Hello Family and Friends!
I hope this blog does not find you all in despair due to the recent economy decline but rather in high spirits to hear of great adventure from the other side of the globe! I hope back home is not as bad as I have read in the Indian papers, according to the Hindu this crisis may be comparable to the Great Depression. I don’t know about that one, but I hope everyone is holding up alright! Well, now onto greater, more aspiring talk of India…hmm… haha.. no there is some aspiration in this country. It has just been hard to find in the last week. Well, as you know from my latest blog I have just returned from a nine-day journey in the state of Goa, while there we studied Globalization and the effects Development. Goa was the perfect setting for this topic due to it being a biodiversity hotspot, which attracts much tourism. Throughout my stay I learned of negative and positive effects from tourism in regard to the local people also known as “Goans”. The following is a brief overview yet it includes as much detail as a comfortable American would like to hear while browsing a loved ones blog of my experience in Goa—basically so I don’t make my mom squirm. J
Well, to start off we ventured to Goa by train; the whole fifteen hours in cramped quarters (due to a mix up with our tickets) gave us all an opportunity to test our patience and comfort levels. Not to mention the train was pretty filthy, at this particular moment I cursed myself for thinking a small bottle of hand sanitizer would get me through the whole four months. How silly of me to imagine the utilization of soap was a universal thought! No, mom do not send me hand sanitizer, I still have not received the first package yetJ. We arrived in Goa at approximately 5:00 a.m. and were escorted to what were told was a “Catholic center” where we would stay. “Hmm.. I wonder what that is suppose to mean”, I thought to myself and then thought, “If I had a five rupees for every time I thought this in India, I would be rich”. Soon enough, I was scooted inside a building built in the 1600’s; I was pretty groggy so I wasn’t about to play detective. However, once Amanda and I opened our door to our room, we knew we were in for a “treat”. The lime rotting wallpaper half ripped off the walls, along with two metal single beds with extremely hard mattresses and dim lights cued both of us to hold our breath and count to ten. I then noticed nuns in the hallway. Oh yes, we were in a convent… Little did we know Amanda and I were not the only ones staying in this room, rats would also accompany us. Fortunately, they stayed outside the window crawling, near the hole we had both discovered early on and hastily patched this with paper, crossing our fingers they wouldn’t chew through it.
The first couple of days in Goa were filled with in class lectures, which was a bit annoying since we had traveled fifteen hours by train and hadn’t been able to venture out into the city in those two days. Luckily, the second night we were able to have dinner on a cruise ship—this is a typical tourist attraction in Goa. On the cruise we were able to dance, eat a good meal and be able to take a break from class. Many Indians also use this attraction as an escape from realities and also because dancing is slowly being pushed out of the Indian culture. In Bangalore, a city of ten million, dancing is banned. Anyway, due to us studying tourism we were told this particular attraction is thought of as negative to the locals due to the spread of pollution and loudness of the music. However, I am a bit torn I mean everyone deserves a break from the harsh realities of life right?
Towards the middle of our trip we split into small groups for a “mini” field stay, I chose to be in the Child Rights group. However, due to scheduling conflicts my group went along with the mining group, which was actually a good thing minus all the driving. The mining group was studying the negative effects of mining on the environment and toward the local people. Mining is a huge issue in Goa; two thirds of the land is mined and therefore ruins a lot of the natural beauty. Major pollution in the nearby villages is due to mining; many people are suffering due to poor air quality. Also, when these mines are implemented many locals lose their land, without any aid from the government and are forced into poverty. Or others are “bought off “ meaning an authority will come knock on their door and ask them to name their price and due to these people not being able to comprehend what their land is really worth will say a relatively small number. Then this authority figure that is fully aware he is ripping this family off will give this meager amount of money and take their land. We were able to see an inactive mine, meaning the mine was no longer running due to protests; this area was absolutely gorgeous. I could totally see why these protests were conducted to stop the mining. Oh! I almost forget in Goa many illegal mines are still active. Yeah, kind of crazy—just another example of the extent of corruption in the government. On a lighter note, afterward we were able to swim in the Arabian Sea, which was unbelievable! Don’t worry I took a lot of pictures!
