Our first few days...

27th / 28th July 2013

 

We last left you at Congleton, Tesco in the blazing sun worrying about how we would cope with the heat in India. After just 3 hours of eating and chatting in the mini bus we arrived at Heathrow in time to welcome Jess from the tube. We all got safety through security (after Jess got frisked and Georgia's bag got searched) and were soon eagerly waiting in duty free. After having a last meal in a mediocre restaurant, we boarded our plane. There was much excitement over the blankets, pillows, tv and games. The flight consisted of 2 meals, a little chatting, a lot of screen watching and not much sleeping. In Delhi airport we all decided that we needed more food and so our first Indian meal was...McDonalds! It was soon time to fly to Pune where the airport was much more basic but we were still able to change some money. The final part of our journey was a rickshaw ride to Sangam! On arrival we had a tasty meal and some of us went for a swim, before crashing into bed for a well needed sleep.

29th July 2013

Our first full day at Sangam was a really busy one! The day started with a delicious breakfast and the daily flag ceremony. We then went into Pune to MG Road, just the 14 of us from Cheshire Border, this was another exciting rickshaw ride.

In Pune, we exchanged our money and did some browsing in the local shops. When we got back to Sangam we started 'Namaste Sangam' activity, and were introduced to all the staff, both international and Indian. The international staff are from Canada, Mayalasia, America, Australia and the UK. The activities continued with games to help learn names and a tour of Sangam, this was followed by a neighbourhood walk. On our walk we visited local temples and inside some of the Indian staff members houses.

In the evening we were offically welcomed to Sangam, we were blessed by 2 of the Indian staff and given a flower garland by the World Centre manager. Again some of us went for a swim before everyone went to bed ready for a busy day tomorrow.
First impressions from the group of India and Sangam are that it is brilliant, very special and magical. 

 30th July 2013

Today started at 7am for some of the group who decided to try out the early morning yoga class. for the rest of us the day started with breakfast at 8.30am. We had English omelette, toast and porridge. After breakfast we all left Sangam in our set patrols for a day out to visit Laxmi Road. Some patrols traveled to Laxmi Road by the public bus while others took the crazy, but fun rickshaws. When we arrived we visited the local temples, markets, a restaurant and bangle alley where we got to buy bangles to wear with our sari's or Punjabi suits. We went to the sari/Punjabi shop where we chose our own material which we bought to be tailored later on in the week.

When we arrived back at Sangam we watched a presentation about the different projects we could choose to work with for the next 5 days. After this we played a big game of 'who wants to be a millionaire'. This included bright colours, crazy dancing and music. 

After a game of volleyball in the pool & some chill time it was time for bed.