December 26, 2024 • 12 mins
This bonus episode has Isabel popping in to share her experience from her trip to the Sangam World Center in India.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Walter (00:00):
The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media.
Sheryl (00:00):
Hi, Isabel. I'm so excited to hear about your trip to Sangam, the world center in India. Can you tell us what you experienced when you went over there?
Isabel (00:00):
Well, it was a very interesting experience and it's very different from what I'm used to.
Because that was, that was the first time that had ever gone anywhere, like on a trip without my parents. And then I was also on a trip with Girl Scouts that I hadn't met prior. Like, we had Zoom meetings every month leading up to the trip, but I had never met them, like, in person before. So that was interesting.
And then also at Sangam, we were also rooming together, and there was, like, 12 people, like, in a single area. While I was there, we, we went out a lot, which I was actually surprised about 'cause I didn't expect to be leaving Sangam as often as we did. We went out and we visited a market that they have in Puna, the city that Sangam is in.
We visited Asari shop we did Spice Shopping. We, we did community service with them. One of them was a home for people with physical disabilities, and then one of them was a home for people with mental disabilities. So we split into groups and one went to each house and we spent a few hours there helping out and doing activities with them.
Sheryl (00:01):
What was the travel like to get over there?
Isabel (00:01):
We had girls from the U S and we also had girls that were from Japan. We also had girls that were American scouts who had been stationed with their families overseas. So the girls who were stationed overseas did different flights than the rest of us. And they flew directly to the Mumbai airport where they met us.
And then the girls from Japan, they all went to one airport in Japan and then they went to Mumbai and all of us in America, we All did individual flights to the JFK airport. And then we all went to Mumbai. And that was the longest flight I have ever taken. It was a 14 hour flight.
Sheryl (00:02):
What did you do to keep yourself busy on the flight?
Isabel (00:02):
To keep myself busy on the flight, I brought a few books with me. I started learning how to crochet recently. So I brought some yarn and my crochet hook with me. I tried to get to know some of the girls on the long flight cause we were all sitting next to each other, which was interesting.
Sheryl (00:02):
What are some of the things that surprised you about some of the Girl Scouts that you met?
Isabel (00:02):
I don't know if this sounds a little bit crude, but I heard that not a lot of people in Japan speak English very well because they don't get a lot of opportunities to practice it. And I was really shocked because they all spoke English amazingly well. And I, I really admired this girls from Japan because it, it must've been so hard for them because they were going somewhere where they didn't speak the same language as everybody else.
And because English and Japanese are so different from each other, it must've been hard. You know?
Sheryl (00:02):
What did you learn about Sangam that you didn't know and is, was super interesting to you?
Isabel (00:02):
That in India, they have the most girl guides out of any other country. And that's actually because it's attached to schooling.
Like it's sort of. Kind of more like a club, like you would have in a high school in America there. I also learned that Sangam does a lot of partnerships with local groups. Like they have, like they partner with the Nerevita guides that are in that area. They also partner with homes and other environmental groups in the area, which I thought was, I thought was really cool.
I didn't know they did stuff like that. And they also have like activity rooms on the premises and they have people come in like to visit Sangam and they do activities with them, which I also thought was really cool.
Sheryl (00:03):
What did you learn about the differences in Girl Guides and Girl Scouts that was interesting?
Isabel (00:03):
It wasn't so much the difference between girl scouts and girl guides, but how they do Girl scouts and girl guides differently in each country because the uniforms that they have in India and Japan are so totally different because like in the US we have our vests and our sashes, but then in Japan they have clean white shirts buttoned down with a neck tie and a cute, and it's, they had their, they all have matching hats and they're adorable.
I love them. I wish we did that in America.
Sheryl (00:04):
And what did you learn about Girl Scouts overseas that might be interesting?
Isabel (00:04):
There are way more Girl Scouts than I thought there were. Like they have Girl Scouts in so many countries, I had no idea. Like they have Girl Scouts in all over the the North America, South America, all over Europe.
They have some in Africa and some in Asia too, which I was like, wow!
Sheryl (00:04):
And they do all the Girl Scouting things that we do here in the U. S. What was the food like?
Isabel (00:04):
The food, oh my god, that was the first time I've ever eaten Indian food and the food was so good, but it was also really different because it was spiced, but not like a hot kind of spicy, but like a rich kind of spice, you know?
