After we regrouped we headed down to the lobby to meet your driver to take us to the Mother Teresa Home. We were a bit concerned when we discovered that the car the driver took us to was not the car we were told we would have. We had arranged for a Honda that was 1,500 rupees for 5 hours of time within a 50 meter radius. We figured this would be plenty of time to accomplish the sites we wanted to see and the price fit our budget. The problem was he took us to a Toyota Corolla, which was 3,000 rupees for the same amount of time. Not wanting to get stuck with a bill we didn't budget for we asked him to double check with the desk and make sure everything was okay. At this point we realized our driver spoke hardly any English and kept asking the receptionist for instructions and procedures. The car issue finally got settled and as we would be getting the 1,500 rupee price for the Toyota so we headed off to our first stop. Before we left the hotel parking lot he was on his cell phone again asking more questions and getting additional directions. I was thinking how could one not know where the Mother Teresa House is if you live and work in Kolkata. She is known all around the world. . This was going to be an adventure for sure. As we drove along the crowded streets of Kolkata we took in additional sites of our daughter's birth country. At last we stopped at what we thought was the home, but to find out our driver was asking for directions. We continued on and stopped again for yet MORE directions. We are very concerned at this point wondering what it up with this driver. Finally, he makes a final stop at what we hope is the destination we requested.
A very sweet young lady meets us and talks with our driver briefly and she says to follow her. We proceed through a gate that leads to a playground. We are thinking this is really strange to see this at Mother Teresa's Home. As we enter the gate we are bombarded by children. They are EVERYWHERE!! They swarmed us immediately. My husband had a little girl run up to him and hold her arms up for him to hold her. In a minute or so he had 2 children in his arms, I had one in my arms and several pulling at my skirt, while our boys are wide-eyed as the children are all around us talking to us a mile a minute, but we don't understand anything they are saying. We ask the lady "Is this the Mother Teresa's home?", and she says no this is Mother Teresa's Children's Home. Yep, our driver still didn't get us to the correct place. Although we were excited to see this home, we were not emotionally prepared to see what lay ahead. The lady begins to tell us a bit about the home. The children on the playground were out for playtime. She explained that a lot of the older children attend school. It was the middle of the afternoon. There were probably 50 children playing in a dirt floored play area. There were teeter-totters, a tire swing, and a large piece of play equipment that the workers placed two children per seat facing each other, it held about 30 kids at time and once loaded they pushed it around in a circle. The children seemed to really enjoy it. My husband was down to one child in his arms and I still had the little girl who jumped in my arms. This little girl had NO intentions of me letting her down. I tried several times to put her down so I could hold some of the other children who were begging for me to pick them up, but as I got her close to the ground she would pull her legs up and cling even harder to my neck and body. It was clear that this little one was going to be a permanent attachment for the remainder of our time in this area. At this point my son, Martin, had a little one in his arms and our youngest son was not sure what to do as he was not big enough to hold any of the kids. It was fun to watch my boys interact with these children. The children wanted to show us every little thing in the playground. They showed us the climbing vine, the sticks, the water spicket, the caged birds, etc. It was explained that the children at this home were either dropped off at the gate or were brought back to the home after the worker's combed the streets for abandoned children. It was truly heartbreaking to see the amount of children at this home. One of the buildings housed approx. 80 children. The other building housed the special needs children ages newborn to approx age 12. There were close to 200 children overall at the home. As I stood there in the HOT, DUSTY, DIRTY, NOISY playground and saw how few workers there were to care for ALL of these children my heart broke. These women must be exhausted! With every child fighting for attention it must be frustrating for them to know that it is impossible to meet the needs of all of these children with the shear number that stood before them. It was a very overwhelming scene.
