A long post to update you all!

I finally have internet on my laptop!

‘the internet man’ was here today, and after an hour of fighting with the wireless programme on my laptop (which was definitely not a problem in the UK), he managed to hook me up to the internet. Although when I then went to write this post, the internet disappeared so this has been copied from Word….!

[edit – it seems the signal isn’t strong enough in my room so I now need to do all my internetting from our office. Hopefully that’ll change when I move upstairs.]

So, first impressions of India (take 2) and of Sangam.

The first thing I noticed – even in the airport – was the smell! I guess after a while I’d forgotten the scent of India, but it’s very distinctive and I recognised it straight away. If I had to describe it, at that point I’d say it smelt damp; but that isn’t the best description, and when I stepped off the plane it made me smile. The immigration official who stamped my passport was – by freaky coincidence - from just around the corner from Sangam, and was intrigued by the address I’d put on the form. Unfortunately our friendly conversation didn’t lessen his officialdom, and he spent AGES staring at my passport, and then his screen, and then my old visa… 3 people went through the desk next to me in what seemed like the eternity I was nervously waiting whilst trying not to look at all nervous. But then he smiled, stamped my passport and let me go on my way. After collecting my luggage and changing some money, I stepped outside to find the driver waiting with my name on a sign. I’d been warned that he’d probably not speak much English, but wasn’t expecting to be greeted with total silence! Although he smiled and nodded at me, and took my bag to the car then heaved it into the boot (he looked like it probably weighed twice as much as him!), I didn’t hear him mutter a single English word (I think he spoke Marathi on the phone) for the entire 4 hour journey. Admittedly I did nod off at one point, for about an hour I think, but apart from that I was enjoying – if that’s the right word – the scenery and the chaos of Indian roads.

Within 5 minutes I’d seen so many of the eccentric and yet typically Indian sights I’d got used to before but generally forgotten about: cows in the road, women sweeping dust from dust roads (which always seems pointless but I’m sure does have a purpose), dogs wandering, people walking barefooted, street stalls, many many people on motorbikes and mopeds, usually with women dressed in beautiful saris riding side-saddle on the back, and many other things that I thought of at the time – and thought that I should probably make note of before I forgot – and have consequently forgotten!

I would also like to direct you to this post which I wrote last time, as I don’t think I could really do a better job of expressing my feelings about horn honking! My driver was certainly sure that he owned the road, and that everyone else shouldn’t ever be in his way. Unfortunately, it seems that most other people on the road felt that way too… I also think the roads have become scarier since I’ve been driving regularly – I just don’t understand how they seem to be able to see everything around them at once. They all drive so closely together, weaving in and out of lanes with rarely an indicator, and yet they never hit anything! They must have some sort of sixth sense.

After signing in at Sangam, I was shown to the dorm room that is to be mine and Jessica’s during our training, and met her. We had 2 days to just chill out and get acclimatised, and I think may well have struggled to entertain ourselves if Net hadn’t very kindly given up the morning of her day off yesterday to show us around Pune, the local neighbourhood and Sangam itself. I also had a quick swim in the pool, and then we had a night-time swim before bed (well more of a float and chat really, but still!)

I’m in love with Sangam already. It’s so peaceful and homely; although there’s an ammunition factory backing onto the site, and the main road is literally just beyond the gate, once you’re in the compound, you forget all about it. There’s plenty of noise, but it’s all just crickets and birds! Everyone here without exception qualifies to be in the ‘friendliest people I’ve met’ category, and I feel like I’m settling in well.

[no longer from Word – real time posting…!] :

Today, the real work started. Jessica and I have spent the whole day with the other SVs in turn; each taking us through something different from the aims and mission of WAGGGS and Sangam, to the equipment available to us and the system in the dining room. We also attended the whole staff briefing for the next event, which, being the celebration of Sangam’s 45^th Birthday is HUGE and also a lot of work because it’s all very different from the sessions that are usually run. The most exciting bit about it at the moment is that we’re hiring an elephant so that people can ride it and take photos…! But there’s lots of other cool stuff going on too J

We were also officially welcomed to Sangam during this meeting by Jen who is the Programme Manager; we were given  Sangam bags with some useful equipment in, and also our official name badges, Sangam neckers and ‘new volunteer’ badges! Also included was a notebook which was filled with messages of welcome from everyone already here which was a really sweet and personal touch and pretty much epitomises the impression I’ve received of how things (and people) work here.

I realise that this is a really long post – I blame the delay in being able to have decent internet access at a convenient time – but I think you’re now fully up to date. If I’ve missed anything important that you’d like to know about, please leave me a comment and I’ll try to include it next time!

Tomorrow everyone is on event prep, and most of the event participants are arriving between lunch and dinner time, so Jessica and I will be shadowing/ helping out the other SVs as much as we can, and also hopefully rooting out some uniform so we can be recognised as SVs during the event. Things are going well and I’m enjoying it, if still feeling a little bewildered by it all!

TTFN