Recovering Noah

About a year ago, I started following the blog of a family who was adopting a rather high profile child. You know, one of the kids that has an urgent appeal and his or picture gets passed around on adoption forums and blogs and Facebook. I was so excited when this child found a family. I participated in fundraisers and eagerly stalked  their blog for updates. When they were in-country, I would wake up and check their blog first thing in the morning to see if they had posted. I was so incredibly excited for them. I wanted to know how he was doing, what foods he liked, what he thought of his new family, everything. But, you know what? He came home and the family stopped blogging. And in a really weird way, I was crushed. I almost felt betrayed. I know that's really silly, because they are complete strangers, but some of you might know what I'm talking about. It's just that I was so emotionally invested in his adoption and I wanted to keep updated and the...

Dear Alaina, I can’t wait to tell you all about the adventures I had in India with your Aunt Leslie! She was so excited to take me with her on her trip to adopt her new son (your cousin!) Naveen. It was my first trip to India and I loved it so much. First of all, we met Aunt Leslie’s friend, Sandy, at the DFW airport in TX.  She was going with us on the trip. Aunt Leslie calls Sandy “Sandwich”. Isn’t that funny? Do you have a nickname that your friends call you?   Well, Aunt Leslie, Sandwich, and I boarded the plane for a long flight to India. Can you guess how long it takes to fly to India from Dallas? 19 hours!  That's almost an entire day! Fortunately, we had a short layover (that’s what you call it when you take a break from flying) in a city called Frankfurt. That’s in Germany. Do you know what continent Germany is on? Europe! Europe is also where your Uncle Simeon is from! This is me on the airplane When we were in Frankfurt, Aunt Leslie m...

Hi!! Yes, we made it. I'm sorry I haven't updated. Naveen is doing great, but he's sooo clingy. I have so much to write, but for now, I'm being lazy and just copying and pasting my Facebook status update that I just posted on the Holt boards. **************** Hey everyone! Yes, we're Home!! Things have been so crazy busy that I haven't had a chance to do anything. Naveen is slowly finding his wings, but he has been very clingy and VERY scared of our dogs. I haven't had a chance to sit down and type, so I'm just retyping what I just posted on Facebook.... Thanks for all the emails and messages. I'm so sorry I haven't replied back. I'm buried under a sink of dirty dishes, a table full of fast food wrappers, mountains of dirty laundry, and a VERY clingy 2 year old who has a terrible case of the runs. Despite how it sounds, things are going great. Naveen's bonding has surprised us all. N & E adore him! But Noah is having a hard time. ...

So, 11:45 Thursday night, our taxi arrived.  Mrs. S had her guys watching for it and the gate called down when it came into the compound.  Up they went and a few minutes later, down they came, one with Leslie's suitcase lifted over his head, the other with my suitcase plus Naveen's checked bag, plus her two carry-ons.  Wow, these guys are strong!  There is nothing to them, yet they hoist 100 lbs. of luggage like nothing! Since Wed. the tall, lost Sikh guy had been Leslie's taxi driver, and tonight was no exception.  We hopped into the taxi-van and headed off through the streets of Old Delhi.  Literally. Now, I was awake when we arrived FROM the airport, and I swear that first scruffy driver took all highways to get us to the Sham Nath Villa.  We were cruising through the empty streets going, oh, I don't know, 40 km/h. Tonight we took every possible back way there was to get to the airport.  It didn't actually seem to take very long, but it WAS stinky. We arr...

Thursday morning I woke up feeling sick and kept fighting it for a couple of hours.  Leslie and Naveen went down for breakfast and then headed out to the embassy by taxi to pick up his visa packet.  Done and done! By the time they returned, I had taken an antibiotic, thrown that up and was moaning on the bed. Let me just say at this point, I really don't think it was the street food tour.  Leslie and Naveen ate all the same things I did and didn't get sick.  That was Tuesday and this was Thursday and I was fine (except for a headache) all Wednesday.  Probably a random touching of some object  and then not washing my hands thoroughly.  Anyway, I don't recommend it. The plan had been for us to go back to Dilli Haat and finish up our shopping today, but I was clearly in no shape for that.  Leslie the Incredible India Adventure Girl, set out on her own for the subway.  Dilli Haat is a straight shot, 10 stops down our line. I lay down and slept for a bit, then managed to...

Delhi--Wednesday A laid back day. I woke up at 6:30 and hustled downstairs to FaceTime with the kids before bed. They have been having all sorts of adventures while I'm gone. A trip to the emergency room, a lost retainer, the cat caught a snake and they forgot to pick ******** up from school. Hopefully the rest of the week will be uneventful. I had a headache today (what is it with me and Wednesdays in India? I didn't feel good on the last trip) so, since Leslie was going by non-adventurous car just to the doctor and the embassy, I begged off and hung out here. Naveen was very good for the day's errands, he just ate a whole container of biscuits. They were at the doctor by 10:30 and got right in. Reading the TB test took just two minutes, but waiting for the photocopies to take to the embassy took an hour and a half. When she came out she couldn't see the driver. Monday's driver was standing outside the medcentre watching for us and he took very good care...

Tuesday--old Delhi Woke up. Ate paratha aloo. Our plan was to go to Dilli Haat, an ethnic crafts market via the metro. Mrs. S loaned us metro cards to use, and the Civil Lines stop is literally 2 min. walk from here. At the station we added 100 Rs. to each card (they each had just a bit on them). And the Delhi Metro is just amazing!!! It's super clean (for India), super easy and super fast! You go through the scanner in the ladiies' line, they scan your bags, you lay your card against the turnstile and then go wait for the ladies car. Every train has a ladies car, either the first or the last, only for ladies and their children. Each car has a marquee inside listing the stops in English and Hindi, and there also a map with lights showing where you are. AND they are making announcements in Hindi and very clear English. You cannot get lst and it's very safe. And so cheap! We rode 6 times today and spent 60 Rs. So off we went to Dilli Haat. We found it after as...