Today was the day we had been building up for. Rick had told us that what we saw today could be upsetting, as we were visiting our first old peoples home, as well as feeding the poor.
Our first stop was to Mapusa market, near Panjim, where we bought some night dresses for the old ladies, t shirts and hats for the old men, and rice for the poor. Only 380 rupees for 25 kilos (about £4)! Here we got to see Rick bartering prices, so that we could see what we needed to do for later when we visited Anjuna market.
On site, the old peoples home looked rather trodden down. The first thing I noticed was a little lady sitting on the porch, watching us as we came in. You couldn't help but see how fragile she was, and as we walked into the dormitories, we saw more old ladies sitting on their beds. Afterwards, we all agreed that seeing the ladies reminded us of our grandparents, and how fortunate they are to live they way they do on pensions and in care homes. However, we knew they had good care. Some of us found it hard to hold back the emotions from meeting these women, especially when one lady broke down in tears as she prayed to Rick about how lucky she was to have us 5 boys come and visit her. I would have to saw that I found this hard to watch, because it made me think that these people have nothing, and are grateful for us coming there. I don't think they cried about they present we gave them, but simply for us being there with them for a few hours. Looking around their rooms, all that they contained were beds and a few cabinets. Just what do they do everyday?
Next up was the men's dormitories. There were fewer men than women, and were certainly much quieter than the women. However, there was this one man who stood out straight away. The guy in the middle of the picture above has to be the coolest guy in India. As soon as he saw us, he came over and started talking about himself and us, and it was very interesting to hear about his life and the things he has done. As with the women, they were very appreciative of their gifts.
Then it was time to visit a village where we would feed the poor rice and sweets. Unfortunately, we could not personally feed the children because of the 2 men watching over us, but we did get the opportunity to hand out sweets. This was a memorable experience, because you could see the desperation on their faces as they looked up at you, pleading for more 'chocolate' to fill their empty stomachs.
Final stop of the day was Anjuna market. We had been told that it was the size of 3 football pitches, and it lived up to its expectations. Because it was only recently that the monsoon season ended, some stools were still being set up. First off we went to a bar near the beach for lunch, where we saw a very talented girl tight rope walking, and Rick taught us how to devour a chicken drumstick! Then we started on the shops. Being boys, we weren't as good at shopping, but we learnt along they way about how to lower prices and get a better deal. It felt bad buying sunglasses for less than £2 from a desperate shopkeeper, but it isn't guaranteed to be genuine. Rob was the shopaholic among us, buying gifts for everyone and bartering down prices to get less than half the amount offered. Only problem was, how would he fit it all in his suitcase?
A spectacular thunderstorm ended an eventful day, with almost all of Goa suffering from no power due to the storm. Luckily out hotel had a generator, otherwise it would have been us as well using candles for light!
