Thursday, January 25, 2007

This morning we all gathered together for the daytrip to Chao Hu City, An hui province, the birthplace of our girls. Some of us were planning not to take the girls with us but in the end we all opted to allow them and the nannies to have closure. The trip out to Chao Hu City was fascinating. Because the fog was so thick, we bypassed the more hazardous highway and took an alternate route. The bus ride took about 1 1/2 hours and the alternate route allowed us to see the scenery and landscape from a more intimate perspective. The rural area was a vast change from the city. Oxen and donkeys pulled heavy carts, miles of fields stretched into the horizon and small, rundown buildings dotted the roadside.

On the way to Chao Hu City, Jane and Lina provided commentary about the region and her people. Jane informed us that An hui province is most famous for the paper and ink made there. The paper and ink have been made for over 1,000 years. We have the opportunity to have one of the professors write our daughters' Chinese names in calligraphy using the ancient method. Lina talked to us in detail about China's 1 child policy and gave us insight in how to one day explain this to our daughters.

Once we arrived at Chao Hu City, we stopped off at the finding places of our daughters. Our daughter was left in front of the Wanlu Water-Purifying Plant, which is directly across from the entrance to her orphanage. She was found by Ms. Si Jialing and subsequently named after this local resident. We are ever indebted to her and are honored to have her name as part of Becca's American name. We then went to the orphanage, The Institution for Children of Chao Hu, An hui.

We were treated to a tour of the orphanage by the director, Ms. Gao Fang. She knew each child by name and spoke to each one individually in such a comforting and loving manner. At that moment, we felt at ease and knew we had made the right decision in bringing Becca back to the orphanage for a final visit. The orphanage was clean but barren. You could visually see the poverty that the region and orphanage contends with. Although conditions were not ideal, it was obvious that the children were loved and well taken care of and, with the nannies devotion, overcame any of these obstacles. The director allowed us to take photographs but we have been asked not to place them on the internet and, as previously stated, we will honor this request.

Our main focus of the tour was the children's rooms. All 6 girls in our group slept and played in the same 2 rooms. There were 8 in their group consisting of the 6 adopted girls and 2 boys. The 2 boys still remain in the orphanage and we were able to meet them. We learned that Becca's best buddy was Hong, an infant male of around the same age as Becca. The nanny told us that they used to play and sing together. It was adorable to see them interact with each other. We have a photograph of Becca reaching out for Hong (or perhaps his cookie.) The cribs were paired off and touching each other. We were pleased to learn that Becca's crib neighbor will be going to Saint Louis, my hometown, and will live less than 3 miles from Becca's paternal grandparents. We have noticed that Becca puts her hands and feet through the crib rails as she goes to sleep - we like to believe that she reached out for the much needed human interaction. I have tears in my eyes writing this - it is a pure joy to know that God has protected Becca and sent her our way.
We are so thankful to the nannies for loving and caring for these children.

After leaving the orphanage, we headed to KFC for lunch. Not that we all wanted KFC, but Jane and Lina knew that we would not likely do well in a local restaurant. Also, Jane informed us that KFC is well known for its bathrooms. The food was good and we had a baked chicken sandwich that had a Chinese twist to it with a spicy sauce. Most of the locals were curious to see the foreigners in their town. We had several people come up to us to check us out. They were warm and friendly and the interaction was wonderful despite the language barrier - we seemed to understand one another well, unlike my trip to Carrefour's store which I'll share with you later. After lunch, our group decided to purchase and donate a washer/dryer, a much needed appliance, to the orphanage. You should have seen the nanny's face when we gave her the slip to have it shipped to the orphanage. She thanked us several times as we drove off.

Before departing Chao Hu City, we went to Chao Hu Lake, one of the 5 largest freshwater lakes in China. It is the smallest of the 5 lakes, covering an area of 782 square kilometers. In the summertime, the lake is known for silverfish and shrimp and is a famous tourist attraction in mid An hui province. Chao Hu City has a population of 400,000 people and yet it is considered rural. After grabbing some soil and a seashell from the lake's edge as a memento of our child's birthplace, we headed back to Hefei.