Leaving Goa

Sadly tomorrow we are leaving Goa as our visas run out on 26th Feb. We are travelling by train to Cochin (now known as Kochi) in Kerela for 3 nights, where we fly to Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia on 24th. It will be sad to say goodbye to friends and leave our wee house for the last time. The train journey is not as long as the journey was from Dheli to Goa - only 13 hours this time. We get the train at 10pm and arrive in Cochin at 11am so we will probably spend most of the time in our bed sleeping.
We have booked a place to stay in Cochin that looks really nice and gets great reviews on trip adviser. It is in a homestay. This is where you stay with a family in their home. It is very common in Kerrela. Unfortunately, now many homestays are more like a hotel but the one where we are staying is a traditional homestay with only a few rooms in the family's home.
Because of the new Indian visa rule, that once your visa runs out you have to stay out of the country for 2 months before you can apply for another visa, we will need to travel for 2 months. We plan to travel up from Malaysia to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Not really too much of a hardship. Internet access might not be so easy but will still keep the blog going.
One last wee story about Agonda before I go. Colin's favourite restaurant in Agonda is a place called Bandekar as it serves great Goan food and the staff are really friendly. It is mainly locals that use it, very few tourists, and the tourists who do use it tend to be staying here for a long time. The surroundings would certainly look out of place in a posh eaterie! The other week we went in and the young Indian guy who normally serves us had shaved his head with just a little tuft of hair left at the back of his head. I started joking and laughing with him about this. He was just kind of looking at me as Colin was pulling me away, towards a table. When we sat down Colin explained to me that they cut their hair like that when a family member has died. I was mortified.

Photos - Colin's fishing trip

Colin went fishing this morning at 06:30 with Menin. Menin fishes for a living and sells his catch to the beach shacks for the tourists. We have known him for a few years and it was him who helped us find a house to rent. He is a really lovely man. Colin caught a rock and another fishing line. Menin got Colin 2 fish from his friend, another fisherman who was a bit more successful than Colin - a red snapper and a rock fish. He was very pleased with them when he got them home, even though he didn't catch them. He gave the rock fish to Pamela's mother, as she is looking after her house while Pamela is away for a few days. She offered to de-scale gut and clean the red snapper for Colin and of course Colin jumped at her offer. She called me over to get the prepared fish and everything was in the bag - head, cheeks eyes etc. She obviously saw the look on my face and immediately asked me if we didn't eat the head. She was delighted when I said that we didn't and was more than happy to take it from me to cook for herself. She made a Goan fish curry with the rock fish that Colin gaven her and sent us some over - it was delicious. Colin cooked his red snapper for lunch which was also lovely.
The first 2 photos are when Colin first got into the boat and the sun was just rising over Agonda beach. The third photo is the fishermen who gave Coiln the fish - check the balaclava. The last photo shows how small some of the boats are that the fisherman have. Luckily Menin's boat is a bit bigger than that. 

Photo - Building the water tower

This is the building of the water tower. The wooden poles are the scaffolding which move about when they are stood on. The tower is the concrete post in the middle and then they put a flat concrete base on the top where they place the water container. For a few days they pour water over the concrete to strengthen it. As Pamela, James and their workers have gone away for a few days, the neighbours (women) are watering the concrete. It is strange to see women climbing up the rickety scaffolding dressed in elegant saris. Colin was hiding in the house in case they asked for his help. I don't think the 'scaffolding' would support him!

