Catching up.......

We have done so much since I last wrote to let everyone know that we arrived safely and I still have not told you about our adventures. In an attempt to catch everyone up, please imagine that you are going back in time to when Kelsey and I did not get much sleep and were about to board a plane to Taipei, Taiwan.

Taipei:

1. arrived in Taipei, no bags a the baggage area... they decided to catch the later flight,
   
2. filled out the required paper work to recover our bags, walked to the customs area. (Oddly enough when the airline misplaces your luggage you need to walk through the "things to declare" line)
3. took a 1 hour bus to Taipei, figuring out how to get the bus was quite comical
4. bus dropped us off in the middle of the city, got lost looking for the hotel, took a"short cut" through a dark alley but did manage to find our hotel.
   
5. upgraded at the super fancy hotel Kelsey booked for us...the room came complete with a heated toilet seat..yup that's right the seat was heated. Not only was it heated it had a super fancy bidet (that Kelsey tried to use only to make the whole bathroom wet). After exploring all of the fancy toilet bowl actions, we made our way out to eat. (Our long flights and many layovers were all about food)
6. ate at the night market, got super fresh pineapple and dragon fruit, watched a woman make dumplings, ate those with soup broth super cool!
7. stopped at 7-11, stocked up on face masks, chocolate, water and other goodies
8. returned to hotel room, used face masks...laughed till we cried, crashed exhausted at 12am
9. 5am woke up, put on the same clothes we had been wearing since we left... and returned to the airport
10. cleared customs, found out our bags were at the airport and would be on the flight to Delhi, got coffee, played in the duty free stores, then walked to our gate...and that's when it happened.................................................

We were on a walkway that looked down on to our boarding area, the whole area was full of women wearing Sari's, and men with turbans, we stood silent for a few moments, looked at one another and smiled...we were really going to make it to India. We descended the stairs to the boarding area, boarded the plane and off we went. It was a 7 hour flight, Kelsey became obsessed with a video game on her little personal tv, I watched movies but we could not contain ourselves...way too excited. The plane landed and that is when the mayhem began and it has not stopped since..................................

1. landed in Delhi, Kelsey (no joke) pulled up the bottom of her seat, she pulled it all the way off in an attempt to find her lip stick (it really is a flotation device), men in turbans laughed at us
2. the immigration officer told me that he thought that Kelsey was pretty, with Kelsey standing right there, we laughed
3. waited forever for our bags but the luggage god was kind to us...he delivered them!
4. I lost any semblance of sanity I had left trying to figure out how to get to the domestic area of the airport (apparently you have to take a cab..same airport, but a car ride away)
5. I had an exciting discussion with an airport security guard after I walked out of the customs area without my bags, or passport (I really was at my wits end!)
6. Took the cab, rescheduled our flight from Delhi to Goa (Kelsey told me she would handle it, seeing my insane state)
7. ate our first Indian meal (super yummy)
8. got back on another plane headed for Goa
9. 8:45pm finally arrive in GOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. Met this woman names Sarah, she asked us where we were going, told us where she was going, wanted to know if we wanted to join her and another woman, Elissa, for a cab ride to south Goa, we said yes
11. 11:30pm..arrived in South Goa at Pololem beach...have not left yet......................
12. Kelsey realizes she has left all of her underwear in the hotel in Hawaii (we laugh again)
    

It is just magical here. Our beach hut is at the south end of beach, we fall asleep to rushing waves, wake up to the sweet salty air as the sun rises and the most difficult decision we make each day is where we are going to eat. We sleep soundly and happily. For me it's the smells of a place that make it so wonderful and this place is full of magical smells. When we walk the streets I can smell cumin and curry floating from restaurants and peoples pores. When we walk the beaches I can smell the salty wet air, and pungent body odor. When we rode bikes we could smell the fields and garbage being burnt. For Kelsey it's the sounds, and there are so many sounds. People talking, singing, music playing...it's great.

Since arriving here at Pololem we have done yoga 3 times(once everyday since arriving), met a guy from San Francisco who we went kayaking with to an island where we saw dolphins playing in the water, a kingfisher bird and moneys. We rode three people on a scooter, rode bikes in the sweltering heat wearing flipflops, nicknamed each other Wanda and Francine, and have just been laughing ourselves silly. Each day we have been approached by people selling items on the beach and we are both just horrible at bartering, Kelsey is so bad that the little girl that sold her a couple of necklaces gave us free anklets she felt so bad ripping us off.

The food is amazing, fresh fish, savory sauces, fried veggies, lime soda and curry. The people are genuinely friendly and eager to help. Quite simply.........we are having a blast!

Tomorrow we head up to Anjuna (sharing a cab with the women we came down with) and then on the 6th we start our yoga intensive.

Sorry this is soooo long..we love you all!