International Day of the Girl

One of the interesting things about being in the Sangam environment is a constant awareness about UN news, happenings, and procedures.  Staff here are frequently WAGGGS representatives to various conferences, etc.

All of this is to say that we observed the first ever UN Day of the Girl this week, and we tare made this video-I like it, but I might be biased...

http://theworldwewantforgirls.tumblr.com/post/33302596320/a-submission-from-some-of-sangam-world-centres

Intro to other tare!

I'm working on a new post--I've finished a week at Anand Gram, and have a lot of thoughts. However, having spent yesterday taking buses, shared jeeps, hiking, and getting chilly on a mountain, I need a bit of a break today...

For now, though, enjoy this video of me and my fellow tare--it's a little ridiculous, just how I like it!

Weave us together

Internet is sometimes sporadic here in Sangam—but I appreciate that I was able to focus on the Essence of India event and the participants who were here!

An amazing group of guides from Eastern England, an independent Bolivian traveler, two Scottish guide adults, an independent English guide, and the five tare made up the participants (Guides and Girl Scouts are both members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, WAGGGS). I loved a week with few responsibilities and no idea of the overall plan—it left me free to meet guides from around the world.

I’ve been taking advantage of the optional yoga classes every morning at 7, and as an added bonus was able to have dinner at the instructor’s house one night.  Then there was the exploration of the local neighborhood, a scavenger hunt in rickshaws around the city, and a night out with a few new friends which ended with a hilarious night time rickshaw ride. 

With days of exploration of both Pune and the amazing WAGGGS intiatives in action, I’m ready for my day off tomorrow before I finish my orientation.  The pacing was well done, and the girls rose to the occasion by travelling the city independently—but I’m exhausted.

At the closing ceremony today, we were presented with our Sangam name tags, marking us as residents rather than guests.  Our frank and friendly meeting of residents today makes it clear that this will be a great community to live in, even if we will all have a lot to learn about each other.  We represent the globe, from Australia to Ireland to South Korea to Kenya, and more. 

I am struggling to remember the names of different places, and I think that it is because I don’t usually stay in non-English-speaking countries for long.  I really need to work on focusing on names of people and places, no matter how unusual they are to my ear—it would be incredibly helpful for learning my way around the city.

As a funny note, imagine my surprise while writing this blog post when the World Centre Manager’s cat just jumped in the second floor window I’m sitting by!

I’ll have more evenings off in the coming weeks, so look for more updates, and contact me for a google hangout/skype date (with the expectation that internet could go out at any time). Pictures might have to wait until I have more patience!

Cholo! (Let’s go!)

I'm alive, I swear!

A bit late, I'm finally beginning my blog.  For then next 3 months I'll be a "tare" ("star" in Hindi), a participant in the Community Programme at the Sangam World Centre.  This means I'll be working with an organization for 3 months--specifically, this one.

I arrived in Mumbai on the 24th, and after a few hours sleep hopped in a car to Sangam.  For a week and a half I'll have an introduction to Indian culture and the way things work around here, and then I'll jump in!

Right now, I'm less of a tare and more of a typical guest to Sangam--I'm living in a dorm with a mixture of British travel groups and another American and participating in Sangam's "Essence of India" event.

This morning I got up and climbed the water tower--here's a picture of my home away from home.  It's a quiet break from the sometimes hectic India.

Pune is a fantastic city—few tourists, but a lot to see.  I feel relaxed walking around, unlike in the tourist triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

So far, we’ve been on trips to the markets, had sessions on the WAGGGS millennium goals (check them out!), had a beautiful welcome ceremony

I’m going to run and help set tables for breakfast (go blue patrol!).  For now, I’m enjoying being at adult summer camp—the work will come soon, though, which is great.  I’ll try to clarify and expand more at my next opportunity!