Well, obviously in India they don't eat as much like beef as we do because cows are sacred there, and they don't eat as much pork either, which I found interesting. They also eat a lot more vegetable based diet than we do. And I don't know. The food was really good. That's all I remember.
Sheryl (00:05):
What did you learn about the World Center that you didn't know before you got there?
Isabel (00:05):
They have the planned groups that visit Sungnam. And then they also have rooms that can be rented out by individuals. So you could go to Sungnam as an individual or with a group, which I didn't know you could do that. They also have people from other countries coming to Sangam to volunteer there and they stay there for like three months.
Like with us, we had we had a girl, she was from England and she was staying there for three months. And there was another girl who was from Rwanda in Africa, which was, you know, I thought that was really cool.
Sheryl (00:05):
This was a Girl Scout destination trip. As you said, there were Girl Scouts from all over that came together for this trip.
How did you get invited on the trip and what kind of preparation after you found out that you were going did the group do?
Isabel (00:05):
I applied to the trip through the U-S-A-G-S-O, the United States of America Girl Scouts overseas website. That's where I found the Girl Scout destinations. And then I picked up the sign on one and I applied to that one.
Originally I was waitlisted after they interviewed me because you apply and then they interview you, and then you're either waitlisted accepted or and they, I was waitlisted. I actually found out that they had accepted me like at a meeting of, with my BSA troop, which. It was really exciting for me.
And so then after I had been accepted, we did monthly zoom meetings with all the girls in the troop. They sent out a packing list. We had to do vaccines to go to India. We had to do e visas. What else did we have to do? I already had my passport, but you have to have a passport for those. We filled out a lot of documents like insurance and health and stuff.
I think that's about it. We also did some like icebreakers over zoom to get to know each other a little bit.
Sheryl (00:06):
How did your parents handle sending you off on such a long trip without them?
Isabel (00:06):
I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this, but when they send me on the flight from Tampa to JFK, I was, I was so scared cause I had never done a flight by myself before.
Like I cried and then they cried. But I think that they handled it really well. I mean, My parents, they said that if I wanted to go, they would let me. And they're very supportive like that. All of their co workers didn't want them to send me to India. All of my mom's friends were like, why are you sending her to India?
Don't you know it's dangerous there? That, like, that's a human trafficking capital and there's so many diseases over there. Like, my mom, she has friends who immigrated from India and they said, why are you letting her to go to India? It's so, it's so dangerous over there. And she was like, but, well, she wants to go and it's a great opportunity.
And my mom is not the kind of person who would want to take that from me. You know?
Sheryl (00:07):
How did that make you feel knowing the potential dangers and how safe did you feel while you were over there?
Isabel (00:07):
All of us were a little bit concerned. About going to India, like, I remember the 1 night that we spent in New York before going on that flight to Mumbai.
We were playing Uno in the hotel room and we were all talking about, you know, how excited we were and how nervous we were and we were all very. We were all very worried that, you know, somebody would get bitten by a mosquito and they would catch malaria. We were also, we were really worried about human trafficking.
That because we're all such a large group of foreigners, we attract a lot of attention. We had no idea what would happen out there, you know? But knowing that other people had the same worries that I did, it comforted me, you know?
Sheryl (00:08):
And when you were over there, how safe did you feel?
Isabel (00:08):
I felt very safe. I was traveling with a large group.
I always had adults with me. Both adults that came with us from the plane and people that were staffed by Sung and then when I wasn't under supervision, I was always at Sangam on the premises and Sangam is a gated area.
Sheryl (00:08):
And they are used to having visitors and they know where to let you go and where not to let you go.
Isabel (00:08):
They knew, like, which restaurants had filtered water like, what people we could talk to. Talk to what parts of the market were safe for foreigners and stuff like that.
Sheryl (00:09):
They're not going to let you come on a trip and get into trouble. What other memories do you have from your experience?
Isabel (00:09):
It was kind of awkward always around mealtimes because we would all be gathered in the one room and none of us knew each other very well.
So, being in that kind of situation, you get very used to having to put yourself out there to start conversation. One thing that I remember that I was very fond of is that we all, luckily, we all had like Instagram or Duolingo and we were able to like, friend each other on Duolingo or Instagram and we were able to keep in touch like that.
I think that that's really cool, honestly. I'm a fan of modern technology like that because I do enjoy seeing their stories pop up every now and then.
