The Seat Belt Scarf

When we were leaving on the scooters to go to the Mapusa Carnival Parade, Leela ran back in the house and came out with a beautiful pink and turquoise scarf. It was lovely and it complimented her outfit. What I did not realise was that later on in the evening, Leela would be using it as a seat belt to tie Tejas to her on the scooter. Biri said that there are times where the five of them are on the scooter  when travelling into town. Crazy things go on on scooters in India! Leela said that she can usually handle things when Tejas and Angad fall asleep when they are riding in front of her on the scooter but it gets difficult if Ramka falls asleep behind her. She has to stop and readjust at that point. You just do what you have to do. There aren't as many rules and police in India.

The Seat Belt

I liked watching Leela in the market because the vendors underestimated her. She looks like a tourist but she knows the prices very well. She usually got the price she wanted. The scarf she brought along for the ride was so long that Lena had to pick it up off the ground and swing it over her shoulder. All the better to wrap up a sleeping child with.

Rita in the Carnival spirit

Rita really wanted to feel a part of the festivities so she bought a gold mask. She couldn't wear it the entire parade because it was too hot.

 

Terrifying fish float

There were many floats that represented the fishermen of Goa. There were at least four floats with plump sailors swaying back and forth wearing basically a scarf wrapped somewhat discretely to cover their junk. I will spare you the visual.  This fish does not give me the desire to eat the seafood in the area. It kind of looks radioactive.

 

Carnival dancers

I thought this women was beautiful. If you look carefully at the image you might be able to see that she has applied white makeup on her face. Biri told us that some Indian people do this to make themselves look paler. All of the people on their billboards and TV shows are fair-skinned. We saw it happen pretty much in every area of India that we travelled to.