The Orphanage

We made the momentus trip to SWI Shanggao yesterday (Thursday). What a wild ride, literally. The yellow and white traffic lines are meerly suggestions and are followed sometimes. We played "chicken" with a very large truck, and a few cyclists here and there. Potholes the size of ditches slowed our way a few times, but the driver was great and the bus was actually a nice touring bus, so we closed our eyes during the scary parts.

We arrived at the orphanage to yet another cold, rainy day, but the reception was warm and welcoming in every way. We were led to a conference room, where mayhem broke out once again as the foster moms saw their little ones. There was rejoicing and crying and just lots of noise. Fresh fruit and candy was provided on the tables which the babies enjoyed. Our nanny was running late, so Ray and I patiently waited for her to arrive and get our turn with Chris who translated questions for us. She clearly loved and enjoyed Rebecca as much as we do and she was very gracious in pointing to me and saying 'mama' and pointing to Ray saying 'baba' which is dada in Chinese. The director made a short, lovely speech about how grateful they are to us, for caring for the children and wished us well.

Then to an abundant, fabulous lunch! They just kept bringing out the dishes. Served family style, on a turntable centered on the table, it was a feast! I can't tell you everything we had, but the purple stuff was really good and we felt adventuresome for trying most of it. The fresh peas were fantastic and I don't even really like peas. They even served red wine. This must of been extravagent for them. We didn't really tour the facilities and we didn't see any children. The director says they are all in foster homes.

Ray and I asked if we could meet the cook, as he was listed as the one who found Rebecca. They all kind of giggled, then called to him to come out. He just beamed. We got our picture taken with him and the staff just seemed so amused by the scene. One other family said he found their baby also, so they did the photo op with him too.

We then got a group photo at the gate of the orphanage where all of our babies were found. I just wonder if Rebecca's birth mom watched from across the street, from behind a crumbling brick wall, to see when her baby was found. I just wonder about her alot. I am grateful to her everyday for doing a brave and wonderful thing for us and pray that she somehow knows how much we love Rebecca. We know she loved her.

We did see a lot of the elderly residents that live on the compound. Precious elderly men watched the busy, chaotic scene of families and their orange bundles and just laughed. I got a great photo of them watching.

Could go on and on about the many scenes we saw along the way, but will end now. China is such a diverse country and we were grateful to get out of the big city and see some of the countryside.