Thursday, December 27, 2012


Jing Yi and foster parents
Two families joined by one little girl
At the gate of the orphanage
Front of Orphanage

It was a cold and rainy today as we traveled to the orphanage.  Traffic was a snarly mess and our guide said due to the weather there were many accidents, not good news when you are jammed 5 in the back seat of a taxi without seat belts.  Our guide has been to the orphanage many times and was able to lead us directly to the foster family home.  The minute Jing Yi saw we were passing through the gates to the orphanage, the tears started falling.  She stopped crying at the foster home and held the foster mom’s hand.  We toured the home; it was very clean and tidy.  All 6 foster kids shared a small bedroom.  Jing Yi slept in a bunk bed with her 6 year old foster brother.  Two more kids shared the top bunk.  We sat and talked to the foster parents for some time, it was great to get a glimpse of Jing Yi’s life up to this point.  We walked to Jing Yi’s classroom.  Her foster brother was so excited to see her, he grabbed her by the hand.  Foster mom said he has not eaten well since she left.  There were about 20 kids-all 3-5 years old, the majority boys and all special needs.  They were very curious, some reached up to be held, and some tried to get stuff from our gift bags.  The teachers were all happy to see Jing Yi and she must have felt somewhat like a celebrity by all the attention received.  Although there was some heat on (unlike the foster home) the kids all wore heavy coats inside.  Hard to leave all those small faces behind, I hope they too all find forever homes.
Jing Yi was not sad to leave and actually seemed a bit relieved and happy once we were traveling back to the hotel.  Perhaps she was worried about being returned to the orphanage-hard to tell what goes on in that mind of hers.
Tomorrow we leave for Ghongzhou after picking up Jing Yi’s passport.  The weather will be much warmer and the area very familiar after our last two adoption trips.  During this last leg of our journey we will get Jing Yi’s visa so we will all be ready to fly home.
I did take many photos of the kids and the orphanage but in order to protect their privacy, will only post photos of Jing Yi and not the other children.  The foster mom really encouraged us to send her updates on Jing Yi’s progress back in the states.  She showed us photos of other children they had cared for and said she still thinks of them and misses them and wonders how they are doing.

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