Meeting Day!

We made it safely to India without too many problems, except for maybe a renewed dislike for Newark airport. We were exhausted from 26 hours of flights (more like 30 hours of travel if you start counting from when we went to the airport to when we got to the hotel!) and plopped into our hotel bed around 11 pm. We all slept until 8:45 am and are feeling much better after a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast, and a cappuccino. 

With confirmed negative covid tests in hand, we were cleared to meet Evelyn today (Monday) instead of Tuesday! We drove what was a familiar route this time from the hotel to the orphanage, complete with hundreds of tuk tuks (auto rickshaws), bikes, scooters, cars, trucks, push carts, and pedestrians all sharing the road with a degree of spatial reasoning I could never hope to achieve. We arrived at the orphanage to see some improved infrastructure and landscape since we were here four years ago with Kira. There were a few clusters of chairs outside where we waited alongside another adoptive family to meet our daughter. 

Evelyn was delivered to us in what I’m sure is a dress that travels around to whatever child is meeting their family that day. It was frilly, bejeweled, and full of tulle. Totally impractical, but meant to make an impression that this is a special day. We were dressed especially for the day too as I wore, at Kira’s request, the same shirt and pants I wore when we met her. 

Evelyn was hesitant to come to us from her caregiver, but eventually the caregiver just pulled her off and handed her to me. After the caregiver was out of sight Evelyn calmed and clung like a monkey in a way that reminded me of when we met another certain little girl. As her grip loosened and her buried face was lifted, we showed her some things we brought. She denied the sucker but was a big fan of the baby puff snacks. The other thing that sparked her interest was the balls we brought, which she dropped over and over, making Dave and Kira run to collect them from the bushes every time. It shortly turned to lunchtime and we attempted to feed her the meal the orphanage provides, but she was growing sweaty and tired (96 degrees today) and we had little success. As she became more upset we turned her back over to the caregivers who took her for nap time. She reached for David a few times a she cried and he was happy to think of the possibility of a daddy’s girl. 

We will do this visiting again tomorrow and then take her to the passport appointment on Wednesday. Thursday has been named as our custody day. We aren’t sure why. Legally she’s ours, but we will take her whenever they let us! 

After some snacks and naps (I’m writing this with one hand with Kira asleep in the other arm) we hope to head back for maybe another hour visit today, but we will for sure go again tomorrow. And there we go! Our first day with our daughter!