We were directed over to the building where the 80 children were housed. The toddlers were having playtime. As we stood at door taking off our shoes we noticed they were kicking a ball around. As we entered the room and I looked down as this little girl walked up to me. I could have sworn it was Alesha's twin sister!!!! The site of her took my breathe away! She had the same short hair cut, pixie face, teenie tiny body and huge eyes. My first thought was, "What is Alesha doing here?!" I picked this beautiful little girl up and it was funny she didn't want me hold her on my hip, she wanted to be held facing me. As I turned her little body towards me she layed her head on my shoulder and began to suck her 2 fingers just like we had seen Alesha do in previous photos. It was INSANE how much this little girl reminded me of my daughter. It was almost like a mini preview of what tomorrow was going to be like. My emotions were running at top speeds at this point. Our boys kicked balls around with the children and pushed them on their little bikes, and carried the little ones all around. It was fun to see them interacting so well. The building was quite dark and had several levels. The top level had the newborns and we were not allowed access. The toddlers were on the other level and I assume the school children who were attending school at the time were on the bottom level. After much play time, I put down my daughter's twin sister :-) and headed over to the other building.
We asked if any of the children get adopted and she said that a lot of the younger children are adopted, but they have a huge number of special needs children they continue to provide care for. As we entered the second building we were taken to the room with infants (1 year and under). There were several workers on the floor playing with toys and feeding the children. It was such a small area and so much commotion.. There were rows of cribs to our right so I walked along looking at these precious little babies. Some of them were so frail. There was a baby probably 2 months old and she was skin and bones. She was just laying there fast asleep with a small cloth where a diaper would be. She was the most frail little baby I had ever seen! Truly heartbreaking. I was able to get some smiles from some of the babies and interact with them a little bit. There were some babies with some with significant special needs and at the far end of the aisle of cribs there was a caregiver giving breathing treatments to several children. It was really hot and crowded as additional tourists arrived and were trying to make their way through the small quarters to see all the children. I just wanted to scoop them all up and take them home. My heart broke for these workers as trying to meet the basic needs of all these tiny children all the while dealing with the overwhelming heat.
We then went up two flights of stairs to an area where the older children were residing. As we entered we saw several children strapped to chairs as their disabilities would not allow them to sit up on their own, we saw several workers changing out beds, a group of children gathered on a large rug doing various things, while there was also a small room off to the left where a class seemed to be taking place. To take in all of this a one glance was overwhelming to say the least. We stood there for several minutes before we began to ask some questions to gain some insight.
A little boy on the large carpet was on his back in a fetal position and was rocking from side to side over and over again. We asked if he was okay and she explained that this is how he comforts himself, because he has never had anybody hold and love him. This was the most heartbreaking thing we had heard all day. My husband had a very difficult time with this and walked to a small bench in the corner of the room and began to weep. Our boys were taking in all these sites and asking me all kinds of questions that I didn't have answers for. All this was going on while I was trying to process what I just heard. I was called into the small room that was having a class. As we entered all the children were seated around a large table and their instructor said they were all so excited to see my boys. They all reached out their hands for us to shake. (they especially wanted to shake my boys hands) There were smiles and giggles all around the room. They were so excited to have visitors, especially children. So many things happened in such a short amount of time it was so difficult for me to process everything and keep it together emotionally. We decided it was time to go as we still wanted to see the Mother Teresa home before it closed. Our sweet guide took us out to the main entrance and I explained to her that our driver had no idea how to get to Mother Teresa's home and could she help him with directions. She was so sweet and chatted with him and I felt a bit more comfortable knowing that our chances of arriving at our original destination was actually tangible at this point. We said our goodbyes and thanked our guide for her service and love for the children and for her time. She was very gracious and sent us on our way. We piled into the car and headed out.
After a short drive we ACTUALLY arrive at our original destination the Mother Teresa Home. Our driver says he will wait for us (at this point I don't trust this guy one bit!). We make our way down a small sidewalk, following a few people ahead of us, as we have no clue where to go. The home is very small, peaceful, and extremely quiet. People are quietly making their way through a room (a museum of sorts) that has a display of Mother Teresa's belongings and large boards that explain her ministry through the years. It was fascinating to read of all the things this one women accomplished in her life. What an inspiration! We traveled up a small set of stairs to peer into Mother Teresa's bedroom. There was a bed, a desk with a chair and a couple belongings. It was as simple as it gets. Exactly what you expect from a women who gave everything she had to those in need. The last stop was the area where her tomb was. There were numerous people praying, chanting, and gazing upon the tomb. The only photo we were allowed to take was in this room. I love what it says on top of her tomb. "Love Until It Hurts" What a powerful statement. We were able to take some dried flowers with us and a set of praying hands for each of us. I am thankful I have these mementos and I can share them with Alesha as she grows. How wonderful for our daughter to have such an amazing person who cared about so many people by doing mighty work in the city that she was born in. The boys and I had studied a lot about India and Mother Teresa in homeschool prior to our trip so it was exciting for them to see in real life all that we had been studying about. I pray that this will have an impact on their lives for years to come.
