13 Nov Mama India Calls…. Answer and Return

It had been a year of traveling. My original plan was to spend 6-9 months traveling around Asia.  Embracing adventure I had deviated from this and traveled to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. I wasn’t quite ready to go back to the states but I was ready for familiarity. With this in mind I headed back to India…. Goa….Arambol!!!! 

I arrived at four am. Arambol was a little more than an hour away. We pulled up to La Cayden guest house as the sun was breaking through the clouds. La Cayden was a known place I stayed when coming into town or in transit.

So much love. I wasn’t even out of the taxi yet when a young shop boy Suresh came over to greet and welcome me back. Everyone was so excited to see me. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was like being on parade. I forgot how much freedom and love is here. I felt revived. Familiar smiling faces were everywhere. Inquiring as to where I had been and how my mother was.

Back to a morning routine of meditating at sunrise. Working out, running on the beach, yoga and going to temple to meditate. Fresh fruit and juice fueled me while I soaked up readings of osho. 

Power outages were daily at various times that lasted less than a minute to half the day. This made the internet a challenge. I didn’t remember the Internet service being as sub optimal as it was.

It was different being back this time. I was more open to and embraced the Hindi language. When traveling I try to pick up a bit of whatever language is being spoken in the country I am visiting. When I first arrived to India a year ago I wasn’t interested in trying to learn their language. Hindi seemed overwhelming especially when you take into account the various dialects. As much as I embraced their culture, certainly, their language was a part of that. 

The first two weeks I stayed in the same guest house I had stayed at the previous year. Creature of habit and again embracing familiarity. The last two weeks I moved closer to the beach, temple, my favourite and best juice stand. The month was spent immersed in the simplicity of living and embracing new and renewed connections with the environment, friends, and myself.

It was good to be back.