Sorry for being late. We were on holiday in Goa and the hotel's internet connection was intermittent (we were also comatose on the beach most of time!!).
We left Delhi at lunchtime on Sunday 27th December and flew to Goa in about two and a half hours. We flew with Air India and on the flight I, Ken, was appointed the security officer (or whatever he's called) in charge of one of the exit doors in the event of an emergency. The steward explained what I would need to do if we crashed or had forced landing, so now I know how to operate the door and the emergency inflatable slides and instruct people if there is a fire. Very useful (although a little disturbing - I thought you needed a lot of training to do this sort of thing). We will try to avoid row 8 on the next flight, (however, I now feel very safe sitting next to Ken!!)
On arrival at Vasco da Gama airport our transfer taxi met us and we were at the hotel in Benaulim within 40 minutes. Goa is a big change from Delhi: the weather is hot and the skies are blue, and it's quiet! We'd had a lovely Christmas Day with our students in the hot sunshine in Delhi, but that had been quite a surprise. In the evenings it's freezing. However, Goa is different. (Benaulim is also a very Christian town and every house, shop, stall, street, tree was decorated with Christmas lights, lanterns, and nativity scenes, even snowmen, (there is a shortage of cotton wool balls now in Goa!!) Such an amazing sight and beautiful at night!
Goa is tropical so the beaches are white and the backdrop is palm trees and blue sea. Molly, Heather's daughter, and Elliot, her boy friend flew out to join us for a holiday together. (Bless her, she knew we were not very well and turned up with an enormous bottle of Gaylin's special pick-me-up tonic from the Maple Leaf in Twickenham - we were so delighted it was hard not to drink it all in one go!! It was such a special time of being able to relax and play together - I am now quite an expert on the 'body-board' thanks to Elliot. They are staying longer than us (very jealous) and are now off to Kerala for more adventures, (even more jealous!)
We've both had amazing massages whilst there. Incredibly relaxing; (a bit vigorous at times!) un-knotting the muscle knots of the past three months. Well worth it.
Most of the time, of course, we were lying on the beach, surfing the beautiful waves and loving the warm waters or eating lovely meals. Friday night we went on a cookery course - well, we helped a Goan to prepare supper in his home and then we ate the veg curry, the fish curry, raita and the chapatis. It was really good although it was a long evening when we were all very hot, tired and hungry. Our Goan friend is a real character (for some reason, he knows every London postcode?!) He has a lovely, friendly family who all joined in with showing us how to prepare the meal and made us so welcome in their home.
(Molly, Elliot and I couldn't resist an early morning venture to ride elephants, visit waterfalls, where you could bathe in the clear cool waters, and then end the morning with a visit to a spice farm for a tour and lunch.
It was such a treat and I now have oils and herbs for making 'infusions' to aid all our coughs and colds - Ken was given a treat by Elliot, who managed to pick a 'ghost chilly'!!! They both dared to try it and as they survived to eat the rest of their meal, we're not sure it was genuine. That, or they have incredible constitutions!!!)
I decided not to go to see the elephants (I'd experienced elephants before in Jaipur - see one of our earlier blog posts). While Heather, Molly and Elliot were off for the day, I did a few things. I discovered where the Post Office was and so was able to buy stamps and send off some Post Cards. I also bought myself a hat, a kind of Indiana Jones type hat (no whip yet) (thank goodness for that!!) The hat was much cheaper than I thought it would be. I did some reading but didn't get round to continuing with my Teach Yourself Hindi course. I am up to Chapter 9 and I'm learning the Future tense. It's fun. (mmm, not as much fun as riding an elephant!!) (that's a matter of opinion).
On our return to Delhi we knew that we needed a taxi, and our helpful adviser, the Rough Guide, told us to pay for a pre-paid cab, which would be much cheaper than a normal taxi. So we went in search of the pre-paid cab booths inside the airport. Two guys, both waving signs saying, "Pre-paid taxis", beckoned us to their booths. I told them where we wanted to go. "1,200 Rupees!", he said. My "What!" was not a negotiating tactic. I told him we'd been living in Delhi for three months. He just looked at us and said go to the end of the booths, so we did. The real pre-paid cab cost 250 Rupees! The other guys were just ripping off anyone who needed a pre-paid cab, and were lured by their lying signs into believing they were genuine.
We were then sent to Stand 42, but some guy came to help take our bags to the cab. Thinking he was a driver I let him. It turned out he was just an unofficial "porter" wanting a tip. Watch that one. Unfortunately, it does seem that Delhi airport is a place for rip off merchants! (Not only in Delhi, of course. A German student who came to learn English with us in Morden was charged £85 from Heathrow to Morden. It should have cost under £30. It happens everywhere, I guess. Human nature!).
(We all had such a brilliant holiday. It was definitely sad to leave the beautiful Goan sun, sea and sand and especially Molly and Elliot, but our teaching began today again and that's the reason we are really here! Our students were so pleased to see us again - we had a lovely welcome. We both feel that as this is our last two months, we want to give them as much fun and English, and all the opportunities we can create for them to benefit from. I think these last weeks are going to go very quickly!)
