Surf and Turf

What a busy day! We started out with a visit to my old high school – Chowgule College, with Sameer and family. This being a Sunday, there was hardly anybody around, but the Phys. Ed teacher happened to be on the grounds so he took us around the school and showed us all the changes that have been made since I left 25 years ago. I still recognized the older buildings, corridors, and sports areas, but what a change! The whole campus has had a face lift, and new buildings have been added. The grounds, which used to be just grass, now have flower gardens, trees with sculptures sitting under them and well-maintained pathways. The soccer pitch used to be just dirt, but now has a world-class artificial turf surface, the same type that was used for the U-20 Soccer World Cup in Ottawa! I want to go back to school here!! In fact, our guide mentioned with a laugh that some alumni have enrolled in a course or two, just to be able to use the new facilities.

Next we drove out to Benaulim, one of our beach hangouts. It was not very crowded and the waves were great. There were some water sports going on near us – parasailing, banana boats, seadoos, etc. but we just enjoyed the waves and the warm water.

We got cleaned up at the hotel and had some pizza for lunch (Domino’s – yum), and then it was time for a drive into the interior of Goa. Sameer had to drop his son off at a camp and we tagged along. After the camp we went to Chandor, where we visited one of the old Portugese mansions. The building and all the furniture have been maintained in their original form, so it was very interesting to see 400-year-old furniture, china, etc. Christina and I even danced a waltz in the grand ballroom – there was no music, so we just counted! Descendants of the original Portugese family still live in a small section of the mansion and accept donations from tourists for the upkeep of the place.

On the way back we stopped to visit with Sameer’s parents for a few minutes, where they served us some Goan sweets and bananas. We also visited the Margao Baha’i Centre and chatted with the family staying there. All this sight-seeing and visiting meant it was pretty late by the time we went to dinner – around 10 o’clock. Sameer and family invited us to dinner at a very nice restaurant. We had the specialties of Goa: prawn curry, kingfish, sun-dried prawns, etc. It was excellent. Brought back fond memories.

Nassim and Navid – I tried to go to Manovikas school for you, but the building has been demolished and the school relocated near Chowgule College. Sorry.

NM