Finally, a word from anna

Hello from India! Ha, so as most of you can see I pretty much stink at blogging. Cudos to D who does! India has been such an awesome experience! The culture here is incredible! If I was to choose one word to describe it, it'd definitely be colorful! Seriously, the people, the buildings, the clothes and the nature are so rich and cast! It kind of blows my mind! While I know we still have a week left here, in some ways it feels like an ending. An end to beautiful beaches gorgeous sunsets, an awesome god given guest house and of course the people! I love them all and definitely think of them as my goan family! I am super excited though to continue on our adventure and see varanasi and then the rest of the world...mwah ha ha ha...ha ha... Anyways, please keep praying for demaras luggage-that if will be ready and waiting for her in Varanasi like they say it will be! God bless you all and enjoy the snow for me! (A few snowballs thrown in my honor would not go unappreciated! :D)
love ANNA

The end.. ..or is it the beginning..? :)

I was thinking today about what we've done and what we've experienced here.. We have seen some cool things, and done some sweet stuff. It was wonderful day. :)

Yesterday we went to Old Goa, a town north of here, full of history and beauty. We looked at some HUGE churches and conveys. They are so beautiful. Mmm. :) This is one of the churches in Old Goa. So HUGE and beautiful! :)

Walking in Old Goa..

We then went and RODE AN ELEPHANT! It was fun. .. :) The biggest animal l I have ever had the pleasure of riding, that's for sure. :)

Then we went to a Spice Farm, and got a guided tour of a huge spice plantation. At the Spice Farm, I got to try climbing a bamboo tree. It was so fun! I'm definately not as good as the man in yellow shirt.. He was like a monkey!! So awesome. :)

Our last sunset at the beach, the day before we left. ..So beautiful, and hard to leave. :)

Also, I am REALLY going to miss the people here!! Richard, the best guesthouse host ever. :) Raj, the best Nepali cook ever. And his son, Baboo ( which is not his real name, but a "pet" name) the cutesy 2 1/2 year old Indian boy!!! And then there's John Martin.. The best waiter in the world, and our favorite Goan. :) And SAM! Hmm.. They might be tied for favorite Goan in our minds, actually. He was our waiter here at the gueshouse.. :( We will miss him for sure. I love these people. And to think we get to meet SO many more people on our travels!! I am SO excited.

..and now tomorrow we leave..! Crazy. And somehow.. I feel almost like we haven't DONE anything, you know..? I am getting tired of being the "rich, white people" who can basically do anything we want. Really. They love us. :) Sometimes, I wish I could change skin color and language and culture for one day and just BE one of them. I feel like we miss out on so much by being white tourists.. But anyways, we can't change who we are, nor do we really want to. It's just sometimes.. Well, you know. :)

Write more later, maybe from EGYPT!! :)

Demara

Island, fishing, boating, snorkeling.. WHY NOT? :)

Hmm, what can be better? ..like, really. We were tying to thig of something we can do to top this.. I can't!! We had a wonderful day. All for under $20 Canadian. :) 

We have a favorite restaurant called the Full Moon. We basically like it because of this one waiter who is awesome. :) His name is John Martin, and he is Portugese, but grew up in India. We was pnce stranded in Cuba for 3 months, then lived on an island off the coast of Goa for 3 1/2 months, and he is a "fan" of the Hell's Angels. (He secretly is one of them and us waiting for his boss to get out of prison so they can rule the bike work together.. :) ..oops. Not so secret now I guess.. :)) anyways, this restaurant also does boat excisions. :) So, we took them up on one and had a day of doing exactly as the title of this blog says. It was.. Amazing. I will miss this place.

So, this is our friend, John Martin, getting our lines ready.

Our first catch of the day. Yes,. I kissed it, and no.. It didn't turn into a prince.. :)

Yellow fish!! And.. it makes a funny clicking noise.. so, that explains Anna's face, imitating the fish..  :) Yup. What an action shot. :)

Snorkelling!! And YAY for underwater cameras. :) Beauty.

The Island we landed on after we finished fishing. This is apparently the same Island John Martin lived on for 3 1/2 months.. We're still not sure if he was telling the truth or not.. but it makes a good story! :) Its a beautiful Island. The locals call it Grand Island. 

Us, on Grand Island!! :)

Anna so strong.

Just.. lounging. :)

Our Inukshuk, Betty! :)  

Before.

After. ..  :)

Sam and Baboo!! These are two of our favorite Indian people. :) And no, he's not always tied up. :)

Actually, I was thinking about it, and I will really miss ALL the people here when we leave. Lyla and Susan, who own some shops we've bought things (me, probably too much..) at. John Martin, the best waiter in the world. Other then Sam, of course, who caters to our every need/want here at the guesthouse. And makes us laugh even more!! All the very friendly British folk we've made friends with here. All the neighbors we smile and wave at as we walk the 15 min to the beach very day. I will miss them so much!! It's sad to think we have only 2 days left with them. :( we will fetish every moment. The culture truly is beautiful. :)

Lots of love until we write again!!

(and I WILL get Anna to write some, I promise. I just like doing it!! :))

Love, and God bless.

Demara

Happy hob-nobbing! :)

Well. We have had a wonderful couple of days. :) When I describe what we did, you will understand the title of this blog. :)

Thursday started off bright and sunny and HOT, no different from any other day, I suppose. :) But THEN.. We went dolphin-ing!!! We took a taxi to a place about an hour south of here, on the river Sal. We got on a boat, us and about 6 British couples. :) The captain took us down the river, and out into the sea, where we proceeded to see... Any guesses...? Yeah. DOLPHINS! It was awesome. There were so many! With the few that showed off, of course. There was a baby one, too. So cute. 

The beautiful, unending sea.

