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Whoop! We found out today what were up to and our groups. So had breakfast which was very un-indian like, omelette and croissant, then a meeting in the basement of the hotel, where we were divided into groups. I am in the PURPLE group, we casually went upstairs as if we were going to get on a bus, but then we were thrown into a typical traditional Indian welcome ceremony! We got a red dot (Bindi) on our forehead and a scarf and then for paraded down the street with a casual elephant and a local band! It was so welcoming and literally threw us into the thick of indian traditional culture immediately! We danced bollywood style! It was a lovely welcome to India, then we jumped on our bus to the lotus temple which is of the baha i faith, this is a mix of lots of different religions, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and many others. (Sounds like such a lovely peaceful religion) We had a special ceremony for us, which involved many readings and prayers from different religions. Then we walked to the conference centre nearby and had an inspirational talk from Nick about what to get out of India. Then back to the hotel for lunch (curry obviously!)
Jumped into a tuk tuk after lunch and went to the alrgest shopping complex in New Delhi called Select City Walk. It had some VERY expensive shops, so we only splashed out on some ice-cream! The tuk-tuk journey was just how I remembered it, crazy but so much fun! I feel like I am already properly getting into the Indian Spirit! And it was so cheap! 5km was only Rs100 (approx £1) for 3 of us!
Had an introduction meeting from Nick, got the full programme and did admin stuff, then wentand visited the local temple (Hindu temple) and had a fire ceremony to clear our spirits and wish us good luck in the future. Then we wondered around and saw the statues of all the deity, including Ganesh who is the god of removing obstacles.
Back at the hotel we had some traditional dancing and music provided by a local family, and we all joined in. It was very unusual and sureal, but I am expecting a LOT more dancing in the next few weeks!
Today has been good, but very sweaty! They are currently in a heat wave!
After dancing, had more curry for dinner, this time it was a Korma, so Sarah would have liked it! Thena couple of us popped down to the local M-market and bought some chocolate and crisps (soooo cheap!)
Drinking so much water at the moment! 3-4L per day, but it was 39degrees today! I'm glad the water is free otherwise it would be a very expensive trip!
Bed early as we have yoga at 6am tomorrow and the possibility to meet Nick Clegg.
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