Day Seven - Chenzhou Orphanage

"Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missing, give me Your love for humanity. Give me Your arms for the broken hearted...give me Your heart for the ones forgotten..." (Brandon Heath)

That has been my prayer through this trip, and today it kept ringing in my head as I played with a girl who seems to always be forgotten...

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It's funny because I've gotten to the point where I sit down on this bed to blog, and it's not so hard anymore. I'm actually kind of used to it, and don't mind it so much, even though it literally feels like a board.
I asked Elisa if she liked the firm beds and she said, "Yes. I can't sleep on them if they're too soft." Haha.

Today we brought all of our donations over--all the activities we had for the older kids, and all the donations we had such as clothes, shoes, socks, blankets, formula and cleft lip bottles. The orphanage was very grateful.

Today we were able to play with the older kids. We had about 2 1/2 suitcases full of activities, so we went at it.

First we started with playdough just to get them going on something while we unpacked.

You know how there's always that one kid who's left out? Well that seems to happen a lot with this one girl. I mentioned yesterday that the nannies in one room didn't even know her name. I'm not sure how old she is, but she seems older, possibly the oldest. She has some sort of muscle problem... She spends most of her time hunched over, almost folded in two, unless someone is talking to her. I think it takes a lot for her to sit up and use her arms, as well. Well, this girl was sitting at the table, all the kids around her making things and going crazy, and she just did nothing. She just sits there. So I quickly grabbed a thing of playdough and took it out for her. She loved squishing it in her hands and moving it back and forth between them. I sat with her and rubbed her back while she played.

I spent most of my time with this girl today. My eyes swelled with tears as I watched her play, and seem pretty happy. I know that when we leave her, the children will not pay any attention to her. I know the nannies do love each and every child, but with everything they have on their hands, and all the crazy older kids they have to take care of, I know she will be left in the backround again. And she will, only because she does not fuss. My heart breaks for her... She really needs a family who is able to give her one-one-one care. But I think she is too old to be adopted... So sadly, she will be in the SWI her whole life. My heart is heavy for this girl, as I know she needs the Love we have. I tried to spend my time with her today, letting her know I care. Letting her know people do care for her, and she IS of worth. She is God's creation... She shouldn't have to live like this.

I was happy to see that even when I was needed, and got up from my chair, others from our team were able to sit down and love on her. I hope she realizes the love we do have for her.

Eventually the time came for picture frames. Tammy had already pre-made them, but we let the kids decorate them with stickers and such. I sat with the girl and unpeeled foam stickers for her to put on her frame.

While some were doing that, others were getting their face painted. The kids loved getting their face painted... Some of the kids even painted a few of our team's faces as well ;) the girl I was sitting with lit up when Mackenna came and painted a flower on her face. :)

We brought everyone outside for bubbles and chalk. They loved doing that, too. The older girl made a little hopscotch square (or whatever you call it) and played hopscotch with the little kids.

After that we brought out noise makers, whistles, glasses, and balloons and had a parade with the kids. We sang songs and marched around the outside area of the orphanage.

As I was watching the kids running around playing today, tears began to form in my eyes (again! I know, I know... I'm such an emotional child). But here I see how happy these kids are. All we had out were bubbles, chalk, and jump ropes--things that most kids in the States have everyday--and they were so excited! The simplest things entertained them. I mean, even thinking back to the first day when we brought out our table cloth and all the kids went "oooo!" in excitement. They're so easily entertained. To see the joy in their eyes as they played with things most kids take for granted, it just got to me. It changes your whole perspective on how you view things. It's really amazing.

Back inside we brought the kids in to color on some bandannas to wear. I traced the girl's hand (the one with the muscle disorder-wish I knew her name) and then let her color on her bandanna by herself for a bit. Christy also brought shirts for us, and we traced a few of the kids' hand prints on the front. It was a very cute idea.

While that was going on kids were also getting balloon animals and flowers and such. Shawn and katie were our wonderful balloon creators.