Sheryl (00:09):
What kind of souvenirs did you bring home?
Isabel (00:09):
I have a full sari in my closet. I also bought some chai tea from India that I have no idea how to brew, but I will figure it out.
I bought some bangles for my mom, and I have a few, like, bronze idols of Ganesh, which is a Hindu god that is very popular in that area. He's the one with the elephant head, and he sits on a lotus leaf. I also have a few, like idols of cows and other elephants and stuff. I gave some of those to my dad and my grandparents.
Sheryl (00:10):
How did you pick the material for your sari?
Isabel (00:10):
This was a wild experience for me because it was two levels of sari store and they had the walls stacked with shelves of saris and they were all very neatly folded and plastic wrapped. And I would be, and you would be like can I say this one? And then I'll have a station that would grab it.
They would look through it. They would open it. They would throw the packaging on the floor. They would unfold all the fabric and they would put it on you. And you'd be like, Oh, This is cool. I'm not sure about this color. And by the time we left, the floor was covered in fabric. It was, it was crazy. But it was so much fun.
And the saris were beautiful. Some of them had like gold embroidery. Some of them had like little crystals sewn into them. And then others of them were more plain and they came in every color of the rainbow.
Sheryl (00:11):
How has the destination trip impacted you and thoughts of future travel?
Isabel (00:11):
It's made me more open to traveling outside of the U. S.,
because a lot of people that I was surprised to find this out, a lot of people in the U. S. don't actually travel outside of the country, and that might just be because the U. S. is just a huge country, huge country that they can just travel between states and it's already so vastly different. It's made me more open to going places where I don't speak the language or know anyone.
And I'm actually looking at another Girl Scout destination that's going to be going on next summer that I would like to apply for. It goes to Greece and Italy and Turkey, which I am so excited to apply for. Hopefully I get in.
Sheryl (00:11):
Well, thanks for coming back and sharing your adventure so that others can learn more about destinations and maybe be inspired.
Make sure to click follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released, power your passion and conquer your challenges.
Walter (00:12):
Thank you for listening. If you'd like to be on the show to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.Com.
Be sure to catch up on our previous shows on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, as well as view the full video versions at youtube.com/SherylMRobinson. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next time.
The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media.
Sheryl (00:00):
Hi, Isabel. I'm so excited to hear about your trip to Sangam, the world center in India. Can you tell us what you experienced when you went over there?
Isabel (00:00):
Well, it was a very interesting experience and it's very different from what I'm used to.
Because that was, that was the first time that had ever gone anywhere, like on a trip without my parents. And then I was also on a trip with Girl Scouts that I hadn't met prior. Like, we had Zoom meetings every month leading up to the trip, but I had never met them, like, in person before. So that was interesting.
And then also at Sangam, we were also rooming together, and there was, like, 12 people, like, in a single area. While I was there, we, we went out a lot, which I was actually surprised about 'cause I didn't expect to be leaving Sangam as often as we did. We went out and we visited a market that they have in Puna, the city that Sangam is in.
We visited Asari shop we did Spice Shopping. We, we did community service with them. One of them was a home for people with physical disabilities, and then one of them was a home for people with mental disabilities. So we split into groups and one went to each house and we spent a few hours there helping out and doing activities with them.
Sheryl (00:01):
What was the travel like to get over there?
Isabel (00:01):
We had girls from the U S and we also had girls that were from Japan. We also had girls that were American scouts who had been stationed with their families overseas. So the girls who were stationed overseas did different flights than the rest of us. And they flew directly to the Mumbai airport where they met us.
And then the girls from Japan, they all went to one airport in Japan and then they went to Mumbai and all of us in America, we All did individual flights to the JFK airport. And then we all went to Mumbai. And that was the longest flight I have ever taken. It was a 14 hour flight.
Sheryl (00:02):
What did you do to keep yourself busy on the flight?
Isabel (00:02):
To keep myself busy on the flight, I brought a few books with me. I started learning how to crochet recently. So I brought some yarn and my crochet hook with me. I tried to get to know some of the girls on the long flight cause we were all sitting next to each other, which was interesting.
Sheryl (00:02):
What are some of the things that surprised you about some of the Girl Scouts that you met?
