Goan to the beach!!

With the extended two week break from training and no other work-related obligations I was forced to find something to do after my return from Hampi.  After narrowing my search to the cheapest airfare’s of the destinations I want to visit, the list was narrowed to Mumbai and Goa.  Mumbai would have been nice, but not nearly as relaxing as Goa so with some stressful training days ahead, the decision was easily made.

After an overnight train back to Hyderabad, I turned around and flew to Goa for my first solo India experience.  Considering the fact that I didn’t really plan the trip in advance, it couldn’t have turned out better.  After arriving at the airport which is quite a long way from anything, I took a taxi to Panjim to stay in a larger city.  I picked the central cathedral as my drop-off spot and hence began the cathedral tour of this former Portuguese colony.   

 A big, tasty Indian dinner was eaten at a surprisingly modern, but reasonably priced restaurant.  That night, I stayed in a nice family-run hotel and really enjoyed the mother who managed it along with her two daughters.  They were extremely helpful and very knowledgeable.  If you end up in Panjim, check out the Mayfair Hotel.

The following morning was pretty rainy, so I didn’t get a very early start.  Eventually, I made it over to Old Goa which for the most part is abandoned apart from a couple massive cathedrals and a few other religious sites interspersed throughout the area.   

 Particularly interesting were the ruins of the Monastery of St. Augustine.  Restoration efforts have done much to preserve the area, but much of the vegetation was allowed to grow so it’s a very quiet, peaceful place that might remind a visitor of the ruins of Cair Paravel for anyone familiar with The Chronicles of Narnia.

It didn’t take long to see Old Goa, so I then made my way over to the coast to see Fort Aguada and then find a place to spend the night on the beach but not before enjoying a rum carmelized banana.  Why isn't this a staple option on every dessert menu in the U.S.?

Fort Aguada offers some nice views of the bay and the coastline, but I wouldn’t recommend going to see the jail as it is still in use although seeing it might be a sufficient deterrent necessary to motivate someone to avoid engaging in nefarious activities.  That evening I checked into a nice place near the beach and enjoyed a delicious dinner with authentic Rajasthani music and dancing.

In the morning, I walked down the beach to see the huge tanker that ran aground only a few hundred yards from shore.

It’s quite impressive, don’tcha think?  My next goal was to rent a scooter that I could take overnight to the north coast.  This ended up working out fairly well, but it required a good-sized deposit.  The couple I rented the scooter from were really helpful and very friendly.  If I ever make it back there I’ll stay with them!  With the scooter secured I was off to see the northern beaches.  I stopped at all the beaches along the way, but wanted to make sure I made it to Anjuna to see the Wednesday flea market.  I made it to Anjuna by mid-afternoon and was able to take in most of the large, open-air market that is adjacent to the beach.  It was amazing to see how many people had things to sell and the diversity of everything.

It was a colorful and fun experience, though I was glad the beach was nearby to allow a slight respite from the chaos!  I hadn’t planned on purchasing anything, but ended up walking away with a nice wooden chess set, a pair of shorts and a pair of swim trunks.  All told, I spent a total of about $20.  From Anjuna, I went to up to Arambol where I was planning to spend the night.  It was a lovely ride along the coast and through some small villages.  With the sun setting it was particularly beautiful.  Arriving in Arambol, I set out to try to find the seaside cocohuts recommended by Lonely Planet.  Unfortunately, this proved to be much more difficult than anticipated and nearly resulted in me seriously damaging the scooter and/or myself when I rode up a path intended only for walking and rode across a wooden plank to get over a small irrigation canal.  Needless to say, it didn’t work out well for the home team.  Eventually, I made it up to the cocohuts after finding out that it was a 10 minute hike to get to them!  It was already dark when I arrived, so I took the only offer I got which was for something a little more secure, but a lot less cool than a cocohut.  The restaurant there served a killer tuna melt sandwich that went amazingly well with the avocado salad (basically guacamole).  The downside to staying here was that between my concern about the scooter and the warnings I’d received about the drug problem in the area, I didn’t sleep too well.  Once morning broke, I did some exploring and found a nice secluded beach nearby.  Breakfast at the German Bakery was good, but the prices had gone up considerably from those quoted in L.P.  After breakfast, I hit the road and went back south to Candolim where I had rented the scooter.  Before dropping it off I stopped at the local 5-star Taj resort for the lunch buffet, only to be disappointed in the quality of the food.  The folks who rented me the scooter also gave me a good offer on a taxi ride to south Goa, so I took them up on the offer.  Of course it took about 2 hours to make it all the way to Palolem, but once we got there I felt right at home.  The pace there is a little slower and the people were more laid back.  It also had a lot of western tourists which made me feel more at home.  There were a number of restaurants all along the beach, so after a romantic stroll down the beach in the moonlight by myself I decided to try some real Goan food.  It was spicy, but pretty tasty and just what I needed before heading off to bed.

