Hi everyone. Our day picking up Eve for the first time was more than we could ever dream - it was so magical. However, the reality of being 7500 miles from home has really started to kick in. Our day on Saturday traveling to New Delhi pushed us past our breaking point.
We checked out of our room around 11am in Mumbai and were anxious to get to the airport mostly because we couldn’t stand the crazy Mumbai traffic anymore. The car ride was short and getting checked in and checking luggage and through security went well. Everyone is so respectful, friendly and welcoming.
One of the airport workers looked at us and thanked me, but I don’t think it was for paying to fly. He brushed Eve‘s hair with his hand and told her she’s a lucky girl. It was so humbling. Eve also made friends with everyone she saw - many times speaking to them in Hindi without us knowing what was being said in the ensuing conversation (weird feeling to not know what your child and a stranger are saying to each other ...). She even talked it up with the security agent, telling her that her Mommy and Papa were taking her places. 🙂
We ate some lunch in the food court (mmm Indian KFC) And then proceeded to walk around the airport for the next SIX hours. There ended up being less shops than we thought, which was disappointing because we came to the airport early because we didn’t want to sit in our hotel room all day. I’m addition, Eve had more trouble walking than we originally anticipated and we couldn’t find a stroller to purchase anywhere. So we did many loops of the airport sections and found ourselves back at the food court (this time Indian Pizza Hut...). Also, our flight was delayed an hour so yeah, oh well.
We finally got on our plane and thankfully that went well with Eve falling asleep for most of the 2 hour flight. We landed and found our driver, who was very nice. New Delhi is further north than Mumbai and about 55 degrees in the evening right now, which is WAAY colder than anything Eve has ever experienced. She had a sweatshirt on but her teeth were still chattering pretty good.
Anne and I naively thought the New Delhi traffic would be less chaotic but unfortunately it was just as bad. After a NASCAR-esque 35 minute race to our next (and last) hotel, we were finally ready to begin phase 3 of our journey. Poor Eve threw up on the way to the hotel but Anne and I kind of rocked it, anticipating it by packing paper towels and a plastic bag in our backpack! 🤮
I told the driver and apologized - oh well.
We finally walk into our hotel after such a long day to find the toilet won’t flush (we later found out it does work - you just have to flush FOUR times - that makes sense, right???). We had to immediately shower Eve because of the throw up (no tub...) The icing on the cake was when we read the slip of paper on the desk... the mall that is attached to the hotel, which we were really looking forward to shopping in, was closed for remodeling. MAJOR BUMMER. Actually, that’s kind of what broke us. We were hoping to be able to travel somewhere by walking and not by speeding at break-neck speeds within inches of cars, trucks, children, tuk-tuks, dogs, et. We were hoping to purchase shoes and a stroller since Eve’s leg braces from the orphanage were too small for her and the shoes we brought with were too big. We were also hoping to get a stroller, which would have made the six hours in the airport much more bearable. Both of these things can mostly likely be found somewhere else... to be determined in the following days’ adventures.
Sleep did us some good, and after some complimentary breakfast Sunday morning, we are feeling a little better. As I write, Anne and Eve are taking a nap together. The thing that started us on this journey was Anne missing her mom and how God was calling us to adopt a sweet girl who didn’t have a mom. That is now solved. Anne will forever be Eve’s mommy (and me daddy) and how I praise God for that.
We are missing our older three children quite a lot, so that makes things extra hard. The rest of Sunday is full of rest and unpacking. We meet our new guide tomorrow morning for our first appointment - medical checkup and TB shot.
Keep praying. We love you all!
