When the tough get Goan...

I saw a little boy in a school uniform this morning standing at the edge of the sidewalk in staring down. On the street resting up against the curb lay a lifeless body of a cat. I looked at the young boy's face and the sadness that was weighing down overwhelmed me. He shifted his head with his neck tilted slightly to the left with the greatest acceptance of what had to be; in the blink of an eye.

On the "to-do" list today was purchase a ticket to Goa and fly out today ;) I used makemytrip.com to find my flight, a site that filters through all the Indian airlines to find you the cheapest, but they do not accept international credit cards. So I used the Taj's Flight Center to try and arrange for it. He told me he wasn't able to accommodate me in either paper or plastic. So I went directly to the airline and booked online; great success. My flight was at 4:15pm and it was already 11am. Not much to do other than pack, get some nourishment and head to the airport.

This time through security was a breeze and thank goodness for that. I was running late and caught the last transport from security to the plane. The flight was short and sweet and even included an in-flight nap. Upon arriving I headed over to the prepaid taxi stand to order up a taxi to Siolim, 52km north of the airport. I was appalled at the price but had absolutely no choice, it was practically the same price of my flight

I arrived to be greeted by the Belgian woman whom I met my last time through Goa. She was gracious enough to open her doors to me. My motorcycle travel tins had been stored with a local restaurateur and musician, Arvin, across the road and had all my rain gear in it which is desperately needed. My mobile phone has one bar on it for a signal (sometimes), there is one computer in the vicinity that provides internet service if it can connect and I'm four kilometers from any real hubs of life. It's a blessing in some ways to be this disconnected and I just have to find a balance

The objective for this mission in the height of the monsoon is to reunite with my motorcycle, show her some love and get her to drier times. I'll go down to Mapusa tomorrow to the shop and hopefully be able to get a signal on my phone to make the calls to the mechanic and my loved ones. I have no idea how long I will be able to experience this monsoon without losing some sanity but I hope for it to be shorter than longer, I like the sun too much ;) I accept that this is just one more of the blessings that I will be thankful for

But like the saying goes, when the going gets tough...