Well that Vacation was a Bust! Goa.

Out to Dinner with the Gang

Well that was just the worst vacation ever! So it started out with a fantastic bang, and then just plummeted to almost just as bad as it could get. So, of course, I will divulge all the little details to all of you lovelies… well, almost all…

So we headed out to Goa with smiling faces. Sandy had never been to the beach before so we were all really excited for him. I, of course, am in love with the beach, and Hannah and Melissa love it almost as much. So we headed out, got settled into our sleeper bus, or as settled as we can on a bed that drives, and got whisked away to Goa. We got to our hotel with relatively little difficulty, which was a nice change, and immediately just unpacked the necessities and headed off to the beach. Hannah, Sandy and myself went to the left of all the tourists while Melissa and Lauren went 

Sandy's First Time at the Beach!

to the right. There was a big group of USAC (my program here in India) students who went, so we all just kind of did our own thing and whoever wanted to do it too just came along.

So we headed to the water, Hannah any myself both bathingsuitless and without a care in the world (ok, we had sports bras and shorts on, but still). Sandy’s s face when we finally hit the beach was priceless. He was transformed into a five year old, kicking up sand, running into the water, so of course I joined him. Splashing around in the surprisingly warm water was just what I needed to start off this dream vacation! We spend a hefty amount of time at the beach, then finally headed back to the hotel to get ready for the first night of shenanigans.

So we head out along the beach once we are all fed and ready to go. This guy we had met earlier that day at a little place right on the beach had said to us earlier that if we cam back and paid for drinks and food that he would do a bonfire and get a fire thrower for us. So of course we rounded the troops and headed back after sunset. We made it back and got settled into some tables and chairs right on the sand in front of the place. Well, from there things just got a little crazy, let’s say. I won’t go

Wearing Helmets on the Scooter is a Buzz Kill

into detail, but long story short, this man was a CREEPER and he had his eye on me. LUCKILY I have a solid head on my shoulders and also a solid group of friends, so at the end of the night we escaped unscathed, except maybe my pride a bit, I did accidentally ram into a massive pile of sand on our way home. Didn’t even see it. Oh well.

So the next day was a rinse and repeat sort of thing, or it was supposed to be anyways. We headed to the beach, all was nice and dandy, and then we ate some dinner (I had prawn, in retrospect, not the best thing to eat not completely hot), and then headed back to get ready for another night on the town. Well, I was feeling a bit iffy so I decided to take the night in, I was still a bit tired from the night before so Hannah and I had a TV night and had a good sleep.

The next day I was certainly not feeling my best, but just figured it was the heat getting to me. I went out, tried to ignore it, did some shopping, and then ate dinner and headed home. When I finally crashed after dinner I realized that something was very, very, 

The CREEPER! That's s fake Smile on My Face People!

very wrong. Me being the private person that I am waited until everyone had gone out and then just puked my brains out, or so it felt. THAT is not fun at all, my friends. Spicy food going down is even spicier coming back up. And thus the vacation began to just fall, tumble, and fly downhill.

It began with that, and so I couldn’t eat for a day, but then it started out the other end, so I started to drink more water so I wouldn’t have to go to the hospital, then I started puking up the water, so that was a disaster. It was a brutal three days, and then finally I thought I would get some relief, but NOPE, day number four proved to be just as bad. Even thinking about food made me vomit, and actually, it kind of still does. So I lay in bed, in severe pain, feeling like a gremlin was trying to tear its way out of my stomach, with no 

Fire on My Head

relief. I tried crackers, that didn’t work. I tried toast, that didn’t work either. So I just accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to eat for about five or six days until I got back to Bangalore.

So the majority of the vacation went like that for me. Everyone else had a blast, of course, but I was stuck, miserable, pooping and puking, NOT a fun combo, especially while abroad, especially on vacation while abroad. Oh well though, it happened, so I guess there’s nothing can be done about it now. So the bus ride home was just fantastic. NOT. It was actually not only horrible because I was pukie the whole tome, but it was also infested with bugs. And I mean serious bugs, like cockroaches climbing on us while we were sleeping. It was terrible! But I made it the 

Pre Food Poisoning Plague

whole time without puking, so that was a bonus, and the bus actually dropped us off in our block so we didn’t have to pay as much for a rickshaw home.

SO happy to be home, though. I finally showered, changed into some clean clothes that didn’t smell like the moldy hotel, and even managed to eat some noodles! YAY! I have three more days to recover until class on Monday, I am hoping to be one hundred percent by then, but we’ll see. Oh, we did get home to all of the food in our fridge molded and rotten because the power won’t stay on here, so it just sat in the warm fridge for six days. We had to drag it outside in order to empty it out. SO GROSS. I sent a strongly worded text message and email to our resident director and, thankfully, he has sent the troops over in full force! At the moment we have 

Day 2, Dying in Bed

out cleaning lady doing dishes and washing the floors, we have the landlord supervising the washing machine technician fix that, the electrician has come to check out the wiring in the bathroom, and the internet guy is supposedly on his way. Hopefully everything can get fixed! Would be nice to have a semi-functioning apartment for the next three weeks. Oh, so just got the word that everything is fixed except for the internet yay!! Here’s just a short portion of the list of things that haven’t been working basically all semester: our hot water, the power, the internet, the washer, the bathroom light, the kitchen light, we have a mouse that chews chords, the sink drips, and the list goes on and on. Oh well, welcome to India I suppose!

So that’s all for now. At the moment it looks like my health is on the up and up, knock on wood. Two more weeks of classes, one week of finals, the Northern India tour, then homeward bound for me! I do love India with all my heart, but I am very excited to head home and see 

Day 6, Barf Bag in Hand, Headed to the Bus.

the people I’ve been missing and the food I’ve been craving. Keep an eye out for probably one more blog post about school and then one about Northern India should be up while I am waiting for my layover in Hong Kong on December 14^th!!

Today, my life is just Shelby.