I wanted to shared about our day at the village before the memories fade from my mind. We went to the village on the last day with our friends... the day before we got the girls.
Our friend’s sister lives in the village which is just outside of Delhi in the state of Haryana. She married a man who owns a great deal of land. They live in one of the nicest homes in the village. It was so elegant in contrast to the rest of the village.
The village itself is surrounded by farmland. You have to drive for many miles on narrow roads to get to it. It was a relaxing drive to me... a break from all the bumper to bumper (literally) traffic of the city. We passed by laborers carrying large loads on wagons, on motorcycles and even on their own heads. The roads were lined with stacks of cow dung patties that are used for fuel. I’ve never seen that in person. It was interesting.
When we would blow the horn and pass the carts or tractors they would turn and stare at us. I wondered if many of them had ever even seen a white person in their lifetime. At one point we stopped to get a picture next to the sugarcane field as requested by our friends. A motorcycle with two men and a young boy stopped to watch. John offered to take their picture with the white people and you could tell they were just so excited but a little shy about it. I felt like a celebrity. haha
When we pulled up to the house, we were greeted in traditional Indian fashion. We were ushered into a sitting area where we were served coke, water, and an assortment of foods. All of it was quite yummy... until they brought us Lassies. These are curd and milk drinks. They are a local favorite but we were not fans at all. Lance tried to plow through to be kind but he just couldn’t finish it. After not feeling well I didn’t want to risk something else that would make me feel ill.
We were taken to see the rest of the house which was nice but simple. We went up on the roof and were able to see around the village. That was really nice. There wasn’t much on the roof but you could see around the entire estate. They showed us where they cooked on fires outside. You could see the cow dung patties stacked ready for a fire. There were a cows tied to a tree in the courtyard and a small garden in the far corner.
Villages like this don’t often get guest from the outside much less guests from America. It was a big deal for them... and for us. We loved the village! Another man who was related to others invited us to his home which was just across the street. He had a very nice home too. It was odd to see a flat screen tv in such rural settings. Here we were offered Hookah and juice and a dessert made from sugarcane. The dessert was really good but very rich. I could only eat a small little chunk of it because it was so sweet.
I can’t really remember the sequence of events but at some point, Lance drove a car, Lance rode a horse, Lance sat on a tractor, Lance got licked by a cow. HAHA!
We could have spent all day in the village but we were running out of time. our friends had to get back home for work. However, we had been requested to visit Savita’s father’s dairy factory. It was not far from the village.
We entered the gate and were seated in the office of the factory. Savita’s father was very kind. Of course he brought us drink and food. I can’t even remember what we had at this point. We sat there for a while and then were showed around the factory. The factory isn’t really that big. It was basically just one big room with a lot of different stations. There were some big pasteurization tanks, some butter churners (probably not what they are called), lots of tubs to put milk and butter in, and a huge refrigerator where everything was stored.
After our tour, we said goodbye to our friends and headed to our hotel to check in. I wish I could fully describe how wonderful this day was. It was such a great distraction from the fact that we were less than 24 hours away from meeting our girls. I think the pictures will probably say more than I ever could. :)
Next blog will be our Embassy appointment and TB check. Until next time -K
Still don’t have time to post about our trip to the village just yet, but I promise I will get to it.
I wanted to share with you how awesome things are going. The girls ROCK! They have done so well today!
After a LOT of good sleep last night, we got up this morning and went to breakfast with the girls. They ate really well. They were polite and well behaved at the table. Rabina was in a good mood after all that rest. She is a sloooooooooow eater. She doesn’t want to be rushed so we had to take some cheerios to go.
We went down and waited for the cab to take us to the medical appointment. The driver was terrible. He was nice but he had no idea what he was doing and was just kind of weird. He asked me three times if Rabina was Indian. Hahaha! I guess he just couldn’t figure us all out. He also talked to himself constantly. He got us there eventually so I guess I can’t complain too much. The girls do so well in the car. Rabina sits with me in the front and she will just look out the window. It’s super cute.
