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Tuesday
Oct212008
Strike!
October 21, 2008
My life has changed a lot, during the last half of a year. Who am I kidding, though? It's been a full year of change. Now I am adjusting again. Wowsers.
This house is wonderful. Small, simple and deep in a tiny village neighborhood, it is just where I want to be. Our next door neighbors thresh their rice on their rooftop and feed our scraps to their pigs. The men in the village come to the well we all share to take their showers. I'm not sure where to look. Of course they are wearing underwear, but should I go inside, if I am sitting on my porch? Is a public bathing time private?
I guess I will find out.
Yesterday was a little bit rough. Our water problems have been solved, largely, by moving here, although we are a little wary of the fact that all our water is well water now. (There are fish and a turtle living in the well.) But yesterday morning we woke up without power and there was no power all day, and eventually the tank on our rooftop ran out of water and there was no power to pump more up. And we had very little food. And it was very hot and because we had no power, we had no fans. I mean, it's HOT. Hot hot hot. There was a strike throughout all of Goa. A strike here is different than a strike in North America. Basically an extremist group says, "Close your businesses or we will hurt you." So everyone does.
So I did what any mama with four young kids does on a day when there is no power and no water and it's HOT.
I let the kids watch a DVD until the battery ran out. There are times when you realize that the day's goal has been simplifies to: Get through this in a loving way.
And then we all walked to the beach, where they rolled in the surf and I stood there up to my calves in the water with the baby in the wrap on my chest and watched my kids laughing.
A man came along and wanted to sell me some things, and although I told him I didn't really have money to buy jewelry right now, he told me about his children, and that he had no business. So we sat down in the sand and he laid his livelihood on a sarong for me to rifle through and critique. We settled on a couple of things, and he told me to pay him the next time I see him. I told him to say hello to his wife, and he thanked me for the business.
The kids and I walked home and saw what YaYa called a "pile of goats."
("A pile of goats would be goats stacked up on each other," interjected Kid A, and I laughed out loud, which embarrassed him because he didn't understand that what he said was genuinely funny.)
And about half an hour after we got home the power came back on and I filled up the tank and ran the filter to fill up the water bottles with stuff to drink and was just glad.
There are moving pictures here.
This house is wonderful. Small, simple and deep in a tiny village neighborhood, it is just where I want to be. Our next door neighbors thresh their rice on their rooftop and feed our scraps to their pigs. The men in the village come to the well we all share to take their showers. I'm not sure where to look. Of course they are wearing underwear, but should I go inside, if I am sitting on my porch? Is a public bathing time private?
I guess I will find out.
Yesterday was a little bit rough. Our water problems have been solved, largely, by moving here, although we are a little wary of the fact that all our water is well water now. (There are fish and a turtle living in the well.) But yesterday morning we woke up without power and there was no power all day, and eventually the tank on our rooftop ran out of water and there was no power to pump more up. And we had very little food. And it was very hot and because we had no power, we had no fans. I mean, it's HOT. Hot hot hot. There was a strike throughout all of Goa. A strike here is different than a strike in North America. Basically an extremist group says, "Close your businesses or we will hurt you." So everyone does.
So I did what any mama with four young kids does on a day when there is no power and no water and it's HOT.
I let the kids watch a DVD until the battery ran out. There are times when you realize that the day's goal has been simplifies to: Get through this in a loving way.
And then we all walked to the beach, where they rolled in the surf and I stood there up to my calves in the water with the baby in the wrap on my chest and watched my kids laughing.
A man came along and wanted to sell me some things, and although I told him I didn't really have money to buy jewelry right now, he told me about his children, and that he had no business. So we sat down in the sand and he laid his livelihood on a sarong for me to rifle through and critique. We settled on a couple of things, and he told me to pay him the next time I see him. I told him to say hello to his wife, and he thanked me for the business.
The kids and I walked home and saw what YaYa called a "pile of goats."
("A pile of goats would be goats stacked up on each other," interjected Kid A, and I laughed out loud, which embarrassed him because he didn't understand that what he said was genuinely funny.)
And about half an hour after we got home the power came back on and I filled up the tank and ran the filter to fill up the water bottles with stuff to drink and was just glad.
There are moving pictures here.
Reader Comments (8)
Congrats on the move Rachel! Your new home looks so cozy, and I love the wood floors. Glad the power is back on and the water is flowing. You must be so happy to have your own space. Ron and I saw a piece on TV about Goa and it was fascinating. You live in paradise - wow it is so beautiful there! From what the show said the spices and food are delicious, (it was the food channel and we watch it all the time because we love food!)
Like the wood floors also. Nice house! Love your furniture also - so glad that you've got a place of your own!
"Get through this in a loving way." What beauty and clarity. I love that. Really, love that. A fresh view for me. Thank you.
Congratulations on your new house.
As always, your writing is lovely.
I hope your water and power are steady.
Many blessings to you and your family.
Thank you for sharing.
Trisha
Congrats on the move. I am certainly in awe of you. I often wish I could go back to basics with the living and my children, but I am a fearful women who knows she would weep against the hardwood the moment the lights went out, and the water was lost. So, I live vicariously through you, instead. :)
Jealous of the wood floors.
Amazed at the simple and sweet way you described your interaction with the vendor.
Most people would just avert their gaze.
Love hearing your stories.
What a beautiful post of a seemingly lovely day, even if it was hot.
Oh, ask Kid A if I can use his "pile of goats", in a kid's story I may write someday.
Humbling. My day seems easy breezy now. Still, I'd trade places with you in a heart beat. Not that you'd have it.