Limping home

Today was a day of nothing planned. We were not able to leave today when we made the plane tickets because it is not guaranteed that visas can be processed in one day. We would have been in a world of hurt if we had scheduled to leave today and then ran into even a small visa delay. Thus, we did nothing of substance today other than hang around the hotel and try to get rested up for our trip.

Unfortunately, it didn't really work. Maren continues to have stomach problems. She has not gotten sick, but her stomach keeps cramping painfully. Kailey rallied a bit in the day and did go shopping with Nana and Papa for about two hours but overdid herself. She remained in bed for the rest of the day. Justin has not left bed all day long and only got worse as the day wore on. He was unable to eat any dinner and in fact was not able to even get himself down to the restaurant. He was able to take in some water, some pineapple juice and a bit of toast, but then promptly deposited it all back into another Ziploc bag. The rest of us have embattled lungs from the pollution and all of us are coughing dry, unproductive coughs.

We have to wake up at about 5am to get to the airport in time for our 8:45 am flight. This will be the first test of all the paperwork done to bring Sneha home. Hopefully it does not cause any problems. India does not adopt out anywhere close to the same number of children as does China so hopefully the airport staff don't get overly cautious.

We are all very much looking forward to arriving back home. We have had several conversations today amongst us about the things we are looking forward to most. In no particular order, these things include:
1. familiar food
2. a constant supply of clean drinking water
3. our home
4. family not with us
5. our friends
6. our church
7. wearing shorts when it is warm
8. ability to go somewhere without having to call a hired driver
9. a regular routine
10. not constantly wondering how much this will cost or if we have to tip
11. simply feeling normal
12. not only going somewhere without hiring a driver, but simply the act of driving
13. hearing our language without a thick accent
14. being able to open our mouths while showering
15. constant regulated temperature in the shower; no temperature drops and spikes
16. constant regulated temperature in the room; no temperature spikes
17. ice cream in decent supply

We hope to arrive about midnight tomorrow night. I have no concept how we will feel or what to expect upon arriving home. I am hoping after a brief tour of the house to show Sneha her new home, that we can all just crash for about 10 hours. I may be dreaming, but it is a worthwhile dream. Here we come good old U. S. of A. Greatest country in the world. We long for your shores.