While we were stopped after exiting the gate of the home, a lady came running from the gate and asked if we wanted to give a donation for milk for the babies at the Children's Home. After just seeing all these precious faces, we decide that yes, we would like to do this. My husband went with the lady and make the donation while we waited with our driver in the air conditioned car. The boys were exhausted at this point and extremely HOT. After a few minutes our insane driver decides that he was going to go and check on my husband and leaves me with my two boys in the back of the car with the car running and the doors unlocked!!!!! This happened so quickly I didn't even have a chance to say anything! As he leaves he says something to two guys that are standing nearby and they keep looking at us in the car. Can you believe this is happening?!!! I am gripped by FEAR! My mind starts running a mile a minute. I CANNOT believe I am sitting in a running car with the doors unlocked in the crowded streets of a foreign country with people passing by the car every second. The boys begin to panic and I try to stay calm, cool and collected...YAY, right, VERY hard to do! I begin to pray for protection as I don't know what else to do. How could this guy leave me and my kids here alone? I am looking around playing out different scenarios in my head. What if somebody jumps into the car? I will just jump over the seat and pull the keys out of the ignition before he gets fully into the driver's seat. I don't think we will have enough time to get us all out of the car before they would drive away.I could pull the keys right now, but we would probably suffocate from the heat. I don't think it would be safe to exit the car with two kids, at least I have some protection inside the car. Just as my nerves are about shot my husband and the driver arrive. My husband is furious that the driver left us alone in the car. At this point I told Darin I just wanted to get back to the hotel. We originally were going to go to a restaurant that was recommended by the hotel for dinner, but after what this driver put us through and what we had seen that day I just wanted to go to the hotel. We told the driver to take us back to the hotel. He says "You want to go to the airport?". NOOOOOOOO! He is really freaking me out. I am on the verge of tears. This day did not turn out how I thought it would and my emotional tank had exploded by all the sites I have seen and knowing that tomorrow I will be meeting my baby girl for the first time. We tell the driver to go to Kenilworth Hotel! We begin driving and the next thing I know he drops us off at the front door of the restaurant we had mentioned to him prior to leaving the hotel. At this point there is no communicating with this guy. He doesn't understand anything we are saying and we are NOT getting through to this guy.
We walk into the Peter Cat Restaurant and are greeted by very nice people. The airconditioning felt so refreshing after being in the heat all day. They seat us in a booth towards the back of the restaurant. Before the waiter arrives our driver is standing at our table. He starts talking to us and from what we can gather he is saying he has to park down the street and that he will meet us when we are finished. I made sure the best I could that we was going to WAIT for us and NOT leave us. He says yes.....oh God, please don't let him leave us stranded at a restaurant in the middle of Kolkata!. We are served the most delicious butter chicken, rice, naan, and bottled water. It tasted so good after such a hectic day.
During our meal, the owner of the restaurant comes to our table and begins talking with us. He has traveled to the states many times and speaks English very well. We took the opportunity to ask him if it is customary to tip a hotel driver? We knew you were supposed to trip drivers 10%, but if they came with the hotel were we supposed to. Since our driver was horrible and scared the wee out of us we were not wanting to tip the guy (we didn't tell the owner this)! He says that no, you are not expected to tip the drivers that are associated with the hotel, but if you would like to that is fine. We then talked about his restaurants and how delicious the food was, we pay our bill and try to decide what to do with our transportation issue. We go out the front door of the restaurant and what do you know.....our driver is NO where to be found.We explain to the owner that the driver said that he was going to park and wait for us down the street and we now think we are supposed to meet him there since the car is not outside the restaurant. By this time it is pitch black outside and we are supposed to walk with our two young boys down dark alleys to a car that we HOPE is there waiting for us. The owner says "no problem" with the friendly head bob that only the Indians can do so well. He smiles and says "I will walk you down to your car." What a relief! I could not have been for thankful for his compassion and friendliness! The walk to the car was very LONG! I would say at least 3-4 blocks away. The owner of the restaurant was talking to us about different things along the way and keeping a close eye on us making sure were were right behind him. My son, Luke, was very uncomfortable and scared. Finally, our CRAZY driver comes running up and hustles us to his car. The owner says a few words to him and tells us goodbye. We tell him how thankful we are that he took the time to walk us to our car. I cannot imagine an owner of a restaurant in the USA doing the same thing for us. This man was a God send in our time of need.