Elyssa and I were looking at pictures they had hanging on the wall. In one of them, they had the tutus on that I made them last year. It made me happy to see that they got more use out of them then just the time we played with them. :)

It's funny how when we came in, the kids were all so calm and sitting in their chairs. But by the end of the day, they were running around like crazy, "attacking" people and showing off to us. Those poor nannies probably want to kill us. :P

We sat them down around the table again and we sang a few songs with them. Then in return they sang for us as well. It was good, and it calmed them down a little bit before we had to leave.

We came back to the hotel and had an hour break before lunch. I just sat around, charged a few electronics, and downloaded my pictures to my computer.

The assistant director picked us up for lunch and shopping. On our way over there, I witnessed my first accident in China. Out of my 3 previous trips, a total of almost 2 months all together, all the honking, all the times we've almost been run over, all the times I've seen the vehicle I was in just barely get by the one next to it, I have never seen any accidents. Until now. I was shocked, and yet not at all surprised. And the funny thing is, it wasn't even that bad of a "crash". The two front end of the cars were barely touching each other. It was just something interesting to note.

We went to McDonalds, and I must say... It was delicious. ;) Elyssa, Mackenna, and I treated ourselves to a McFlurry. It tasted like home--even though I never eat McDonalds at home. Haha. Our waiter at McDonalds was so cute--she was so bubbly, and always giggling. When we wouldn't understand each other she'd become very embarrassed and giggle. I asked if I could get my picture with her, and she got embarrassed. She later came back and took pictures of our whole table. She was really fun.

The directors met us and took us out shopping. First we stopped at an embroidery shop. They're known for their embroidery in Chenzhou, apparently. The pieces in there were just beautiful. It looked amazing, and hard to make.
Next stop was a pearl/jade/jewelry store. There weren't too many people in our group that interested in buying anything today. Most of the stuff we looked at will be cheaper in Beijing at the Silk market.

We then went to the store where we would buy our donation for the orphanage. The team couldn't really do much. We sat around talking to one another. I got the chance to talk to Lori some, and she's a funny lady. She's got such a great sense of humor and always has stories to tell. Its funny as the week goes on how I keep sitting next to different team members, and I get to know each of them better, and figure out their personalities. They're just all so great :)

Because there wasn't much for us to be doing, the majority of us went back to the hotel or shopping. Elyssa and I went back to our room. I blogged some, and Elyssa...well, she said she was going to blog but she's messing around figuring out her iPhoto, tagging people in pictures. She's terrible at procrastinating ;)

We went to dinner at the dumpling place tonight. In China, for such a large group of people as us, usually they have separate rooms for us to go into. Some only have one table, some have two. This restaurant had two. Halfway through our meal we had a very over zealous man come to the other table and was happy to test out his English on us. Such as, "HELLO! How are you?!" And "cheers!" And to Carmen and Mackenna, "very beautiful girls!" Haha. He was a little drunk.

When we left the restaurant it was starting to sprinkle... I just got out of the shower and its POURING rain again. Thunder and lightning, too. But I don't mind. It kind of drowns out some of the honking we hear from the street (we're on the 14th floor, and STILL hear constant honking. All through the night. Ha!).

We're about to go to do devotions, and then I'll be heading to bed.

Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage. :( Please pray for us all, as it will be a very emotional day. We have all fallen in love with the kids (Elyssa and I have fallen in love with them, AGAIN), and it will be hard to say our goodbyes.

I think we are planning to have a party with the older kids. We're getting balloons, streamers, music, and a CAKE. Hopefully that'll be a lot of fun and not so much chaos. Haha.

Please keep us in your prayers! Thanks guys:)

Some Answers

Okay, I know a lot of you have been asking questions, so I'm taking the time now during our break to answer them. I hope this helps a little bit.

