Precious treasure

Well, here we are in Guangzhou, the last stop before heading home. Before I go into much detail about this place I need to go back a few days.

On Saturday the 10th ,we headed north out of Nanjing to Lianyungang, the city where David's orphanage was. The van ride was a long 4 1/2 hours with 3 little babies in tow. We did enjoy the sights on the way up, including the Yangtse River, green rice fields, and people riding bikes carrying HUGE loads of hay. Lianyungang is right on the Yellow Sea. It is smaller than Nanjing, but still has 4.5 millon people including all of the districts. It was late when we arrived so we headed straight for bed in anticipation of seeing Lianyungang in the daylight. When we woke up we looked out the window of our hotel to see mountains right behind us. As we headed down the elevator we saw the sea sprawling before us on the other side. An amazing site.

We took a short walk on the island near our hotel. The old time fishing boats were of particular interest. Fishing is a big of the economy in this area. We then looked through more of David's information to see where he was abandoned. We found out that his spot of abandonment was about 1 hour away from Lianyungang. Jason decided to stay with David at the hotel for naps while I went with our tour guide to the place where David was found. We drove west from Lianyungang to a very rural, agricultural area. The homes were quite small and made of stone, surrounded by fields and livestock. Quite different from Lianyungang. We arrived in the city of Donghei and found the hospital and even the chair where David began his journey to us. Quite an emotional moment and very special. After quite a few pictures we headed back to Lianyungang to meet the others.

The next day we went to the orphanage. Jason and I had planned to take turns going in while the other person stayed with David outside the orphanage. Jason went in and was able to view where David spent his first 15 months of life. He slept in a crib right next to a baby girl who was adopted by a family from Parker, just 5 miles from our home. We joked that the kids were neighbors in the orphanage and now they will be neighbors in Colorado. The kids lived out their lives in three rooms - the crib room, playroom, and washroom. David's area was primarily babies and toddlers. The other part of the orphanage had kids who were middle school or high school age. It was hard to see these children who so desperately need a family. The older kids were very aware of what was going on and why we were there. All the kids were "special needs" as far as we could tell. The nannies seemed to be very invested in the lives of the children. David's nanny had the day off on the day we visited, but apparently she had been his nanny for 12 months of his life. The administrative staff seemed very kind. They were willing to answer any questions they could. They told us that when they first received him, he was very ill and frail, even near death. They also said he is obstinate and a fighter. Having observed him the past week and a half, it goes without saying that that is why he survived.

Although it was very hard, we were very glad to be able to visit the orphanage. I feel like I have a much better idea of what is going on with him by just seeing where he came from.

From the orphanage we headed directly back to Nanjing to catch a flight to Guangzhou. After a 6 hour van ride back and a 2 hour flight - through which David slept :) - we arrived in Guangzhou. We hit the pillows close to midnight, but were thrilled to be one step closer to home.

David's health gets better daily. He is trying new foods and drinking formula like crazy, both answers to prayer.

Each day also brings us one step closer to home. Now in Guangzhou, the last stop for all American families, we see why this is considered the hub of Chinese adoption. So many families, so many children. It is truly wonderful to see. We ate "western food" for lunch. The hamburger was fine, nothing like Red Robin, but the warmth of the sunshine and the people was great. While there, a woman (who was here to tour, not for adoption) asked me how old my "precious treasure" was. Of course had no idea that the meaning of his Chinese name is "precious treasure baby."