The following morning was my only true day of lounging on the beach.  Again I walked down the beach and over to the smaller Putnem beach where I had a great “Mexican” breakfast and a banana crepe.  After breakfast I made my way back to Palolem to enjoy a little swim and do some chillin’!  It really turned out to be a nice, relaxing way to end my vacation so I’m glad it worked out for me to at least sneak in a one-day scouting trip to south Goa.  If I ever go back, I’m definitely spending more time in south Goa!  Thus ends the “Operation Relaxation” chapter of my time in India and now the real work begins, so please don’t hold your breath for my next blog post.  It may not come for another 3 months…

Hampi (pronounced Hum-pee of course)

After my six grueling weeks in the classroom studying subjects from piston engines to western disturbances to the mental dead reckoning and seemingly everything else under the sun, I was ready for a little break.  Fortunately, my 2+ weeks off happened to coincide with a planned trip organized by a mutual friend.  It ended up being quite an interesting, fun, and relaxing break that included a lot of “firsts” for me like my first Indian train ride, my first scooter ride and my first meal on a banana leaf.  We started the adventure by taking an overnight train that arrived in the early morning at a town near Hampi.  A long rickshaw (a.k.a. auto) ride later and we dropped at the riverbank in Hampi to await the short boat ride to the other side.  This was the first taste of what has been appropriately described as a magical place.  It truly is an amazing blend of historically relevant structures and an incredibly unique landscape of boulders and implausible rock formations interspersed throughout fields of rice paddies or banana trees or sugar cane or who knows what.  The scene on the riverbank with rays of sunlight casting themselves through the massive rock formations onto the shadowy darkness was simply beautiful.  Reflections of the riverside ghats (people bathing/washing their clothes) were intermingled with a backdrop of boulders, clouds, sunlight, trees, and ancient ruins that only added to the peaceful aura of Hampi.

After checking into our accommodations on the other side of the river, we made our way back across with hopes of renting scooters to see some of the outlaying sights.  It took some time to find enough scooters for everyone and since most of us had never ridden one before a little training was required.  In retrospect, I find it ironic that I must sign 20 pieces of paper to set up a mobile phone, but didn’t sign anything to rent the scooter!  Oh and each scooter cost us less than $4 per day!  A couple of the scooter-wallas (guys) took us out to some purported waterfalls.  While there really weren’t any waterfalls to speak of, it was a beautiful hike out onto the rocky riverbed that was made up of huge boulders. 

After a good lunch at the local Italian restaurant (what I mean by that is only that they serve Italian food) we hopped on the scooters and rode out of town.  Not too long into the ride, our large group of 8 or so scooters got separated.  With daylight fading and fuel running low a group of us rode off on an exploratory tour that ended up being a fun little adventure.

  We rode down a dirt road through a number of fields before taking a random path towards some enormous rock formations that were quickly becoming silhouettes.  It ended up being a path along an irrigation canal and probably was the highlight of the day for me, although afterward I felt bad after we found the rest of the group waiting for us at an intersection because they had spent a good deal of time trying to track us down.  At this point with our tanks nearly on empty and the last rays of sunlight fading into oblivion we made our way back into town.  It made for a long, but fun day we had dinner with little delay and then retired for the evening.

The next day we again rented scooters, but this time on our side of the river.  The landscape was much the same although we did try to make the most of the day by seeing as many of the landmarks as we could.  The first stop of the day we were met by countless monkeys.  For some reason I think I could have been entertained for hours by watching them chase each other and swing fearlessly from branch to branch high above the ground.  A part of me wanted to partake in the action, but fear would have gotten the best of me I’m afraid!  There was also a serene lake and a man-made pond covered with lily pads.