To the Culps:
(There's a little more info on the nannies in the next post below, as well) Shannon says that Penelope does seem to have a little bit of a lazy eye. I haven't had much time to play with her yet, so I'm not sure if she's making much noise. I'll be sure to find her tomorrow and make any observations I can about her. :)

To the Grummons family:
Your baby boy is just like a little teddy bear:) he's very chubby and a happy little boy. I think Lori and Shannon have pictures/video of me making him laugh (I'm not sure where it is though... Maybe check flikr again. If not we'll make sure you'll get them when we get home--I know you want them now, though!). He's very ticklish! :) I have some pictures of him standing up, but I don't think he's taking steps yet. They have a bar in the playroom where they have the kids stand to gain muscle to stand and walk, and he was standing there one day and moving his legs around. Austin is active, moving his arms around and playing a lot. He's generally a very happy baby, though. :)

Charlie:
Yes, the oldest girl is still there. :( she NEEDS a family... She's 13 now and is about to miss the cut off time to be adopted. She's such a sweet girl to be stuck there her whole life--they all are. They say she really wants to be adopted, and she needs to be. She's such a sweet heart, and GREAT with the little kids. She's always helping out like a little mom, but also makes sure to have fun like a little kid. :) I love her so much.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

To Waiting Parents with Questions....

My mom just realized some of you families waiting to adopt your Chenzhou sweeties have been posting questions in the comment box. I'm sorry I haven't responded, but blogger is blocked here, so I haven't been able to see my blog, my mom is posting for me back at home. She sent me the questions, and I'll try to get back to you with them asap. We won't be with the babies today (Sunday), but hopefully by Monday I will have answers for you.

To Chen Mei Qi's family, both of the women holding your daughter are nannies. I don't think the children have a specific nanny... They just hold and care for whoever needs it or needs to be played with. The woman in the black shirt is the head nanny, I believe. She rotates between playing with the big and little kids. She's a big sweet heart, I love her a lot. I'll try to find more informations about her tomorrow.


For those of you looking for pictures, if you look for Shannon's account on flikr, you can see some. Her account is: Shannonfivekids.

Also, her blog is http://teamchenzhou.blogspot.com. She has links to everyone's blogs on the sidebar if you click on their pictures.

Hope that helps!

Megan

Some Sweet Faces

My mom snagged some photo's from Shannon's flikr account...hope that's okay Shannon!...so family and friends can see a bit of what we're doing:)

A few of the sweet faces we love....

Nice to see the tutus we made and brought last year are still used:)






The team




Can you see why we love what we're doing?

Day Six - Chenzhou Orphanage

Will and Me (taken on my phone)

I'm going to start out by saying sorry. Haha. Someone apparently emailed Shannon and told her my blog was very detailed... I hope I'm not boring anyone. But, as much as this is for ya'll to know what's going on, its for me to remember this trip, as well. So, I'm sorry if I'm putting anyone to sleep at home. Haha.

Today was a very good day--I made Ellie smile, and I got to see Will:)

Our morning routine was normal... I don't think I need to go through that;)

When we got to the orphanage and got upstairs, I looked down the hall and Will was waiting for me in a doorway. I walked up and he immediately took my hand and wrapped my arm around him. We walked inside the room and the kids were everywhere. They're all so crazy, and all want attention. The oldest girl who we met last year was there, and I was so excited to see her. I think she remembered us, too. I went and gave her a big hug:)

I stooped down to tie one little girl's shoe for a minute and about 5 kids attacked me trying to give me hugs. Haha. Will immediately got jealous and started pulling kids off of me, took my hand, and walked me away.

I took some pictures, and when he saw my camera out, he must have remembered last year, and took it and started clicking away (it was still on my neck, mom, don't worry!). He loves that camera.

All the older kids were told to go downstairs for something, but Will wouldn't go. I started walking with the rest of them and he stayed put. So I went back with him and hung out. We just sat in a room with a nanny and babies hooked up to some IVs, and played.

