I have spent the last week relaxing on the beach. It's so peaceful here. I get up in the morning, and I walk down to the end of the beach and scramble over these rocks to a secluded sandy cove. In the cove I practice yoga followed by a swim, then I scramble back over the rocks, walk along the serf and grab some breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the beach. It's like paradise.
My second day here it was raining really hard, which is rare for this time of year. I went to a little bakery and had a coffee and croissant while waiting for it to let up. I saw these two women at another table deeply engaged in conversation and I suddenly felt a bit jealous of their friendship and intimacy. As cheesy at it may sound, I asked the universe to introduce me to a woman companion, because I was (and still am) quite sick of just meeting men all the time. Sure enough, just a couple hours later, I met this Italian woman Lidia, she showed me the way to that little private cove and we went for a swim and then for lunch together. Her English is pretty good, but it is clear she does not always understand what I am talking about, but never mind. She was very helpful in finding me the cheaper place where I am staying now.
The other day I was sitting on the beach and wondering how I would ever leave this place, it's just too perfect. I thought that perhaps I would just develop inertia and end my travels in India by becoming a beach bum here. I wasn't sure it was such a great idea though since I want to see Kerala and I wasn't sure I wanted to spend Christmas alone on this beach. So again, I asked the universe for some guidance. I was walking from the beach to my room when I saw Lidia. She exclaimed that she had been looking for me! That first day that we had had lunch together I had mentioned in passing that I was interested in seeing Hampi and it got her thinking that she would also like to see Hampi. Lidia proposed that I accompany her to Hampi on Friday, December 17th and then go with her to her flat in Putaparthi to spend Christmas with her. She had already looked into the trains and there was still space. It was absolutely incredible that twice now she had answered my queries to the universe! Naturally, I said yes.
In Putaparthi there is a big ashram and an Ayurveda centre. I am looking into staying at the Ayurveda centre because Lidia says it's very nice and clean and cheap. Her flat, although big, is still new and unfurnished, she only has a bed, but if I have troubles finding accommodation I can stay with her. It's always nice to have a sure back up plan!!
On the weekend I received an email from Abby and he told me he was in Goa at Palolem, which is just the next beach over (about 7km away). I told him I was at Agonda and where I was staying and said he should come find me. To complicate things, my phone does not work at Agonda, although apparently it works at Palolem (Abby is on the same network as me), so we had no way to plan it. Abby decided to come yesterday, but I did not use the internet yesterday, so I did not know he was coming. Naturally, I was off doing my thing, and it took him 2 hours to find me! In his search for me he managed to find Lidia, and she told him some places he might try looking for me at. It was amazing when he finally found me because I was just about to leave this cafe to go check my email to see if he was coming or not and when. It was such a joy to see a familiar face. We went for lunch at this amazing organic cafe in the jungle. Before Abby left to go back to Palolem, we decided to go down to the beach for a swim. While we were swimming I turned around and saw something with giant eyes behind Abby. Abby and I freaked out and swam as quickly as possible, while laughing, back to shore. Abby was convinced it was a crocodile, because that's what it looked like, but it turns out we saw a giant monitor lizard. Apparently not dangerous, but quite frightening and not really a desirable partner, for me, while swimming in the great Arabian sea.
Today, like most days, I spent all day on the beach reading. I was thinking that I felt like Italian food tonight. There is an Italian restaurant which Lidia tells me is quite good. I was leaving the beach, and who should I see but Lidia! She told me that she had spoken to the Italian restaurant and they were making fresh ravioli, so she had asked them to save her a portion for tonight. Seriously, this woman reads my mind! Even if our spoken conversations are sometimes a little convoluted and confusing, our universal telepathy is crystal clear!
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