We got to the Max Med center and thank God we had Abhi because it was crowded and confusing. Their computers system was down so we had to wait for quite a while. We waited for probably a good hour or more. The girls did excellent for the amount of time we had to wait. Rabina got a bit restless but hey so did I. They all got weighed, measured, examined quickly by the doctor and then got their TB prick. Kashila asked Auntie Abhi “Will I get a prick? Will they do it for two hours?” They were all very brave!
FINALLY we made it out of max medical and the crazy driver picked us up. The road that the med center is on is basically a one-way but he did his best to make it a two way. Abhi said I would have to either kill her or him. She was so annoyed. We got a couple of blocks away and then I noticed that Rabina’s ear was bleeding. I didn’t want her to be in pain so we went BACK! We made an appointment for the ENT and waited some more for that doctor. She was tired so she sat quietly with me. Abhi and I chatted while we waited (the others were all waiting outside). She said she was
really impressed with how well the girls have taken to us and how good their communication is. I realized that as much as Abhi has been with us, Rabina has not tried to go to her at all since we first met the girls. When she wants picked up she comes to me. This is very good. Also, she said that when Kashila was getting weighed and we had gone back to the waiting room with the other girls, she asked Abhi where her Mommy and Papa were. She was concerned. This is also good because she knows who she belongs with.
The doctor looked in Rabina’s ears. She has an ear infection in one ear. He cleaned both ears and OH MY WORD at the nasty stuff that was in her ear! Gag! I bet she could barely hear! We will have to check the other girls ears when we get home. He gave Rabina an ear drop that we got filled in the same building. I liked the one-stop-shop.
Abhi, Rabina and I came out to find the others patiently waiting. Lance said K & K had been great waiting. We got in the cab and headed back to the hotel. Kashila started going through the suitcase when we got back to the room and she found the swim suits. She got so excited. I asked if they wanted to go swimming and and they said they did. We told them we would go eat first and then we would go swimming.
We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. K and K both wanted a burger! LOL So they got burgers! Kashila ate a good bit of hers but Khushboo wouldn’t touch it. Rabina had mac and cheese but really loved the french fries dipped in ketchup. Once again they were all wonderful at meal time!
After dinner we went and looked at the pool to be sure they understood what they were getting into with swimming. They still wanted to swim so we went and changed. They got a kick out of seeing me in a bathing suit. Kashila did NOT want to take her panties off. At first after putting on the bathing suit the correct way without panties she put them on over the suit. LOL! So we compromised and she put them on under the bathing suit.
Oh man they were so excited to go swimming. They ran down the hall toward the pool. Of course they have this waddle from being in the orphanage so it looks funny. If I had not been told by others about this waddle I think I would have freaked out! It’s quite concerning! Anyways, we got in the hot tub part of the pool. The water was nice and warm and the area was small so we felt a bit safer. They LOVED it! They splashed and jumped. Khushboo slipped and went under. Lance had to yank her up and she coughed. Kashila seemed to get the hang of holding your breath pretty quickly. The other too just kept trying to breath the water so we had to really watch them. Khushboo enjoyed sitting in my lap and running my hands through the water. I enjoyed that too.
We came back in after about 20 minutes. I didn’t want to overdo it. We went back to the room and dressed in pjs. We played and colored for a bit and now they are settling into bed. Still awake but trying to go to sleep. Once they were in the bed Lance pointed at Kashila. She was praying. I asked “Who are you praying to? Jesus?” and she said, “Yes, Jesus” I asked her if Elsie Mommy had taught her how to pray to Jesus and she said yes. I just about cried.
Today has just been such a great day. I feel like we have really bonded with the girls a lot! I know we still have far to go and I’m sure this is just the honeymoon, but I am just so thankful for how well things have gone. Today I felt comfortable. I didn’t feel like I had somebody else’s kids but OUR kids. I just can’t express how great it has been!
Tomorrow we go for our visa appointment. Praying everything goes well. Please pray that the TB tests remain unchanged through tomorrow and Thursday! We do not want to have do the xrays and other stuff!
