Orphanage Visit

We had a really amazing day today. We rode for two hours to the city of Jiangyin where Xin Yi's orphanage is. I took a lot of pictures out the window of the van on the way to the orphanage. When we arrived at the orphanage, Xin Yi ran off to see the director and her friends -- no fear whatsoever! She loved passing out the candy to her friends and seeing her nannies again. She got lots and lots of attention and was eating it up. It was hard to process everything as I was wanting to ask questions, express immense gratitude to her caregivers, take pictures, take video, interact with the children, and keep track of Xin Yi all at the same time. The orphanage is very beautiful and clean and the caregivers were exceptionally nice. Still it is hard for me to come to terms with the fact that she lived in an institution for 3 1/2 years of her life. The orphanage was so kind to let us come in and visit with the children and tour the facility. Many do not open themselves to families this way.

After we toured the orphanage, we sat and visited with the director and assistant director. Then we went out to lunch with the director of the orphanage. He took us to a really nice restaurant and then gave us directions to the hospital where Xin Yi was found. We went there next and took a few pictures from the outside. Again, I really wasn't able to process this today. I know she was abandoned, but it is too much to comprehend that reality -- at least today. I am grateful to have visited her finding place and to have pictures of us there.

We then headed out to a neighboring city to visit Samuel's orphanage. It is much larger than Jiangyin, but they weren't as inviting to adoptive families. They did let us tour the facility, but only let us see a couple of his closest friends and that was after a little prompting. Samuel got very upset when we toured the room he had slept in. As soon as we got away from that area he calmed back down. It was actually more difficult to visit this orphanage than it was to see Xin Yi's. We walked past the infant area where there were many cribs filled with children who longed to be held and played with. Much different from Xin Yi's where most of the babies were being held or playing on the floor. What a lot to take in and try to absorb.

We arrived back to the hotel around 7 pm and started paperwork around 8:30. We finished up around 9:45 and got the kids to bed. Hopefully we will all sleep in a little tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we meet in the lobby at 9 am to head to the airport. Our flight leaves at 11:00 and arrives in Guangzhou at 1:00 pm. If today was any indication, Xin Yi will sleep through most of the flight. We were in the car for about 6 hours today and she slept for at least half of that time.

I am feeling somewhat sad about leaving Nanjing. I have really enjoyed this city and would love to explore more of it. I've heard hat Guangzhou is very westernized and it feels as though you are no longer in China. I have loved getting to visit Beijing and Nanjing and look forward to the day that we can return to this beautiful country to visit as a family.