Thursday, July 3

Today we visited Georgia's orphanage. ("We" being Georgia, my mom, myself and the family of another youngster adopted from Yangzhou.)

But before I get more into the visit itself, I have to tell everyone of a priceless gift little miss "G" gave me... first off, she only woke up once in the middle of the night, the night before -- no crying, just looked to make sure I was nearby, then went back to sleep. Then this morning, she wakes up, sits up and does not immediately cry like she had been doing and said, as clear as day, "Mama" Why yes, I became a puddle of goo, how did you guess??

When it was time to get into the van to drive to Yangzhou, Georgia took one look at the van and began to scream bloody murder! It was the same, keening, grief-striken sobs and screams she did when she first saw me. The only thing I can think of is that the van was very similar to the one she arrived in that day... maybe she thought she was going back...and she was - but to visit, not to stay, but of course she had no way of knowing that.

The drive itself was close to two hours long. We drove on a major expressway... and saw a lot of cool sights, including the Yangtzee river -- I would have taken pictures during the drive except for the fact that Georgia fell asleep with her head pillowed on my chest. But Bob, the father of Faith, the other little girl in our group from Yangzhou got a lot of nice pictures and has promised to share them with me. I'm quite grateful and I'm sure Georgia will be too, someday.



This picture is of Georgia with the head of the children's services. I know Veronica, our guide, told us her name, but I'm blanking on it. If I can, I'll fill it in later. At any rate, she seemed quite happy to see Georgia -- and for her part, Georgia went to her willingly enough. She (Georgia) would also start crying for no apparent reason -- although I think we all understood it was from recognition of where she was, stress, confusion. It was also QUITE hot and humid in Yangzhou when we were there, so I'm sure that didn't help any.



This is a picture from one of the older children's rooms. Georgia probably spent some time in a room much like this one, if not this exact one. We were told the little one on the bed on his/her(?) hands and knees was 3 years old, and soon to be adopted.



As you can see, Georgia got quite a warm reception from the nannies. The greeted her with smiles, pats and happy cries of "Qian Ya!" It really reassured me to see how much she was loved and how happy the nannies seemed for her that she had a family. I will be forever grateful for the love and care they gave her -- no wonder she grieved so very hard on Monday!!



Now, I'm not 100% certain if this gentleman is the director or the assistant director of the orphanage. At any rate, he too showed a lot of care and concern for my girl.... and she was quite easy and comfortable with him. He also gave us parents gifts for the girls (true gifts) -- an envelope with several exquisite and delicate papercuts -- a handicraft...and some of the best of them are done in Yangzhou. They are defintiely being framed when we get home - they are gorgeous!



A picture of the head of the children's services and me. I said "Xie Xie" to her any times -- but thank you isn't really enough words to express what I feel to the nannies and the director for the priceless gift of a daughter. My only hope is to show them that our family is worthy of their gift by helping Georgia appreciate her Chinese heritage...and perhaps sending at least yearly updates/photos of her... it would be well worth the cost to get our letters to them translated -- and I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

After touring the orphange itself, we were taken to our daughter's finding spots. Finding spots are pretty much exactly what you might imagine -- the places where our children were found when they were abandoned. Typically first parents will choose a location where a baby will be quickly found -- say a marketplace, or maybe the steps of a police station, etc. This is quite risky for them because abandonement is illegal and they would be severely punished if caught. (By the way, none of the above possibilities I listed were where Georgia or the other little girl was abandoned -- but I don't want to say more than that.... the specifics belong to the girls themselves to share or not as they wish.)

But I will say that Georgia's finding spot WAS in a well-trafficked area.. I took a few pictures of the area...and our guide took 2 shots of Georgia and I in that spot.


The last picture is of Georgia goofing off on the ride back to Nanjing. After all of the bawling and temper displays, the goofiness was quite a relief... I almost think that she realized when we left Yangzhou that she truly belonged to us and we to her... because she really blossomed out after it was all done.

For instance... after we got back to our hotel room, she and my mom were playing near the beds, and I had gone into the bathroom to grab a cool washcloth to wash my face. I hear this little voice call out loud and demandingly, "Mama!" and when I came she indicated she wanted my help getting some juice to drink. ;)

Then later, I thought I caught a whiff of "Eau de Toddler" and when I asked her, "Do I smell a stinky?" I'll be darned if that smart little miss didn't go to my suitcase, get out a diaper and bring it to me!!

I think her daddy and I are going to be in a LOT of trouble -- especially if she and mr Thomas combine their smarts against us! (hahaha)

Tommorrow: our group visits Xuanwu Park. We also get our child's passports that evening!