Hyderabadi Break

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Hyderabad (big city), and it was a lovely break from life here in Ongole.  That said, taking the overnight bus both Monday & Wednesday has left me a bit fatigued, and I'm still easing back into normal life!

While I was there, I basically did 4 things:
1. Relaxed, rested, chatted with friends online, and watched Breaking Bad.  Normally, I'd hate that I wasn't out exploring the new city I was in, but again--"sleeping" on an overnight bus isn't the most restful experience, so resting was at the top of my agenda!

2. Loved on babies! We still don't have a building, and consequently don't have a license, for the Hyderabad home yet.  However, SCH is already caring for 4 of those 25 children we are planning on getting:  one stays at the hospital, and the others are staying with ayahs and a nurse at a guesthouse.  The 3 I got to meet are absolutely precious! Zahra had just arrived a few hours before I met her, and I was able to teach her caregivers how to use a special bottle designed for babies with cleft lip/palate. 

10 month old Riley and I quickly became buddies.  So much to the point that he'd cry when I had to leave.  (Precious, I know--and he sort of stole my heart, too!)  I brought some 3" board books for them to play with and he LOVED turning the pages and holding them. 

 

And then there was 2 year old Alicia.  She is able to sit up, but her arms are too weak to even hold the board books I brought.  She is soooo skinny, but has one of the biggest smiles--and one of the cutest protruding lips when she pouts :)  

3. Shopping!  (And a mani/pedi to make me feel somewhat feminine again).  I've learned over these 2 months that leggings don't last so long when children go pulling on them, so I had a bit of a shopping spree to buy more durable mall-quality clothes, to help out the life of my market-quality clothes.  After doing my online research, I went to what is deemed the best old school bookshop in Hyderabad. Barnes & Noble (or Crossword, if you're in India) is fine, but this is like a reader's dream:  floor to wall books, in 4 to 6 foot tall stacks, stuffed on shelves.  Make it four rooms of this, with a second story after tackling a rickety uneven staircase, and this bookshop is by far my favorite one I've been to in India.  I now have a Telugu/English/Hindi children's library in my awesome penthouse.  Thank you to all of you who have given me money to buy things for the kids--they LOVE their books, and I'm hoping having more fun ones on hand will peak their interest in reading and academics. 

4.  Meeting Liban!  I got to spend a couple hours with this guy, and even though he was jetlagged and I was extremely exhausted from having not slept much the previous night, it was still pretty cool. I'm sure we probably looked like zombies to everyone else around us, but whatever.  Since I had planned my trip around when he'd be in Hyd, it actually worked out pretty well, as I got to escape the major flooding that happened in Ongole the two days I was gone.  Considering reaching my penthouse requires a walk across the uncovered roof, and that getting to our neighborhood involves dirt roads, I was very glad I missed it!

I'm back at home in Ongole now, and have kind of been easing into OT life--doing more computer work and relaxation to recover from the sleep I missed on those buses.  Liban brought me stuff from my mom and sister, and although most of the food is gone by now, my girls adore their stickers and sticker books.  And, Angel & Heidi look pretty darn cute in having underwear without safety pins to hold them up :)  So thanks for all those!

Now, back to organizing online files...