Our morning started out bright and early. We had our big Embassy appointment at 9:30 a.m. SHARP! This is one appointment you DON'T want to be late for. As I was double checking all the paperwork to make sure it was in order I took my first "close" look at our flight schedule. My husband had done all the travel arrangements (thank you, honey) and I was going along for the ride. Since we left the states in less than 24 hours from booking our tickets, I was frantically trying to get 4 people ready to board a plane I didn't pay too much attention to the itinerary. It was at that very moment upon my close inspection that I realized that our flight back to the U.S. was going to be at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!!! YIKES! For some reason when I looked at the itinerary I saw depart from India Tuesday at 12:00, but in the craziness I was thinking that was 12:00 MIDNIGHT on Tuesday, NOT 12:00 MIDNIGHT (Monday). This needless to say kicked my butt into hyper speed to finish off all those loose ends. My mind went wild and my heart about stopped when I realized that we MUST have Alesha's visa TODAY before we leave the Embassy or we don't fly out at MIDNIGHT and we have to change plane tickets for 5 people....can we say EXPENSIVE!!!! All along I was thinking we had until Tuesday at Midnight if we had to go back to the Embassy to pick up the visa. In my mind we had the perfect plan with plenty of time in case it was needed. In India I always find it funny that when everything seems to be going wrong, they will always say "no problem, no problem" as they do the famous India head bobble. Well my friends this could potentially be a MAJOR PROBLEM!!!!!!!
I am frantically fluttering about and my husband is cool as a cucumber. It is funny how throughout this entire process I would get all worked up over different events and he would just be all calm cool and collected :-) He assured me that it would be fine. We gather Alesha's diaper bag stuffed to the hilt, because who knows how long we will be camping out at the Embassy at this point, get all THREE kids ready, pack snacks for the boys, grab all those priceless pieces of paper we have been toting around India, grab the famous "PACKET", and head out the door with our wonderful friend Uma.
As we begin our drive I begin to pray that our Embassy Day will go smoothly and we can walk away with that visa in our hands so we can board that midnight flight back home as a family of 5. The first part of the drive went quite quickly, but then the traffic pretty much stopped cold! It was some of the heaviest traffic I had seen to date. Uma, who is always so calm and nothing seems to faze him says "Oh, this is not good." To this I am starting to freak out that we may not make it in time for our appointment. It is relentless stop and go with long periods of going NOWHERE! I notice that Uma is squirming a bit and this tells me that this is not a good situation. I am sure Uma was praying the entire way as he knew how important this appointment was.
The traffic began to let up and we were picking up some speed as the minutes ticked by. I was watching the clock on the dash board click 9:25, 9:26, 9:27 at this point we are all squirming in our seats! Just then we round the final corner and see the Embassy gate. Uma, drove up and let us out right in front of the drop off area to check in your cell phones and electronics. Time on the dash board just flipped to 9:28!! We decided to leave all our electronics at home including our cell phone so we could save time in the security check. We rushed into the main building and were finally in line to go through security. This step went quickly and we made our way through a door into an outside waiting area that was packed with people. From here we were told to go into the other building (it was air conditioned) and we grabbed our number, took our seat, and waited for our name to be called.
This area was very crowded with only one seat available to sit in. I sat down and held Alesha, while the boys sat on the floor next to me and Darin stood. It wasn't long before our number was called and we headed to our first window and spoke to a very nice lady. She said hello to Alesha and told us how beautiful she was. She asked us a bunch of questions and requested we hand her a bunch of different documents. One document she asked for I didn't have and didn't know what she was talking about. She must have sensed my panic as she said it was okay and that they probably had a copy already there. WHEW!! She then told us to take a seat and wait for our name to be called.
At this point Alesha, had pooped her diaper and the smell is beginning to fill the room. I ask where the restroom is so I can change her and they direct me back outside. As I leave the building I verify with the guard that he will let me back in and that I just need to use the restroom. He was very friendly and pointed me in the right direction. Upon my return the guard asks me some questions about Alesha, says several words to her, smiles, and opens the doors for us.
We found our places in a different area that had emptied out some. We were able to sit all together in a row of seats. Before long our name was called. Although they pronounced it kinda funny so we had to guess that they were calling us. We made our way to another window were we were greeted by an American. He asked us a few questions and then had us raise our hands and swear to whatever it was he stated. Then he asked us when we needed the visa. To this we told him that our plane flies out of Delhi for the U.S. at midnight tonight. He then says we should be able to get this done today, but it might take awhile. We said no problem we will just wait. He says it might take several hours, to that we said no problem we just need it so we can leave tonight. We make our way back to our previous seats and settle in. After about one and a half hours our name is called again. He hands us Alesha's passport, congratulates us, and we are off to call Uma to come and pick us up. Praise God for answering our prayers.