More later! -K
It’s 5:00am local time and everyone is still asleep. Wish you could hear their soft little snores. :) We went to bed at like 7:00pm if that tells you how tired everyone was. I figured I better try to blog some about yesterday, “Gotcha Day,” before the craziness ensues. I still need to blog about our visit to the village but that will come later.
Ok, so yesterday morning we woke up early and got ourselves ready. We went down to breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It was good. I thought the feeling I had in my stomach was hunger but nope it turned out to be nerves. It was kind of hard for me to get enough breath.
After breakfast we loaded the “van” and met our guide Abhi! She was an instant friend. Everyone has told us how amazing she is and now I completely understand! I was so thankful to have her with us! We got packed into the van and got on our way.
We arrived at the orphanage really early. Our appointment was at 10:00am but we got there around 9:10am. However, they let us in. We signed into the entry log and walked up the front steps and through the front doors. There was a small, empty reception desk to the right next to the stairs and to the left was a hallway with several offices and the meeting room at the end.
Within about 10 minutes, Kashila came around the corner. Wow she was so small, but looked just like her pictures! She was followed by Khushboo and then Rabina. Honestly I have no idea what went through my head other than “Oh my here they come! Here they are in flesh and blood!” It was awkward in a way because these were the children we have “known” and longed for for so long yet we really are strangers. We held their hands and got a few light hugs. I picked up Rabina immediately when she came in the room.
Let me tell you, these girls have smiles that will knock your socks off. Rabina’s laugh... oh boy... melts my heart. The home staff stressed over and over again how happy they all were and how good they were... well K & K at least. They said Rabina was stubborn and a “spoiled brat”! HAHA! I truly think they are happy children, but I’m trying not to deceive myself. I know that some of this could simply be survival. Their smiles have protected them and helped them to fare well in the orphanage. Time will tell what their personalities are really like although I don’t think my “made up personalities” from their pictures are really that far off. Rabina may be the one who surprises us the most. I called her “my little grumpy bunny” but she’s not grumpy... she’s just “my way or the highway”. She has a temper. She has already pulled my hair, hit Lance and spit at him. Lord help us when she makes it to her teens.
We waited for over an hour for Mrs. K, the director, to come in. She seemed to be in an ok mood. We finally got around to the paperwork. We made sure we had everything we needed. Whew, that stressed me out. I was glad to be done with all of that! Afterward we headed upstairs to check out some of the orphanage.
We met with some of the aunties who have cared for the children. We also spent a few minutes with the girls’ teachers. They ware very nice and spoke good English. They said the girls were very intelligent and sweet. They gave us some of their school work and art work. they also had written letters to us explaining what the girls knew and also a little about their personalities. I was really not expecting any of this. I was just so grateful! I have yet to actually look at any of it really. We’ve just been so busy with the girls. Khushboo did show me Kashila’s English test book back at the hotel. She read me some of the words inside and I helped her with the ones she didn’t know.
There was at least one other family picking up children that day. One family was from Spain and they were picking up one of the little girls that I had recognized. We had actually asked about her after we had lost the girls’ referral. It was quite busy at the Welfare Home! Mrs. K had us sign that we were taking custody of the girls and then we said some more goodbyes and loaded up in the van.
At this point it had gotten hotter outside and the girls were all dressed in long sleeves and jackets. I held Rabina in the front with me and the two Ks got in the back with Lance. We had our plastic bags ready just in case anyone felt sick, but nobody did. I had expected Rabina to be upset when she realized we were leaving. Nope, she waved goodbye and got in the van with me with no complaints. Kashila was quiet but seemed fine. Khushboo cried quietly on the way to the hotel. I tried to assure her it was totally ok to cry. Rabina fell asleep in my arms and didn’t wake up until I laid her on the hotel bed.
The girls were hungry when we got to the hotel so we changed their clothes (they were freezing when we stripped off the layers) and ordered up room service. They ate some pizza and some rice and and some dal (lentils). They ate fairly well. Rabina can feed herself nicely which kind of made me sad. Lance was able to feed her some pizza but she wouldn’t let me feed her with the spoon. SHE wanted to do it! The girls drank a lot of water. I mean glass after glass.
