Griffs in Goa

Saturday 20th

Electric Spaghetti

Both woke up with ‘dickie’ tummies yesterday morning probably due to the extremely spicy Prawn Balchao curry the previous evening. OK by lunchtime after consuming the cure-all lime sodas.
The power has been off several times today. Sometimes it lasts for just five minutes, other times it can be off for hours. They do not seem to have an affinity with electric here. My friend Alan has just bought and moved into, his brand new two bed-roomed apartment – he has yet to make the final payment and the snags are ever ending, particularly with the electrics. There is one socket working in one bedroom but no lights – one boiler works in one bathroom but not in the other and there are no lights working in the lounge. The attached picture highlights Indian electrical prowess and ingenuity
The weather has been very overcast but we still got burnt and I have prickly heat for the first time ever.
The terrorist threat still lingers with loads of rumours going around about what is happening here regarding the Xmas and New Year celebrations. Some say that the beaches will be closed at 10.00 pm and others that the big 5 star hotels are closing over the Xmas period. We went up to Colva beach yesterday and they have half built gun emplacements using sand bags – the Goan’s never finish anything properly. My worst fear is if there is another attack and India over-reacts. We were talking to some Indians from Mumbai who advocated ‘nuking’ Pakistan. There is growing animosity towards the Moslems here. The Kashmiri’s are not allowed on the beach and are virtually prisoners in their own shops and the local Moslems who own the supermarket and the money exchange are disliked, mainly I think because they are successful and the Goan’s are jealous. One strange thing is we have not seen one Moslem lady here at all.

There is no doubt that it is a lot quieter here than previous years. The Goan’s blame the attack in Mumbai and I don’t think they realise how hard the ‘credit crunch’ has hit the UK and beyond. The very idea that British tourists can no longer afford to come out here is unimaginable to them.
The shacks on the beaches are half empty which is great, as it allows uninterrupted views of beautiful sunsets which are always accompanied and enhanced by the obligatory G & T.