in India, but Portugese settlers came and converted much of the state to Christianity, so you can see the influences in the food, churches etc, but there are still hindu temples and statues here and there. Hence why I have a Portugese last name. eh? eh? This is my cousins on the way to visiting one of those churches.
This church in particular, is home to the tomb of St. Francis Xavier. His body never decomposed...so it was a 'miracle'...and he's like...in there! in that box.
And of course, the food in India. OH the food. I think that I'm used to spicy food but I'm really not. My tolerance for it is weak at best. But in Goa, seafood is king. Here is the lunch special mmm all kinds of curry and a slabby of rice. with Goan beer on the side.
I'm going to miss India. If you think about it, I've seen the richest place in the world (Dubai) and the poorest place in the world...and really, what made this trip to India memorable wasn't being impressed with giant buildings and gold and what have you, but it was spending quality time with family I rarely get to see and laughing at things we have in common.

Aw, that was so cheesy...but travelling on your own really makes you think about these things.

Anyway, I'll be home soon. I'm back in Abu Dhabi. I can't believe almost a month has gone by!