We watched some cartoons in Hindi and I began to treat their hair for lice/nits. The home told us they didn’t have any. I guess by didn’t have any they meant hundreds and hundreds of nits. Their hair is so thick so I was seriously overwhelmed. As I worked through Khushboo and Kashila’s hair they would look at the nits I had pulled out. I think they finally understood what I was doing. They would look at me with this embarrassed and grossed out look. I tried to reassure them that it was ok, we would get their hair clean. I smiled and hugged them when they searched my face to see if I was disgusted by it. It took so long. Kashila would say “Mom, break?” and I would let her go play and start back on Khushboo’s hair. Rabina had a few but nothing like K & K.
Rabina LOVES phones. All of them do really, but Rabina particularly! She will pitch a fit if you take it away. The girls also love the camera. They took lots of pictures with it. I can’t wait to see them all.
Around 6:00 K & K started saying they were sleepy. So we gave them some peanut butter crackers and got them all tucked in. All three slept on the pull out couch. Not what I expected but I was ok with that. They all fell asleep pretty quickly. Before they went to sleep, we FaceTimed with the boys. Mandee had to wake them up but it was good to see their faces.
I would say that our first day together was really great! God was gracious to us, and I’m so thankful for all the prayers that went into this special day! We have some really amazing girls! We can't wait for you all to meet them!
Well, I’m going to try to rest for a bit more before our day starts. -K
I apologize for the delay in our updates. We are having some internet troubles. Tomorrow we will be at the hotel so we should have better and more reliable internet connection.
Today was a really long and hard day. We woke up around 5:30am and got ourselves ready to go to the Taj Mahal in Agra. We left around 7:30am. It took about 3 hours to get there by highway. There was a lot of farmland along the way. Agra was fun to experience. It’s a lively city with plenty to see.
On the way, we took a short break to meet up with the rest of Tanwar’s family. We got to meet his son and daughter. We were all so excited to finally meet each other. We also met Savita’s nephews and some a few other children from their family. I loved the children. They were so precious and excited to be with us. I think it made both me and Lance really long to be with our girls.
We pulled into the parking area at the Taj Mahal and there were dozens of buses lining the road so I knew it would be really crowded. Lots of school children walked toward the gates. It was a colorful parade of people all the way. The parking was packed like sardines in typical Indian fashion. There were camels pulling little wagons that you could ride and of course auto-rickshaws. There was no lack of people vying for your attention or more importantly your money.
The organization of the Taj crowd was quite interesting. There were two types of tickets. One for Indians and one for foreigners. I was glad to be a white girl at the Taj because the Indian line was so long for everything. Once you bought tickets, you had to go through security. There was a men’s line and a women’s line. We were all pat down and then had to send our bags through examination. At the actual tomb, there was also an Indian line and a foreigner line.
It was really hot in Agra. Very humid and sticky. I cannot imagine what summer is like if this is winter! I think the heat really effected me today. The heat along with the crowd.
Our friend estimated that there were around 50,000 people at the Taj Mahal today. I felt like all of them were directly IN my personal bubble. I can deal with heights and I can deal with tight spaces but I have a very hard time with lots of people.
The Taj Mahal itself was breathtaking. The white marble sets it apart from the landscape. It truly is a wonder to behold in real life. I have no idea how humans built this. I am so glad we were able to go and despite how hard the day was, I will always treasure this memory.
After taking a million pictures, we finally made it to the entrance of the tomb. As I said, there was a line for Indians and a line for foreigners but the lines merged into one crowd once you entered the tomb. Immediately, I wanted to be out. The crowd was so thick and the air was hot. There were guards inside moving the crowd along and they would blow whistles that were painful to our ears. There really wasn’t much to see inside the tomb. It was not worth the wait in my opinion. The outside is beautiful but the inside was torture for me.