The next stop was another shrine or temple of some sort.  It required some hiking, but once we got to the top we had a nice view of the surrounding land.  We didn’t spend much time there and soon-after set out for our next destination.  We ended up in a small village eventually making our way to a large open flat, marshy land with a small stream running through it.  Again there were ghats washing clothes and the remnants of past civilizations.  Oh and of course lots of cows.  There were also children playing on walls that were hundreds, if not thousands of years old.  They saw us and made the most of the opportunity because they were celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is something like a mix of Christmas and the 4^th of July.  It’s a festival of lights so many houses and buildings are lit up colorfully and of course there are firecrackers.  The kids did the best they could to frighten the foreigners and were quite successful.  Nothing like being scared away by a bunch of 9-year olds right?  Well, it wasn’t quite like that, but at least it sure makes for a good story!  While we were on the banks of this stream we saw an impressive structure in the distance up the stream some distance.  We then sought to make our way to this place and after eventually finding it we were disappointed to find that it was closed or at least it appeared to be closed.  If that old lady had not pushed the gates open for us we would never have known any better!  We basically had the temple compound or whatever it was to ourselves, so after enjoying the nice view and taking a few photos, we made our way down to the stream.  There we found a lot of kids goofing off as kids anywhere will do.   By this time we were about ready to eat, so after a brief ride out of town we came back to see the “Queen’s Palace” and have lunch.  It turns out that we had driven past the Queen’s Palace earlier in the day, but hadn’t really noticed it because it just wasn’t all that impressive.  More interesting was the large group of little kids playing in the adjacent field.  As soon as they saw our cameras, they all wanted their pictures taken and some of them even climbed up onto our scooters for a better photo op! 

 Before I knew it I was swarmed by kids and everyone else had left for lunch.  I was so enjoying myself that I would’ve been happy to skip lunch to “watch the scooters” even though I really just wanted to hang out with the kids a little longer.  Then someone realized I was missing and came back for me, so I said bye to the kiddos and joined the rest of the gang for an authentic meal served on banana leaf.  There was some rice, fried peppers, something pickled, curd, and a red powder of some sort.

Après lunch we scooted on out of town and did some more riding through the countryside—fields and villages.  This ride ended at Hanaman’s Temple, which is perched atop a pretty significant rocky hill.  It provides a great view particularly at sunrise or sunset and oh by the way, there are monkeys!  Once again I found myself amused by these monkeys who were not swinging from tree branches, but from rock to rock!

It was rather impressive, but this was not something I’d be interested in trying myself.  We hurried down hundreds of steps hoping to make it back before dark, but we couldn’t quite pull it off.  Fortunately, everyone made it back safely and after a good dinner and long day in the sun we called it an evening.

The following day was intended for seeing the numerous historical sites, but my body chose rest and relaxation for most of the morning.  The outdoor breakfast area had a great view overlooking the riverbed and the distant rocky peaks, so it was hard to resist a lazy morning of card playing with friends.  By the time I got going, it was too late to do much of anything and because the river had swelled as a result of the dam upstream releasing water, it took some time for our boat to reach the other side.  At this point it was already time for lunch so we went to the Mango Tree which everyone had been highly touted and definitely met expectations.

The late lunch meant that I wouldn’t have time to see everything I wanted to see unless I hired an auto, but instead I chose to do what I could on foot.  This was pretty limiting as the main attractions are spread out by 3 or more kms.

I saw plenty of ruins and enjoyed imagining what the Royal Centre must have been like at its’ pinnacle.  Again I ran out of daylight and barely made it back in time to meet the rest of the crew for dinner at our favorite little Italian joint in Hampi.  It was a great way to finish a relaxing, but fun excursion from Hyderabad before catching the train home.

