I wish I could say that our time in Delhi went smoothly and was stress free, but for me it was possibly the most stressful time of all. We were able to take a direct flight from Pune to Delhi that left at 11:00 am on October 18th. It was a quick two and a half hour flight. Anjali had become a pro at flying by this point. We got her a small Indigo plane as a souvenir of all of her flights so far and she was even beginning to understand the importance of wearing a seatbelt at takeoff and landing.
I was full blown sick with a chest cold by this point and all I wanted to do was get to our guesthouse so I could rest before our medical appointment the following day. Anjali was also a bit conjested, but seemed to be more on the mend. Our in country reps, Mini and Sanjeev were there to pick us up from the airport and it was great to see them. Delhi has the world's worst air pollution followed ironically by Patna and I could feel the impact of the smoggy air on my lungs. The other thing about Delhi is that the traffic is awful. Our guesthouse was in South Delhi near the Sarita Vihar metro stop and we chose it specifically because it was near a metro stop. Delhi has a wonderful metro system that was built quickly and revenue generating within the first week of being built. New stations are being built all around the city.
Our guesthouse hosts, Atul and Marina were lovely and helpful. It was a three story house where we stayed. Atul's parents live on the bottom floor, while Atul and family live on the second floor and then there are rooms for guests on the top floor. We ate a light lunch with our hosts and then Anjali and I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the following morning.
Medmax the medical facility where Anjali had to get her checkup was approximately 10 miles from where we were staying. Our appointment was at 11:00 am so we left an hour early. Unfortunately, we got stuck in gridlock traffic and arrived an hour late. I was barely functional at that point, but luckily it was a great facility and they saw us right away despite our lateness. We met with a doctor who did a brief check up of Anjali and looked over the medical and vaccination records for Anjali. Then a nurse gave Anjali the TB injection. She was very brave and only whimpered slightly when she felt the needle prick. We were in and out in less than a half an hour. We had coffee with Mini and Sanjeev after the appointment. Mini got Anjali and I some medication for our congestion. Anjali was definitely feeling better, but me not so much. I went home and slept all afternoon while Adam looked after Anjali. Our guesthouse was near a big park and also there was a close by playground. Anjali is a very active girl and loves going to the playground, so having parks within walking distance was a huge blessing.
Atul and Marina have an 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter and both played with Anjali. They are such a sweet family and it was nice to spend time with them. Anjali warmed up to Marina and Atul as well. It was nice to see the progress she has made in her social skills. She is now comfortable and secure that we are a family and is beginning to engage with others once she gets to know them. She is a naturally social girl and I am happy she is beginning to open up to others.
Our follow up at Medmax went very smoothly on Saturday. We were in and out in about 45 minutes. I was grateful that the medical portion was so easy and that it was at such a nice facility. I was beginning to feel better on Saturday, but I can't think of a worse place to be than Delhi if you have a chest cold. I was coughing quite violently from the congestion and bad air.
We were still waiting on a birth certificate from Nalanda which we needed for our Embassy appointment on Monday and we were also trying to find a way to wire the remaining foreign adoption fees which we learned we still owed while in Pune. We figured we could probably use the court order if the birth certificate didn't come through, but Nalanda ended up emailing us a copy of the birth certificate on Sunday which was a relief.
On Sunday, we took the metro across town to Novelty Exports. This is the shop where Adam and I got our wedding rings in 2009. Adam lost his wedding ring while we were living in Germany and we had come back last December during our first visit to get another ring. I lost my wedding ring this past summer during a tether ball game against Adam while visiting his parents in Seattle, so I was eager to get a replacement. Novelty Exports is a family owned shop owned by a family from Kashmir with jewelry and items from around India. We ordered the rings and bought gifts for family back home. The shop owner gave Anjali a pretty green scarf that she loves to wear. We stopped off in Connaught Place for lunch and bought another carry on suitcase then headed home.
