soul refreshing.

Oh Gokarna, how I love thee.

This past weekend was exactly what I needed: three days without Internet, television, or a phone. Three days of nothing but swimming in the sea, reading on the beach, and playing rummy while snacking on pakodas and sipping on some Old Monk. Three days of escape.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a city girl. I grew up in a small town, and there is a lot to be said for it, but if you give me the choice I will pick living in a city any day of the week. I love the bustle and the crowd and the options for a random Saturday afternoon when you just feel like getting out of the house and doing something.

But having said that, I relish my quiet time as well. If I can get out of the city for a few days every so often, just to refresh my body and my mind, I am set.

And that is exactly what this past weekend was. A chance to escape the craziness of the city and relax after having spent the better part of the last two months doing not much other than grad school applications and studying for the GRE.

And Gokarna did not disappoint. No, we didn't get to say where we originally wanted. And yes, there were a lot more locals on the beach on Friday and Saturday who were a bit rowdy. But overall it was great. We spent a lot of time doing nothing, and the rest of the time figuring out how to spend these last six months before I head back to the US.

Just what the doctor ordered, really.
xx

book updates [especially for Ellie and Anna, if they're reading]:
I just finished reading 'The Girls' [Lori Lansens], a book Ellie grabbed off the shelf at Goobe's last year, shoved on top of my already-too-big pile, and insisted I would enjoy. I finally got around to it, and as always, she was right -- I really liked it. It's the story of craniopagus twins [that means joined at the head, for any of you out there looking for good SAT and GRE words] growing up in small town Canada, and how they live life to the fullest. It's told mostly from the perspective of the stronger twin, with intermittent chapters written by the weaker, which I really enjoyed. If any of you enjoy a good narrative, find this book and read it.

currently reading: 'A Girl Named Zippy' [Haven Kimmel]. It is a memoir that thus far reminds me a bit of David Sedaris, if maybe slightly less dysfunctional -- it is made up of funny/odd/humorous anecdotes involving the author's childhood. It's a fast read - I began it this morning and am already one-third of the way through.

recently read:
'The Wishmaker' [Ali Sethi] -- I liked it, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I weren't bogged down with stuff for grad school at the time.
'Wicked' [Gregory Maguire] -- very different from what I expected. Not necessarily better or worse, but different. And I couldn't stop myself from singing the songs whenever there was a sentence I recognized as being in the musical.
'Jesus Land' [Julia Scheeres] -- quite a gripping story [again a memoir] about a white girl growing up in a fundamentalist Christian family in rural Indiana alongside an adopted black brother who was the same age. It's over 400 pages, and I finished it in about 3.5 days.