Around 8 a.m., before the business day begins, I walked a couple blocks to the ATM machine to withdraw my limit of ruppees since we still had the bed and breakfast bill coming up.
This morning Sweeti again ate of Mama's breakfast- omelet with toast as part of it! She is enjoying well the powdered milk we've been constituting.
At 9:30 a.m. Jaiperkersh arrived to take us to the Embassy. This time we were turning in the medical report from yesterday and turning in paper work showing we can financially support her. It went much more quickly today. This step is rather easy, just going to the right windows and having the right paperwork. Amy had it organized so that Shawn didn't not have to fumble around in the file.
The Embassy workers were very friendly at this part. When they called us to the window they announced, "Would [Sweeti] bring her parents to window 14?" We had an "exit interview" so to speak regarding our adoption process, our experience at the embassy, our adoption agency, the orphanage. Then we were told we could wait 30 minutes and her Visa would be ready and that it had been approved. I was so happy! I could feel tears welling up-- tears of joy! Less than 30 minutes of waiting in a small room, and we were handed her Visa. Hallelujah! She is free to home to America with us!
I called Jaiperkesh to tell him it was time to pick us up. We had him bring us to some shopping spots recommended in our New Delhi guide book. The first was COttage Industries Ltd. The first floor had Persian rugs. The second floor had a women's clothing store. There were beautiful clothes but very expensive. Think Norstrom's prices and elegance. The saleswoman was very pushy. We said we'd think about it. We may have bought gifts for certain family members in southern MN from another store. They'll have to wait 'til we get home to find out what they are!
Then we asked Jaiperkesh to take us to Fabindia, like a Gap or Old Navy quality clothes but still pretty traditional. We outfitted our whole family there. I got a shirt to wear if I'm ever asked to give a presentation about India to any Northern Circuit Women's Guild. We also got other gifts for family members there. It was a fun place to shop.
Before going to Fabindia we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. The clientel was much different here than in our home area. It was mostly business people and well-dressed young people. The prices were very inexpensive. Amy and Shawn ate for $2.50 altogether and still had some to share with Sweeti. Our meal consisted of Chicken McGrill sandwiches which were much spicier and tastier than their U.S. counterparts, a large fries- same as U.S., and Coke.
After we were done shopping at Fabindia, we went back to the bed and breakfast. Shawn made arrangements to eat supper there, and talk to the owner's wife about being charged only half for tomorrow since we will not be spending the night but want to be at the airport at 10:30 p.m. since our flight leaves at 1:30 a.m. She agreed and through in tomorrow's supper on the house. How generous!
Since we still needed more cash to pay for the bed and breakfast, Shawn headed to some banks to see if they could exchange U.S. dollars. Bank of Hyderbad, New Delhi branch said "NO!" and pointed to the door. At bank two doors down, they sent Shawn to a room in the basement to wait 15 minutes until they were through with lunch. When a clerk came down there he explained the best they could do was have a money changer come over and write a check which I would have to get cashed. No help there. As I got up to leave, another worker clued me into the fact that a couple doors down at the Aerojet travel building there was a money changer. I was able to get an excellent rate of exchange- 49 ruppees per dollar. Unfortunately the electricity was out and they needed a copy of my passport to have record of the transaction. However they gave me the money and let me leave. They said I needed to come back to give them the copy. When power returned a couple hours later, I went back. Unfortunately, I had neglected to bring any cash on me to pay the service fee which amounted to about 50 cents. I walked back to our room at the B & B and grabbed 30 ruppees and headed back down to the moneychanger. He gave the record I needed of the transaction when I convert back to U.S. dollars tomorrow night.
During our ride around the city of Delhi today we did get to see some sites from the car, such as Indian government buildings, a statue of Gandhi and his followers marching to the sea in protest of the salt tax in 1931 ( an event I had read about again in recent months in the book 'Gandhi and Churchill'), and the India Gate. Tomorrow Jaiperkesh is coming at 10 a.m. to take us to the Delhi Zoo and couple other sites.
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