"close the windows so the monkeys don't get in"

so i would like everyone to know that i was co-habitating peacefully with a lizard in arambol. he sat on the wall in my room sometimes. we enjoyed the breeze of the fan together. then yesterday i was lying on my bed under the fan (as i often do) with my legs hanging over the edge of the bed and the cheeky little bugger jumped on my leg. scared the crap out of me. i brushed him off and heard the as he hit the floor. *then* he tried to sneak up on me, walking very close to my bed. so i chucked some bottle caps at him and was generally a little freaked out for a while. then we went back to the original arrangement, which was fine.

so i left arambol today and am now in panjim, the capital of goa. i was a little sad to see arambol go - i was living with some cool people, near the beach, eating good food.... but since my sunburn i haven't really been taking advantage of the prime beach location. so i've moved on.

was finally feeling *really*, 100% better by late yesterday, as far as my stomach is concerned. went to the same restaurant again (choices are limited in off season, but they do have a big menu) and had a plate of french fries, chicken masala, plain naan, and 2 beers. most amusing was this guy who showed up alone with a bandage on his foot. he sat down alone. ordered a drink from the guy. then started to go off on one - how long does it take to make one drink, i live here, i've been coming here for five years.... then his drink finally comes and he starts chattering on to us (and we are actually having our own conversation) about how he lives alone and he has an infection in his foot and he's from denmark and his grandmother is a gypsy and he has a dog and two cats and a tv and sometimes he talks to himself too much, so he has to go out and talk to other people...... and so on. was terribly amusing, if not a little difficult to escape.

i just ate lunch in a rather posh restaurant (for india) - right on the water. had *just* enough money left on me to pay for it... but it was very good. now i'm off to see the "sights" of panjim (a few old portugeuse style buildings and churches), though it looks like it might rain.

oh yeah - so when i checked into my hotel here in panjim the owner said to me "make sure you close the windows when you leave or sleep because sometimes the monkeys try to come in.". so i'll be monkey watching behind closed windows tonight.

:)