Shopping and Sightseeing

I figure I mind as well get caught up in recording the trip, because it is only going to pick up speed from here! Today we tried not to overdo it. We know we have limited time to shop and see what we want to see since once we get little Miss Arilyn Sneha, we will decidedly have to curtail extra curriculars. We hired a driver to take us around for the week (reportedly the safest way to go in India.) He is great. He told us to call him Ali (which gave us a clue for his religious leanings). We told him the kinds of things we wanted to buy and he took us to some terrific stores.

In China, there is a whole island that has basically been set up to meet the needs of American adopting children there. You can buy nearly any souvenirs you want while on an evening stroll. India only has about 400 US adoption annually and about 10% of those are couples not of Indian origin, so there is nothing established in the process or in traditions (no Red Couch for pictures :) ) We knew we wanted to pick up some Indian clothes, some carvings, and other handmade items to represent her culture of origin. The items are way more expensive here than they are in China, but still beautiful. We will not be purchasing as much and are looking for the best to choose.

The kids did a great job hanging around in stores and checking things out. They are fascinated by the scenes on the street, the motorcycles, the crowding of the vehicles, the lack of lanes, and all the honking horns. Kailey especially enjoyed today. She loves to shop and keeps saying how much she loves visiting foreign countries.

We ended up kind of skipping breakfast and ate lunch at a coffee shop that blended India cuisine with sandwiches. Pretty good. Dinner, we ate ate the hotel. Ended up with sandwiches again as they don't actually start dinner service until 7 pm. That must be the British influence. No Tea time, but a late dinner. We wanted the kids in bed long before a 7 pm dinner would have allowed, so sandwiches it was.

Tomorrow is a history recording day. We are going to visit Swanthana Orphanage, where she spent her first 2.5 years. It houses around 30 mentally and physically challenged girls who were abandoned. That will be an interesting experience for all, but especially for the children who have never seen anything like it before. Then again, I haven't either. After our visit to Swanthana, we will go to St. John's Medical College to see if we can document photographically where she was found as a newborn. I also hope to find people on staff who may have been there when she was hospitalized to gain more information of her past.

It will not be an easy day, but oh, so important to record her history while we can.