Eating with Sweeti

Yesterday (Friday) our biggest challenge was getting Sweeti to eat from us, especially with the aunties around. Today there were vast improvements in this area. Around 8, we went down for breakfast-- eggs, toast, plantains, and a very good spicy rice and vegetable dish. We also brought Sweeti's sippy cup to put milk in. Today she was mastering holding the sippy cup on her own. Her therapist at Ashraya had taught her to hold her own bottle and now she applied the concept to a bigger cup. However, milk comes out of the sippy cup much faster than a bottle, so there was some dribbling. Sweeti ate some banana, eggs, and rice dish.
When we got back to the room, we watched some TV and played with Sweeti. Her favorite toy we brought along is a Lego-made lady bug decorated rounded block that makes a rattling sound. Shawn and Sweeti rolled it back and forth on the floor for some time. It was a game she returned to various points in the day.
After having some more milk, she lay down for a brief nap.
I had the front desk order us in some lunch from a South Indian restaurant that also served Chinese. We ordered Tandoori chicken, vegetable fried rice, and vegetable noodles. Amy has attempted Tandoori chicken at home but it was not as spicy or good as this (These were her comments- I'm just the messenger). We again accompanied Sweeti's meal with milk. She was not so hungry since after breakfast she drank and drank and drank milk, perhaps for comfort and familiarity in a new environment as much as anything else. She had never tried noodles before, but after seeing Shawn eat them, she gave them a try and had several. She ate a little rice as well, even taking a spoon in her own hand and trying to feed herself. (At Ashraya the aunties always fed her.) A lot of rice ended up in the pocket of her disposable bib. After all, she is one and a half.
From all the milk she had drunk she had overeaten, and spit up quite a bit, but her aim was good as it landed mostly inside the same pocket of the disposable bib. She was fine after the little spit-up.
During lunch, we spoke to the owner of the hotel. She is a Parsi, that is, a descendant of immigrants from Persia (Iran) who came here to India to escape forced conversion to Muslim many centuries ago. She practices Zoroastrianism. I looked this up on wikipedia, and even though I learned a bit about it in college and sem, I still can't make heads nor tales of its complicated belief system. In order to keep the Parsi culture alive here in India, the hotel includes a restaurant specializing in Parsi food. She also told us how the economic downturn, especially in technology, has slowed their business down quite a bit. They had done well the previous four years of operation.
We went back to the room, and played lady bug a little more, and all three of us took a nap. We did not wake up until late afternoon. When Sweeti woke up, she cried for some time because of waking up in a strange place. She soon was alright as Amy held her and we watched some TV.
We brought out some animal crackers for Sweeti, but she didn't care for them. Earlier in the day, she had refused some Cheerios, but after watching Shawn snack on them, she gave them a try and liked them. What a relief since we brought plenty along with us.
The front desk called and let me know that a cab had been arranged to pick us up at 3 a.m. to take us to the Bangalore aiport for our 7:20 flight to Delhi. We wanted to leave quite early because of traffic, distance (it takes about an hour to maneuver over there in light traffic), and because we need to get tickets for Sweeti. We had received her passport on Thursday from Ashraya and we are listed as her legal guardians. This will be most beneficial in the purchasing of tickets for her.
Since we have arrived in India, brief power outtages have occured daily. Most consist a few minutes of power going on and off and then coming back on. It was a bit longer tonight. When we needed to see, we flipped open my laptop and used that as our lightsource, since it has about 1 1/2 hours of reserve power. When the lights when back on, I went down to settle our bill, so we would be free to go in the morning. We received a 10% discount on our bill for adopting through Ashraya. This was very generous. I took the itemized receipts for our laundry and many bottled waters. The Litres of bottled water made by a Coca-Cola subsidiary were only 20 ruppees each, around 40 cents.
We have enjoyed the accomodations here. It took a bit to understand the way things operate as far as their arranging some things such as food and transportation for us, but they were most accomodating and helpful.
Soon we will be off to Delhi, which will be even more populous and quite different in language and culture from down here in Bangalore. It will be even more of a contrast than Northern MN and southern MN (just kidding), I mean the Northern US and the Deep South.
We hope to take in some shopping Delhi when and if we have some free time between visiting the US embassy to get Sweeti's travel visa and her examination from US embassy approved doctor to be sure she isn't carrying any communicable diseases. We received a medical report from Ashraya and she has been given immunizations for similar things as most US kids.