After meeting up with the rest of our group, we walked back to the car. I walked with the children, and they asked “Auntie” many questions. They wanted me to teach them some Spanish! Haha! I know barely any Spanish but I taught them what I knew.
Once we got to the car, I began feeling very badly. I had a migraine coming on and could not find my medicine to ward it off. I drank a decent amount of water but it didn’t seem to help. Things were going down hill quite quickly for me. My hands and feet were very swollen and I could not cool off.
We stopped off at a hotel to eat lunch. It was a buffet. The food was very good and once again our friends stuffed us to the max. I was hopeful that food would help me feel better but it didn’t.
Once on the road again, my headache got really bad. I was miserable and felt bad that I wasn’t being very good company to the rest of the group. We stopped at another restaurant and got some coffee. I think that may have helped a bit. I fell asleep and my headache died down. Unfortunately, it gained it’s strength again as we got closer to the apartment. I started feeling really sick to my stomach. We could not get through traffic fast enough.
Finally, we made it back to the apartment. I couldn’t eat dinner. I just felt too sick. We still don’t have internet so this will likely be posted tomorrow night.
Tomorrow we will do some more sight seeing and then will check into our hotel. Please pray that we stay well from here on out.
(This was from Saturday)
Americans must truly be known by our fatness, because I feel like I have done nothing but eat all day at the insistence of our Indian friends. They are constantly insisting on us being full even when we insist that we are already full. Right now, we are are eating Domino’s Pizza... delivered by bicycle not by air. I am still working through my post travel body crisis as I like to call it. My body is getting old and does not respond well to long travel. I was not hungry at all tonight and really just wanted to go to bed for a long long time. However, I was strongly encouraged to eat two slices of pizza and plate of rice, paneer and dal to satisfy our gracious hosts! :) No complaints! It's funny really!
Today (Friday) after 2nd breakfast, we went to Dilli Haut for some “window shopping”. This is a souvenir market that particularly caters to foreigners. In fact you actually have to pay 20 rupees per person to even get in. There was enough “real cashmere” to stretch across the entire country of India. I loved the colorful atmosphere. Savita was a wonderful bargain judge for me. I am still growing accustom to the currency exchange rate, so I was thankful to have her arguing with shop owners for me. Although, they were quite stubborn at Dilli Hautt so we only left with three pairs of earrings (one of the ten Forever Family Anniversary gifts I want to find for the girls).
After we left the market, we went looking for a specific location in relation to the girls past. We found the Muslim area (our girls come from a Muslim family) and took pictures that I hope will bring some answers to them when they have questions. I was so thankful to our friend who drove for miles and asked rickshaw driver after rickshaw driver where this location was. It meant so much to me!
There were people all over the streets. Adult and children alike. There were also cows. Not one or two cows but dozens of cows! This was the first area that I really saw people begging. I saw mothers going car to car begging for a rupee or two while their children played mere feet from the insane traffic zipping by. Some were seated on blankets on the sidewalk while others just sat on the curb. I spotted one precious little boy who was probably only two years old at the most. He was jumping up and down off the curb completely unconcerned with the cars.
From here, we went off to locate the orphanage. I really don’t have the words to describe what it felt to stare at the building where our daughters have lived for the last three years. It’s a lonely building at the end of the road. I’ve seen pictures of it before but to see it in real life was truly sobering. It’s across the street from a park area. There were children peering through the gate of the park out toward the orphanage. I wondered if those children were street children... orphans themselves yet not fortunate enough to make it into a home like The Welfare Home for Children.
We sat there for a few minutes just staring at the building in silence. Just taking it all in. The white washed walls. The gate with the guard. The closed up windows with no children running by (I was hoping to spot some little eyeballs looking out). The basket in the window where babies are dropped off in the middle of the night. The finance building across the street. The trash in the road. This was the place where chunks of our hearts have lived for so long. In just a couple of days we would get these chunks back.
