Friday began with the
first sputum test. We had to wake P up early without giving her a bite
of food or even a drink of water, get her dressed, and drive 45 minutes
to the testing facility. We waited for another 30 minutes for the
doctors to arrive. Then we had to walk up six flights of stairs to the
roof, and try to explain to this poor, shivering child that she had to
hock up a bunch of loogies for us. That was fun. For a while, she looked
like she was going to cry. I think she was very confused, even with a
staff member explaining in Hindi. But she eventually started hacking and
we showered her with praise. I can honestly say that's the first time
I've praised a child for drooling. After we finished, we had to get some
food in her belly and make sure she got her meds on time. We were back
at the hotel by 9:30am, just staring at each other, trying to figure out
what in the world we were going to do for the next 10 hours to keep her
busy.
We
did the usual rotation of coloring, balloons, and TV, with a couple of
attempts in there to walk around the attached mall just to get out of
the room. If you know me at all, you'll know how much I love malls (if
you don't know me well, that last bit was in sarcastic font). The best
part was the three story toy store on one side. We let P pick a toy, and
she chose a stuffed lion. We got N a tiger, because when I asked her
what she wanted us to bring her from India, she said a tiger. "A real
one??" I asked. "No, Mama! Just a pretend one, you silly goose." One
pretend tiger. Check.
That
day was when we had our first real dose of defiance. Some of it, I'm
sure, was simply her trying to exert control when she feels completely
out of control. And I think part of it was just being bored. She's used
to a busy schedule including six hours of school a day, so balloons and
coloring are probably not going to occupy her mind after that. It was a
long day. A very long day. And the next morning when we went for P's
second sputum test, I begged our coordinator to take us out later that
day. He was happy to get us out of the hotel room, so we went to a local
market with items from all the different states in India. I picked up a
few more gifts and souvenirs, and then P and I got matching henna on
our hands. Karyn Purvis would be so proud. Well, at least about that
part. Probably not so much about the four plus hours of TV per day. But
hey, we're not trying to win the Stellar Parents of the Week award
here. Right now, we are embracing survival mode, and just rolling with
whatever keeps everyone's sanity as close to in tact as possible. We
finished up our outing with some authentic Indian food at at local
restaurant, which was super tasty. P horked it down like it was her job.
Thus far, she's had a healthy appetite, but has not shown any
tendencies toward gorging or hoarding food. That's good news. It means
she probably did not go hungry at the orphanage.
This
morning (Sunday) we went back for P's final sputum test. Each morning
we've gone after the first, they've confirmed a negative result for the
previous day's test. She finished her final loogie hocking, and we came
back to the hotel for a little bit before going out with our coordinator
again. He took us to a historical garden, park sort of thing. There
were several dilapidated moseleums with the most beautiful architecture.
The hand carved stone and paintings were amazing. It was also nice to
walk around in some fresh air, away from the constant yelling, honking,
and smoggy air of the city. It was like a little sanctuary in the center
of the chaos. Because chaos is really the only way to describe the
roads in Delhi (or Mumbai). There are no acknowledged traffic lanes,
lights, or signals. They do exist, but no one pays any attention to
them. The streets are filled with cars, tuk tuks, rickshaws, motorcycles
(with little children riding along- very few helmets), bicycles,
pedestrians, and children begging for food at every forced red light.
There are no car seats, seat belts, or rules of any kind, really. As our
coordinator says, traffic flows like water in India. Well, if water
constantly lays on its horn and just goes wherever the heck it feels
like whenever it feels like it, then that is true. It is definitely
sensory overload up in there, y'all. Still, it's time not spent in our
room, so no worries. We ate out again and then came back to await the
call from the clinic. Our coordinator decided to go on out to the
testing center to "Sit on their heads" to encourage them to work faster.
I guess it worked, because he called at about 5:30 to let us know that
he had the test results in his hand! Tomorrow morning, we will go to
the clinic to have the first doctor sign off on the medical packet, and
then go to the embassy to beg them to give us P's visa. They said on
Thursday that they would give us priority (after I stood there sobbing
because they wouldn't let me go home). Hopefully they will be true to
their word and issue the visa ASAP. Our flight leaves out tomorrow night
at 11:35pm. We can't really afford to change it again, so they're just
going to have to get it done. I've got P bathed and our bags packed up. I
will be tracking our plane as soon as I wake up in the morning. I
cannot wait to be home!!!
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