Isabel (00:02):
I don't know if this sounds a little bit crude, but I heard that not a lot of people in Japan speak English very well because they don't get a lot of opportunities to practice it. And I was really shocked because they all spoke English amazingly well. And I, I really admired this girls from Japan because it, it must've been so hard for them because they were going somewhere where they didn't speak the same language as everybody else.
And because English and Japanese are so different from each other, it must've been hard. You know?
Sheryl (00:02):
What did you learn about Sangam that you didn't know and is, was super interesting to you?
Isabel (00:02):
That in India, they have the most girl guides out of any other country. And that's actually because it's attached to schooling.
Like it's sort of. Kind of more like a club, like you would have in a high school in America there. I also learned that Sangam does a lot of partnerships with local groups. Like they have, like they partner with the Nerevita guides that are in that area. They also partner with homes and other environmental groups in the area, which I thought was, I thought was really cool.
I didn't know they did stuff like that. And they also have like activity rooms on the premises and they have people come in like to visit Sangam and they do activities with them, which I also thought was really cool.
Sheryl (00:03):
What did you learn about the differences in Girl Guides and Girl Scouts that was interesting?
Isabel (00:03):
It wasn't so much the difference between girl scouts and girl guides, but how they do Girl scouts and girl guides differently in each country because the uniforms that they have in India and Japan are so totally different because like in the US we have our vests and our sashes, but then in Japan they have clean white shirts buttoned down with a neck tie and a cute, and it's, they had their, they all have matching hats and they're adorable.
I love them. I wish we did that in America.
Sheryl (00:04):
And what did you learn about Girl Scouts overseas that might be interesting?
Isabel (00:04):
There are way more Girl Scouts than I thought there were. Like they have Girl Scouts in so many countries, I had no idea. Like they have Girl Scouts in all over the the North America, South America, all over Europe.
They have some in Africa and some in Asia too, which I was like, wow!
Sheryl (00:04):
And they do all the Girl Scouting things that we do here in the U. S. What was the food like?
Isabel (00:04):
The food, oh my god, that was the first time I've ever eaten Indian food and the food was so good, but it was also really different because it was spiced, but not like a hot kind of spicy, but like a rich kind of spice, you know?
Well, obviously in India they don't eat as much like beef as we do because cows are sacred there, and they don't eat as much pork either, which I found interesting. They also eat a lot more vegetable based diet than we do. And I don't know. The food was really good. That's all I remember.
Sheryl (00:05):
What did you learn about the World Center that you didn't know before you got there?
Isabel (00:05):
They have the planned groups that visit Sungnam. And then they also have rooms that can be rented out by individuals. So you could go to Sungnam as an individual or with a group, which I didn't know you could do that. They also have people from other countries coming to Sangam to volunteer there and they stay there for like three months.
Like with us, we had we had a girl, she was from England and she was staying there for three months. And there was another girl who was from Rwanda in Africa, which was, you know, I thought that was really cool.
Sheryl (00:05):
This was a Girl Scout destination trip. As you said, there were Girl Scouts from all over that came together for this trip.
How did you get invited on the trip and what kind of preparation after you found out that you were going did the group do?
Isabel (00:05):
I applied to the trip through the U-S-A-G-S-O, the United States of America Girl Scouts overseas website. That's where I found the Girl Scout destinations. And then I picked up the sign on one and I applied to that one.
Originally I was waitlisted after they interviewed me because you apply and then they interview you, and then you're either waitlisted accepted or and they, I was waitlisted. I actually found out that they had accepted me like at a meeting of, with my BSA troop, which. It was really exciting for me.
And so then after I had been accepted, we did monthly zoom meetings with all the girls in the troop. They sent out a packing list. We had to do vaccines to go to India. We had to do e visas. What else did we have to do? I already had my passport, but you have to have a passport for those. We filled out a lot of documents like insurance and health and stuff.
I think that's about it. We also did some like icebreakers over zoom to get to know each other a little bit.
Sheryl (00:06):
How did your parents handle sending you off on such a long trip without them?
Isabel (00:06):
I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this, but when they send me on the flight from Tampa to JFK, I was, I was so scared cause I had never done a flight by myself before.
Like I cried and then they cried. But I think that they handled it really well. I mean, My parents, they said that if I wanted to go, they would let me. And they're very supportive like that. All of their co workers didn't want them to send me to India. All of my mom's friends were like, why are you sending her to India?
