Claiming the Right to Say No-30 Nov 09-EQUATIONS - Equitable ...

Claiming the Right to Say No
with you and make you enjoy the dance to the fullest. The music plays an
important role in the parties, it makes you feel younger to enjoy the present
and you can feel as if you are totally free from everything. Yes, I mean it
raises you. It can take you to a trance and thus one can see many
nonsensical steps on the dance floor. Since the music is too loud we
cannot communicate well in that arena. But, I could still manage to get
across to three Israeli females; they were friends and were living close to
Anjuna. They had come down to Goa for the first time and after three days
they will leave Goa. I managed to talk with only two of them and the third
one was held by Sr Zita who was ready to share anything about Israel.
But what happened was that the party ended and the conversation too
got to a full stop. Since, we got the news on our second last day that the
Israeli tourists have shifted to Arambol, we also moved to Arambol and
there we got a little richer experience.
Left right left chalo…Arambol…aram karnne ko
The right side of Arambol Beach is mostly covered by Israelis and other
tourists, while the left side is covered by Russians. An Israeli guy named
Ali was kind enough to teach us some Hebrew words like ‘sababa’,
‘mashowka’, ‘thoda’ which can help us in our conversations with the
Israelis. After learning these words, while I was having a stroll on the left
side of Arambol Beach I said ‘sababa’ to a lady who was sitting alone and
her reaction was showing me that she disliked Israelis. Because, she said
to me that she was not an Israeli and neither does she like to talk. That
was the mistake I did by saying ‘sababa’ to a person of a different region.
But, often, the view of people on Israeli tourists varies. Some say they
want cheap things. Myron and I chatted with the family from Moscow in
‘Surf Club’, they called them cunning and one can never be sure what
they are up to; always on the move. As far as my experience, the Israeli
girls/women were quite open to conversation while the men did not like to
and we often had very poor response from males.
On the right of Arambol, there are special restaurants for Israelis. The
‘Surf Club’ which I mentioned earlier, is owned by a foreigner from England.
40