Goa, India

On Wednesday, we took a drive through the Goa region. Of course, before we could board the bus, we had to go through major immigration checks. Some of us got fingerprinted, some didn’t. (I did, Joe didn’t.) After showing your visa, you’d walk about 10 feet and then show someone else your visa. What you might have done in those 10 feet that required another look, no one knows. But such is life in India’s immigration world!

Eventually we boarded the bus, and enjoyed the countryside of Goa as we drove to our destination. There was much greenery at this time of year, as the monsoon season just ended last month. They said that the rains lasted a little longer than usual this year. Coconut trees and cashew trees are native to this area, and we passed many of them and also many palm trees.

Goa has had many rulers during its history, but the longest rule was by the Portuguese. It was the Portuguese who brought Catholicism to Goa. Catholics comprise 1.5% of the population of the country of India, but they comprise 26% of the population of the Goa area. The Hindu population here is 60% with Muslims at 5%.

Our tour guide’s name was Lindsey. Our first stop was to view the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The bus dropped us off where it was convenient to pull over, and so we walked a few blocks to the church and enjoyed some of the street scenes along the way.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception sits on a hill known as Church Square at the end of a street. It is a really beautiful church and a majestic sight. It was built in the 16^th century. According to Lindsey, it is white because white represents purity.

 

After taking pictures, we walked back to the place where the bus had dropped us off. As we were standing around waiting for the bus to arrive, a police officer came over and asked our group to move away from a certain spot nearby because it was a crime scene. We complied immediately. We certainly don’t want to interfere with a criminal investigation. In India. If immigration here is so strict, I can imagine what interfering with a crime scene would entail.

Once back on the bus, we drove a short distance and then made a stop for a bathroom and/or shopping break. The shop where we stopped contained some beautiful items.

 

We re-boarded the bus and drove to a part of town known as Old Goa. The first thing we viewed when we exited the bus was an archway, or gate, through which Viceroys would enter and leave Goa. Since they were important and powerful people, the arch was built to welcome them and it is appropriately called the Viceroy Arch.

 

Next we walked a short distance to view the 5 Catholic churches that were located in this area, all within walking distance of each other. The first church we visited was St. Cajetan, which is a replica of St. Peter’s in Rome, although much smaller. They allowed you to take photographs in the church, but only with a phone; no cameras allowed. Kind of a strange rule.

 

The next church we visited was called Se Cathedral and is the largest Cathedral in Asia. The word Se is Portuguese for See (as in a Catholic Diocese also called a See, as in the See of Rome.) This Cathedral was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over a Muslim army in 1510. Since the day of the victory happened to be the feast of St. Catherine, the Cathedral is dedicated to her and the official name is Se Catedral de Santa Catarina, or See Cathedral of St. Catherine.

 

We had been told to dress respectfully to enter churches and temples (covering shoulders and knees), but this is the first church where someone actually stood at the door, inspected what you were wearing, and either let you in or turned you away. Some members of our group were turned away. (No report of anyone wearing a Steelers jersey being turned away.)

This Cathedral had many beautiful side chapels, and at the rear of the church, there was a baptismal font that had been used by St. Francis Xavier when he baptized converts in Goa.

 

Baptismal font used by St. Francis Xavier

St. Cajetan Church and Se Cathdral were the only two churches we were allowed to go inside. We walked to the other three churches and took pictures. They were the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Church of Bom Jesus (which means baby Jesus), and Church of St. Francis Xavier. 

Church of Bom Jesus

As we were walking back, Joe noticed a group of 7 or 8 ladies who were wearing saris but not colorful ones like most Indians. These saris were a uniform khaki-colored, rather bland. Joe asked Lindsey who they were and she said they were nuns.

 

This area where the churches are located is not far from the shore. Lindsey told us that the Portuguese sailors would visit church before going on their voyages.

On the drive back to the ship, we took a few pictures of the coastline of the Goa region. 

Oil rigs in the Arabian Sea

Upon arrival at the ship, we, of course, had to go through immigration again and passed through probably no less than 4 or 5 stations where we had to show our papers, just in case a stranger snuck into our group while we were out and about in Goa. I’m glad to report that no strangers were found and we were released to the ship in order to leave India and head for Sri Lanka, our next destination.

A couple of notes:

First, Joe’s phone broke, so if you have sent him texts and are wondering why he is not answering, it is not because immigration abducted him. If you need to communicate with Joe, email is best. He is able to check his email on the laptop.

Second, there sometimes occurs some oddities in the blog as far as the layout goes. Pictures might have large spaces between them; the font changes style and color for no apparent reason, etc. I have no control over any of that. The blog program that I am working with is not super user friendly and it is actually a minor miracle that I have even been able to create blogs and enter posts. If I had a millennial to consult, I would be able to no doubt correct some of these things with their advice. But I’m afraid you’re stuck with this senior citizen living (and posting) in a millennial world😊