As we make our way out of the air conditioned building into the sweltering heat outside we ask to use the phone. After asking several people we were informed that the U.S. Embassy has NO outgoing phone lines. This was hard for us to believe, but they were adamant and escorted us outside of the building. We are now standing in the front of the building trying to figure out what we are supposed to do now. Apparently, you are NOT allowed to linger on the sidewalk in front of the main doors of the Embassy, because the guard came out and told us that we needed to cross the street and wait on the other side of the road. By now we are kicking ourselves for not bringing our cell phone. We are pretty much screwed at this point. Here we are dripping with sweat and no way to call our friend to come and pick us up! As we are making our way across the street we run into a VERY sweet lady who is holding a cell phone. Praise GOD! I promptly asked her if we could borrow her phone to call our friend who is waiting to pick us up. We explained that the Embassy said they don't have an outgoing line, which she agreed was ridiculous. She then dialed Uma's number for us and handed us her phone. At last our ride was on the way. We thanked her for her kindness and made our way across the street to join a large group of people who were gathered under the ONLY tree on the corner. As we stood there absolutely soaked with sweat we received many looks and heard a lot of chatter among the locals. Alesha, at this point feels like she weighs about 100 pounds and she won't let Darin hold her so there I stand exhausted. I must say our boys did amazingly well under these conditions. After about 20 minutes a lady stands up from where she was sitting and hands me a crinkled newspaper. She motions for me to put the paper on the curb and sit on it. I guess my exhaustion was pretty visible and she wanted me and our baby to rest. I could not have been more grateful. About 20 minutes later Uma arrives and be make a beeline for his car. The airconditioning felt like a cool ocean breeze after standing/sitting in that heat for so long. The cool hour long car ride home felt amazing!
Now crunch times begins. I am crazy busy trying to get all of the last things sorted out. We all have to shower and redress after our day in the heat. By this time we are approaching the dinner hour. Our friends had pizza delivered. It was delicious :-) After dinner we all gathered to take some photos.
I am frantically fluttering about and my husband is cool as a cucumber. It is funny how throughout this entire process I would get all worked up over different events and he would just be all calm cool and collected :-) He assured me that it would be fine. We gather Alesha's diaper bag stuffed to the hilt, because who knows how long we will be camping out at the Embassy at this point, get all THREE kids ready, pack snacks for the boys, grab all those priceless pieces of paper we have been toting around India, grab the famous "PACKET", and head out the door with our wonderful friend Uma.
As we begin our drive I begin to pray that our Embassy Day will go smoothly and we can walk away with that visa in our hands so we can board that midnight flight back home as a family of 5. The first part of the drive went quite quickly, but then the traffic pretty much stopped cold! It was some of the heaviest traffic I had seen to date. Uma, who is always so calm and nothing seems to faze him says "Oh, this is not good." To this I am starting to freak out that we may not make it in time for our appointment. It is relentless stop and go with long periods of going NOWHERE! I notice that Uma is squirming a bit and this tells me that this is not a good situation. I am sure Uma was praying the entire way as he knew how important this appointment was.
The traffic began to let up and we were picking up some speed as the minutes ticked by. I was watching the clock on the dash board click 9:25, 9:26, 9:27 at this point we are all squirming in our seats! Just then we round the final corner and see the Embassy gate. Uma, drove up and let us out right in front of the drop off area to check in your cell phones and electronics. Time on the dash board just flipped to 9:28!! We decided to leave all our electronics at home including our cell phone so we could save time in the security check. We rushed into the main building and were finally in line to go through security. This step went quickly and we made our way through a door into an outside waiting area that was packed with people. From here we were told to go into the other building (it was air conditioned) and we grabbed our number, took our seat, and waited for our name to be called.
This area was very crowded with only one seat available to sit in. I sat down and held Alesha, while the boys sat on the floor next to me and Darin stood. It wasn't long before our number was called and we headed to our first window and spoke to a very nice lady. She said hello to Alesha and told us how beautiful she was. She asked us a bunch of questions and requested we hand her a bunch of different documents. One document she asked for I didn't have and didn't know what she was talking about. She must have sensed my panic as she said it was okay and that they probably had a copy already there. WHEW!! She then told us to take a seat and wait for our name to be called.
