A day with the Missus.
Today was ladies day. Camille will come to us with just the clothes on her back. Our hostess took us in hand for the day and we went traipsing across town to get the girls outfitted with proper clothes and accessories. As this was ladies day I was just there for escort purposes. Open the door, close the door, nod your head yes when she asks if it is pretty,
We have sent Camille a photo-book, some books and clothes. All the gifts that get brought to the orphanage are shared so when you get your child she will most likely have none of the items that you sent. One can hope that the photobook has survived the past year. If not no big loss as it was just memento of things to come. We brought a large parcel of gifts from prospective parents for their chosen children. Unfortunately they are not allowed to have them until the dossier has arrived in India and been approved. To further exasperate us expectant parents we don't fully grasp the process of what happens to the dossier once it gets to India. Some think that once it arrives that you will have your child in a month or so. That is not the case.
When you are preparing your dossier you are the one that controls how long the process will take. If you are super efficient you may be able to get it done in a few months. It took me about 6 months as I needed multiple documents from 6 different states. Once the dossier is completed and has been reviewed locally it gets sent to India where it is reviewed for entrance into the India system. Here is a surprise. Did you know that the Home Study that is done in the US is often incorrect for what is needed by the India courts. Of course we can't tell the social worker what should and should not be put into the home study but in reality the home study should be tailored for where it is going. There were a few items that got into our home study that should not have been in there. The courts neither needed it nor was it pertinent to what was to be accomplished. This will hold up the process as now the social worker that did your home study has to redo it. It then has to be notarized and apostilled. That can easily add a month or two.
As for telling the prospective parents how long it will take after your documents get to India we were lead to believe that we would be travelling almost 6 months ago. Instead of getting your hopes up it would have been better to say that it can take anywhere from 6 to 12 months. Best to plan for the long haul and then be thankful for the blessing if it is shorter!
From 17-28 February is the Taj Mahal Festival. Very similar to a county fair. RN saw a shoe seller and just had to stop. Lucky for me her feet have swelled a bit the last few days and only one pair fit. I had to buy them. To my surprise the shoes she was wearing came off and the new ones were slipped on. I forgot to have her do the New Shoes Dance. After wandering around for an hour or so it was time to head back.
The car was parked a few blocks away and so we walked with the crush of the throbbing throng getting jostled back and forth. My worry was my feet. We were sharing the road with motor lorries, motorbikes, three wheeled ricks, bicycles and ¼ of the city of Agra. Somehow no ones toes were stepped upon.. However I did clip the heel of someone but that is all right. The favour was retuned about 5 minutes later by someone else. Almost lost my flip-flop but I managed to wiggle it back on keeping pace with our step.
We have been staying at the Trident hotel in Agra. There is also one in the other th=state where we will be picking up Camille. The trident is geared for foreign visitors and I have been told really does not welcome in the local clientèle. Looking at the folks that come and go during breakfast I think the comment is correct. For me the place is a bi stuffy. Another person may just describe the place as being attentive. In either case we have not had a vacation in quite a while and this was a nice spoil as we won't get a spoil for a few more years to come. Dinner is served late in India which suits RN just fine. I grew up with supper/dinner at 1700 hrs or about 20 minutes after dad comes home. RN on the other hand grew up with supper/dinner at 2100 hrs. India is suited for RN more than JE. We got back to the hotel had a shower and arrived at dinner at the appropriate hour. We have been full on veggie diet since we got here as vegetarian diet is just about the norm here. I had a faux paux tonight. I got a soup and was walking away from the serving the serving tray when I got n “Excuse me sir, you must have an under-liner.” Well let me add that my lexicon. The saucer under the bowl or tea cup is called an under-liner. The British influence has also given rise to a Ground Floor the First Floor, 2nd Floor... where in the US the Ground Floor is the 1st floor and the 1st floor is the 2nd floor. I did not pay attention to what the Brits call the Basement.
Our family has been expanded. We now have an Uncle and Aunt that lives in India. This experience has been a bit like visiting the relatives on Sicily. We didn't know our relatives through relationship but just by name and this connection through the tree of life. We were welcomed into their home as the long lost relatives that we are and were shown the home town that we have not seen. There is a pick-nick/gathering of the family in Texas in October. Uncle has said that he plans on bringing the family out to the states. Since we live only a few minutes from LAX we hope that their flight will afford them time to spend a few days/week in South California. If not then we will take the few days in Texas. In a few years RN will be spending a week or two at a home in Nepal. She is excited about meeting her sister that lives there and giving big love to all the children there.
Day 4
Tomorrow is a travel day. Check out of the hotel, repack for the short trip. We are leaving some of our stuff (London clothes, dirty underwear, wool hat and gloves, bumbershoot) as we won't need them in the car. Why schlep stuff you don't need? The trip from Agra to Delhi is 200 km and take about 4 hours depending on the traffic. For this reason we are taking a late flight to our next destination. An early flight would mean leaving the hotel at 0600. I have one early flight and that is the flight out of Delhi back to the states. No reason to have more early flights than is necessary.
Diesel fuel is 45 Rs per Litre. Petrol or gas as it is called in the states is about 10 Rs more.
We arrived at the hotel around 9 and it took about 45 minutes to check in. We are saying at the Ginger which just across the street from The Trident. Let's say it is a drop down in attentiveness from whence we came. It is also more in the budget. I guess I did not inform RN well enough of the differences in the hotel. Let's just say this hotel is about 45% the cost of the one we left. We got in the door and noticed there was place to put your key to turn on the electricity. I jammed it in turned on the lights closed the door and puled out the key. 30 seconds later we were in a pitch black room. Ah you leave the key in. Grab the key on your way out. Nice this way the guests do not leave all the appliances and lights running when they are not in the room. Had a “square meal” and then went to bed. The hotel room is a bit like a dorm with a private bath. Just the essentials: clothes closet, 1 cu ft fridge, telephone, one chair, internet hookup. sink, shower and loo. Found out that our host was not able to get a room at the Ginger in Delhi. I wish I had known that before I cancelled our friends reservation. It would have been a few keystrokes to change the name. RN's boss was supposed to come an help us with this trip but about a week before we left her management cancelled her vacation request, which was for a mere 3 days.
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