Goan Food and Churches

My staple diet on this trip: anise seed covered in sugar. Luckily, my friends didn't care for it so within a day and a half, I downed the whole bag. It is good for digestion and adds an extra ring of cellulite on the thighs, why would you ever refuse?

The food is slightly different in Goa than most of India. Like the rest of Goa, it is Mediterranean/Indian fusion, with plenty of seafood and spices. I had the tastiest naan (butter, garic, and cheese-the guiltiest pleasure ever) and butter chicken I have ever had in my life in Goa.

Fresh catches for the day. I wanted it ALL. There is nothing like watching the creature move only 10 minutes before it makes it to your table. Dee-ish.

Various hunks of sugar. The black chunks are molasses sugar. I found a small sample while walking around the market. I bushed off the bug that was crawling on it and took a bite. Sooo yummy.

A heap of chilli. We bought vanilla beans from the owner of this chilli mountain. 100 beans for 20 bucks. I don't know what to do with it, but all my culinary friends had a plethora of fancy ideas. We can't buy vanilla extract in Doha because of the high alcohol content (alcohol is strictly prohibited here). Guess what I used in my coconut cookies yesterday? I am sure it is blasphemous to those who know the true value of a vanilla bean, but the cookies were extra tasty.

A happy visual

We ate at a traditional Goan Restaurant one evening. It was magical. We put on smokey eyes and were serenaded by some instrumentals. The atmosphere was as good as the food and the only thing it lacked was a Jason Mraz song, which we fruitlessly requested.

To make you drool...

The other appeal of Goa are the Catholic churches. It is strange to be in India where Christianity is so strong. Truthfully, I missed the strong Hinduism vibe there, but I was able to find a few temples to feel like home. Nothing like a good Kali idol to bring peace to your heart.

There were definitely fewer temples than there were churches.

Old Goa Church is one of the older churches that houses the remains of the famous St. Francis Xavier. St. Xavier was sent to Goa by the Portuguese king and it is believed that he converted over 30,000 Goans in the 1500s. You can't see much but Xavier's skull from where we stood. I saw some red, and some brown, and grey linen. Care for me to go into more detail? I could if you want.

I don't care much for the canonized remains, but the structure itself was impressive. It all adds to the Goan charm. It isn't as spicy as the food, but unique and interesting just the same.

Oil Paintings

This is Axel again. It has been a while... I guess traveling three weeks out of the month or so will do that for you...

I have always been a bit afraid of doing oil painting. I actually took a class at BYU and did horribly. I remember thinking I was never going to do this medium again. Then I went to our next door neighbor's Brett art show and I was really impressed with his paintings and stuck with the colors and how he used them. He also said something about trying to make the painting feel like something and I realized I had never really done art as feeling. Mostly I have done art as representation of what something looked like. I really liked what he had done and I agreed that perhaps it was something worth giving it a shot.

Also, Terah has been talking about doing art and I thought perhaps this would be something we would get into together.

So I started with one for Xay. My mom had painted an orchid that I collected with my dad so I thought I would do one first of the orchid Xay collected in Nepal. It turned out kind of comic bookish, but hey, it was my first one.

I really like Van Gogh's painting style. Very quick but his pictures make me feel when I look at them. So I tried paint a few.

The first was one of the apple blossoms that he did (he was influenced by Japanese art at the time). I actual still almost like this one the best even though it is my second one I did. I really liked doing the blue background.

This is a close up. I liked doing the bark on the trees, not so much the flowers...

Here are a few others in no order I painted them in:

This one is after the Iris one VG did. His never turn out the way I like. They look like a picture, but doesn't have much feeling. I am trying...

Here is a close up of one of the Irises. I actually like the little flowers in the background better than the irises. They make me want to do one of VG's sunflowers.

This one is based on a Monet. I added a few things to try to make it look like Michigan in the winter. The mountain I guess means it is the upper peninsula. The picture is smooth except for the snow on the water. I globbed on the white to make it look more like snow. THere is a small red wing black bird on the tree which my dad and I used to hunt.

This one I did on a Monet as well, but put in the Doha Islamic Art Museum at sunset. It is one of my favorites. The colors are much better than this picture.

This is just a western one I did from a picture. Ugh, I hate this one..

This is a picture I took of Terah in Switzerland. I am not done with it. I don't like that she is on a rock. I am going to change it to grass and flowers. I kind of hate it. It turned out like a flea market picture. But it isn't done. I think it was Mark Twain that said 'Art is never finished, it is simply abandoned'. I like that.

This is one I did for my Mom. It is trying to be a 'Starry Night' over Manti Utah. It really didn't turn out, but hey, moms love anything you do for them. And it is actually looking at the temple from the spot where Grampa McGarry is buried, so I thought it would be OK. I have to wait for it to dry before I send it. I also need to do more to the sky. It isn't done yet.

Here is another VG rip off though I tried to do it on the Split, Croatia downtown at night. This picture got overexposed.

Then I did one for Linda Camilleri. She loves Dogwood trees so I did this one of Dogwood over a river.

I tried this Haystacks from Monet. With Monet you can't use any lines and you have to try to mix the paint on the canvas. I didn't do that, but I actually like how it turned out.

Here is a close up of the haystack. You can see it is just a lot of globs of paint on the canvas. It is fun to do.