Friends become family

Once again it seems as though I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties as it’s been almost a month since my last post.  This is not without good reason, as the ground training got the best of me and my time.  Without a doubt, it is a huge relief to have that chapter in my rear view mirror!  It was a challenging six weeks, but a unique window into some different training methods.  More importantly, those six weeks were a valuable time of building relationships with course mates.  Many of them felt the pressure and stress of the training to a much greater degree than I did because of the very real possibility of failure.  Some of them also had their wives and children with them as well.  With a class of over 60 students, there was no way to get to develop close friendships with everyone, but a number of the guys really embraced me and made me feel at home.  This made the course so much more bearable even in the midst of non-stop studying and at times nearly daily tests.  It took some time to learn their names even with names on their uniforms.  Some of them had nicknames and others simply had their initials like SS or AS or T.  I found nicknames like Bando, Yogi, Sid, Birdie, Bahggie, Hari, Ratz, and Zubie fairly easy to remember.  There were a number of other guys who really went the extra mile to welcome me—Vikas, Raj (from Rajasthan!), Joe, Zach, and Vikram.  These guys along with Sid, Yogi, Hari and Zubie took time to help me study, drove me to class or ran errands with me, arranged taxis and/or hotels, shared their good hotel food, sought to resolve issues for me, and the list goes on and on.  I have been humbled and blessed by their seemingly boundless generosity.  When help was needed they have been there for me and been like a family to me.

Then there are the Americans I met in Chennai who have been so supportive and such an encouragement throughout my time here.  I’ve met so many people and been invited to a number of parties, so even in the midst of the challenges and frustrations of training I was able to enjoy some good times with my fellow Americans.  They’ve even taken me on sightseeing trips and show me some good old-fashioned American hospitality.  Thank you Prashant, Yomaris, Bridget, Mark and all the others who have also become my family. 

Lastly, but certainly not least are the families I’ve spent time with in Chennai.  The Easows and the Eapens or Double E’s as I call them have been a home away from home.  They’ve provided comfort and calm in the midst of the storm not to mention comfy beds, nice air conditioning, hot showers, and delightful meals.  They’ve gone so far out of their way to take care of me, so I am honored and humbled by all that they have done for me.

As I look back on the first past 6 weeks of training, I am reminded that God provides and sustains His people if only we trust Him.  My ground training in Chennai was a special time because of the special people God has brought into my life.  I am thankful that He knows and can relate to our needs because He is a relational God who loves us even when we might be unlovable. 

English is funny

This is my first post in what will probably become a series titled, quite simply, “English is funny”.  You will see what I mean as I share a few of the terms and sayings that aren’t used in a very familiar manner.  The purpose is not to make fun of the way English is used here or to denigrate cultural differences or the training environment, but rather to highlight the interesting differences in language usage that can make communication difficult or hilarious or maybe both!  Before starting, it is important that you picture yourself in a classroom or testing environment surrounded by uniformed military officers.  If you can imagine yourself in this situation, you will probably find the following list slightly amusing…

Classroom sayings:

“Settle down now” – used if it seems our class of 60+ is getting too loud; it reminds me of a line from an SNL skit with Cheri Oteri–“simmer down now!”

“Class sit up” – a form of respect shown for an instructor or someone of higher rank when they enter the room—similar to calling the room to attention, but instead of standing up, we “sit up”

 “Isn’t it” or “is it” – used to show confidence in an assertion (if said by the one speaking), so it’s similar to “do you see?” or if said as a response, it would be like saying, “really?”

“When are you taking the class?” or “What class are you taking?” – students are expected to instruct one of the subjects, so this is what it means to lead/teach a lecture

“Are there any doubts?” – a doubt is a question or misunderstanding.  This is said by the instructor to the class and may follow “isn’t it”.

“Please repeat, what is the doubt?” – often said when students are leading the class and do not understand the question

“I’ll come back to you” – means the instructor (or student if leading) does not know the answer and will research it and find the answer (or just forget about it)

“That’s outside the scope of the lecture” (in response to a doubt) – it truly is outside the scope of the lecture or the answer is not known

“Your reading explains it well” (in response to a doubt) – read the book or stop raising doubts

“If anyone has anything to add, please speak up… (silence)” – the lecture covered the topic sufficiently well or it was so complicated nobody understood

“I hope this is clear” or “have you all understood?” – the subject was difficult and someone probably doesn’t understand it—either the instructor or the students or both

