Day 3

Today was Friday here. We woke up around 3am. We went to the embassy to file one form - the I-600 - and it went well. On the way we saw some cows on the street - but no pictures. There are also dogs wandering around everywhere. And as you can see we saw monkeys along the "highway". We went to Connaught Place - a shopping area in New Dehli which is the more developed part of the city. We bought just a few things - but since some are surprises we'll not say what. We ate at McDonalds for lunch but, of course they do not serve any beef. Dan had a Mcchicken sandwich and Ronda had the Maharaja chicken sandwich. They really served a lot of different foods than in American McDonalds. We also stopped in a coffee shop a little bit later - it was clean and comfortable and we both had iced teas - Dan, lemon and Ronda Lichi. You can see Dan lounging there. After coming back to the hotel and resting in the afternoon, we walked for at least an hour on the streets around our hotel amidst and in spite of lots of traffic and dirt (See picture to right). We had a few near misses and one Indian boy got a good laugh out of seeing Dan jump out of the way of one car. We were looking for a clean restaurant to eat in but didn't find any so we came back to our hotel and ate. Dan went for the Chinese chicken tonight and Ronda for mixed vegetables - Indian style. The food was good and we were the only two in the restaurant. We are soon going to hit the hay as we leave for the Taj Mahal tomorrow at 6:00am.
The Cool Picture of the Day comes from a telephone pole - The dad from "A Christmas Story" would have loved it.

Day 2

We arrived in Delhi about an hour and a half early, but then had to wait for the driver. The flight was pretty smooth. One bag did not make it - of course the one w/ Girija's new clothing - Please pray for this situation. The plane is only about six months old and has a lot of neat stuff. Interactive video games, tons of movies, TV shows, music, even cameras to look down, front, and to the back. The drive to the hotel was crazy – reminded me a lot of China, but worse.

Last night, or if there really was a “night” I got thinking about what Maya may be thinking when she first meets us—what should we say – will she understand it anyway???? Will she think that we are weird (if she does, some would say that she figured us out quick :-). Regardless, she probably will be pretty excited and also scared to death at the same time. I can’t imagine what it has been like for her to live in a couple orphanages for all 6+ years of her life; never knowing if anyone would ever want you; wondering where you came from; dreaming about the homes that you see all your friends go off too, but never you...but now your chance is coming.

The hotel is adequate. We opted for a less expensive hotel - it is fairly clean, food was good, there is A/C, free internet access, and mayby sometime soon the dogs will quit barking, horns stop blowing, and ... Ronda got up after a few hours and put earplugs from the plane in - even after taking tylenol pm. But the earplugs helped a lot!! Check out the view from the front window.

Today we head early to the US Embassy to file Maya’s I-600 form. We have to be there by 8:00 am (which is 9:30 PM EST). India is 10 & ½ hours ahead. We probably will then spend a little time shopping and then get some rest.

Trip to India

We are on our way to India to get our daughter Maya Joy Girija. It is a snowy day in Pittsburgh. We should get to Delhi on Thursday morning EST. Off to board the plane in Pit - more later.