One month after we left Malawi our journey continues on a different
continent, in a country which is as diverse and astonishing as only few others:
India.
Read about my first impressions on Goa on the background of African
memories.
The sun doesn't seem to be as strong as in Malawi. Which means you can
actually walk a few minutes without a sunhat even if the sun is completely out
(what hasn't been the case very often, most of the time it's quite hazy). And
the good thing is you can have an umbrella with you even if you don't have a
newborn baby. It rather seems to be a sign of caste here than a sign for a
mother. By the way, where are the babies? Certainly not on the back of the
women. Very seldom can you spot a mother with her baby on the arm. So how come
that there are so many people everywhere?
When I get out of a building I keep being surprised how hot and humid it
actually is! Air conditioned buildings let you forget about it too quickly. And
as there is electricity everywhere, there is also Air con. Nevertheless we have
already experienced the first power cut whilst being in the middle of a night
market. The power cut rendered the world in black helping me to sneak away from
an insisting seller who tried to sell me a sari.
Being on the streets is not only because of the sellers quite
entertaining and stressful here. The number of vehicles on the narrow roads is
most impressive. And how they drive! Just never walk on the wrong side of the
street where you can't see when you have to jump out of the way. And never ever
be startled when someone beeps at you. You might fall exactly in front of the
person trying to warn you... Using their horns seems to be the favourite
activity of all drivers here. But don't mistake the beeping for one of the
friendly beeps indicating a free taxi, no it simply means "Here I come!
Get out of the way!". The fact that they are all beeping from different
sides doesn't make it easier though... Safest option seems to be hiding behind
a cow.
Cows still live a very comfortable life in India. Being allowed
everywhere at any time they never have to fear for their life (even though the
elite seems to have started to enjoy a beef burger from time to time). Unlike in
Malawi, where the main staple diet is consisting of nshima and usipa (fish), we
can find here plenty of vegetarian food. And: It's hot without putting Nali on
top of it! Which makes it tricky to pick the right dish for me...
Trying to understand the menu is the other thing… Language is an issue
as usual while travelling. India has got many spoken languages. And as much as I love to
learn languages none of them is (yet) in my repertoire. Sometimes Vijay's
Gujarati helps to get some discounts (one seller actually started to deal with
us at a lower price than he just did with a completely white couple), sometimes
it even leads to more confusion when they happily start to immerge us with
their local language (Konkani). So there's body language left. Good to know
that wiggling your head means "yes"!
Strolling along the beach you see - apart from the red burnt tourists -
people playing in the water. Again: rarely any kids, but adults enjoying the
water! As in Africa women don't show much uncovered skin: they go in with their
saris on! Men on the other hand seem to have a preference for covering each
other in sand. One poor guy who fell asleep on the beach got a sexy woman
corpse made out of sand on top of him...