We drove on past the orphanage, and stopped at a little cafe for a coffee break. At this point I was quite miserable because I had to su su (pee) something fierce! We asked the barista where the washrooms were. The women’s was locked. This was a bad omen for sure. So we went back and I decided I would just not drink anything and suffer through. Then they told us there was another upstairs so back out we went, up the stairs to an identical pair of washrooms. I could tell by the outside I was not going to appreciate the inside very much. I was not wrong. I’m happy to tell you I survived my first sqatty-potty! I felt so much better, so I enjoyed a little cafe frappe. It was so strange knowing that our daughters were just a few blocks back up the road. I wondered what they were doing. I wondered if they were as anxious to meet us as we are to meet them.
We headed back to the apartment after this coffee break. The sun was setting over Delhi. It was beautiful. You could actually look directly at the sun for a bit because the smog drowned out it’s harshness. At this point I was crashing. Our friends told me to take a nap in the car so I could press on through the evening. I said, “There is no way I would be able to fall asleep in this traffic!” Well, I lied... I was able to fall asleep in that traffic!
Traffic... everyone tells you how crazy it is in Delhi. You must experience this for yourself... it’s not something that can be explained. I have seen nothing else like it in my entire life. It’s impressive really. I told our friends that I now know why they say “Namaste!” to each other. Namaste is a greeting but it means that all of our souls are connected. In order to drive in Delhi traffic your soul or mind MUST be connected to all the others on the road. I see no other way for it to work. It’s as if there is a strange rhythm to it all. To us it seems like chaos but to them it is just driving. These people treat roads like a huge Tetris game mixed with Frogger.
We finally made it back to the apartment and here we are. It’s been a really long day and I am going to get some sweet rest before our trip to the Taj Mahal tomorrow. I will write more soon.
Until next time. -K
(This was from Friday. Will add pics soon)
We have only been in Delhi for 5 hours but I have learned there is no need for an alarm in the morning... all you need is the honking outside your window to tell you when the day has begun. It is about 7:00am here and everyone else is asleep but I cannot go back to sleep so I figured I would take this opportunity to blog about our trip thus far.
Let me start by saying that I’m sure these blog posts will be full of errors. You can judge me on that later but for now you can just accept it as a little spice from India! :)
This post will be without pictures because I don’t have any on this computer right now. I know, I know, bummer! Use your imagination!
Yesterday... well heck I don’t even know that I can call it that at this point. We sort of skipped Thursday. Wednesday, we headed to the airport around 1pm. I swear to you I was calm and focused which is totally unlike me! We left on time with no issues. Saying goodbye to the boys was way easier than expected. They were ready to go play with their cousins so kisses and hugs were quick. I’m thankful that it wasn’t full of drama and tears because it very well could have been.
My first little bit of butterflies came when we got inside the airport and began checking in, but they quickly faded. Calm as a cucumber here! Everything at the airport in Atlanta was seamless! No delays. Praise the Lord. We got a bite to eat and then boarded our first flight to Amsterdam.
Lance and I had decided to stay awake as much as possible on this leg of the trip so that we could “switch” over to Delhi time <--- you know because it’s just that easy! Ha! We both watched a couple of movies and Lance may have watched a third, but I fell asleep for a couple of hours toward the end of the flight.
John, on the other hand, has a different approach to fighting jet lag... he just takes some Ambien (maybe 15 of them I don’t know) and sleeps the ENTIRE flight. He was out! I had to reassure the lady next to him that the slumped, drooling mess next to her was not in need of medical attention. Somehow despite the fact he was asleep the entire flight, John still managed to eat the two in-flight meals. No, I didn’t get pictures or video. Yes, I regret that fact.
