FLORIDA! May 9, 2011

   Home sweet home! Finally, we made it. We left Delhi at 4am (Delhi time) on Friday. Sajel was wide awake when we left the hotel and promptly  fell asleep when we got on the plane. Three and a half hours later, we made it to Dubai. We cleared security there and were soon on the next flight (the LONG one). Again, Sajel fell asleep after take off- she liked watching out the window :)! She and I slept for about 4-5 hours and then we had a little play time. She stood in front of our seats and entertained us. She was so happy and very good the entire time we were traveling. After a few hours, she slept some more and so did we. We arrived in New York around 2pm (NY time)!!!!! Immigration was a breeze. We though we would be waiting in the immigrant line for a long time, but they let us go to the US citizen line and the man was very kind and very quick! We ended up waiting for our luggage close to an hour- so much for the quick immigration clearance. We then cleared customs and made the long haul to drop off our luggage again, check in for the next flight, and then back through security. JFK security is not efficient, not quick, and not nice. Luckily we had a five hour lay over- we made it to our next gate in three and a half! By then, I was feeling very sleep deprived, a little under the weather and hungry. We ate and soon were Florida bound! Guess who slept the whole way??? Finally, we reached Tampa at ten fifty pm. Mom, Steve, and Jodie were there to greet us! We headed to the cars and the dreaded first ride in a car seat for Sajel. She cried a little, but did better than I expected. Marcus threatened to "drive up and down 75" because the road was so smooth! Haha! He missed driving. We soon made it home to our dogs! Ahhh- so nice to be home.Sajel was scared of the dogs, but soon was giggling at Maximus. Emmitt's going to have to wait awhile before she decides he's OK. I laid her in her crib around one am and she went right to sleep- not even a whimper. I am  so lucky. We all were not too far behind her :)
    Our first day home, we had some friends over and just spent the day relaxing. Sajel played with Brianna and I even got a picture of them kissing! Brody also came over and was teaching her how to play with all her new toys. It was nice for her to play with kids. Sunday was Mother's Day (my first) and we spent the day with family and played in the pool. She got to play with her cousin Priyanna and she showed her how much fun the pool can be! Marcus cooked both days- you know he couldn't wait to cook! We were all pretty tired and went to bed early. Sajel has been sleeping in her bed and continues to impress me with how resilient she is. Life is good, we have finally brought Sajel home............Love, Sajel's Mom

Delhi May5, 2011

     Good news- we are coming home! We went back to the Doctor today and received medical clearance. While we waited, we met another family adopting from the US. They asked Marcus a lot of questions and he was able to save them some time with his expertise! We then went off to the Embassy. Yesterday, it was so crowded and chaotic. Today, a lot of the windows were closed and we had to go to the very last window to find someone working. We gave our paperwork and they asked us to wait. Marcus was sure this was good news, and he was right. We waited less than 1 hour and our visa was issued! WooHoo! While we waited, we listened to people get grilled by the embassy workers. They do not play games! We had a late lunch and let Sajel have a late nap in order to keep her up tonight. It definitely worked. She is wide awake (it's midnight here) and singing away! I have been all packed since about 8:00pm. I had intended to nap a bit before we leave (at 1:00am), but I am way too excited. This trip has been amazing, but I am ready to come home. See you all soon.......Love, Sajel's Mom

Delhi May 4, 2011

     We are getting close to finally coming home! Marcus arrived back in Delhi safely with Sajel's passport on Sunday night. Monday we relaxed. Tuesday we had our Doctor's appointment for medical clearance. They would NOT accept the TB test from the Bangalore hospital :(  I almost had a mental breakdown, but I held it together and spoke strongly to the doctor about how upset I was. He did become quite nice and said he would make sure to sign our medical clearance asap on Thursday so we could take it straight to the Embassy. Then, he asked if we had the waiver form for immunizations. What? Apparently, you can get a notarized form waiving immunizations until you return to the states. This is available only from the Embassy. Guess how many shots poor Sajel had to have? SIX! The doctor gave the shots himself and Sajel screamed and screamed. She then reached for Marcus and let him hold her for awhile (I was the evil lady holding her down for the shots). When we spoke with another family (using the same adoption agency) they knew about the waiver because the agency gave them the information. Needless to say, there has been zero consistency or help from our agency. ARGGHHHH.  As soon as we left, Sajel was fine. She had no fever and didn't act any different. We attempted to contact the Embassy to change our appointment- with no luck. So, we went for our appointment this am and made it through the initial line and were directed to the immigrant line. One person told us to go to the US citizen line and then we were told to go back to the immigrant line. At this point, I'm getting a tiny bit angry. We make it through another security check and someone gave us a number. When we told her what we were there for, she directed us to window #26. Down a walkway and through some doors and finally we see window #1. So we made our way all the way to the other end to find window #26 and were told to wait until our number is called. I was looking around realizing that I am at the US Embassy with an appointment, waiting for my number to be called (which wasn't even close) and I am a US citizen. This doesn't seem right. Luckily, Marcus went to another window and told them what we were there for and they took his papers and sent him to pay. This took a few minutes- there was a sign that read "I am on break and will be back shortly". Marcus and I were cracking up! It was 9am! A break already? Finally, we paid and were called to a window very shortly after. The man was very kind and we explained about the TB test and when our flight was leaving. He told us to bring the clearance tomorrow so they could get our visa issued! Wooohoooo!
     We came back to the hotel and had breakfast  buffet in the dining room. They told us it was complimentary with our room and I thought Marcus' eyes would pop out of his head! Free breakfast??? We have been paying for food when free food was available??? I am afraid he will prolong our stay to take advantage of the free buffet. Please- can everyone convince him it's time to come home? :)
     Looking forward to seeing everyone very soon.......Love, Sajel's Mom 

Delhi May 1, 2011

     We finished off our trip to Jaipur on Saturday morning with an elephant ride up to Amber Fort. I definitely think this and the Taj are the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Sajel was excited when she saw the elephants- she was pointing and giggling. When hopped on and up we went. Sajel was holding on to the metal bar on our seat and thoroughly enjoying herself, as was I. At the top, we went into the fort and a guide gave us a tour. This place was amazing. It was built in the same era as Taj and was totally breath taking. The fort has a wall that extends around the city 72km! As we were leaving, we came upon some snake charmers. Sajel instantly started bobbing her head, she just can't help herself- music plays and she's ready to dance! We sat on the carpet with the snake charmers and had our picture taken. At one point the snake started turning around and the charmer put the lid on his basket and started on a different snake. I do believe that snake was not cooperating. We backed up a little after that :) ! Next, we toured City Palace. This was another beautiful place. We then had a nice lunch and headed for Delhi.
     Another 5 hour car ride and Sajel was great. She promptly went to sleep for the first few hours and Marcus and I were also able to catch a little nap. I started to notice the driver turning the air on and off occasionally (does this sound familiar?). It seems our air conditioner was working part-time. Either way, we made it (a little sweaty) back to Delhi and settled back into our hotel. Sajel ran around like crazy and played alot. I gave her a shower (no bath here) in the evening and she screamed and screamed. I guess we'll have to wait for home to enjoy bath time!
     Marcus was up at 0430 today and off to the airport. He arrived safely in Orissa and (EUREKA) has Sajel's passport in hand! The earliest he could get a flight is this evening, so he's hanging out at a hotel until then. They have day rates for hotel here :) Sajel is happy to be able to run around and has been doing plenty of just that! We are staying in today and I have been trying to do a little packing. I can't wait to come home on Friday!
Love, Sajel's Mom