Last month I spent a little bit of time in India. I had one day to spend driving around, (actually riding around) I think you may need a special licence to drive here, or just need to be brave. Goa is a small city compared to Mumbai or Dehli I don't even want to imagine how bad traffic is in those cities.
The bumper of the truck(all trucks have it) says Horn ok please. Just honk and let him know you are going to pass. Honk and pretty much anyone will get out of the way. For the most part everyone has good road manners as far as road rage is concerned. Everyone excepts that traffic will move slow but steady.
Very rarely was a stop sign or stop light spotted. Instead they have speed bumps or rumble strips at intersections. Drivers would just slow, look and keep going. They might stop if a big truck was coming. I think the cows take care of the paper recycling, as far as plastic is concerned, well I don't think anyone is concerned. The archaeological museum was pretty cool. I couldn't take pictures inside but it had quite a bit of art portraits back to the 14th century if I remember right as well as artifacts and stone carvings back to mideval times.
The Basilic Bom Jesus was constructed at the end of the 1500's and finished early 1600's. In it lies the remains of St. Francis Xavier who died in 1552. Prior to his death he spent most of his life spreading christianity in south and southeast Asia. He spent a few years here in Goa and was well respected. After his death his body was returned to Goa in a lime-slake. His body was miraculously preserved, many called it the will of God. 450 years later his body is still able to be viewed. For more on St. Francis Xavier try google or bing.
We went to a spice plantation, upon arrival everyone was dotted. At the end of the tour it is tradition to bath in the pool of some sort of water with herbal stuff in it to make you feel better. I can't quite remember. They edited the tradition to just pouring the water down your back. It did feel good because it was cold, I was just thinking how wet my butt was going to be for the next hour long ride.
These are cashews. I didn't know they came from a fruit. This little old lady takes the nut from the fruit. Later the fruit is pressed then the juice gets fermented into some sort of strong drink.
The bumper of the truck(all trucks have it) says Horn ok please. Just honk and let him know you are going to pass. Honk and pretty much anyone will get out of the way. For the most part everyone has good road manners as far as road rage is concerned. Everyone excepts that traffic will move slow but steady. 
Very rarely was a stop sign or stop light spotted. Instead they have speed bumps or rumble strips at intersections. Drivers would just slow, look and keep going. They might stop if a big truck was coming. I think the cows take care of the paper recycling, as far as plastic is concerned, well I don't think anyone is concerned. The archaeological museum was pretty cool. I couldn't take pictures inside but it had quite a bit of art portraits back to the 14th century if I remember right as well as artifacts and stone carvings back to mideval times. 
The Basilic Bom Jesus was constructed at the end of the 1500's and finished early 1600's. In it lies the remains of St. Francis Xavier who died in 1552. Prior to his death he spent most of his life spreading christianity in south and southeast Asia. He spent a few years here in Goa and was well respected. After his death his body was returned to Goa in a lime-slake. His body was miraculously preserved, many called it the will of God. 450 years later his body is still able to be viewed. For more on St. Francis Xavier try google or bing.
We went to a spice plantation, upon arrival everyone was dotted. At the end of the tour it is tradition to bath in the pool of some sort of water with herbal stuff in it to make you feel better. I can't quite remember. They edited the tradition to just pouring the water down your back. It did feel good because it was cold, I was just thinking how wet my butt was going to be for the next hour long ride. 
These are cashews. I didn't know they came from a fruit. This little old lady takes the nut from the fruit. Later the fruit is pressed then the juice gets fermented into some sort of strong drink.
3 comments:
All I can say is "cool". I really like your commentaries on what you saw and how you felt and what you learned. You have a nice concise way of describing things (complete opposite of me, yet I think I understand alot of what you were doing while there. You kind of have a "reporter" way of describing the surroundings. You don't make many judgements, although, your comment about who takes care of plastic is pretty funny and won't offend anyone in the US or in many other countries either. I am not sure how the India people would feel about that comment. At least they would have to admit that it is true. And yes, cashews are one cool nut. Thanks for sharing and how wet was your butt? Love, Gail
So now you can check India off of your places to visit. Thanks for the blog and photos. Cool to see and fun to check out what you're doing on your deployment.
Jody
Wow that brings back memories of India! I love Goa and miss some dear friends there! It is one of the old historic Portuguese cities that is full of a very rich Christian history which is very unique to India. Yes, if you love Goa traffic you you would be thrilled with Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, or even Calcutta traffic any time of day. Looks like you are having an adventure around the world. What an exciting line of work you have.
Congrats on the future arrival back at home! It has been too long. We need to catch up some day.
-Trevor Jenson
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