GOA

We flew to Goa on the 6th. A short and easy flight of 1 hour. As soon as we landed we breathed in deep the fresh air that is impossible to find in Bombay. In Panaji we met the crew of a movie, "The Pool" being made by Chris Smith of Milwaukee. Jesse's friends Didier and Joe are in charge of the sound track. We hung out that night, dinner and fenney (the local alchohol made from cashews and distilled). Next day we took a jeep out of town about 45 minutes to do the recording of a Goan song for the movie. The house where they set up the recording "studio" was an old portugese villa. We were only using one of the huge rooms (great acoustics) and we didn't get a chance to see the rest of the house. It was a long day of recording but I really enjoyed hearing the Goan folk style and meeting the musicians of the place. By the end of the day, they had recorded 2 mandolins, 2 violins, guitar, 3 female vocalists, and percussion (not in that order). The song sounded really great and had a kind of authentic feel. That was a quick tempo upbeat kind of song. They also recorded a softer song, a version of the movie's theme, with only the 2 mandolins. We finished the whole thing by 6:00 pm and packed up back into the van. That night we had dinner with the crew and 2 of the cast members who are young Indian boys. I saw a clip of the movie on the editor's computer that night. Pretty cool!!!! (And Jesse's name will be in the credits). The next day we were free to do what we wanted. Jesse was supposed to record something else in the evening but instead they just used his equipment so that we could have fun. We took a scooter out to the beaches which was about 45 minutes away. Jesse handled the bike very well and I wore a helmet most of the time :) It was gorgeous and fun driving around. We both got a bit beaten by the sun though. After we located sun screen, we went swimming for a while. Then we went to a little beach side place for a drink and discovered this little verandah on top of the resaurant. It was an awesome place to watch the sunset! We met another couple there and together went to a bar... Long story short, we ended up crashing that night on the floor of someone's restaurant, woke up early and drove back to Panaji so Jesse would catch his flight back to Bombay. After he left, I took the bus back out to the beaches. I was heading for Arambol, the furthest beach resort which I had been to years ago when I was here. When I arrived, I hitched a ride with some English guy who gave me a nice tour on his motorcycle. Then I went into the town area, hung out on the beach, met different people. I stayed for 2 nights and now I'm on my way back to Bombay. It was great to have a little vacation but I'm actually excited to go back "home". Being away made me realize how content I am in Bombay and happy to be doing something productive there. I like living in India. I feel more at home in India than I do in resort towns.
Hope all is well with everyone. My birthday is coming soon: 12th of March. 25 years old. So feel free to send birthday greetings :) Miss you all!