Today was our first full day at Sangam. Participants are in patrols and have scheduled duties each day. My group - Hara - will be the servers for the days meals. Other duties are Flag ceremony, reflections and Snapshot. Snapshot is simply stating in a few words what we did that day. And of course we try to attch a photo. This will be published on the Sangam web site later.
Our packs are still missing so the infamous New Jersey group went shopping at Pune Center. Pune Center is a small dept. store. Basicaly the middle class shop there as they can afford the price of clothes and other items. Most of us purchased skirts, underwear and flip flops.
It is wise to have flip flops or sandles because yu must remove your shoes before entering the Sangam hall or when visiting other facilities in the area like Maher.
Because we had to shop for clothes we missed the Laughter Club session and much of the lecture on Indian culture. The group split into 2 and visthed either Maher or Ishwari. - two social organizations for women. Ishwarie was founded by Sister Mederio for the purpose of training women in the rural area of Phulgaon. The young ladies are taught some practical skills such as sewing that would allow them to be somewhat indepedent -- at least more confident in themselves. One the the benefits coming out of this program is to postpone marriage so that the girls have time to mature and as I said have self-confidence. Many of us purchased items made at the center such as handmade greeting cards.
The trip to Ishwari took about 1.5 hours..The ride was bumpy, hot and of course it was raining. At times I was not sure the bus would be able to ride thru the flooded sections of the rode. I am amazed how people in India drive. Cars, bikes, rike shaws, trucks all compete for the same piece of the rode. You are so close to each other that you can literally touch the next vehicle or have your hand severed if left out of the window.
The day rounded out with three guest speakers on Holistic Living.
Just some random comments...
Because of the rain the electricty here goes out. We had two brief outages while I am typing this post. Yes it has rained A LOT. I think I saw a bit a the sun this morning for maybe 10 minutes.
An umbrella is a must and of course our umbrellas are in out lost packs. We have be borrowing umbrellas from the staff.
Much of the food at our meals is Indian and rather good. It is an experience "trying" the various dishes. Yesterday we had, I think, spinach soup. It was green and I was told it was spinach.
Tonight was the Indian version of the taco!
Did you know that a sign that a women is married is the necklace she wears around her neck.
She will also have a red dot on her forehead.
Tomorrow we will go to Phule Market and purchase materials (cloth) for our saris which will be made for us by a local tailor.
OK the lights went out again and several bats are becoming annoying so I will post this piece before I lose it all together.
Oh.... I apoligize if there are missing letters in words. The keyboard is old and sometimes when I hit a key it does not register.
1 comment:
Good luck Aunt Miriam. I hope it gets better. When Eric and I went to Scotland, years ago, we didn't find out that we were going during rainy season until we arrived. The Scots would constantly ask why we came to visit in August!! You are certainly having an adventure. Stay positive. It sounds like you are. Your niece Denise.
Post a Comment