Our embassy appointment on Monday was a bit disappointing in the sense that it was kind of like going to DMV to get your license. The embassy is in a really beautiful part of Delhi where most of the embassies are and the roads are lined with beautiful greenery. I felt so happy to see the U.S. Embassy when we arrived. You have to check in your cell phones at a kiosk on the other side of the embassy. While we were going through security, my flash drive was found which is also a forbidden item to bring in to the embassy, so Adam had to run back out to the kiosk before we could enter. Once through security we were directed to follow a red line that takes you inside the embassy. The staff is all behind glass and you are given a number and told to take a seat until you see your number appear on the computer screen. The good news is that adoption cases do receive priority and we were called up quickly. Adam went up to the window while I stayed with Anjali in a small play area for children. The credit card machine wasn't working, but luckily Adam had enough cash on him to pay the fees. Finally, we were called up for our interview. I had envisioned that the interview would take place in someone's office, but it was just at a different window. We had to take an oath at the window and then were asked a series of questions. It was all very efficient, but really impersonal. We were told that the embassy had not received the Article 23 from CARA and would need that before they could issue Anjali's visa.
We left and headed for the CARA office. Mini phoned Dr. Pati who is sort of the head honcho (can't remember what his official title is) at CARA. He saw us once we arrived and directed his staff to get us a copy of the Article 23 while we waited in his office. We got the copy and also had the staff give us a copy of the email that they sent to U.S. Embassy. We then went back to the U.S. Embassy and hand delivered the Article 23 just to make sure. We were told that Anjali's visa would be ready by 2:00 on the following day.
We got the visa with no issues the following day then stopped back by Novelty Exports to pick up my ring. We had an early dinner with Mini at a vegetarian restaurant and then headed for the airport getting there a little earlier than planned. At about 7pm we were able to check in our baggage and then headed for the immigration line and we really thought we were on our way home at that point.
And then our world unraveled. The immigration agent called in his superiors who told us coldly that we needed to get an exit permit for Anjali and that we would need to rebook our tickets once we got it. What ensued was many hours of arguing with immigration and airport officials. We couldn't believe that after all we had been through we would get blindsided by this while going through immigration and we knew it was a power ploy by a disgruntled official. We were so exhausted and upset when we finally left and poor Anjali was a wreck as well. We left the airport at around 1am and had to search for a hotel room. We stopped at Ibis and Holiday Inn that were both fully booked and then just ended up staying at the JW Marriot, one of the most expensive hotels in Delhi because it had rooms and we coudn't bear to keep looking.
The following day Adam went out to figure out what to do about the exit permit while Anjali and I stayed at the hotel. He first went to the U.S. Embassy then to the CARA office where he was basically told that you shouldn't need an exit permit, but since immigration is asking for it, you should go ahead and get it so you don't have any problems. Then he went to the FRRO office to get the "exit permit." It turns out it is the parents not the child who can be issued an exit permit. Nobody at the FRRO office knew what to do and Adam was there for 5 hours dealing with it. He met another couple from Chicago who also had spent the last couple of months in Gujarat fostering their daughter and who had been sent over by the U.S. Embassy after what happened to us. We needed a C form from our hotel and passport photos of each of us which luckily we had. My husband returned from the office totally exhausted with our exit permits and we decided we wouldn't leave until Thursday. We struggled a bit to get our tickets changed, but finally got an United agent on the phone who changed our tickets free of charge.
We spent the following day resting up at the hotel. We slept in late. We took Anjali to the pool where she tooled around in the water with Adam. Luckily we could do a late check out and we left the hotel at around 8 pm. Adam was much calmer at this point, but I was still on edge not believing we would get through.
At the airport, we had a kind United agent console us for what happened and apologize for immigration. We were directed to go to the diplomat line in immigration and were never asked for the exit permits. From there we got some snacks for the flight, exchanged our last rupees and went to the boarding gate. We were so relieved. Going home FINALLY!!! I have never been so happy to board a plane for a fifteen hour flight.
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