Eventually some nannies where rambling something to him and pointing out the window. Shannon's brother and girlfriend were there (Shane and Elisa) and she said they were telling him to go outside. So I walked down the hall again and he wouldn't follow. I looked out the window and it looked like they were loading the kids in cars to go somewhere. The assistant director came over and looked, I kind of asked him where they were going in "sign language", and he responded, "play". So I guess to a playground or something? I don't know, because it was rainy this morning and pretty wet.
It made me kind of happy that my little guy wanted to stay with me, though. :')

We went into the baby room to be with everyone else. We decided to do our "circle time" with the babies again, singing and doing hand motions with them. I didn't have a baby, but Will and I joined in anyways. They have a mat we sit on with the babies (its cushioned so they won't hurt themselves), but we have to take our shoes off to sit there. I sat down on it, and told Will to take his shoes off and sit, as well. He wouldn't come sit--I think he's embarrassed of his feet (he has no toes) so he refused to take his shoes off. I felt so bad for him, the poor kid.

He seemed to enjoy singing and dancing along. We did the Hokey Pokey, and he enjoyed that a lot.

After that, I pulled out my phone to show Will some pictures of my family. He seemed very interested, and loved seeing my siblings. He looked through all the pictures, and when friends would appear in a picture, he'd point to them and then point to one of the team members in the room. It was hard to explain that none of the people there were in my phone. Haha. I'm pretty sure he thinks Shannon is my mom, too. :P

Of course, he figured out the camera on here and went at it, taking pictures like crazy. I'm pretty sure I have about 50 pictures he took all of random things.

After sitting there for awhile he looked at my bag and made little glasses with his hands, so I pulled out my sunglasses and let him wear them. He was so happy. He put them on and started posing for me to take pictures. He and Tim went at it with the silly poses. Such a funny kid.

I also had gum in my bag, so I pulled out a piece and let him have it (he doesn't look like he gets to brush his teeth at all :/). He got very excited. Shannon gave him a lollipop and he seemed happy. He also looked through my bag and found my Luna bar and took that, and took the rest of my gum. Haha. I didn't mind, I have plenty more... And whose it gonna hurt? It was just funny to me how comfortable he was doing so.

I looked over at all the babies, and Shane and Elisa were playing with Ellie. She was just laughing and smiling like crazy. :) She definitely likes Chinese people... Haha. She's such a cutie.

After awhile Will and I had nothing really to do. I mean, he played with some baby toys, but there's not much up there for him to entertain himself. I kept trying to bring him downstairs to we could go into their play area/school room, but he wouldn't. Tim says, "he may be scared you're going to leave." Maybe so, its just sad. We made do with what we could find. After awhile he was content just sitting and resting on me. :)

Time came for us to leave, so we did. Goodbye wasn't so bad. He understood, and went right back into his room.

When we got downstairs the older kids were just getting back from their field trip to who knows where. The older girl was there and I went over and gave her a hug and kisses on her head and she just laughed and laughed. :) she's a sweet heart.

We got to drive back to the hotel for some odd reason. In the car we had some intense Chinese music playing... It was like their type of pop song and there was rapping in the middle and everything. Quite the sound to hear.

When we arrived at the hotel, there were lots of people. We walked in and there were two brides--one on each sides of the doors. Fun said that there were 3 weddings taking place today, because it was wedding day! ;) (apparently all the wedding have to happen on Saturdays...? Haha). I think both the brides were pretty mad because we were stealing their thunder--everyone was more interested in us than them. Haha!

For lunch we went to KFC--this time our guide chose for us to eat there. I didn't mind, though the food hasn't really started getting old to me yet. When we left the hotel (just me, Elyssa, and Fun--the rest of the group decided to take naps) it was POURING rain. We tried to cross the street, but on one side of the curb there was about 6 inches (legit, too. I just confirmed with Elyssa ;)), so we couldn't get to the sidewalk... Unless we wanted to walk through and get sopping wet and about 20 diseases. JK! It seriously looked like it was going to flood, though. We walked all the way around the block to get there. Elyssa and I were both in flip flops and kept slipping around like crazy. I almost fell flat on my butt a few times. Haha. It was crazy.

