India
Updated: Jun 10, 2019
It has occurred to me that the record of the 2019 trip to India to receive my adopted grandson Dax is preserved mostly on FaceBook. Do I trust FaceBook? No. Everything on the internet can be deleted. FaceBook seems permanent now but in a few years (or months!) it could be an anachronism. When FaceBook goes down where will all the pictures, posts, and memories be? Gone forever.
So I copied all the posts and pictures from my FaceBook page to this blog. I copied only the comments that served some educational, humorous or narrative purpose; therefore most of the comments are not preserved. Posting the names of those who commented without their permission didn't feel right, even though FaceBook is a public forum. Therefore I did not identify the author of any comment other than myself, or immediate family members. Also, there are a couple of pictures that were not on my FaceBook feed but are from my personal texts.
April 16, 2019
Goodbye, Kansas City. Hello, Toronto. #masterguitar #masterguitarschool
April 17, 2019
Goodbye, Toronto. Hello, Frankfurt. #masterguitar #masterguitarschool
April 18, 2019
Jay EuDaly is in Bangalore, India.
Good morning, Bangalore. That was an interesting ride last night. #masterguitar #masterguitarschool #indiaisatrip
April 18, 2019
Alex DeGrassi’s “Slow Circle” is playing in the hotel restaurant in Bangalore. I love music! #indiaisatrip
April 18, 2019
Comments:
Seems worse than a Korean hooker
I love India through the eyes of Jay
April 18, 2019
This is in our room:
April 18, 2019
This is why I’m in India! This is my youngest son Nathan and his wife Allie. They are now officially the parents of Dax Shreyas EuDaly, who is now my 11th grandchild. #indiaisatrip
April 18, 2019
Receiving Dax from the orphanage. #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
Jay EuDaly is in Devanhalli.
Gee I hope this is the right line. #indiaisatrip
Comments:
Looks like the Brooklyn DMV.
April 19, 2019
Had to turn down a gig for tomorrow night in Davenport Iowa because I can’t get there in time. #indiaisatrip
Comments:
Too bad, Jay. Iowans need your music!
I'll cover. Do you think they will like Bad, Bad Leroy Brown?
Have been to Davenport many times. It is their loss for sure.
April 19, 2019
Jay EuDaly is with Allie EuDaly and Nathan Elliot EuDaly at Kempegowda International Airport Lounge, Bengaluru.
Leaving Bangalore for Delhi shortly. #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
Goodbye, Bangalore. Hello, Delhi! I said, Hello, Delhi! #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
Jay EuDaly is in Delhi, India.
Dax’s 1st plane ride. He did pretty good! #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
This brings Andrea to mind - though she is never far. This was at the airport in Delhi. #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
This was a dance for us at the orphanage. As you can see, it's a walled compound and is pretty nice compared to its surroundings. The guy by the car is one of our drivers. There will be another post about that later. The badassery of the drivers is amazing to behold. In the meantime, this thing of beauty: #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
Jay EuDaly shared a post.
From Dax’s mama:
Allie EuDaly is with Nathan Elliot EuDaly.April 19
Our hearts are bursting 🖤 And sweet baby boy is doing so well 🖤
He loves the bath, eats and sleeps like a champ, and is curious about e v e r y t h i n g.
The things that are really hard so far are that he is legitimately claustrophobic (hates elevators, public bathrooms, and wasn’t a fan of the plane [from Bangalore to Delhi] for awhile)...and he is starting to grieve the loss of the caretakers and home he has known for the last 14 months 🖤(obviously being removed from everything familiar and coming with new people to new places and everything else involved is traumatic - and my heart is so indescribably heavy for him). Thankfully, he feels safe enough with us that he allows us to comfort him when he is upset. Also, almost all of our time is able to be spent engaging in play and other attachment-building activities, so we are filling up our trust bank as fast as we can. 🖤
He is crazy smart, very vocal (he has been spoken to in three languages his whole life but they said so far he prefers to make up his own words 😂), and can take about 2-3 steps by himself! (and is so proud of himself every time). 🖤
We are so in love. 🖤 Thank you for all the kind words and prayers, friends 🖤 We should be home by May 1st 🖤 #lovingeudaly #babydax
Comments:
Love. And the tip of an iceberg of a life rescued. A tremendous testament and it so, so, so matters. Be blessed. Dax welcome to America and your new life.
