Welcome Ceremony - Monday, July 2, 2007

Hello Everyone!

After about 23 hours of travel, my fellow travelers and I reached our destination of Pune, India. Regardless of arriving at 4 a.m., we were very excited to finally arrive at Sangam.

On our first day here, we took a walking tour around the neighborhood to see some of the local shrines and meet some of the neighbors. In the evening we had a welcome ceremony to officially welcome all of the girls to Sangam. This ceremony, which incorporated many Scouting and Indian traditions, began our program at Sangam.

Today (Tuesday) we learned a form of meditation focusing on breathing and laughing. The "Laughter Club" as it is called has been becoming increasingly popular and can today be found in over 40 countries.

Today we also discussed differences in Indian and American culture so that we can be more aware of the customs that surround us here.

During our orientation, we learned about the culture of India.

Later in the afternoon, we visited a home for battered women and children where we talked to the staff about how the prepare women to re-enter society as single self-sufficient workers.The last event of the day was three speakers who came to talk to us about spirituality and Naturopathy.

Tomorrow we are going to the market to buy saris and we are all looking forward to this. So far, this trip has been very exciting and I can't wait until tomorrow!

Previously published by globegazette.com