Goan Once, Goan Twice, Goan

We made it! This morning we arrived at our hotel in Goa at 9:45am local time (train only 2 hours late), and we are currently surrounded by sand, sun and surf. The boys have just finished a swim and fresh fish and chips at Anthony's shack - of the many shacks that line Colva Beach - life is good.

From the outset it is worth noting why we are here in Goa, and what the next 4 days will entail. We have just completed a fairly extensive chat with the boys, with the following details being relevant to 

you all as blog followers: 

1- Goa is about physical recovery: there are no wake up calls. The boys are free to sleep in, or to get up and then take afternoon siestas; ultimately to do as they please for the majority of the day. The pool is a 20m walk from their bedrooms and the ocean is a 400m walk from the hotel's reception 

area. For the more athletic the beach could also act as a relatively clean running track??? 

2- Goa is about mental recovery: with so much thinking having occurred over the last 3 weeks, today is the day to completely shut off and simply enjoy the surroundings and friendly banter. Tomorrow, individually and within the company of their peers and staff, questions of "how will I explain India to 

my loved ones back at home?", "what photos will I show?", "what stories of personalities will I recount?", etc will begin to be considered. 

3- Goa is about emotional recovery. The boys have been challenged in the upcoming days to consider what this all means? Where to from here? What have they learnt about themselves? About people? About relationships? About life? There is no timetable to the next few days. The boys will come and go, rest and reflect, converse at a 

serious level and also laugh until it hurts. 

Yes it is true many have been feeling a strong sense of home sicknesses over the last half week or so, but as we keep noting, that is why it is called an immersion programme - it is not meant to be short, 

easy or without trials. Furthermore, in recent times many have been frustrated, confused, and even angry with themselves and/or this nation. There had been an impression among some of the boys that the longer we stayed in India the clearer their understandings of the world would become- 

sadly, this was never going to be the case. The longer one spends in this environment the more questions will be unearthed; questions that don't lead to simple answers, or even answers at all. 

Over the next couple of days all of the boys will write a blog which is intended to be a letter to their former self as a 3rd former on his first day of Auckland Grammar School. The intention is they share with their former self the lessons and experiences which have coloured their lives since. These entries will be the last uploads the boys will do (until their final reflections arrive in our inbox a month after the programme- those reflections will then be published both on this site and in a magazine by mid February). 

As for the two of us, there will be no daily summaries coming your way, but rather a brief highlights package recounting the events of New Years Eve - a night that we are all going to enjoy, in this, the most bizarre of places. 

Finally the last blog of our personal thoughts, where we will try to make sense of the whole experience from our perspective, will go live on this blog site on the morning of Wednesday 3 January (NZ time) at the latest. Therefore in short, keep checking in everyday as the boys will continue to add colour to this blog. Likewise please continue to fire through your impressions of the boys' perceptions/learnings, as they have thoroughly enjoyed your interactions. 

Because our contribution on this blog site over the next couple of days will be minimal, can we finally note that our arrival at Colva Beach here in Goa has signalled to everyone that this journey is slowly ending. A hug, a laugh and a tear, just after midday on Jan 4 is not too far away, and will most definitely minimise the immediate feelings of longing for home. We live in a crazy world, yet as New Zealanders we will always connect and find peace with the sun, sand and surf. This place has all of the above, so we sign off wanting you to know that we are well/confused/relaxed/challenged, but 

most importantly, filled with gratitude. 

Tom and Reuben