At this point we tell the driver to please take us to the Kenilworth Hotel, he says, "yay, yay, yay" and begins driving. Then he says "You go to airport? and we say NO, KENILWORTH HOTEL!!!!!! At last we are in the hotel parking lot. I could not get us out of that car FAST enough. As I rush into the hotel with the boys, the driver stops my husband and demands a tip! WOW! my husband just hands him a dollar to make him leave us alone and walks away. This driver has the nerve to tell my husband he wants another dollar! My husband walks away. The driver follows us into the hotel to take care of his paperwork with the front desk then follows us to the elevator and asks my husband again for a tip. My husband is furious and just wants to drop this guy like a bad habit and hands him another dollar and we head up stairs exhausted!
After we calm down a bit we go to the front desk to arrange our driver for the next day to the orphanage. We said that we did not want the driver we had today and would like a different driver for tomorrow. They had a puzzled look on their face and we told them that he took us to the wrong locations all day, made us very nervous, and asked for a tip. They were NOT pleased and apologized. They said they would have a different driver arranged for tomorrow. There was NO WAY that I was going to have that crazy person taking us to meet our daughter for the first time and him screwing the whole thing up! What a relief to know we would have somebody different at the start of a new day. After scheduling everything we went back up stairs to get our things together for tomorrow's trip to the orphanage. There was a knock at the door and a hotel staff person was standing there with our $2 in hand and said they were VERY sorry and that she rebuked the driver and demanded our money back. My guess is that this driver is not associated with the Kenilworth Hotel any longer.
What a day! Tomorrow is Alesha day and I couldn't come fast enough!
A very sweet young lady meets us and talks with our driver briefly and she says to follow her. We proceed through a gate that leads to a playground. We are thinking this is really strange to see this at Mother Teresa's Home. As we enter the gate we are bombarded by children. They are EVERYWHERE!! They swarmed us immediately. My husband had a little girl run up to him and hold her arms up for him to hold her. In a minute or so he had 2 children in his arms, I had one in my arms and several pulling at my skirt, while our boys are wide-eyed as the children are all around us talking to us a mile a minute, but we don't understand anything they are saying. We ask the lady "Is this the Mother Teresa's home?", and she says no this is Mother Teresa's Children's Home. Yep, our driver still didn't get us to the correct place. Although we were excited to see this home, we were not emotionally prepared to see what lay ahead. The lady begins to tell us a bit about the home. The children on the playground were out for playtime. She explained that a lot of the older children attend school. It was the middle of the afternoon. There were probably 50 children playing in a dirt floored play area. There were teeter-totters, a tire swing, and a large piece of play equipment that the workers placed two children per seat facing each other, it held about 30 kids at time and once loaded they pushed it around in a circle. The children seemed to really enjoy it. My husband was down to one child in his arms and I still had the little girl who jumped in my arms. This little girl had NO intentions of me letting her down. I tried several times to put her down so I could hold some of the other children who were begging for me to pick them up, but as I got her close to the ground she would pull her legs up and cling even harder to my neck and body. It was clear that this little one was going to be a permanent attachment for the remainder of our time in this area. At this point my son, Martin, had a little one in his arms and our youngest son was not sure what to do as he was not big enough to hold any of the kids. It was fun to watch my boys interact with these children. The children wanted to show us every little thing in the playground. They showed us the climbing vine, the sticks, the water spicket, the caged birds, etc. It was explained that the children at this home were either dropped off at the gate or were brought back to the home after the worker's combed the streets for abandoned children. It was truly heartbreaking to see the amount of children at this home. One of the buildings housed approx. 80 children. The other building housed the special needs children ages newborn to approx age 12. There were close to 200 children overall at the home. As I stood there in the HOT, DUSTY, DIRTY, NOISY playground and saw how few workers there were to care for ALL of these children my heart broke. These women must be exhausted! With every child fighting for attention it must be frustrating for them to know that it is impossible to meet the needs of all of these children with the shear number that stood before them. It was a very overwhelming scene.