“Are you sure because my book says (something else)?” – the book was confusing or someone tried to fool the class and was caught

 “Can we pack up?” – it’s been a long day and I’m ready to go home

“You might pass out” – Passing out refers to graduating, so it’s a good thing to “pass out”

Testing phrases:

“You might (run out of time and) burst” – said when students are not managing their time well because they should be moving on to another section of the test (so far my favorite saying)

“Get up!  I’m speaking to officers.  If you are an officer, put your pens down and get up.” – about the same as “time’s up, pencils down” but with an added emphasis on integrity

“How was the paper?” – tests/exams = papers, so this is usually answered with serious doubts or reservations (especially if it was directed at me!)

An unwelcome visitor...

Yesterday, I got home after work and left my living room to go upstairs, only to be startled by the sound of something moving near my washing machine.  I looked over just in time to see the last 2-3 feet of a fairly large snake!  It wasn't really close to me, but it definitely scared the you-know-what out of me.  I promptly went upstairs, put on my combat boots and jeans and tried to formulate a plan to get ride of the sucker.  The problem is that there just aren't any tools in this house that could do the job (a small coffee table was the best weapon I could find).  It seemed prudent to call a buddy who then came over after telling me to get out of the house.  Of course I took his advice and then patiently waited until he arrived.  When he showed up, I was still confident that the snake was near the washing machine, so we made our way into the house to try to find it, but to no avail.  He went to get help from the "mess" (that's basically the officer's club where we eat lunch and dinner) and came back with 6 guys.  That seemed like a little overkill for a snake problem, but when I saw that they were armed with a broomstick, I realized that I did not have the exterminator coming to my rescue!  In spite of some doubts, I did feel pretty good about the situation and our prospects for ridding my house of the intruder.  The "mess" gang entered the house and proceeded to search the kitchen (adjacent to where I had first seen the trespasser) and also the washing machine area where I had spotted the snake, but could not find it.  Interestingly enough, most of them were not wearing anything more than flip-flops if not bare feet, but after spending 15 minutes searching for the snake, they concluded that it had left.  I was not so easily convinced, so I approached the washing machine again only to find that the snake was in fact curled up underneath it, hiding from us.  Amazingly enough, the guys who were supposed to take care of this problem for me had been standing right next to the snake without any protection and could easily have been bitten.  After I pointed the snake out to them, they spent another 5 minutes strategizing in Tamil, before one guy tipped the washing machine up while another used the broom in an attempt to herd the snake out of my house.  Maybe a good sheepdog could have pulled that off, but it didn't work for us.  The snake just made a dash for the kitchen, somehow climbing up into my storage shelves.  I didn't have any food in them, but it was amazing and I might add, frightening to see a large snake elevate two feet off the ground without assistance to gain entry onto the first shelf.  As quickly as it did that, it then proceeded to go up to the next shelf and finally the top one.  At this point, with the snake about 6 feet off the ground and somewhat protected, the guys have turned the broom into a stick (a little more useful weapon) and took some swings at it.  Fortunately, as it was pretty well cornered and on the defensive, they were able to hit it with a few solid blows before it made it's way back down to the floor and slithered, bloodied and wounded, outside.  The guys then made quick work of it as it had become somewhat trapped in a small concrete drainage area.  After inflicting what they deemed to be mortal wounds, they picked up the somewhat lifeless snake with the stick and carried it off.  I then went into the house to assess the damage and found my kitchen floor covered in blood.  In spite of the mess, I will say that it was a big relief to get rid of the snake!  I was glad that a couple of the guys (sort of) cleaned up my kitchen before they went to see what had become of the snake.  I joined them and we found the other guys near a pile of rubbish attempting to burn the still squirming snake.  I wasn't sure I wanted to hang around to see how it would end, so after being confident that that snake would no longer be a problem I slipped back into my house ensuring to close and lock all the doors behind me.  For those of you wondering, here are the details on the snake: It was about 5-6 feet long and I am told that it was not poisonous, although they may just be saying that to put my mind at ease.  Thank God today has been a snake-free day!  Did I mention that before I moved into my house I saw a big snakeskin in the backyard?  I sure hope that it was left by the now dead snake!