After lunch I was tired, so I took a nap while Elyssa blogged *cough cough* played around on her computer *cough* (we've had this running joke because she NEVVVER blogs and gets upset at the end of the day that she doesn't. She's crazy).

We stuffed our bags full of activities to do with the older kids... But found out when we got there that we couldn't play with them that day. Apparently there were some other volunteers there today, so we just hung out with the babies.

I found Ellie and picked her up and sat her down. No tears! We found some toys and she went about playing. She loves toys that squeak. After awhile I laid on my stomach and was at her eye level, then. She looked at me and grabbed some toys and put them on my face. I began to shake my head crazily, and she just gave me the biggest smile. She's such a beautiful baby. She kept doing that for awhile. Then she put the toy down and took her hand and started touching my eyes and my nose. Then she put her fingers in my mouth, and was interested in my teeth. Only problem is...

I'm a germ freak.

I tried to put up with the curiosity as much as I could, but I couldn't handle it after about a minute. That was brave for me. Haha.

Food came and every single baby in the room got food except for her. She sat there waiting forever. I felt so bad for her. As soon as that first bowl of congee comes out and is handed to a baby, so immediately stops playing and just waits. And she seems to always be the last baby to receive the food, ha. Poor thing.

And then the funny thing is, when she gets it... She's such a slow poke eating it. She takes a mouthful and slowly swallows it as she watches all the other babies play. Its kind of funny.

The time came for us to leave, so we did. On the way home we stopped at a hospital, the place where Shannon's daughter was found, to take pictures. There were multiple Chinese people who whipped out their phones and started taking pictures. We also stopped at a small shop and bought some cokes--and the same thing. Some lady was recording us trying to communicate with the store owner. They probably think we're so stupid, haha. But that was the first time I ever saw them take pictures/video of us.

We ate at the hotel tonight, and the food was good, as always.

After dinner we had our devotional time. Shannon's brother shared what he's doing here, which I won't post for security reasons. Then we sang some praise and worship songs. It was really a great and peaceful time.

Tomorrow it looks like we'll only be able to be at the orphanage in the morning, and we'll be playing with the older kids--and we have a lot of things to cram into one morning with them. Ha. I don't know if we'll get to it. In the afternoon I think we're going shopping with the director for our big donation for the orphanage, and then Fun with be taking us for some fun shopping along the way, I guess. We'll see as tomorrow unfolds, though.

Until then, Goodnight! :)

Day Five - Chenzhou Orphanage

Today was a very happy day:)

I woke up awfully tired. Our wake up call came at 6:30, and I was still sleeping. Elyssa answered the phone and just slammed it down. Haha. She took a shower while I slept longer. I eventually got up and got ready. I was surprised because it was the first day I'd slept all the way through the night. Getting used to the time change I guess.

At breakfast we had our new guide order our food and everything was pretty good. I'm pretty sure I'm going to gain weight here... We eat so well!

On our walk today it was very pleasant. It wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too crowded, so we were able to look around and see more interesting things.

One thing that caught our attention was a man who had a rat in a trap in the street. He was trying to get it free (dead of course). When he saw all of us foreigners watching he put on a show of it. He got it free and began waving it in the air. Haha. That's when I left.... ;)

I also saw a woman and her husband climbing out of the taxi... With a newborn baby wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms. I can only imagine how many times that's happened where the mother knows she cannot keep her child for various reasons. I can only hope she is able to keep hers.

At the orphanage we played with the babies some more. I found the little girl I talked about yesterday. I played with her the whole morning. Her parents are naming her Ellie, so I'll refer to her as that from now on.

