Day 7

Maya took a nap after crying herself to sleep in Dan’s arms last night. We were able to wake her to eat a little bit around 8pm and then she went back to sleep around 9:30 and slept soundly but a little restlessly until 7am. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and she was a bundle of energy, drank lots of juice, ate a bowl of cornflakes, and grapes. We went for a walk on the streets around the hotel. We spent the rest of the morning in the hotel room coloring, watching TV and just playing around. We ate lunch downstairs and all Maya ate was rice even though she ordered her own dish dahl fry but for whatever reason she did not like it. All day she was very concerned that both Mommy and Daddy were with her. This is a good sign.

In the afternoon we went to the Family Court to answer a few questions from the judge and so she could meet us. The questions were grueling, but we passed. The judge asked “When did you come to India?”, “When did you meet her?”, “Is she happy with you?” and “When will you return?” Then she gave us a head nod and stamped the papers. After that we returned to the hotel so we could drop off our bags so we could go shopping. We bought Maya two cute dresses and got a little something to eat. Maya wanted an ice cream cone so after we ate a couple Chinese dumplings, she got a vanilla ice cream cone. It was probably her first one because she had no idea that you could eat the cone. To convince her Dan took a small bite and her face lit up. The rest is history. We have all laughed a lot, smiled a lot, and just plain had a really good time getting to know each other. One of the most important things we have learned – I guess we figured it out at some point last evening – is that to say “yes” or “ok” Indian people do not nod their heads up and down as we do – they sort of ‘bob’ them from side to side. So we don’t know how many times she said “yes” to us without us knowing it! You can see Maya bobbing her head “yes” in the video. Maya is going to bed now – its only 8pm – this is early for her so I don’t know how early she will wake up. But she seemed ready and is surely emotionally if not physically exhausted – although she took a short nap on the way to court today.