We landed in Amsterdam around 10:30 in the morning their time and went strait to the gate for our flight to Delhi. Our landing delayed slightly because “visibility was low”! Ummmm yeah that was an understatement. When landing, all we could see were white clouds on the way down and then BUMP we were on the ground! The Amsterdam airport was interesting. It’s not my favorite airport in the world. It was quite confusing where we were supposed to go, but we didn’t get lost. We just followed the mass of Indians really, but it was just odd. This flight was actually behind schedule. They were still loading the food on the plane so we had to wait to board. This was one of the two decker planes. Boeing 747 I think. I have never flown on a plane that big and staring at this monster through the glass of the terminal window, I had to remind myself that God’s hands would make this beast fly and that was all I science I needed to know. When I saw how big the plane was, I thought to myself, “Oh good maybe we have a bit more space!” Uh no. This plane was built for hundreds of 5 year olds not hundreds of adults. Lance and I chose to take an ambien ourselves for this flight. This was the right choice! We were out pretty solid for the majority of the flight (which is probably why my feet and ankles are swollen very nicely). I was up for the last 2 hours of the flight and that was the LONGEST 2 hours of my life. I am convinced the clock was rigged for torture. Miserable. I was so uncomfortable. Lance and John were both asleep of course.
We landed in Delhi around 1am Delhi time. Getting off that plane was like standing at the gates of Disney World! I was so thankful to NOT be on a plane anymore and a little in disbelief that we were actually standing in Delhi. We were finally in the same city as our daughters. It felt like a dream.
We found all of our luggage! ANSWER TO PRAYER! We made our way through immigration and customs and then found our friend Tanwar waiting for us in a mass of people just outside the airport doors. Man were we glad to see his face! It’s always good to see friends but we were very glad to see this one!
Tanwar’s brother-in-law was bringing the car around. We made our way with all of our luggage to the spot where met us. Several Indian men tried to help us with our bags. Lance and I both tried to tell them no but they stuck with us hoping for a few rupees. They got no rupees. We stuffed Tanwar’s SUV slap full of luggage and people and began our drive to the apartment where we are staying for a couple of nights.
Delhi is very smoggy this time of year. You could actually see it inside the airport like a layer of thin smoke but it is definitely noticeable when you start driving. It’s like dense fog with a unique smell. Not a bad smell... just a unique smell.
There were a lot of big trucks on the quiet-for-India-roads. Tanwar told us they aren’t allowed to be on the roads during the day so they travel after 10pm. Horns are a must in India. It’s like instead of using your blinker or your mirrors you just use your horn. LOL
As I stared out the window of the car, it was so surreal. I just couldn’t believe we were actually here! After two years of waiting, we are finally in India... the place were chunks of our hearts have lived for so long just waiting for us to catch up with them!
Tanwar and his brother-in-law brought us up to the apartment. It’s above a shop. Savita, Tanwar’s wife, her family is in the dairy business. So I guess the shop is like a milk shop? Maybe we will get to see it today. As we walked up the side walk to the stairs, I noticed a man laying in front of the door to the shop completely covered with a blanket and laying there as stiff as a corpse. We were told he was guarding the shop along with other workers sleeping inside. I have no idea how he could actually sleep.
We got the tour of the two bedroom apartments. It’s very nice and simple, yet has interesting features like colored track lighting in the ceiling. This is actually where Savita’s brother’s family lives. They gave us their home for several days. Indian people are hosts like no other. They go over and beyond to make you welcome.
Savita’s brother made us chai and brought out some Indian biscuits and some type of spicy trail mix. It was all wonderful. Our first cup of chai in India and it was perfect. I think learning to make authentic chai is going to be on my to-do list this weekend. Tanwar stuffed us full and after a quick facetime with our boys we took a “nap”.
I only slept for a couple of hours but it felt like it was a full nights sleep! Now, here I am listening to the constant horns, bells and other strange sounds. The house is quiet but it will soon be filled with the smell of Savita’s breakfast. I can’t wait to hug her neck and meet her children!
Today, I think we will relax until about noon and then go out to experience some of Delhi. Hopefully, John will get some pictures up on the website and I will be sure you guys get to see them!
Tomorrow we go to the Taj Mahal. I am very excited to see this beautiful piece of Indian history!
Thank you all for your prayers! No doubt they have been heard! We will keep you posted as much as possible. Blogging and Facebooking will be easier when we get to the hotel because there will be wifi available. Right now we only have access to Tanwar’s cellular internet which is wonderful and we are thankful for it but it limits us to this one computer for now.
Until next time! -K