Ellie wasn't happy to see me. She was sitting by herself, so I figured she'd want some company, but boy was I wrong. She cried and cried. I rubbed her back again and then Katie brought out some of the toys that someone donated. She quieted down and became interested in the puzzles. Anytime I tried to move her, she'd get upset.

We sat in a circle and sang songs and played games, but she didn't want much to do with it. She held on to her two balls she had real tight and that made her happy. I knew picking her up and walking around would set her off, but I just wanted to try... Get her a little used to new things. As suspected, she cried, but stopped soon. She's a curious baby, always wanting to see what others around her are doing.

Feeding time came, and she ate up her big bowl of congee again. :) the kids at this orphanage eat well. Some get two or even three bowls if they're hungry enough. Many of the kids are chubby ;)

Ellie and I walked around some and sat down. She began to actually look at me more. She started touching my face... My eyes, nose, and mouth. Then she played with my hair. It was nice to see her making some physical contact.

By the time it was time for us to go, she was getting tired and rubbing her eyes. I think their nap time is right after they eat.

My goal for this week is that I'll get a smile out of Ellie. It may be hard, but I'm going to work at it.

After we had eaten our lunch, Elyssa, Tammy, and I ventured out into the market place. First we walked down the street and saw various animals for sale. Such as eel, frogs, pigeons/chickens, dried and live fish, cow tongue, cow foot, cow ear, and cow...insides. Yum. The smells coming from that place were... Indescribable. Haha.

We ventured into the actual grocery store market/mall. We walked with Tammy for a bit as she looked at shoes (she has a shoe fetish, and was going through withdrawals;)). After awhile Elyssa and I went to the food to buy whatever crazy stuff we needed.

At one point Elyssa picked up some Dove chocolate and put it in her cart, but a worker took it from her and pointed to the other side of the store and started rambling something in Chinese. She took it and put it back in the cart and she got frustrated, so Elyssa just put it back on the shelf.

Before we were going downstairs to checkout, Elyssa says to me, "I really want some chocolate. Go sneak some for me."

Being the good roommate I am, I go and grab some, kind of hide it by my side and start walking fast. Elyssa's face is telling me she's following me so I walk faster. Then I have this woman come and grab it from me and she starts yelling at me. So I say, "dui bu qi, dui bu qi!" (Sorry, sorry!) And we ran away.

Come to find downstairs that we have a whole bunch of Dove bars downstairs. I don't understand what her big deal was. Haha. Oh well... Just kinda freaked me out a lil bit.

We went back to the orphanage, and we were told to go upstairs and play with the babies. I found Ellie, picked her up and walked around a little bit. She didn't fuss at all, and no tears formed in her eyes which made me happy.

Progress. Slowly but surely, progress.

We played for awhile. She loves balls and things that make noise when you shake. She found my toes and started playing with them, looking at the purple nail polish, it was funny. And she loves to observe everyone else. She's a very chill baby.

Its sad because they have heat rash all over their bodies. They sleep in a hot room with only two air conditioning units in the middle, and they keep them in long sleeves and pants. Ellie was itching all over today, so I scratched her back and arms softly and she liked it.

At one point we were just sitting there playing and a little smile started to form. We almost got there... So close. It made me happy. But then she went back to the same old face she has. Haha. I'm going to keep working on that.

We stayed in the baby room for most of the time in the afternoon. I was sad because I wanted to see the older kids more. That's pretty much all I did last year, played with the older kids. But at this time they aren't out of school yet... We were here in July last year, and school must've been out then.