Our meal that day..! :)
Then we went back upstream, and the cook on the boat cooked us up some fresh prawns and a large fish.. It was a beautiful meal. So yummy! And that was Thursday. So, that explains the "hobnobbing". :) We definitely felt like we were "hobnobbing with the rich", as Corissa put it. :)

Friday dawned very beautifully, and maybe hotter than most days so far! And it was my birthday. :) I definitely forgot all about it until I was going out in the room earlier then anyone else, and Vanessa rolled over and said, "happy birthday." .. With just about that much enthusiasm, too. :) We all went to the spa for the day, the girls treating me to a mani/pedi, and they all got a pedicure. :) It was lovely. Then, Anna and Vanessa spent all afternoon making a crossword for me! We have kind of become addicted to crosswords.. :) And they got a bracelet made for me with my name on it! A real, woven one, not just beads or anything.. It's beautiful. So, it is "happy", because it was my birthday, AND we got to hobnob with the rich some more. :) it was a great birthday. Thanks guys!! :)
AND to make it even better, (if it can get any better than this..) :)we jumped in some HUGE waves this morning!! It was so fun. :) I LOVE waves.

NINJA. Don't mess with this. :)

We love the sea, and the beach, and.. mud.

Hob-nobbing with the rich? Most definately. :) ..Thats some view, eh? :)

AAHH. :)

Anna whips out her epic, Chuck Norris ninja skills. Watch out... waves.  :)

Its not a photoshop job, honest.. We're just that awesome.  :)

..  Lounging.  ..

So, that's been our last few days. :) The only damper is that there is still no news on my bag.. But, we are doing all we can, and trusting God for the rest. Ease keep praying. :) I would LOVE to have it back before we leave for Egypt. :)

Hope you are all having as much in the snow as we are in the sun!! Miss you all. :)

God bless!!

Demara.

And we are HERE!

WAVES! :) ...or more specifically, the SEA!! :)

So we are here in India. ..or more specifically, Bogalla, Goa, India. We are staying at a guesthouse called Tanisha Guesthouse, and it's about a 13 minute walk from the Arabian Sea. Which is REALLY salty!! :) But it's beautiful. We have a grand time jumping the waves. It is our favorite thing to do. :) other than lounging around in the sun. We have no schedule for the next two weeks! Is wonderful. A true vacation, a holiday in Goa. :)

Walking the beach. SO beautiful.  

 We are all sun-burned and loving life. Still no news on my bag.. Which is a bummer, but I am borrowing clothes for the moment, and REALLY hoping we can have it back before we leave India. Please, God. If you could pray for, I'd be very grateful!!

                At the moment, Anna and I are lounging (lounging is our new favorite word, because it so accurately describes what we do here..) :) by the pool at our guesthouse. It's.. Beautiful.                   

   

 

..Self-explanitory?  :)

God bless you all.

Having the times of our lives,

Demara and Anna. :)

From.. INDIA!!

Not a whole lot of time to write again, unfortunately.. But we made it here safe!! :) luggage is still not in our hands but it is possibly in Goa somewhere.. We just need to locate it. :) we have hope, though! For now, I am mostly wearing Vanessa' things, because she is my size. We went swimming in the ocean today!! SO SALTY!! It was crazy. But so nice. And it's HOT here. Also very nice. How's the weather back home in canada?? Haha. Sorry to rub it in. :) I am trying to upload some pictures too, so I hope that works. I am just on a iTouch, so is a little different. But I'll give it a shot!! Love you all. Keep it real. :)
From Tanisha Guest House, Bogmalo, Goa, India. :)
Demara.

from... LONDON!!

This is how we occupied our time in the airports!! Cards. Epic. :)

Hello everyone!!

So, we made it too London safely. :-)  (they have a special button that makes the smiley face for me!!  :-) haha..awesome.) But this keyboard is REALLY  annoying to type on, so I won't write much. But London is beautiful so far! ..Or at least the airport. We will not leave the airport, for those of you who are wondering. (..parents.. :-) )   Keep us in your prayers and we will write more later!!

Love from London,

Demara, Anna and Vanessa.

Updating our blog in the London Airport.

...TODAY. Yikes!

So, everyone. Today is the day. Anna, Auntie Cathy and I leave for Calgary this morning at about 9:20 am. We will stop at a few banks on the way, then McDonalds for breakfast, (apparently, there's a good deal on!!) :) then head to Calgary to spend time with my sister, her husband and my beautiful nephew for the afternoon. Then, at about 4:30, we will head to the airport, and meet Vanessa in the airport. We depart at 7:05 pm.. for the adventure of a lifetime!! It came so quickly, and yet while we were waiting, it seemed like it was taking FOREVER to come. And now the day has arrived!! And we are STOKED. :)
We will try to write on this blog as much as possible throughout our trip, even just a few words to let the world know we are still alive. :) When we have time, we will write more and give a more indepth report.
Well. We are off! Auntie Cathy is rushing us out the door. Here we go!!
World, here we come.  :)
God Bless you all,
Demara and Anna.

The Final Countdown

Wow! It's so hard to believe that we only have one week left in cold, frozen Canada before we are off to India, and then the world!  We are both starting to get super excited, however, a week still seems so far away...can't time go faster? I suppose it's good that time hasn't gone faster because I still have yet to start thinking about packing...oops! D is all packed and ready to hop on the plane, and has been for a good week now!  Yay D! 

I am looking forward to random adventures that will occur; adventures beyond my imagination!  (haha, that sounds so epic!)  But mostly I am looking forward to a growing reality I will have of the world that will change and mature me for the better.   May God be with you all this week as you start work, school or just get back into your routines!  Please keep us continually in your prayers!

Love in His Peace,
Anna

"I command you - be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9