Gone to Goa

Towards the middle of November we went to Goa with some friends Jane and Cyrus and their daughter Alia. Con and I flew down on the Thursday and then Ian joined us on Saturday. There are early flights from Mumbai so Ian was with us "in resort" by 9am.

We stayed in a very quiet, unspoilt part of Goa called Aswem, near Morjim. The first night we stayed at Ku a beautiful, tranquil place with an Asian feel and just 2 rooms. (see right).

When Ian came we moved to Tellytubbyland! It's actually a group of bamboo huts called Yabyum. They also have a couple of cottages. http://www.yabyumresort.com/

The beach was beautiful with amazing waves that we could jump and body surf on. Every morning a herd of cows would meander down and along the beach and there were a few shacks where we could get drinks and food. The local beer is called Kings and cost 20 or 25 rupees (30p!) a bottle. Although there were just a few shacks there, Maria who runs Ku told us that a coupl eof years ago there was just one and, like the rest of Goa, Aswem is starting to attract investors looking to bring more tourists in. It will be a shame as it was so peaceful and unspolit.

The beach was also a last bastion for the crusty hippy. Many crusties were limbering up of a morning on the beach doing their sun salutations and I got some great pictures!

Marvellous Maldives

We had a great time in the Maldives staying at Medhufushi with the Fieldsends. It was half term in the UK and we took Con out of school for a week.

The resort was absolutely idyllic and the staff very friendly and good with the children.



Unfortunately we had lots of squalls and wind. The high season is from the start of November and we went in the last week of October.....This is us waiting for a storm to clear so that we could leave on the seaplane from Male to Medhufushi. The Male seaplane departure lounge is the best I've ever been in - all wood and relaxed.

50mph winds meant that the hatches were battened down quite frequently on the
bar/restaurant (see below), then after 15 minutes up the blinds would come again and we'd go back to watching the fishies.

I had a spa treatment (the solo water hut in the picture below) and watched turtles paddling around in the water in front of me. Bliss....

Lots to report on the blog and I'm getting behind on it all so I'm going to keep them short until I catch up. Next installment - Goa.

http://www.aaaresortsmaldives.com/

What does an expat brat do all day?

Life here is very different for Conor. His school life provides plenty of structure but there are many opportunities to be spontaneous. I'll take you through some recent activities so that you can get a taste of expat brat life.

School starts at 8am so we are up and out of the house pretty early. School ends at 3pm and Conor generally has an after school activity. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays he has been having swim practice. This is leading up to a swim gala at the beginning of December. When he isn't doing swimming he does multi-sport and yoga after school with Mr Prasad (see links to other places on the right of this page.)

It seems to be birthday season at the moment so Conor has had a couple of parties to go to. These are generally big events with lots of children and are often outdoors at a club such as the Breach Candy or The Club. Although it may take several months to get a hole drilled in the wall, personalised party gifts can be produced within minutes on the spot at the parties! A photo on a water bottle was taken during a recent party, transferred on to the bottle in a few moments and then given as a party gift. Conor also has a lovely mug with his mug on it and a personalised backpack....

I received an out of the blue phone call asking if Conor would like to do a voice over for a Bollywood film. The film is Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, to be released on November 23rd and starring Bollywood heart-throb John Abraham. http://nowrunning.com/film/preview.asp?movieNo=4093 Some of the scenes have to be dubbed over after the film has been completed as the outdoor sound quality was not good enough. There is a scene where some English boys are playing football in a playground and John Abraham comes to play with them. Conor is the voice of "Awesone, Great, Wow, cool etc...". Sir Larry did a tremendous job, following instruction well and importantly to him it was his first paid work!

Immediately after the film debut, Conor came down with a nasty chest infection and we had our first experience of visiting a doctor. It was far more flexible than the UK system, extremely cheap and fast. A friend recommended a paediatrician who I called on his mobile phone. (Apparently we can call him any time on that.) He said if we could make it to a local maternity hospital in the next 15 minutes then he could see Conor before he performed a caesarian. The consultation cost 500 rupees (6 UK pounds) and he said we should get a chest xray and blood test. We walked 10 minutes to a nearby clinic were seen within 5 minutes and paid 450 rupees for both of the above. The results were ready by 7pm that evening! It took a while for Conor to get better and it is pretty certain that the Mumbai pollution is having a detrimental effect on his respiratory system. A couple of trips away (see other posts) have helped but after a few days back in Mumbai he has started wheezing again.

Halloween and Diwali celebrations at the school were superb. The elementary school held a parade when all the students paraded around the school hall in costume, then they had a party. Two days later the Diwali celebrations meant the school was decorated with lanterns and beautiful rangoli - floor art using coloured powders. Diwali meant more parties at school and Conor came home with some great works of art he had created.