jennynordmans

So we have now spent quite a few days here in Patnem and we absolutely love it! It has become our own little village! People here are so lovely and talkative and great in general. Each morning we have breakfast in the same place, after buying fresh yoghurt and juice from the corner shop, and talk to people who also have breakfast there, we know the people that sell jewelery on the beach and the people who work in the restaurants. We've made friends with a 70-year old Italian guy we can barely speak to since he doesn't speak English... We're leaving on monday and I'll be missing this place.

We keep on doing our meditation and also some yoga, and its going a little better each time, though its tricky and some things are, to be honest, a little too doubtable for my liking, but its still an experience to try.

The other day we went for a trip to one of the near-by beaches, which we got to by taking the 'ferry' (a carved tree trunk with three small pieces of wood to sit) to a tiny fisherman's village. It was so closed away from the tourist areas that we were the first white people some of the Indian kids had seen. We had the entire beach all to ourselves except for when Ludwig helped some fishermen to get their boat into the ocean. Watching the fishermen sorting out their nets in the evening sun, and the children catching small fish, while being taken back by the 'ferry' was too beautiful.

Ok and since I'm me I can help but loving going to see the live bands playing at some of the restaurants on the beach. The other day we ended up at a jam night, and without me realising, Caroline got me up on that stage and had me playing. I was so damn nervous but I can't have been more proud when I got of there. It didn't matter how it went and what people though, I was just so glad I did it.

But the day after, the base player of the band asked me if i would sing with them that evening... which I ended up doing. And this time I wasn't as nervous, and actually enjoyed the entire performance. Well no matter what the future holds, it was still like living the dream a bit.

So yeh much love and many smiles
Jenny

Ok so Arambol was cool but we wanted to see more of all that Goa had to offer. Therefore, after delicious food at our local indian cuisine, we continued further south, to Anjuna.

This beach is quite a bit busier, which is both a good and a bad thing.

Its good because:
there are more choices of where to stay, where to eat, more shops, more people, more to do - both daytimewise and nighttimewise

Its bad because:
im lying on the beach relaxing, reading a nice book, and every five minutes an indian girl comes up to us and want to sell us stuff. These girls are only 12-15 years old (they say), but damn they can do business. You almost feel like just buying something so that they will leave you alone.

So far this trip has gone soo much easier than I though, almost too easy, but it seems like the northern parts are quite different.

Well I guess its good that I get to relax a bit, especially after having my palm read by an Indian woman in Mumbai. She told me that I will do well in my future, and have a good career, but that if I keep on working really hard, my body will get so tired that I will die when I'm 50... So better relax when I can!

I've now got red henna on my left hand, and black henna on my right foot!

I've asked for the bill and said thank you in the language that is spoken here in Goa (thanks to Caroline's amazing phrase book), and the man understood!

Take care people

Lovelove Jenny

Jenny + Carro in Colaba (where we stayed), Mumbai

Hi everyone!

I am gonna be off in India for 2.5 months, and I though I'd try to stay in touch! For Swedes I'm keeping a travel diary at www.resdagboken.se (alias jennyish) but for all you lovely people who speak English i will keep you posted here.

The crew; me, Caroline and Ludwig, are currently in Mumbai. We came here on Monday morning, after going via Helsinki on Sunday night.

So far it's been both amazing and very different and tough in a way. The trip from the airport to our hotel was the strangest thing ever. I mean, of course we had read up on India beforehand, but we didn't actually understand that people were literally living on the streets, pavements and even between the motorway lanes. It is so crowded here, and stepping over a box you can actually be stepping over someone's house. We are contstantly approached with people wanting to sell us things, or begging for money. It is heartbreaking, but I guess we have to, well maybe not get used to it, but accept we have to live with it here.

We have, however, met loads of great people too. There are loads of backpackers from all over the world and everyone is really friendly and easy to talk to. The day before yesterday, a lovely Indian guide took us around the entire Mumbai, and showed us a hindu temple, the Mahatma Gandhi Museum (in the house where Gandhi lived and worked), the Hangning Gardens, and a tiny laundry service in the slum. It was an entire community, that even had a school for the children of the workers.

Yesterday we went to Colaba Market and had a look at a million spices, materials, vegetables and fruits. We also found a contemporary arts museum, with photograps and paintings by Indian artists. Part of the experience was also looking at the exhibitions of hopeful local amateur artists, who displayed and sold their works just outside the museum.

For me, who is a huge Shantaram-fan (the novel about Mumbai that everyone here talks about), one of the best things has been having dinner at Leopold's; the favourite cafe of the main charachter.

We have been staying at Sea Shore Hotel, which is the top floor of a building with seven something steep stairs, and with no hotel sign on the street. We didn't think the taxi-driver was being serious when he stopped outside literally a hole in the wall. I however suspect that this hostel, that isn't actually that bad, is one of the nicer in this very budget range of prices.

Later today we are off by bus to Goa!

Much love/ Jenny