I arrived on Thursday morning, to find Arambol, Goa exactly how I left it. Sunil was waiting at the bus stop with a Jeep to receive my luggage and me. While driving through beautiful Goa all I could think of was the extremely long journey that I embarked on to come back to this beautiful place, and how blessed I am to be here.
We arrived in the early A.M., Sunil had some friends unload the truck, and we began to catch up on life over the past 4 months. I began to unpack my bags, not something I wanted to do at that moment, but something Sunil insisted I do so that he could see what was inside these extremely heavy bags of mine. We had fun going through every item. I showed him all the coffee equipment, the new baby gear, and the few presents I brought for him as well. Then, after unloading my bags we went out for a walk on the beach and met up with many of our friends from last season. Everyone seemed to know that I was coming, and told me that Sunil was anxiously awaiting my arrival. Everything seemed so unreal!
After lunch, we proceeded to meet up with our landlord, and discuss signing our lease. We then started drawing up plans of what we want our coffee shop to look like, and began making appointments with carpenters to get quotes for building our little hut.
Now, we are one day into construction, and things are moving along nicely. I am working with a friend of mine to design the menu, and Sunil and I are doing research about prices. If everything continues to go as planned, we will have the shop up and running by Nov. 15th, our Grand Opening!
These past couple of days have flown by. Sunil and I moved (of course after I unpacked all my bags), to a small hut behind where we are building the coffee shop. The landlord and his wife have been very helpful with instructing us how and where to find the best price for building materials, as well as getting the correct permits to run the business. Construction is scheduled to be finished on Monday, and then we have to start painting and decorating. That’s the part I’m excited about!
Also, Erez, my Israeli friend that I worked on the website business with last year is here already and working full power. He has done an enormous amount of work to make the website 150 times better, and we have already laid down our plan of action for work this season. He has already promised Sunil and I an ad for the coffee shop on the front page of the website, which should be very helpful in promoting our little place of business! We also have a lot of work in store for us to get people using the website and advertising, but honestly, the website has massive potential. If you all want to check it out, its www.lonely-goa.com. Its still under construction, and might load a little slow right now, but it gives you a sneak peak into what we are working on, and what Goa is like.
June is doing fine, except she isn’t making it very easy for me to sleep at night. The beds are much harder, everything is much louder (that’s what you get when you sleep in a hut), and I am still adjusting to the time change. I have woken up before 6 AM every morning since I arrived, however, I am going to sleep before 9pm, so it is going to take me some time to adjust. I am planning to make an appointment to see highly recommended doctor within the next couple of weeks, and I am looking for a Thai Chi instructor to start evening lessons as well.
Honestly, it feels amazing to be here. Of course I feel extremely overwhelmed by it all sometimes, but I think its because it all seems unreal. Sunil and I spend lots of time talking about June’s arrival, and making plans for the next year with her. Ohh, and we also decided on a name for our coffee shop. We are going to name it after June, Junu’s Coffee Bar & Bakery. Erez is working on a graphic for us, and I will post it when its done to get everyone’s opinion.
I miss everyone so dearly, and spend my wake less mornings thinking about my family and friends. I know you all would love it here so much! Life is so drastically different. I wish I did a better job at describing the beauty and serenity that you feel when you are here. But, you will all just have to experience it for yourselves someday. The door to my hut is always open for any and all visitors, so hurry and come!
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