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Tangela Baldwin Stanley of Jamestown believes Americans should travel abroad.

“I wish more Americans left the U.S. on a more regular basis,” Stanley said. “It will help you get out of the mindset, ‘I need this, I need that.’”

Stanley, 47, spent June 12-27 in India.

Viewing the conditions many Indians and people of other countries live in is an equalizer, she said. “It balances you out. You say, ‘I need, I need,’ then you go somewhere else and see what you don’t need.”

Stanley’s trip was brief but personally changing. She toured India with the Voices of Baha, an international choral group comprised of Baha’is from across the world.

“I sing a lot. That’s how I express my love for humanity,” said Stanley, a Baha’i who sings locally with One Human Family and Greensboro Community Choir.

The Voices of Baha sang in four cities — Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi and Agra — performing five big concerts and a couple smaller ones.

In Mumbai, the group sang at the National Center for Performing Arts. “It’s like going to Carnegie Hall,” Stanley explained.

The final concert was at the Lotus Temple, or Baha’i House of Worship, in Delhi June 25.

Stanley said the choral group has existed for 18 years and toured 14 times. This year’s choral group was 120 people strong from 20 different countries. This was her first tour with the group, though she’s sung in North America with the group in the past.

The group had to learn 10 pieces of music — six songs in Hindi, two gospel pieces and two pop pieces by Dan Seals.

Stanley said it was difficult to sing in the language and style of another country. In the West, choral groups harmonize. In India, the female voices sing higher than the male voices.

Stanley revels in the cultural experience. “We had many adventures,” she said. “It’s very different from being here. It’s different from the Western world.”

She’s been lots of places in the world, including China. Stanley isn’t fond of crowds, but while in India, she said she felt calm and at peace. And with so many people around, she learned to be aware at all times.

“The heat was astounding,” Stanley said.

One day was 118 degrees. “I had sweat rolling down my eyes and my ears and other places you don’t want to know about,” she said, laughing. “There were a lot of challenges for Western people.”

The courtesy Indians extended the group was humbling, Stanley said.

Stanley said the purpose of the tour was humanitarian — sharing and learning music.

“My whole purpose is to go to unite the community and be part of the community at large. I think with music you can do that because we all can speak that language. It doesn’t have to be translated.”

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 883-4422, Ext. 241, or elizabeth. seagraves@news-record.com