We were directed over to the building where the 80 children were housed. The toddlers were having playtime. As we stood at door taking off our shoes we noticed they were kicking a ball around. As we entered the room and I looked down as this little girl walked up to me. I could have sworn it was Alesha's twin sister!!!! The site of her took my breathe away! She had the same short hair cut, pixie face, teenie tiny body and huge eyes. My first thought was, "What is Alesha doing here?!" I picked this beautiful little girl up and it was funny she didn't want me hold her on my hip, she wanted to be held facing me. As I turned her little body towards me she layed her head on my shoulder and began to suck her 2 fingers just like we had seen Alesha do in previous photos. It was INSANE how much this little girl reminded me of my daughter. It was almost like a mini preview of what tomorrow was going to be like. My emotions were running at top speeds at this point. Our boys kicked balls around with the children and pushed them on their little bikes, and carried the little ones all around. It was fun to see them interacting so well. The building was quite dark and had several levels. The top level had the newborns and we were not allowed access. The toddlers were on the other level and I assume the school children who were attending school at the time were on the bottom level. After much play time, I put down my daughter's twin sister :-) and headed over to the other building.
We asked if any of the children get adopted and she said that a lot of the younger children are adopted, but they have a huge number of special needs children they continue to provide care for. As we entered the second building we were taken to the room with infants (1 year and under). There were several workers on the floor playing with toys and feeding the children. It was such a small area and so much commotion.. There were rows of cribs to our right so I walked along looking at these precious little babies. Some of them were so frail. There was a baby probably 2 months old and she was skin and bones. She was just laying there fast asleep with a small cloth where a diaper would be. She was the most frail little baby I had ever seen! Truly heartbreaking. I was able to get some smiles from some of the babies and interact with them a little bit. There were some babies with some with significant special needs and at the far end of the aisle of cribs there was a caregiver giving breathing treatments to several children. It was really hot and crowded as additional tourists arrived and were trying to make their way through the small quarters to see all the children. I just wanted to scoop them all up and take them home. My heart broke for these workers as trying to meet the basic needs of all these tiny children all the while dealing with the overwhelming heat.
We then went up two flights of stairs to an area where the older children were residing. As we entered we saw several children strapped to chairs as their disabilities would not allow them to sit up on their own, we saw several workers changing out beds, a group of children gathered on a large rug doing various things, while there was also a small room off to the left where a class seemed to be taking place. To take in all of this a one glance was overwhelming to say the least. We stood there for several minutes before we began to ask some questions to gain some insight.
A little boy on the large carpet was on his back in a fetal position and was rocking from side to side over and over again. We asked if he was okay and she explained that this is how he comforts himself, because he has never had anybody hold and love him. This was the most heartbreaking thing we had heard all day. My husband had a very difficult time with this and walked to a small bench in the corner of the room and began to weep. Our boys were taking in all these sites and asking me all kinds of questions that I didn't have answers for. All this was going on while I was trying to process what I just heard. I was called into the small room that was having a class. As we entered all the children were seated around a large table and their instructor said they were all so excited to see my boys. They all reached out their hands for us to shake. (they especially wanted to shake my boys hands) There were smiles and giggles all around the room. They were so excited to have visitors, especially children. So many things happened in such a short amount of time it was so difficult for me to process everything and keep it together emotionally. We decided it was time to go as we still wanted to see the Mother Teresa home before it closed. Our sweet guide took us out to the main entrance and I explained to her that our driver had no idea how to get to Mother Teresa's home and could she help him with directions. She was so sweet and chatted with him and I felt a bit more comfortable knowing that our chances of arriving at our original destination was actually tangible at this point. We said our goodbyes and thanked our guide for her service and love for the children and for her time. She was very gracious and sent us on our way. We piled into the car and headed out.
