The pied piper of dancing over the holidays

Our Christmas and New Years in Palolem goa and how I became the Pied piper!

We were lucky and blessed in one major respect while we christmased in Palolem in that we met a great group of people almost right from the get go. We Met Ty who brought the whole family together in a day. A canadian from Victoria British columbia as well as another fellow B.C. resident by the name of Richard (reminded us a bit of Ross from friends and our brother David) and they're was a british couple by the names of Jason and Kat from the U.k. as well as another counter part to our party Vince from France who always wore a white cotton shirt with only one button buttoned. The group of us would meet and have dinner together every night for a week and spent most of our days together as well scouting out distant beachs and the like. But for seven days and nights we and a few other friends (Natalia the beach flirt and Gian or as we referred to him as Jack Sparrow "Johnny Depp" because half the time you couldn't understand what he was saying) roamed the beaches at night in our own little pack or family.

Christmas Eve we ordered up to have a turkey cooked for us all at our favorite restaurant. And what came out....I guess was turkey but it looked more like a peacock to me. I said a blessing over the meal and our time together and then proceeced with the Cunningham tradition of cutting the turkey for everyone. A messy business especially if you saw the turkey but a necessary one made matters easier thanks to Dad knighting me only last year in the tradition of cutting and serving the turkey.

Some many drinks later we wandered down the beach to Cafe Del Mar (The local beach club/bar and were lucky enough to have a fire display for us and what turned out to be a hundred and more people watching by our very own Jason and Kat. Who happen to run a business back home setting up huge break beat parties, raves, and so on. but part of that Business is doing what they do as well. Kat brought out her fire poy and started spinning and dancing the Fire poy across the sands while the clubs music was blazing out into the night. (Fire poy are 2 chains 2 feet long with 2 balls that are sepped in parafin and set on fire on the end) - Large crowds gathered watching and cheering at what Jason called the "Sexiest thing in the world man!" This was soon followed by Jason breathing out 15 ft. bursts of flame into the night above and later juggling and hand juggling (Remember David Bowie with the crystal balls in the movie labryinth the same thing) But almost in a form of Dance. I don't know any other way to explain it but it looked just great. It was one of many great nights to come. But made for a very interesting christmas eve.

Christams day started with an early christmas breakfast before leaving on a package deal to take a tour out into the Jungle and go Canyoning. And lots of cliff diving into a cool clean river below. Jumping from waterfalls and Belaying down on climbing ropes next to one while climbing up on harness and ropes on others. I never thought to be jumping off 30 ft. ledges for christmas. A fuuny thing happened that day. When we got back to the Jeep Jason picked up this beautiful butterfly with a slightly injured wing. It stood there on his finger as he held it up for us to look at. It really was beautiful. And then it flew away from him as gracefully as butterflys fly and right when Jason said "fly free little fella" it drifted right down into this pond and in a second was eaten by like 5 frogs. A moment of terror, Violence, and horror as everyone simultaneously took a step back and went AAAuuuoooooowww!!!!

We all returned in our safari cruiser and headed over to the cool breeze restaurant for burgers and a beer before splitting up for naps and then meeting for dinner. Michelle, Beth, and I returned to our bungalow porch under the shade of palms and surrounded by smooth sand to open our christmas presents that Beth had brought us from home. Three cloth Santa sacks that mom had sowed for us for christmas. All containing our presents from home. Mine had star wars prints all over it.....very cool. But I am under the impression that everyone back home thinks I have a severe hygene problem.....(which I might seeing that I have a mystery rash spreading right now....but thats a different story) My presents consisted of New underwear, new socks, q-tips, 1 new tooth brush, a whole kit that included shampoo, conditioner, apricot scrub, chapstick, tinactin for athletes foot, and a nail clipper, 3 packs of gum, as well as not 1 but 4 packages of travel wet wipes.... I do admit to having a habit of dubious hygene but come on now. I also got food - snacks - and candy from home as well as nice cards and donations from A&J painting to cover the holiday expenses and more. As well as compensations from Mom to pay for our meal. The rest of the meal money we donated as a christmas present to cover half of the groups meal costs. It is after all the season of giving. But we loved all the presents though michelle was a bit miffed about getting some femenine wipes as well. The Gummi lifesavors were a small piece of heavan. And Jenny's after bite has been a saving grace the last week. thank you all. As well as Cousin Dan , Leah , Casey , and uncle Pat for donating me " A New Computer!!!!" for crying out loud....that's a lot Of I owe you's!!!

