Mapusa, Goa

Hello all,

this post is sort of a back-to-the future post as I'm posting it on the date it occured but am writing this after the fact. 

About 40mins south of Arambol lies the most "cosmopolitan" city in Northern Goa. What I soon discovered was that by cosmo, there was Bus depot (not just a stand) and a taxi junction.  Our day here was reletively short, hourwise, but left us talking for hours afterwards. 

We had heard about a market that we told to check out. Picture and open bazaar with shops, stalls and displays on the side of the road. Almost immediately upon entering, we were approached by a young woman named Anita. She offered to help us find a washroom. My first reaction was to not engage as my past experiences in other countries have taught me that after offering to "help" usually implies a fee that you give afterwards, whether a transaction was discussed or not. But, when you gotta go, you gotta go. I grew even mor skeptical when she offered to pay for our toilet fee (2 rupees), but we politely declined and thanked her for he services after arriving at the facilities.  Upon exiting the washroom, Anita found us again and just walked with us. I slowly began to engage, and at that point, there was no turning back. She shared how she had just gotten married about 6 months before and that she had not met her husband  until one week before the wedding. I said "congratulations" and she didn't really have much positive things to say. Apparently, her husband does not work, and enjoys playing cricket although he is not very good. This is why Anita is in the market - she works and sells an assortment of spices, loose leaf tea and pashminas. Anita is 22. She found us so that we would go to her display on the dirt road in the hopes that we would purchase something. Purchase, we eventually did, but not without me thinking to myself, "is she, or isn't she telling the truth?" then the next thought was feeling bad that I began to assess one's trustworthiness in the face of such apparent poverty. I was soon reminded that I do this every day steps outside of my workplace. 

The face of poverty is undeniable everywhere in the world. The scary part, I think,  is when we choose to deny it.

I'm still trying to figure out a healthy balance between giving/helping from a genuine place versus being scammed and taken advantage of. Perhaps it's ok risking being taken advantage of 1/10 times knowing that you are actually legitimately helping someone in need 9.5/10 times. Or maybe not... Ultimately, it's everyone's personal decision what you choose to do with your money/time... 

There are many thoughts brewing endlessly in my mind on a daily basis here. This was one of the many... 

And oh, on a more lighter note - we returned later that afternoon to visit with Amin again and say goodbye and in the process of getting a bracelet altared for Mel, he asked us to watch his shop! Haha, so for about 5mins, Mel and I were shopkeepers :) we didn't sell anything but walked away that we had a true encounter where a local trusted us completely to watch over his livelihood while he did us a favour :)

dL