(This was supposed to be a quick 'catch-up' blog - there will be a shorter one I'm sure on Friday!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU
Ken and Heather
We left Delhi at lunchtime on Sunday 27th December and flew to Goa in about two and a half hours. We flew with Air India and on the flight I, Ken, was appointed the security officer (or whatever he's called) in charge of one of the exit doors in the event of an emergency. The steward explained what I would need to do if we crashed or had forced landing, so now I know how to operate the door and the emergency inflatable slides and instruct people if there is a fire. Very useful (although a little disturbing - I thought you needed a lot of training to do this sort of thing). We will try to avoid row 8 on the next flight, (however, I now feel very safe sitting next to Ken!!)
On arrival at Vasco da Gama airport our transfer taxi met us and we were at the hotel in Benaulim within 40 minutes. Goa is a big change from Delhi: the weather is hot and the skies are blue, and it's quiet! We'd had a lovely Christmas Day with our students in the hot sunshine in Delhi, but that had been quite a surprise. In the evenings it's freezing. However, Goa is different. (Benaulim is also a very Christian town and every house, shop, stall, street, tree was decorated with Christmas lights, lanterns, and nativity scenes, even snowmen, (there is a shortage of cotton wool balls now in Goa!!) Such an amazing sight and beautiful at night!
Goa is tropical so the beaches are white and the backdrop is palm trees and blue sea. Molly, Heather's daughter, and Elliot, her boy friend flew out to join us for a holiday together. (Bless her, she knew we were not very well and turned up with an enormous bottle of Gaylin's special pick-me-up tonic from the Maple Leaf in Twickenham - we were so delighted it was hard not to drink it all in one go!! It was such a special time of being able to relax and play together - I am now quite an expert on the 'body-board' thanks to Elliot. They are staying longer than us (very jealous) and are now off to Kerala for more adventures, (even more jealous!)
We've both had amazing massages whilst there. Incredibly relaxing; (a bit vigorous at times!) un-knotting the muscle knots of the past three months. Well worth it.
Most of the time, of course, we were lying on the beach, surfing the beautiful waves and loving the warm waters or eating lovely meals. Friday night we went on a cookery course - well, we helped a Goan to prepare supper in his home and then we ate the veg curry, the fish curry, raita and the chapatis. It was really good although it was a long evening when we were all very hot, tired and hungry. Our Goan friend is a real character (for some reason, he knows every London postcode?!) He has a lovely, friendly family who all joined in with showing us how to prepare the meal and made us so welcome in their home.
(Molly, Elliot and I couldn't resist an early morning venture to ride elephants, visit waterfalls, where you could bathe in the clear cool waters, and then end the morning with a visit to a spice farm for a tour and lunch.
It was such a treat and I now have oils and herbs for making 'infusions' to aid all our coughs and colds - Ken was given a treat by Elliot, who managed to pick a 'ghost chilly'!!! They both dared to try it and as they survived to eat the rest of their meal, we're not sure it was genuine. That, or they have incredible constitutions!!!)
I decided not to go to see the elephants (I'd experienced elephants before in Jaipur - see one of our earlier blog posts). While Heather, Molly and Elliot were off for the day, I did a few things. I discovered where the Post Office was and so was able to buy stamps and send off some Post Cards. I also bought myself a hat, a kind of Indiana Jones type hat (no whip yet) (thank goodness for that!!) The hat was much cheaper than I thought it would be. I did some reading but didn't get round to continuing with my Teach Yourself Hindi course. I am up to Chapter 9 and I'm learning the Future tense. It's fun. (mmm, not as much fun as riding an elephant!!) (that's a matter of opinion).
On our return to Delhi we knew that we needed a taxi, and our helpful adviser, the Rough Guide, told us to pay for a pre-paid cab, which would be much cheaper than a normal taxi. So we went in search of the pre-paid cab booths inside the airport. Two guys, both waving signs saying, "Pre-paid taxis", beckoned us to their booths. I told them where we wanted to go. "1,200 Rupees!", he said. My "What!" was not a negotiating tactic. I told him we'd been living in Delhi for three months. He just looked at us and said go to the end of the booths, so we did. The real pre-paid cab cost 250 Rupees! The other guys were just ripping off anyone who needed a pre-paid cab, and were lured by their lying signs into believing they were genuine.
We were then sent to Stand 42, but some guy came to help take our bags to the cab. Thinking he was a driver I let him. It turned out he was just an unofficial "porter" wanting a tip. Watch that one. Unfortunately, it does seem that Delhi airport is a place for rip off merchants! (Not only in Delhi, of course. A German student who came to learn English with us in Morden was charged £85 from Heathrow to Morden. It should have cost under £30. It happens everywhere, I guess. Human nature!).
(We all had such a brilliant holiday. It was definitely sad to leave the beautiful Goan sun, sea and sand and especially Molly and Elliot, but our teaching began today again and that's the reason we are really here! Our students were so pleased to see us again - we had a lovely welcome. We both feel that as this is our last two months, we want to give them as much fun and English, and all the opportunities we can create for them to benefit from. I think these last weeks are going to go very quickly!)
(This was supposed to be a quick 'catch-up' blog - there will be a shorter one I'm sure on Friday!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU
Ken and Heather
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