Don't you know it's dangerous there? That, like, that's a human trafficking capital and there's so many diseases over there. Like, my mom, she has friends who immigrated from India and they said, why are you letting her to go to India? It's so, it's so dangerous over there. And she was like, but, well, she wants to go and it's a great opportunity.
And my mom is not the kind of person who would want to take that from me. You know?
Sheryl (00:07):
How did that make you feel knowing the potential dangers and how safe did you feel while you were over there?
Isabel (00:07):
All of us were a little bit concerned. About going to India, like, I remember the 1 night that we spent in New York before going on that flight to Mumbai.
We were playing Uno in the hotel room and we were all talking about, you know, how excited we were and how nervous we were and we were all very. We were all very worried that, you know, somebody would get bitten by a mosquito and they would catch malaria. We were also, we were really worried about human trafficking.
That because we're all such a large group of foreigners, we attract a lot of attention. We had no idea what would happen out there, you know? But knowing that other people had the same worries that I did, it comforted me, you know?
Sheryl (00:08):
And when you were over there, how safe did you feel?
Isabel (00:08):
I felt very safe. I was traveling with a large group.
I always had adults with me. Both adults that came with us from the plane and people that were staffed by Sung and then when I wasn't under supervision, I was always at Sangam on the premises and Sangam is a gated area.
Sheryl (00:08):
And they are used to having visitors and they know where to let you go and where not to let you go.
Isabel (00:08):
They knew, like, which restaurants had filtered water like, what people we could talk to. Talk to what parts of the market were safe for foreigners and stuff like that.
Sheryl (00:09):
They're not going to let you come on a trip and get into trouble. What other memories do you have from your experience?
Isabel (00:09):
It was kind of awkward always around mealtimes because we would all be gathered in the one room and none of us knew each other very well.
So, being in that kind of situation, you get very used to having to put yourself out there to start conversation. One thing that I remember that I was very fond of is that we all, luckily, we all had like Instagram or Duolingo and we were able to like, friend each other on Duolingo or Instagram and we were able to keep in touch like that.
I think that that's really cool, honestly. I'm a fan of modern technology like that because I do enjoy seeing their stories pop up every now and then.
Sheryl (00:09):
What kind of souvenirs did you bring home?
Isabel (00:09):
I have a full sari in my closet. I also bought some chai tea from India that I have no idea how to brew, but I will figure it out.
I bought some bangles for my mom, and I have a few, like, bronze idols of Ganesh, which is a Hindu god that is very popular in that area. He's the one with the elephant head, and he sits on a lotus leaf. I also have a few, like idols of cows and other elephants and stuff. I gave some of those to my dad and my grandparents.
Sheryl (00:10):
How did you pick the material for your sari?
Isabel (00:10):
This was a wild experience for me because it was two levels of sari store and they had the walls stacked with shelves of saris and they were all very neatly folded and plastic wrapped. And I would be, and you would be like can I say this one? And then I'll have a station that would grab it.
They would look through it. They would open it. They would throw the packaging on the floor. They would unfold all the fabric and they would put it on you. And you'd be like, Oh, This is cool. I'm not sure about this color. And by the time we left, the floor was covered in fabric. It was, it was crazy. But it was so much fun.
And the saris were beautiful. Some of them had like gold embroidery. Some of them had like little crystals sewn into them. And then others of them were more plain and they came in every color of the rainbow.
Sheryl (00:11):
How has the destination trip impacted you and thoughts of future travel?
Isabel (00:11):
It's made me more open to traveling outside of the U. S.,
because a lot of people that I was surprised to find this out, a lot of people in the U. S. don't actually travel outside of the country, and that might just be because the U. S. is just a huge country, huge country that they can just travel between states and it's already so vastly different. It's made me more open to going places where I don't speak the language or know anyone.
And I'm actually looking at another Girl Scout destination that's going to be going on next summer that I would like to apply for. It goes to Greece and Italy and Turkey, which I am so excited to apply for. Hopefully I get in.
Sheryl (00:11):
Well, thanks for coming back and sharing your adventure so that others can learn more about destinations and maybe be inspired.
Make sure to click follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released, power your passion and conquer your challenges.
Walter (00:12):
Thank you for listening. If you'd like to be on the show to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.Com.
Be sure to catch up on our previous shows on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, as well as view the full video versions at youtube.com/SherylMRobinson. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next time.
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