Hi,

Well here we are in Pune and we picked up Varsha/Rachel yesterday! Exciting! However, she doesn’t know any English and she has been very shy so far. We have had some short bursts of conversation.

When the driver took us to the orphanage we first stopped and got fruit for everyone. I made sure to take a picture of that. Then to the orphanage which was not very nice but wasn’t totally falling apart either. We gave them Varsha’s change of clothes. I couldn’t get over the cows walking around across the street.

Then Varsha came down with one of the workers there and I got the first couple of photos of her. We were all introduced and there was some ceremony in Hindi where they insisted on putting red marks on everyone’s forehead. On the way back to the car I put Varsha on my shoulders and walked around a little. It was kind of sad to see Varsha say goodbye to her friends at the orphanage. I got a photo of the kids upstairs waiving.

Back at the hotel, Varsha started coloring in her coloring books and she decided that she liked changing into all of the clothes we brought here for her. Then we had a walk down the busy street nearby and had pizza and ice cream (two of Nikita’s favorites). Then back to the hotel to sleep. Martina was actually on the phone overnight with office work that couldn’t wait.

Today we go to see a local judge who will give his or her blessing (a formality really) and then fly back to Delhi, where we will check into the Imperial Hotel. Then our quest for the next couple days will be to get Varsha a visa for the US. I understand that will take a couple of days because she will have to go to a doctor first.

Martina has been pretty good keeping up to date on the blog for this trip, so you should check it out. The photos and text aren’t exactly matched but you get the picture.

Thanks for everyone’s feedback. I hope to include all the details everyone wants. The smell of insense (missp?) is mostly everywhere and no matter what we eat it seems spicy with curry or masala spice of some sort. The traffic is a mess and I am amazed that there aren't fatalities all over. We haven't gotten sick yet but we are waiting to.

That’s it for now!

Love,

--Tommy