Jay EuDaly Dax was premature and abandoned. He has some medical issues but my daughter-in-law is a pediatric intensive care nurse at Children’s Mercy and so is equipped as anyone could be to deal with it.
My dearest friend fostered a baby boy that had been abandoned. He was just weeks old when they brought him into their home. They fell in love with him and couldn’t bear to let him have someone else “leave” him. They adopted him. That was 7 years ago, and he’s thriving! So hearing about your new grandbaby makes my heart so very happy ❤️
April 19, 2019
Jay EuDaly is in Delhi, India.
Good morning, Delhi! I slept from midnight to 6:00. I think I’m starting to get over the jet lag. We’re going to be here a while, jumping through the last few hoops to be able to bring Dax home. So I’m hoping to settle in and get reasonably comfortable. I’ve had some trouble with Instagram and also with texting. Facebook seems to be the most reliable so this is where I’m going to be from now on. #indiaisatrip
Comments:
How is the air? Doesn't look too good in this picture.
Jay EuDaly It alternates between “unhealthy” and “dangerous.”
April 19, 2019
I perceive a market for Jazz here. I’m eating breakfast in Delhi and so far on the Muzak I’ve heard real jazz; Kenny Burrell, Groove Holmes, Jimmy Smith...what a wonderful thing to be so far from home and hear Hammond Organ-based Jazz. #indiaisatrip
Comments:
I hope you have a chance to hear some of the locals while you are there. Some amazing music. I got to see Ravi Shankar in Bangalore in 2011. Good luck with the jet lag coming back!
Jay EuDaly I’m planning on trying to find local music while I’m here.
I’m assuming that of course you took your guitar along. Can’t imagine you without it for longer than a couple hours.
Jay EuDaly no, it’s too much of a hassle to fly with it if I don’t have a gig. We have enough to worry about. I’ve got several days to get back in shape before my fist gig back in KC.
April 19, 2019
Ok, I think this is probably for the sake of us westerners but I’ll check it out anyway. Maybe I can connect with one of these musicians and find out where the REAL music is. #indiaisatrip
April 19, 2019
This was our contact with the orphanage, Alex. Alex was responsible for procuring our drivers. The next few pics are typical street scenes on the way to the orphanage. So on our way from the airport to the hotel I learned something. I HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT ANYTHING! My reaction was probably intensified by the fact that we had been travelling for more than 24 hours on no sleep. Anyway, we're in the car with Alex and the driver. It's 4:00 in the morning and we're driving through what I would characterize as horrible slums but which is totally normal here. Piles of rubble, trash, tents, little street front shops, people and motorbikes everywhere. As we pass by a large gathering of men on a corner the driver pulls the car over and says something to Alex. "Crap!" I think, "Is this where the shakedown happens? What's happening?" I could feel my fight-or-flight response starting to kick in and I realized it would have to be fight because I didn't know where to run. The group of men were watching us but didn't approach. I watched Alex and the driver talk back and forth in whatever dialect and Alex did something on his phone, the driver nodded and pulled back out onto the road. I figured either the driver wanted more money or the money had run out and he needed more to continue. The thing is, I had TOTALLY misinterpreted the whole incident. I found out later he had wanted to stop for tea. The last picture is the guard at our hotel. You have to walk through a metal-detector to go into the lobby. #indiaisatrip
April 20, 2019
Welp, I went out alone this morning looking for places to eat. Where. Is. The. BEEF! There isn’t any! God, I want a taco salad so bad. You have to think about water here. Everyone drinks bottled water. Many people have no plumbing - this is how they get water. Apparently the most fascinating thing about me to the locals is my dingo boots. Everybody stared at them. #indiaisatrip
