Food poisoning.

Breakfast is such a delight at Hotel Soraya. Rama, one of the servants, comes to by bungalow at 830am and asks what I'd like. His omlettes are the best. Toast, coffee or tea, cut fruit, and an array of jams. I've just finished breakfast and having a bowl of fresh cut pineapple slices as I write this.

I'm finding that I'm not spending as much time writing about my experiences as I thought I would be. It's such a foreign land to me and I'm allowing myself to be thoroughly immersed by the environment. My Indian headshake is coming along very nicely and even after a few days here it seems like the most natural thing to do. Haha! I remember in primary school we used to always make fun of the lone Indian boy and mock his Indian head shake by imitating it. I love it. There is an important non-verbal element in the gesture that cannot be conveyed through words.

Breakfast is so satiatingly abundant that Lunch usually consists of just some fruit. According to the ayurveda food guide and my respective doshas (pitta-Kapha dominant), banana isn't favourable, which is a bummer because I'm so lazy (Kapha) and its a an easy fruit to eat. Since arriving in Goa, I've been going to a local restaurant down the road for dinner. The first night I had fish curry, then the biryani mutton (heavenly!), then 2 nights ago the prawn curry. I came home starting to feel queasy in the stomach, and soon developed into full blown abdominal cramps. I didn't get much sleep that night and spent most of the time on the toilet. Morning came and once most of the diarrhoea had gone, I got a low fever. So yesterday was very uncomfortable, with me spending most of my time indoors. I did manage to go to class but decided to leave an hour early when sleep deprivation started to hit.

On the way to Morjim, I got pulled over at a police stop on the far side of Siolim bridge. From what i could see, a lone officer was selectively flagging down motorbikes. In India, foreigners are required to hold an international driving license.

Officer: license?
Me: I don't have it on me.
Officer: Come.
*gestures me to get off my bike and walk to the back of the police jeep where another fat officer is sitting in a lazy 'don't fuck with me' posture.
Fat officer: license?
Me: sorry I forgot to bring it.
Fat officer: where are you going?
Me: I'm learning Ayurveda massage at raso vai in Morjim. I stay in hotel Soraya.
Fat officer: you need an international license or we will have to seize your bike.
Me: oh no let's not do that. How much?
Fat officer: 700 rupees.
Me: 700 hundred?? *in aghast* nooo..
*i had been advised beforehand that 100 rupees is the 'fine' for not having a license on you.
fat officer: how much?
Me: 100.
Fat officer: hah! It's 700.
Me: ok, but I want a receipt.
Fat officer at this point takes out a pen to write on something but says I need to be owner of the bike. Since its a rental, he seems satisfied with my second offer of 100 rupees.
Me: *shuffling through my bag* oh crap! I forgot to bring money too! *looks at fat officer helplessly
Fat officer: Go! Go! *indian head shake*
LOL
I ride away feeling a little flustered and wondering if I would have the presence of mind and balls to tell them next time that this is bullshit and I'm not giving you any money.