Goa, Part 4: Pet Peeves!

 I have whittled my list down to the most important ones--my top ten--(yes, there are a few more!) which are as follows:

1) The locals who pollute the beautiful beach air by burning their trash...

2) The sad street animals everywhere... mostly dogs, but also including cats and cows... their eating garbage, being mistreated, barely surviving... and more: the mistreatment of animals being raised for slaughter. Buffalo in pastures on short tethers. Two pigs on a scooter--still alive--with their noses scraping on the road as they were driven along (thankfully, I did not witness this personally, but was told about it by my neighbor).  Live chickens being slung around, upside down, by their feet... as if they were already just pieces of meat... Clearly, the people abusing these animals don't know about--or believe in-- karma... I am sure thankful that I DO!!!

3) The incessant honking at me by autos, motorcycles, trucks and scooters, whether on my bicycle or simply walking down the road. After all, motorized vehicles have the right-of-way... cyclists and pedestrians do NOT! Now, doesn't that ever make sense?!?!?!

4)  Produce vendors ignoring me in favor of the younger, more attractive Russian women who fill this tourist town... unabashed discrimination... !

5) The temples with signs saying, "foreigners not allowed"... can you imagine this being acceptable in the western world!?!? Of course not... 

6) The fact that my international cards--credit and debit alike-- do NOT work for ANY online purchases, EVER!!! So...for example, to pay for train and airline tickets, I have had to take thousands of rupees in cash to the local travel agency, because THEY won't accept my cards EITHER! (Even though I made such a large purchase...sooo aggravating... I cannot get rewards points, have to pay conversion and ATM fees, so get MUCH less value on the dollar... ) Ditto, for many restaurants and small vendors. Oscar's, the somewhat upscale, international store in town, DOES take them... and I am SO grateful, but of course it is a relatively expensive store... 

7) The rudeness of so many Indians, as seen by their refusal to queue and wait their turn...and TOTAL lack of respect for their elders! (meaning, ME!) 

8) The constant scamming of foreigners by overcharging them for everything, including food,  taxi rides, clothing...values being horrifically misrepresented... and all else that they can manage to get away with!

9) SOOOO much garbage, EVERYWHERE!!!! 

10) And...speaking of trash... A HUGE pet peeve: 

I witnessed the most bizarre and distressing scene yesterday, when swimming in the water off of Majorda beach: There was a large group of Indians--mostly women in elegant sarees, with a couple men thrown into the mix-- dumping plastic bags full of god-knows-what directly into the ocean waves! I was horrified. When they started to walk away from the water, I frantically swam in their direction, rescued the bags, and brought them back onto land. It appeared to me that they contained something akin to bloody animal entrails! But--so puzzling--Hindus are vegetarians, and these people were clearly Hindus! 

I rushed after them with four full, plastic bags of this goo, and proceeded to admonish them about dumping trash into the ocean. I explained that it ruined the enjoyment of tourists and swimmers, not to mention, killing off fish. "There goes your fishing industry!" I exclaimed.  "And then your whole, Goan economy!" (Economics is a topic that ALWAYS hits home, does it not?!) They clearly understood and spoke decent English. They actually were surprisingly contrite, as they explained that it was a religious ritual, and that they would wait for the bags to wash back upon the shore. I did not believe them... "But!" I protested, "You have no way of knowing that they WILL wash back up upon the shore, do you?! And...do you know that there is an entire ISLAND of plastics and other garbage, floating in the middle of the ocean? Have you any idea of just HOW damaging this is to our oceans, and environment, in general?!?" Again, I was met with apologies. So... I backed off, relaxed a little... and said, "OK, just think about it, thank you!" And dove back into the ocean to complete my swim. I DID keep an eye on this group, however, checking to make sure they wouldn't slyly try to dump the stuff back into the ocean again. They did not. 

When back at Camilo's beach shack, I questioned him about it. Being Roman Catholic, he was clueless about what they were doing, but said it was not all that uncommon.  Worse, a friend of his chimed in by adding that he thought it was some sort of black magic ritual that they practiced... YIKES! But...isn't it ILLEGAL?!!? I asked him. He believed it was...but...so what? Did I EVER see any police presence on the beach?? Never. Only lifeguards.   In fact, in the almost three weeks that I have now been in Goa, I have only seen ONE police car on the road, EVER! AND... I almost yelled at it, becuase it was the 50 millionth car to honk at me as I was out riding my rented bike! I was SO annoyed, as I always am, but this unecessary practice (and disruption of my peace!)  Probably good thing I didn't yell at them... 

But of course my point is that there is NO discernable policing of ANYTHING around here. (Another example: A young Russian woman at the beach, blatantly smoking pot in front of her waiter at Mishmar! Marijuana is, as yet, still illegal in India, at least so I have been told.) 

Anyhow... I am glad that I prevented SOME trash from polluting my swimming water, AND from joining the trash island out at sea... 

And now, dear reader, I  must go back inside and close all doors and windows, as the horrible, trash-burning hour in Goa (always late afternoon, it seems...) has arrived!

Next time-- a happier note-- FOOD!