After a short drive we ACTUALLY arrive at our original destination the Mother Teresa Home. Our driver says he will wait for us (at this point I don't trust this guy one bit!). We make our way down a small sidewalk, following a few people ahead of us, as we have no clue where to go. The home is very small, peaceful, and extremely quiet. People are quietly making their way through a room (a museum of sorts) that has a display of Mother Teresa's belongings and large boards that explain her ministry through the years. It was fascinating to read of all the things this one women accomplished in her life. What an inspiration! We traveled up a small set of stairs to peer into Mother Teresa's bedroom. There was a bed, a desk with a chair and a couple belongings. It was as simple as it gets. Exactly what you expect from a women who gave everything she had to those in need. The last stop was the area where her tomb was. There were numerous people praying, chanting, and gazing upon the tomb. The only photo we were allowed to take was in this room. I love what it says on top of her tomb. "Love Until It Hurts" What a powerful statement. We were able to take some dried flowers with us and a set of praying hands for each of us. I am thankful I have these mementos and I can share them with Alesha as she grows. How wonderful for our daughter to have such an amazing person who cared about so many people by doing mighty work in the city that she was born in. The boys and I had studied a lot about India and Mother Teresa in homeschool prior to our trip so it was exciting for them to see in real life all that we had been studying about. I pray that this will have an impact on their lives for years to come.
While we were stopped after exiting the gate of the home, a lady came running from the gate and asked if we wanted to give a donation for milk for the babies at the Children's Home. After just seeing all these precious faces, we decide that yes, we would like to do this. My husband went with the lady and make the donation while we waited with our driver in the air conditioned car. The boys were exhausted at this point and extremely HOT. After a few minutes our insane driver decides that he was going to go and check on my husband and leaves me with my two boys in the back of the car with the car running and the doors unlocked!!!!! This happened so quickly I didn't even have a chance to say anything! As he leaves he says something to two guys that are standing nearby and they keep looking at us in the car. Can you believe this is happening?!!! I am gripped by FEAR! My mind starts running a mile a minute. I CANNOT believe I am sitting in a running car with the doors unlocked in the crowded streets of a foreign country with people passing by the car every second. The boys begin to panic and I try to stay calm, cool and collected...YAY, right, VERY hard to do! I begin to pray for protection as I don't know what else to do. How could this guy leave me and my kids here alone? I am looking around playing out different scenarios in my head. What if somebody jumps into the car? I will just jump over the seat and pull the keys out of the ignition before he gets fully into the driver's seat. I don't think we will have enough time to get us all out of the car before they would drive away.I could pull the keys right now, but we would probably suffocate from the heat. I don't think it would be safe to exit the car with two kids, at least I have some protection inside the car. Just as my nerves are about shot my husband and the driver arrive. My husband is furious that the driver left us alone in the car. At this point I told Darin I just wanted to get back to the hotel. We originally were going to go to a restaurant that was recommended by the hotel for dinner, but after what this driver put us through and what we had seen that day I just wanted to go to the hotel. We told the driver to take us back to the hotel. He says "You want to go to the airport?". NOOOOOOOO! He is really freaking me out. I am on the verge of tears. This day did not turn out how I thought it would and my emotional tank had exploded by all the sites I have seen and knowing that tomorrow I will be meeting my baby girl for the first time. We tell the driver to go to Kenilworth Hotel! We begin driving and the next thing I know he drops us off at the front door of the restaurant we had mentioned to him prior to leaving the hotel. At this point there is no communicating with this guy. He doesn't understand anything we are saying and we are NOT getting through to this guy.
We walk into the Peter Cat Restaurant and are greeted by very nice people. The airconditioning felt so refreshing after being in the heat all day. They seat us in a booth towards the back of the restaurant. Before the waiter arrives our driver is standing at our table. He starts talking to us and from what we can gather he is saying he has to park down the street and that he will meet us when we are finished. I made sure the best I could that we was going to WAIT for us and NOT leave us. He says yes.....oh God, please don't let him leave us stranded at a restaurant in the middle of Kolkata!. We are served the most delicious butter chicken, rice, naan, and bottled water. It tasted so good after such a hectic day.
