children, joy, taxis and boys.

This past Tuesday I went back to JoyBells. This was quite the adventure :)
I’ve taken public transportation to Dehradun by myself which takes about 20 minutes, but all the way out to the orphanage is a whole different ball game. In India, they have four main means of public transportation. The most common taxis, (I think they are called tuk-tuk's) are these medium sized 3 wheeled blue things. This is the cheapest way to get where you need to go. There are two benches that face each other in the back and then a small bench in the front for the driver. They have a set route and people can get on and off whenever throughout the route. With these taxis people just pile in until there are literally people spilling out the sides, and practically sitting on other stranger's laps. It’s a close situation. Then there's the bus. Long story short, I've made the personal decision never to ride one. At least not until I know Hindi.
Then there’s the brown private 3 wheelers. It’s essentially the same thing except these are smaller and there’s just one bench across the back. You could fit about 3 people fairly comfortably. The main difference with these though, is that you can tell your driver where you want to go, and once you’re in they don’t pick anyone else up. These are quite a bit more expensive then the blue ones, but they don’t have a route. So if you’re wanting to go far, sometimes they’re one of your only options.
Then last but not least there’s the big white taxis. These are the most expensive, and most of the time not really necessary, but they are the safest way to go. These guys will take you just about anywhere you want to go.

So I left about 11:00 Tuesday morning and walked down to where all the blue taxis sit in Rajpur. The way to the orphanage was fine. I took a blue taxi to Dehradun and then a brown one to JoyBells. The guy had no idea where he was going, but thankfully I knew how to get there and we figured it out. For the most part the way there was pretty uneventful.

When I got to JoyBells the kiddos were about to go have lunch, and so I was able to sit and talk to Joy for about an hour while they ate. It was good. She told me about how and why she and her husband started this place, and also about the process of taking kids. She shared a little bit about some of the kid's stories. We talked about some of our different passions and dreams. She voiced her heart, and I was able to share mine as well. She is an amazing woman for sure. You can tell that her love and commitment to these kids comes from her passion for her savior. I love it!
We talked about where I could be of the most help, and for now I am going to go three days a week-most likely Tue, Thurs, & Fri, and teach the youngest class, which is like preschool and kindergarten age. After school I’ll just hang out with the kids and help with whatever needs to be done. I cannot wait to start spending my time there. It’s such a neat place. I’m excited to hang with the kids, and I’m excited to have this opportunity to learn from Joy and learn about how an orphanage is run.

After I talked with Joy, Eric and I (a guy that’s there right now from Canada-he goes home next week) played a few games of soccer with the kiddos.

When it was time to go I asked Joy the best way to get home. Her reply- "oh it’s very easy. White taxi vans come up and down this road every 2-3 minutes. Just stand out by the gate and wait for one and then flag it down. Take that to Prem Nagar (the first main market that you pass on the way home) and then take a blue taxi to the Clock Tower (Dehradun) and then another blue taxi from the Clock Tower, home to Rajpur. I’ll have one of my grounds workers stand out by the gate with you and wave down one of the taxis since it’s your first time." Sounded simple enough.

Well. After 37 minutes of standing there (not that anybody was counting) with this dude who I couldn’t communicate with at all, not a SINGLE taxi had come by. So eventually he just started waving down every vehicle that passed. After a while a couple of guys who looked about twenty stopped. The guy opened the door and told me to get in. I knew I probably shouldn’t, but at the same time I didn’t really have anything better to do, so I did. Talk about awkward.

They were going to drop me off at Prem Nagar, (I’m pretty sure...not that I could understand anyone very well) and then I was going to take a taxi back to Dehradun, and then another home. Well, long story short they ended up just taking me all the way home, which is about a 45-50 min drive. I have no idea where they were planning on going before they picked me up, but they kept saying "No, no. Not a problem. We take you the whole way. It is safer for you." So we spent a good long 45 minutes "talking" (sort of) and listening to Lil Wayne, Nelly & Usher so loud that the bass sounded like it was ready to explode. I found that kind of amusing since I’m sure they could only understand about a quarter of what they were listening to.
Probably not the safest or smartest thing for a girl to drive through India by yourself with two guys you don’t know, but they were nice, and I got home just fine. Plus, its certainly the cheapest way to get where you’re going haha:)
Since that "adventure" I’ve been told by several people to NEVER do that again. Oops . . . None of our Indian and Tibetan friends were too happy with me for getting into that car. I definitely got a lesson from them on how to be safe and "keep my guard up" in India. So, needless to say, I think I need to find a better means of transportation from here on out. . . maybe one that will actually get me BACK too.

I’m so thankful for the time I had with Joy. I go back tomorrow for my first full day. Can’t wait to start lovin’ on some precious kiddos.

Ps. I promise to take lots of pics tomorrow when I go back :)