The Ultimate Indian Wedding Experience: Part 1
(click maps to view full size.)
It only took a minute with the hotel receptionist to learn everything we needed to know about the Carnival, including what had been the key detail in all of the confusion - turns out the 'Goa Carnival' is actually one specific event that travels between several different cities over the week, instead of being one day of multiple places celebrating. I guess that 'list of good Carnival cities' we used as reference had actually been a parade schedule...oops?
It wasn't long before we felt we had seen enough of the decorations and floats while walking around to satisfy our Carnival curiosity. After all of those days spent hyping it up to ourselves and each other, we made the executive decision to just skip the event entirely. We figured it would be a much better use of our time and energy to head towards the nearest beach town and see where plans might go from there.
My Class Schedule:
One of the first things they said to us in orientation was that by the end of our stay here they hoped to have expanded our view of India beyond snake charmers and elephants. Personally, I thought I should see some snake charmers and elephants before completely moving on to other matters. Hence, a trip to Dubare Elephant Sanctuary in Madikeri and what may have been the greatest day of my life. Bath Time in the Jungle Elephant Elopement
Now for the first in what I’m sure will be a long series of “What NOT to do in India” posts. For instance, you should not decide on a random Sunday night that you think that you’re in the mood for an adventure. And you should not let that idea lead you on a walk around the city’s Krishna temple block. Once there you probably should not start thinking about how cool everyone’s jewelry looks, particularly that of the nose variety. You should not conclude that because you’re by a temple, getting a ‘traditional piercing’ would be a cultural and spiritual experience. You should not trust the little old man that looks like he knows what he’s doing because he’s wearing traditional clothing and doesn’t speak English. You should not convince yourself that it’s ‘okay because it’s traditional’ to use fire and a rusty knife to sharpen the piece of metal that will be attached to your face. You should NOT let him proceed with attaching said metal, and once attached you probably should not pass out on the ground for a solid minute surrounded by a large group of people laughing at the weak American. You really should just stay home and read a book. |