During our meal, the owner of the restaurant comes to our table and begins talking with us. He has traveled to the states many times and speaks English very well. We took the opportunity to ask him if it is customary to tip a hotel driver? We knew you were supposed to trip drivers 10%, but if they came with the hotel were we supposed to. Since our driver was horrible and scared the wee out of us we were not wanting to tip the guy (we didn't tell the owner this)! He says that no, you are not expected to tip the drivers that are associated with the hotel, but if you would like to that is fine. We then talked about his restaurants and how delicious the food was, we pay our bill and try to decide what to do with our transportation issue. We go out the front door of the restaurant and what do you know.....our driver is NO where to be found.We explain to the owner that the driver said that he was going to park and wait for us down the street and we now think we are supposed to meet him there since the car is not outside the restaurant. By this time it is pitch black outside and we are supposed to walk with our two young boys down dark alleys to a car that we HOPE is there waiting for us. The owner says "no problem" with the friendly head bob that only the Indians can do so well. He smiles and says "I will walk you down to your car." What a relief! I could not have been for thankful for his compassion and friendliness! The walk to the car was very LONG! I would say at least 3-4 blocks away. The owner of the restaurant was talking to us about different things along the way and keeping a close eye on us making sure were were right behind him. My son, Luke, was very uncomfortable and scared. Finally, our CRAZY driver comes running up and hustles us to his car. The owner says a few words to him and tells us goodbye. We tell him how thankful we are that he took the time to walk us to our car. I cannot imagine an owner of a restaurant in the USA doing the same thing for us. This man was a God send in our time of need.
At this point we tell the driver to please take us to the Kenilworth Hotel, he says, "yay, yay, yay" and begins driving. Then he says "You go to airport? and we say NO, KENILWORTH HOTEL!!!!!! At last we are in the hotel parking lot. I could not get us out of that car FAST enough. As I rush into the hotel with the boys, the driver stops my husband and demands a tip! WOW! my husband just hands him a dollar to make him leave us alone and walks away. This driver has the nerve to tell my husband he wants another dollar! My husband walks away. The driver follows us into the hotel to take care of his paperwork with the front desk then follows us to the elevator and asks my husband again for a tip. My husband is furious and just wants to drop this guy like a bad habit and hands him another dollar and we head up stairs exhausted!
After we calm down a bit we go to the front desk to arrange our driver for the next day to the orphanage. We said that we did not want the driver we had today and would like a different driver for tomorrow. They had a puzzled look on their face and we told them that he took us to the wrong locations all day, made us very nervous, and asked for a tip. They were NOT pleased and apologized. They said they would have a different driver arranged for tomorrow. There was NO WAY that I was going to have that crazy person taking us to meet our daughter for the first time and him screwing the whole thing up! What a relief to know we would have somebody different at the start of a new day. After scheduling everything we went back up stairs to get our things together for tomorrow's trip to the orphanage. There was a knock at the door and a hotel staff person was standing there with our $2 in hand and said they were VERY sorry and that she rebuked the driver and demanded our money back. My guess is that this driver is not associated with the Kenilworth Hotel any longer.
What a day! Tomorrow is Alesha day and I couldn't come fast enough!
4 comments:
WOW oh WOW,I am stressed reading this post.LOL
Was he doing this on purpose you think? How did he mess up so much!!!??? Language sure makes a different.
Airport sounds nothing like Kenilworth. Hmmmmm
Glad you got back to the great Kenilworth!! :) Gidget
This makes me not want to leave the hotel unless we absolutely HAVE TO!! WOW! So thankful for God's protection for your family!
Oh my, I am stressed as well reading your situation. Wow, good to know and so thankful that angels protected you in every way!!
Wow -- after your sick day, you sure had a doozy of a well day! It must have been so difficult to leave the children's home . . . I think of all those children growing up without a family, and it just breaks my heart.
Thanks for posting these travel "journals." Your entries are really a blessing to me as we get through month 17 on the waiting list.
Hugs to you,
Nancy
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