Charminar, and When Things Don't Go According to Plan
Days 15-20
Our neighbor across the hall, Ernest, runs an NGO doing a ton of great work, finding sponsors to provide education for kids, job training for widows, and next he hopes to do micro loans to help people start produce stands! We went to the Christmas party for his NGO where a bunch of the kids did an amazing dance, and we all sang some carols. Vennela was very excited, as she is pretty obsessed with all things Christmas (please see her face below):
We were still waiting on paperwork at this point. When we passed court, it was a verbal approval from the judge, but we were waiting on the written court order that the judge signs. For recent families in the same city, this had taken between one and two weeks. We continued to be in touch with the orphanage and local government office that oversees child welfare after court, checking in to make sure this was coming, and on day 13 after court we were getting antsy, because the next day was two weeks, so surely it was coming the next day. Then I messaged the child welfare worker, and she said the court order would take 10-15 days. "Right," I said, "10-15 days after court, so it will come by tomorrow."
Nope. She said it would be another 10-15 days from NOW.
That was when Lindsey had a tiny meltdown.
While we knew it was unpredictable, our agency had told us there was no reason it should take longer than two weeks for the court order. Though India was beautiful and amazing, in many ways it was really hard to be there. Every little detail of life that you take for granted at home takes extra effort when away from home in a foreign country, and we were tired. So hearing that we could be there an extra two weeks was a blow.
I hid in the kitchen and started frantically messaging everyone I could think of who might be able to help; our agency, the foster home staff, the orphanage, our guide. I begged everyone to do something to speed the paperwork up. Of course when I was trying to hide in the kitchen and pour MnMs straight from the bag into my mouth is when Vennela decided she just HAD to be right next to mama and see everything I was doing, despite the fact that every moment prior dad had been her favorite.
We spent the next few days continuing to ask people for help, and just showing up at the child welfare office with Vennela to charm/beg them to get things done sooner. We were legally her parents, we were just missing a piece of paper that actually said that. It was maddening.
Other than that we just had low key days going to the park, taking walks, buying V some traditional Indian dresses, and discovering some of our favorite new food spots.
Our neighbor across the hall, Ernest, runs an NGO doing a ton of great work, finding sponsors to provide education for kids, job training for widows, and next he hopes to do micro loans to help people start produce stands! We went to the Christmas party for his NGO where a bunch of the kids did an amazing dance, and we all sang some carols. Vennela was very excited, as she is pretty obsessed with all things Christmas (please see her face below):
Nope. She said it would be another 10-15 days from NOW.
That was when Lindsey had a tiny meltdown.
While we knew it was unpredictable, our agency had told us there was no reason it should take longer than two weeks for the court order. Though India was beautiful and amazing, in many ways it was really hard to be there. Every little detail of life that you take for granted at home takes extra effort when away from home in a foreign country, and we were tired. So hearing that we could be there an extra two weeks was a blow.
I hid in the kitchen and started frantically messaging everyone I could think of who might be able to help; our agency, the foster home staff, the orphanage, our guide. I begged everyone to do something to speed the paperwork up. Of course when I was trying to hide in the kitchen and pour MnMs straight from the bag into my mouth is when Vennela decided she just HAD to be right next to mama and see everything I was doing, despite the fact that every moment prior dad had been her favorite.
We spent the next few days continuing to ask people for help, and just showing up at the child welfare office with Vennela to charm/beg them to get things done sooner. We were legally her parents, we were just missing a piece of paper that actually said that. It was maddening.
Other than that we just had low key days going to the park, taking walks, buying V some traditional Indian dresses, and discovering some of our favorite new food spots.
Geoff also had to work remotely for this week, which Vennela was none too happy about, so she and I took lots of walks with her strapped into the carrier, since she was always pretty happy to go watch the nearby cowherd grazing on empty lots.
We also went out for one other big sightseeing excursion, to the Salar Jung museum (which I have no photos of due to rules) and Charminar, a beautiful monument built in 1591. The top floor is a mosque, where we were not allowed to go, but the middle floor allows you to look out over the city, which was beautiful.
That's Charminar behind the archway
We also bought some bangles, which Vennela's city of Hyderabad is particularly famous for. At the end of the day a very tired Vennela passed out on my back, which was for the best as she was trying to snatch some treasures from every market stand we passed on the street.
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