Friends who are blessed together stay together...

This morning started bright and early for most of us who enjoyed BBQ chicken and chocolate croissants for breakfast.  However, not all of us set our alarms so we only had a few minutes to get dressed, packed and eat breakfast. Soon enough, we embarked on our journey to Sangam it was a long haul but we saw so much including paddy fields, slums, temples, statues and much more. A few hours later we soon arrived at Sangam. WOW! 😍It’s amazing and so much more than we expected. The volunteers welcomed us in, wearing their beautiful purple uniforms. Our rooms are great but the pool outside them is even better; we’ll be in there in the morning, noon, night, basically whenever we can!

We just couldn’t resist cooling our feet!

Stop. Noodle Time !

After we unpacked and settled in, we had our very first flag ceremony, I (Hannah) and Katherine we’re even lucky enough to carry the USA and Canadian flags, with other flags from countries to represent everyone staying in Sangam 🇬🇧🇮🇳.  

It was very cultural and interesting and we learnt about Sangam’s rich history and the vision of Anu – the lady who started it all. A mixture of staff and volunteers showed us around Sangam pointing out the features that have changed and been part of different peoples’ experiences including the Thinking Day Tree and The Two Buddhas.  

 

After we had enjoyed a lovely lunch together with our Sangam Family, we went on a tour around the local area where we were able to see four different religious places of worship minutes away from each other.

On our tour, we were welcomed into a former staff member’s home where we spoke to her about her experiences while working at Sangam. Having worked there for 30 years, she had lots to share including how Sangam had changed from its early days. She was very happy and proud to show us her kitchen and all the spices she uses and we could see that she had a real passion for cooking. We went back in to her living room where she blessed us with “Tumeric” and “Kum Kum Powder.” Being welcomed into her house made us feel honoured and privileged as she opened her doors to us.

When we arrived back at Sangam some of us went for a swim and had a relax, we were also told about what else we were going to do in the coming week here in Sangam but we won’t tell you, you’ll have to carry on reading the following blogs to find out 😉 Slowly we are adjusting to the Indian culture though. Next we prepared ourself for the welcoming ceremony by dressing in our guide uniform.

Overall we had a great day and we can’t wait to explore more and try new activities, we are loving everything here and embracing the culture.

 Written by Maddy and Hannah💕, missing you all.