Going, Going, GOA!

(Do you get it? It's a play on the phrase "going, going, GONE!" often used in baseball games when someone hits a home run. But instead of the "gone" I used "Goa" because that is the place Mr. ATK and I went a couple weeks ago. So I said, "going, going, GOA!" It's funny because it's a pun. Puns are the highest form of humor.)

So, Mr. ATK and I went to Goa over the holiday weekend--the holidays in question being Veteran's Day and Diwali, conveniently falling on November 12 and 13 this year.  Goa, for those of you who are unaware, is a state in South India that is renown for not only its beaches, but also for the cows that reside on said beaches.

I don't have a whole lot to say about the trip because it was awesome and fun and relaxing. If I have to list the things I liked the most they would be as follows:

• Clean air. The air quality was infinitely better down south. Seriously, the air quality in Delhi recently has been horrible. Like in the hazardous "don't let young children, old people, or asthmatics outside" hazardous. While I'm sure the air in Goa is not pristine, the sky was blue and we were not constantly engulfed in some sort of toxic fog.
• Cows! Being from Wisconsin, cows should not be quite as fascinating to me as they are. And normally I wouldn't be taking 80 pictures of cows. But cows on a beach, well, that's a whole 'nother story.  Mr. ATK pointed out several times how I took more pictures of cows than anything else. He said, "All we are going to have are pictures of cows!" To which I replied, "But the cows are on the beach! Cows don't belong on a beach. Or in a restaurant.  That's why the pictures must be taken! If this cow were standing in a pasture in front of a red barn, I would not be taking its picture."

Hey, Mr. Cow! Hope this beach is big enough for the two of us!

• Seafood! While we could not enjoy thick juicy steaks despite the abundance of cows, we were able to enjoy all the delicacies the sea had to offer. Fishermen go out every morning and whatever they catch for the day become the nightly dinner specials. The tandoori red snapper was delicious. Also, baby shark was on sale everywhere. I never ordered any because I'm not sure heavy fishing of baby shark is sustainable. 
• Dolphins. We rode on a boat and saw dolphins. Every time I saw one come up, I thought of this scene in Finding Nemo.

                                      

Other interesting observations:

• Lots of Russians come to Goa. So much so that many of the restaurants on the beaches write signs in Cyrillic. Not sure why they choose Goa. I don't really have any witty comments to make about Russians in Goa. I was trying to think of a joke about Rocky IV but couldn't come up with anything. 
• It doesn't seem like many Americans visit Goa. I assume this because every shopkeeper, taxi driver, and tout that came up to us to make small talk before trying to sell us something they always asked if we were from 1) England, 2) Sweden(!), 3) Germany. Not one guessed USA.  Maybe we didn't look very American. Mr. ATK is sporting a creepy mustache at the moment. Maybe that makes us look European.