Bollywood Dancing - Friday, July 6, 2007

Hello Again!

Friday morning started early with a tour of the grounds at the Osho Meditation Resort which attracts visitors from all over the world. The resort was beautiful and it was apparent that a lot of hard work went into making the visitors feel welcome. After the tour, we were all eager to get back to Sangam because we had a yoga instructor coming to have a class with us for an hour.

After yoga and lunch, the tailor arrived with our finished saris and punjabi suits to return to us so we could wear them later that night. At about three p.m., we started our "Indian Afternoon." This was when we learned Rangoli (a form of art usually found at formal ceremonies), we had Mahendi put on our hands and feet (designs put on with henna), and to finish the afternoon we learned how to tie our saris. Tying saris is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, and it took me three times to get it right! After we were all dressed in our saris, we had a traditional Maharashtrian dinner that included sitting on the floor and using plates that were made out of banana leaves. After dinner, we went out to see a play at a local theatre which focused on the caste system in India.

On Saturday morning, we had a dance instructor come and teach us Bollywood Dancing! This was many of the girls' favorite event, because it was definitely challenging but very extremely fun once you picked up on it! After dancing, we had our closing ceremony which was an emotional event for everyone. Everyone was missing home, but no one was quite yet ready to leave the adventures and comforts of India and Sangam behind.

Learning how to tie our saris.

When it was time for us to leave, our group (10 girls and two adults) got on a bus and started the four-hour drive to Mumbai to the airport, then the 16-hour flight to New York City, and then the hour and a half flight to North Carolina. We all spent the night at the Girl Scout Camp there before having to start saying our good-byes the next day.

This trip was definitely an experience that I will never forget, and I will never forget the people I met, either. The other girls that I traveled with were all wonderful, and we never had a quiet moment with all of us together. One of the best parts of traveling on Girl Scout trips is the people that you meet. Even though when we left for this trip we didn't know each other, we all came home with nine new best friends.

Previously published by globegazette.com