a lazy sunday at the beach

we got another sunday off. it was great. i got to sleep in, lounge around for a bit, then had to meet up with emma, and the alstom TAs at 2PM. the alstom TAs found a beach about 30 miles from rajahmundry in a town called kakinada. they went there last sunday and were going to drag me along, but since i hadn't picked up my paper by 2PM, they figured i was not in any state to be going.

so, around 2PM, emma, myself, ali, and detlef get into the car and start our 1 hour 15 minute trip to go THIRTY MILES!!!. there are no direct routes to get anywhere in india apparently. so we made it to the beach. the water was excellent. it's a shallow incline so you could walk maybe 100 yards out and still touch comfortably. 4 TA thrown into a shitehole part of the world, swimming in the bay of bengal without a care in the world. it was awesome. we saw something floating 20-30 yards out from us. we joked it was a head, so ali went swimming for it and brought it back... a coconut. so what do two 20-something TAs, and two 30- or 40-something TAs from competing companies do with a coconut? throw it at each other, of course. it was all in good fun, playing catch with a stray coconut, lots of salt water splashing in they eyes, and those things are damn awkward to throw hen they are water logged. it was a really good time.

we had the beach to ourselves, i'd guess at least a mile on each side. there was a significantly long beachline, but we went to a more secluded section, away from the popular area of the beach. it was RIGHT off the road so passers-by could see us. emma didn't get in the water at first, she was a bit modest since she'd lost her bikini sometime between leaving for R&R and returning, so she was rocking a bra and underwear (which is, in essence, all a bikini is), and a wife-beater. the boys were frolicking, relaxing in the water while emma hesitated to get in. after some time, we noticed some indian guys who had seen us, parked their motorcycle, and came to the beach to gawk at emma. after a bit longer, she started walking down the beach to get away from them, and in return, they stalkerishly followed her. if she stopped, they'd stop, if she changed direction, they'd change direction. she was about 1/4 mile down the beach when one of the boys decided to walk up to her, so she walked towards the water to get her feet wet, and he backed off. once the wave had receded, he made attempt #2 which was immediately thwarted when emma turned around to him, and told him she didn't want to talk to him, and he should leave. it was great. so, after she'd destroyed the hopes of yet ANOTHER indian trying to talk to the white girl, she walked back to where we were and decided to come in the water.

we all ended up swimming for maybe an hour, or an hour and a half. during this time, emma had amassed a bit of a crowd. random people driving along the road who looked out there window in time to see a white girl in the water were stopping on the side of the road, getting out, and standing on the beach. waiting... drooling... hoping... to see emma come out of the water. it was crazy. we were the only people on the beach, and within an hour or so, there were maybe 15 indian men just standing around, lala la la. trying to not look obvious but... come on. detlef, gentleman that he is brought a towel down to the water's edge so she could over up as soon as possible, and do her best to avoid being cataloged in these indian voyeurs' spank banks.

i was the only one not smart enough to 1) wear sandals (my shoes were FULL of sand), and 2) bring dry clothes. i got to wear my wet shorts the whole ride home. yea! like, i said, i haven't been to the beach on a while, but it was a good time. maybe again NEXT sunday?

oh yeah, and 7 days til i'm on my way home. i booked my hotels today for coming and going. it's all coming together, now. leave it to my sister to plan her wedding so the reception is during a SATURDAY NIGHT NASCAR race. so i'm not going to get to see a NASCAR race live, nor am i going to get to spend a weekend with my friends in columbus. i know i shouldn't be complaining, i AM getting to come home, but... dammit, this country ruins everything.