Life in Agonda - water supply

In the UK we turn on the tap, water flows and we think nothing of it. Here in Agonda water is a very important commodity. In the village not all people have running water in their homes, like they have in the shacks on the beach where tourists stay. Some homes have their own well where they lower a bucket to collect water to take into the house. More often their water is suppled from a water truck that drives around the village. Some homes have their water tank set on a concrete tower that is higher than the height of the house. The water truck pumps water up into this and they will have running water for a few days until it runs out. Many other homes have their water tanks on the ground. Once their tank is filled they need to carry the water into their homes by bucket for cooking, bathing, drinking etc (the water for drinking is always boiled first, whereas tourists always but bottled water). We are very fortunate. Our landlord has his own private well and instead of having to get the water by lowering a bucket, the tank is filled by pressing a switch and the electric pump does the rest. Colin fills the tank every few days and the only downside is, he has to connect the pipe for the water to flow. This pipe is at the back of the house. As I said previously, behind the house is forest and there are snakes, lizards, monkeys, leopards, peacocks, wild boar etc. Luckilt he is still in one piece.
Our neighbours have their water tank on the ground and have to carry all their water into the house. With Pamela and James, their 3 children and seven employees that stay on site, this is a lot of water to be carrying. They have just started building a concrete tower higher than the height of the house, so they will have running water. They haven't brought in a company to do it as we would in the UK, but are building it themselves. It is very interesting to watch and will post some photos of the build. Check out the 'scaffolding!' when I get some photos.

Our neighbours baby's Baptism

Last Sunday we were invited Pamela and James's baby's baptism. It was quite different from a Baptism in the UK. The family attended the Chapel early in the morning. At 1 o'clock they let off fireworks at the house to let people know it was time to come to the house to celebrate with them. They had a big tarpaulin set up in the garden with seats around the table where the christening cake was. We were served sandwiches and a soft drink for the women and a beer for the men. I was the only woman who was offered a beer and obviously had to decline. They said prayers and then they had the cutting of the cake and we all sang 'happy christening' to the tune of happy birthday. During the singing, the cherub in the top photo burst open and dislodged lots of glitter and small polystyrene balls. It was really nice. A two course meal, which had been cooked by Pamela and her family in pots half the size of a bathtub, was then served to us on our laps. The food was excellent. 1 hour later, as soon as the food was eaten, people left. Pamela told us that there was a party in the evening with singing and beer but we had already made plans to go to our friend's house (Michael, who is half owner of Tina Beach Resort) who was having a party. That party was certainly a bit more wild. There was Michael and his Polish girlfriend Ega, and English couple, Barry and Sandra, 2 English guys that were in India for 2 weeks, 2 of Michael's friends who had came here for 5 days to bring his dogs out from the UK on the plane and Ragu. Colin and I left fairly early as Michael was blasting out the music at full volume, as per usual, as the neighbours were non too pleased (most locals in the village are in their beds by 10 o'clock). Barry and Sandra are a great couple who were here on holiday and whom we became good friends with. Sandra was a riot and our girlie September weekend crowd would love her. Just as she was finishing a G&T she would say 'I'll have a cigarette to finish my gin'. When she finished her gin she would say 'I still have a bit of this cigarette left so I better get another gin. And on it went. There were a few for the road. They have left Agonda now and are missed. Hopefully they will be back next year.

The statue of Our Lady

Last night there was a lot of activitiy in the village. In Agonda there is and old statue of Our Lady encased in a wooden box with glass panels. This statue is moved around the Christian homes in Agonda, staying one night in each home. It used to take one year to make the cycle of all the homes, but now with more people building houses it takes one and a half years to make the cycle. Last night the statue came to our neighbour's house, Pamela and James. So many family and neighbours came to their house. There was lots of praying and lovely singing and then a lot of fireworks were let off. The highlight for Colin though, was that Pamela brought us over lovely Goan cooked food and pastries.
I went over today to see the statue. It was set on an alter and decorated with garlands. The new baby that Pamela delivered before Xmas was immediately given to me to hold. Not being very good with babies I did my best. Pamela told me that the other villagers had been talking about the baby. Her other two children have a dark complexion but people are saying the the new baby is fair in complexion and that is because she was talking to the white Westerners (Colin and I), whilst she was pregnant.
We have been invited to the baptism on Sunday so we will need to get into our glad rags to attend.
Oh, by the way, we found out about the snake that fell  on my head. Colin e-mailed his friend in the UK, Spider Dave, who is a professor specialising in spiders, but has a wealth of knowledge about other reptiles, animals and birds. He got back to us and told us that it was a bronzeback tree snake and is totally harmless. At least I won't be in a panic next time I see it.