At this point Alesha, had pooped her diaper and the smell is beginning to fill the room. I ask where the restroom is so I can change her and they direct me back outside. As I leave the building I verify with the guard that he will let me back in and that I just need to use the restroom. He was very friendly and pointed me in the right direction. Upon my return the guard asks me some questions about Alesha, says several words to her, smiles, and opens the doors for us.
We found our places in a different area that had emptied out some. We were able to sit all together in a row of seats. Before long our name was called. Although they pronounced it kinda funny so we had to guess that they were calling us. We made our way to another window were we were greeted by an American. He asked us a few questions and then had us raise our hands and swear to whatever it was he stated. Then he asked us when we needed the visa. To this we told him that our plane flies out of Delhi for the U.S. at midnight tonight. He then says we should be able to get this done today, but it might take awhile. We said no problem we will just wait. He says it might take several hours, to that we said no problem we just need it so we can leave tonight. We make our way back to our previous seats and settle in. After about one and a half hours our name is called again. He hands us Alesha's passport, congratulates us, and we are off to call Uma to come and pick us up. Praise God for answering our prayers.
As we make our way out of the air conditioned building into the sweltering heat outside we ask to use the phone. After asking several people we were informed that the U.S. Embassy has NO outgoing phone lines. This was hard for us to believe, but they were adamant and escorted us outside of the building. We are now standing in the front of the building trying to figure out what we are supposed to do now. Apparently, you are NOT allowed to linger on the sidewalk in front of the main doors of the Embassy, because the guard came out and told us that we needed to cross the street and wait on the other side of the road. By now we are kicking ourselves for not bringing our cell phone. We are pretty much screwed at this point. Here we are dripping with sweat and no way to call our friend to come and pick us up! As we are making our way across the street we run into a VERY sweet lady who is holding a cell phone. Praise GOD! I promptly asked her if we could borrow her phone to call our friend who is waiting to pick us up. We explained that the Embassy said they don't have an outgoing line, which she agreed was ridiculous. She then dialed Uma's number for us and handed us her phone. At last our ride was on the way. We thanked her for her kindness and made our way across the street to join a large group of people who were gathered under the ONLY tree on the corner. As we stood there absolutely soaked with sweat we received many looks and heard a lot of chatter among the locals. Alesha, at this point feels like she weighs about 100 pounds and she won't let Darin hold her so there I stand exhausted. I must say our boys did amazingly well under these conditions. After about 20 minutes a lady stands up from where she was sitting and hands me a crinkled newspaper. She motions for me to put the paper on the curb and sit on it. I guess my exhaustion was pretty visible and she wanted me and our baby to rest. I could not have been more grateful. About 20 minutes later Uma arrives and be make a beeline for his car. The airconditioning felt like a cool ocean breeze after standing/sitting in that heat for so long. The cool hour long car ride home felt amazing!
Now crunch times begins. I am crazy busy trying to get all of the last things sorted out. We all have to shower and redress after our day in the heat. By this time we are approaching the dinner hour. Our friends had pizza delivered. It was delicious :-) After dinner we all gathered to take some photos.
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| All the kids together |
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| I love this photo and this family! |
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| Our friends with Alesha |
Before we left for Kolkata to meet Alesha, Yaman sat us down and asked us if they could be Alesha's Godparents. Without hesitation we excepted. What an honor to have such Godly people be a part of our daughter's life. Alesha, now has a "family" connection to India for years to come.
It was now 9:00 p.m. and we had to say our final goodbyes. It was really difficult to leave knowing that it would several years before we would make it back to India. We could not thank our friends enough for ALL they did for us during our stay in India. They blessed us beyond measure!
We gave our final hugs and headed downstairs to load our bags into the car. It was staggering how hot it was this late at night. Our next stop Delhi Airport.
3 comments:
I'm enjoying reading about your journey! I didn't realize at the time what an adventure it was, with so many emotional roller coasters! I'm so glad you were staying with such a sweet family for extra support!
Kristy
You sure learned to roll with the punches on this trip! You must have been so worn out when you got back -- I'm doubly glad that you had friends in India to help take care of things. What a beautiful gift to have them offer to be Alesha's godparents.
Nancy
The TREE! The infamous tree. We stood under it's branches for shade on both of our journeys!
Julie
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