A Bumpy Ride

Last night was a large celebration at George's church for Lenti's first birthday. Lenti was brought here when she was four days old and has been taken in by George's family as their (unofficially adopted) daughter. They renamed her Johanna and cut her first lock of hair to consecrate the event. It was also the celebration of Praim's (George's nephew and a caretaker at the children's home) son Jonathan's 2nd birthday. All of the children from New Hope were in attendance and after the 2 hour service in Telugu, we were fed a big dinner of biryani rice (with chicken!), raita, and saffron kheer.

(Above right photo: George with Lenti aka Johanna and Jonathan)

How did we get them all there? Well, that's where it gets interesting.

Nina and I pondered this question while we all gathered outside the home as the hot sun was setting. Surely we couldn't afford to rent another bus like we did for the zoo trip. Thats when the truck pulled up.

We're all going to fit in that?

That's right, we fit more than 65 children and 7 adults into that truck and drove 30-45 minutes through the city of Bangalore. On the way there I had the pleasure of sitting up close and personal with the driver, straddling the stick shift as we wove through traffic. On the way home I was in the back with a feverish Nishmitha sick and sleeping on my lap in the dark truck bed with screaming (and crying and fighting and sleeping) children packed in like sardines. There were only a few minor injuries and we made it home without losing anyone out the back. Thank God!

the view from the back of the truck

After that, I feel a little more deserving of the trip Nina and I are embarking on today. For the next ten days we will be traveling through Rajasthan, hitting up the Elephant and Holi Festivals in Jaipur and taking an overnight camel trek in the desert in Jaisalmer, possibly heading through Pushkar and some other places along the way. We are stoked to see some more of the country, see elephants, get covered in colored dye powder at Holi, and sample some North Indian cuisine. We are going to miss the kids so much, but will return refreshed with new experiences to share.