We had booked Christmas dinner at the swankiest restauraunt on the beach. Everyone arrived at 7:30 for a seafood feast and front row seats on the deck beachside for cocktails sipped out of cocunuts, grilled Tiger prawns, And a few snacks with water and rounds of beer all around. Dinner came on a platter of leaves with stuffed crab, breaded crab, lobster, A kingfish steak, mussels, Squid, fresh bread, rice pilaf, and fresh pineapple with white wine. Dinner was followed by coffie liquers and chocolate cake as we lounged into the night sipping on drinks and watching fire works illuminate the beach up and down. We followed the night up with some sheesha (Tobacco from a huka) and drinks till 5 a.m. at Cafe Del Mar. Over many stories and belly renching laughs all night long. We celebrated christmas till 5 a.m. I finished the night and ran out for a swim and some prayer time in the rolling waves before falling into a good sleep and the end of christmas. A few days later all of the group "family" left save us. Moving onto other places in India, or to Singapore, or back to B.C. A sad day.

New years though was a blast in every way that I wanted a new years on the beach to be. We had met Dom and Kay a young british couple the day before having dinner under a massive banyon tree. We took in another Dinner of good Pasta and olive cheese bread with plenty of cool drinks while curling your toes in the sand over dinner. The beach was packed. At least three times more then what we had seen over christmas. Returning toward cafe Del Mar we sat on the beach having Gin and sprites before elbowing our way deep into the crowds for the new year to begin. Thousands of people crowded out of Cafe Del Mar onto the beach all the way to the tides. Fire works were flying up in the hundreds up and down the beach.

When the clock ticked into the new year we were standing out on the beach in front of Cafe del Mar with literally a few thousand and more people screaming and jumping up and down on the beach. And in good India fashion this happened not once but three times. So much for the times square countdown. The whole stretch of beach and a few dozen palm trees are wrapped in christmas lights. But The beach was busy and the skies were lite up all night with the celebrations of Fireworks. We danced on the beach from party to beach party up and down and all around. Around 5 or 6 I found my bed and set my weary legs to sleep. But it was a great night, with great dancing, resting by huge bon fires with people dancing shadows around it, and several times I just stripped down to my skivvies and ran out into the ocean for a swim to cool down. Neeedless to say I was a sand box by the time I went to bed. But what a night! A night to remember!

O ya, and the strangest thing happened. Where ever on the beach at any time of the night that I would start dancing. The local Indian guys would rally around me. It was the craziest thing. I would just start dancing and suddenly there would be anywhere from 2 to 30 (literally) guys dancing and hopping up and down around me or copying me. I mean at one point I was so sick of dancing with or for all these guys that I walked a ways down the beach away from any party and just started dancing along the tide line alone and within 2 minutes all these guys ran upto me and started dancing with me. It was like I was the pied piper of indians or something.

There was one point where I was dancing in a huge circle in the sand with a few hundred people watching and another 30 or 40 guys following me and dancing around the circle with me copying every hippie move I could throw out there. So it turned into like a huge hippie mosh pit with me running in circles flying through the air in a drunken stupor with another thirty guys trying to do the same thing....you have no idea. Well the numbers just started getting out of hand with how many indian guys were streaming in to dance ( I can already hear the comments coming out of Reondos mouth...) And they all just started jumping up and down around me swinging shirts and going into a frenzy like I had just scored a goal for the national team or something... GGGGOOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! before beth and michelle came running and grabbed me and just screamed run......Ya......so we did,,,,,, till we got down to the next beach party and the whole process would start over again.

Most of the time Beth and Shell just stood back in hysterics telling me I had a fan club. It in a small way reminds me of a very Napolean Dynamite moment for me when I was in high school dancing alone on a stage in front of a couple thousand brothers and sisters who were all on they're feet screaming and clapping like I was Sammy Davis Junior or something. I only have Reondo's eyes to witness my one moment of Glory! But for days and weeks after kids would come up and say "HEY your that dancing white dude!" It was the same all over again in India I have no idea how manys hundereds of hands I shook (Vigouresly) or hugged over the course of the night. Well i guess there was a lot of love though and still reminiscent of back home. the last two days guys in town will recognize me and run for another handshake and say "hey, remember me!" and start dancing a little indian Jig. Craziness.....India...I tell you craziness. I guess I'm the pied piper of Dancing..To bad it only seems to draw young brown clean Indian boys. If only
all that could have worked with the chicks in the clubs back home man. Maybe some day. Happy new years....I love you all -Jeremy.