The next day we were able to meet with a Child Rights Organization which works with migrant workers and their children. Greg, the director of this organization, identified two types of migrant workers: short term and long term. These migrant workers come from neighboring states of Goa in hopes to find business usually in relation to the tourist season or mining. The children of the short-term migrant workers are the most at risk since they are constantly moving every 5-6 months and have little chance for a stable education. Therefore, this programs aims to help these children receive an education and also addresses many health issues these children endure. Greg reported a Doctor found in one migrant village 50-60% of children were malnourished. Many of these migrant families are extremely poor and due to this the children of these families are forced to work in the market, rather than receive an education. These children are found to be as young as six or seven years, each working long days without breaks. Later, in the day two women apart of this child rights organization led us to a migrant village. We had to take two busses to get there and it was unbearably hot. I felt as though I were sitting in a pool of my own sweat while cramped up against the window and another person. The amount of people that are capable of fitting into a bus in India is ridiculous; people are literally on top of each other in order to fit beyond maximum capacity. Therefore, when it is 90 degrees with a high percent of humidity being in a non air-conditioned bus while crammed in the very back is not extremely pleasant especially when stopped. Mom, you would hate it. Anyway, we finally arrived at the village and met with a small club composed of children. Many of these children were between the ages of 7 and 14; they formed this club in order to discuss the issues in their village. The kids were all super cute and loved to show off their limited skills of English, which included “Hi Aunty, How are you?” When I asked what kind of issues exist in their village many reported mining to be a problem. Their village is nearby to an active mine which leads to a number of problems for them such as: poor air quality, clean water, and major health issues. However, many of their parents work for the mines so it was a bit tricky to discuss this issue since their meals ironically depend on mining, which gives them bad air quality. Due to the language barriers and issues of sensitivity we ended up teaching them all the Hokie Pokie which was a big success!
Our next adventure was our free day—YES! —we all were excited to get out and explore Goa on our own and also to swim in the ocean. First, we all went to the beach and this is where it gets interesting. Little did we know we were about to be a freak show… So here we are sixteen Americans trudging through the sand to try and find a vacant beach spot to set our stuff down and are already receiving stares. Once our stuff is settled we begin to strip down to our modest swimsuits or rather what we thought was modest—all one pieces. However, once us girls took our clothes off and were just in our suits men started to flock from every angle. It was unbelievable, I felt as if I were famous. The looks we received were startling and the amount of photographs being taken of us was crazy. As I went into the water I was followed by video cameras, stares from men and even followers into the water it was absolutely ridiculous. After awhile, all of us girls began to get extremely impatient and started to sternly tell these men not to take pictures and to go away. Once I even went up to a man and told him he owed me a thousand rupees for the pictures he took of me. In response he claimed to be taking pictures of the ocean. Yeah, right. Shortly after, I began to grow tired of this attention and needed a break from it all so we decided to do a little shopping. I must say I am becoming quite the little bargainer and I am lovin' every second of it! Haha! I usually am pretty good at being indecisive anyway, which helps me out since it cues the seller to go down in price before I walk away and sometimes if I am feeling really risky I do walk away and usually am called back by being lured with a much lower price. And then I gladly buy the item, usually not more than three or so dollars and walk away with a smile on my face and a tinge of guilt. But, oh well. Next, we found a Subway and it was ABSOLUTELY amazing!!! The best part was my chocolate chip cookie!! To my surprise it tasted exactly the same as cookie would in the U.S.! It was also nice to be able to have vegetables rather than loads of starch! To top off the American food streak we located a Baskin Robins and I could have died right there happy!
Well that is a brief description of my trip to Goa. The main thing I learned is that the government is literally doing nothing to help any of the states issues and will continue their corruptive ways for their own gain… strange huh? Oh and also “Goan” beach men are extremely intrusive and I would never go back to swim again.
Hope all is well! And will update again soon!