Here is one I did of a VG. When he was in the insane asylum he painted what he could see and cypresses were near by. They are probably my favorite pictures he did. I added the two girls at the bottom to be Heavah and Dona. They fight over who is the one in pink.

I still love VG pictures the most, though I don't feel I have done well yet. I am going to keep practicing though. They are fun because you can do one quickly and if it doesn't turn out, you only wasted a night or two. Most of these are painted in about two or three nights of painting. We were watching Dexter through most of these. Funny, but when I look at them I hear the Dexter theme song.

Terah has done only one so far, but honestly it is my favorite of all the ones we have. It is one she saw in a pottery barn catalog and she did a great job on it. When I look at it I feel something.

Here is a close up of one of them. It has a great 'flowing' feeling

I can do one in about two days. Terah and I put the kids to bed and then watch DVDs together and I paint. She only painted the one but she promises she is going to do more. I am waiting!

Glorious Goa

When Axel and I visited India back in 2006, I always knew I wanted to come back. If I didn't it would be like visiting the US and only seeing New York state. India is so vast and so diverse it would take months to see everything. Goa especially interested me because I heard of its natural beauty, and as a Portuguese colony, it has an interesting mix of culture.

Goa was under Portuguese rule until 1961. Like other parts of India, it feels like it has been frozen in time. The houses have a Mediterranean feel and most of the vehicles are vintage.

Even though there is a European feel in Goa, it is still very much India.

Colours used for Holi. Sadly, we just barely missed the festival.

The ladies pose'n in front of a typical green door. We were such a great combo of personalities. The conversations didn't die. I honestly lost my voice the day I got home and I felt so enriched. By the way, we know EVERYTHING.

My favourite picture of Afton. ever.

Beautiful bangles made for very skinny Indian arms. It is always a challenge for me to get my massive hands to fit in these (comparable to manhands in India, I swear). So, I bought some for Sarita. I must appreciate the beauty somehow.

Cruising the markets and smelling the not-so-sweet smells

Afton experiencing the obligatory elephant bath

We happened upon an Indian wedding. The groom was Indian and the bride was Taiwanese. It was stunning to see so many colourful sarees. I am so sick of seeing the black and white national dress. You need a little florescent orange and cobalt blue in your life, don't you think?

Finally, the shopping was awesome. The absolute highlight was the Saturday market. Nothing makes me feel happier than to haggle. As Axel says, it is a true art. You know it is good when you feel like you should give a little money away just to balance the universe.

Buying our saree purses. We must have bought over 40 purses. I must say it was my favorite buy (and cheapest, which added to the happiness of the purchase).

Contemplating my purchase and wondering how she is screwing me.

If you are interested in seeing India but not all the bad stuff (extreme weather, garbage, and crowds), go to Goa. It is India, but light. The people are friendly and hospitable, and the natural beauty is stunning (more on this in my next post). I keep hoping our next assignment will be India. Southeast Asia is my thing.

Goa--A Sneak Preview

I have come down from the great high that was my trip. I was nervous that something was going to go wrong, but truly, it all went off without a hitch. I felt like I was back in college. You know, uninhibited discussions, make-up tips, and stories that would make your head spin. The only thing this trip confirmed for all of us is that it MUST happen again.

Once I beg my friends for the good pictures, I will post more details. But for now, I will tease you with the grandeur of GOA.

Al Fardan Preschool

Preschools in Doha can easily run around 6K a year per kid. I got suckered into sending both Heavah and Xavier to preschool in Dubai, but soon realized that they were not doing long division or quoting shakespeare by the end of the year. I was not going to pay a college tuition for Dona to go to preschool to learn her alphabet and colors. Plus, I adore Sedona and can't stand the thought of being away from her for too long during the day. Golden children do that to you.

In protest to the huge tuition fees, several moms and I formed a preschool coop. It works out great. Six cute kids, all in close proximity, and all Mormon. Each mom has a week- Mondays and Wednesdays-and we have a schedule but really encourage flexibility and the use of our talents as moms. It is perfect and the best thing for Sedona. The kids love it and it really isn't that excruciating for me, when it is my turn.

This week I had the letter 'S'. What a great letter. There are so many easy ways of getting kids excited. We had a superhero day, ate strawberries and soup, and did some serious sponge painting. It was pure three-year old bliss.

Tomorrow I will be doing 'season's. We will plant seeds and make fake snow. It should be a low key day considering that in the evening all the moms will be boarding a plane for Goa, India (except for Michelle who is nauseously gravid. We will miss you!). In many ways the preschool has been great for the kids, but it is especially great for the moms. This will be really true after we arrive home with tanned skins and stories to share.

Namaste.

Boy's Night

Heavah was recently invited to a compound girl's party. I was excited to have one less body in the house because Axel was out for the weekend. The news of this party didn't go over well with Xavier and he pleaded with me to have a few boys over to watch a movie. I was distracted and listened with only half my brain. The other half was screaming, "Hello? Are you listening? A few boys in place of my fairly low-key daughter? Don't do it! Don't do it!'

When I finally went in the house this is what I found:

11 boys all under the age of 9

To be fair, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. A little sugar, a Star Wars movie and an impromptu pillow fight took care of the evening just fine. It was better than emotional breakdowns and nailpolish.Oh, how I love boys.