When we went in most of the kids were still eating their dinner. We pulled out this type of putty that when you squish it down into its container, it makes a farting noise (Shawn and Katie brought those, of course). The crazy girl (I really should come up with a name for her) thought it was absolutely HILARIOUS. It was so funny to see them laugh the way they did at it. We also pulled out some silly string. I sprayed a few of the kids and they kind of got freaked out. So, I sprayed Katie to show them what's supposed to happen, and they just laughed and laughed and laughed. Eventually they got ahold of them and started spraying them on the ground and making pictures out of it and big balls of it. Haha. It wasn't exactly what I thought they'd like doing with it, but hey, it works :)

After we cleaned up all of the string it was time to go. So we got our stuff and left. The crazy girl kept snatching things from my backpack, like water bottle and pen, and running back to give them to me. She's such a little stinker, but a big ball of fun:)

We went to look for the rest of our group and found them feeding 1 month old babies. They were the tiniest things I've ever seen. Usually the nannies don't let anyone in that room (probably because they didn't want sickness for the babies), but they let our team members feed a few of them.

By this time it was about 5:15, and I'm sure the nannies were ready for us to leave. I went into another room down the hall to find the rest and found where the babies that we see sleep. I found Ellie and went over and said hey, and ran my hands through her hair a few times. She really seems to like that, too.

Our guide told us we needed to leave. I turned to open the door and someone on the other side was opening it already.

It was a nanny with my little boy, Will, coming to find me!

It took me a second to see him there, but when I recognized him I was so excited. He saw me and acted like he recognized me. I gave him a big hug. He took my hand and ran me down the hallway. I felt bad because they wanted us to leave, but I've missed him so much. I had our guide tell him I'd be here tomorrow to play with him, and he seemed satisfied with that answer.

I walked away with Elyssa and Shannon crying. Complete tears. I've missed that little guy so much. SO much. I'm just glad I was able to see him.

We met up with our team downstairs and we talked for a bit. Someone started waving at the door so I turned around, and saw Will. I waved him over and gave him a big hug. Elyssa did, too. It made me happy he came back down to see. :')

Shannon says to me as I'm in tears, "you know, this means you'll have to come back every year." ;)

Hahaha. I wish.

We closed our night with dinner at the hotel. I know I've said this before, but our team is great. They make me laugh so much.

I think we'll be heading to Shannon's room for devotions and prayer tonight. But I won't blog about/after that... I'm usually too tired by then.

That's all for now. Very exciting and happy day :)

Day Four - Chenzhou Orphanage Day!

Today I woke up very excited. It was our first day at the Chenzhou orphanage! Though I must admit, I was a little nervous the kids and nannies wouldn't remember me...

We had some trouble at breakfast. Our guide last year usually ordered for us, but this year we were on our own. It was Dim Sum, where they bring a cart around and you look to see what food you want and then they stamp a card. Well, we had trouble flagging down a cart, and when we finally did, figuring out what kinds of food we wanted. Haha.

Afterwards we met the assistant director to take us to the orphanage. It was funny because he met us yesterday at the train station, and he kept looking at Elyssa and I like he might have recognized us. So today we had our guide ask and he said that he did.

We took the walk to the orphanage, and it was cool...seeing it all again. I remembered how to get there for the most part. And I was very interested to see how the are has changed and not changed in just one year.

People still stare at us as if they've never seen a white person before--OH WAIT--they probably haven't. Its funny to see their expressions as we walk through the streets. At the restaurant tonight all the waiters would bring in food and stare at us. Others would walk by, see us, and stop. It's just crazy for me to see, since in America we see every nationality almost everyday.

When we got to the orphanage, we sat down with the director and she told us about the building and what times we'll be there. It looks like from 8:30-11 we'll be playing with the babies, then we'll take a break and come back from 3-5 to play with the older kids.

We walked around the orphanage and saw a few rooms. One was the infants. I was playing with one of them, and then turned around and the head nanny, my absolute favorite, was there. She looked at me, smiled, and held her arms out to give me a hug. I wanted to cry. She's so sweet, and I love her so much. It made my day that she remembered who I was.

All of the nannies from the baby room kept looking at me when I got there. Our guide told them I had been here last year and they all nodded as if they remembered.

We went into the baby room and saw about 15+ kids. We played around with lots of them, giving one-on-one time with the precious children. Many parents who are in the process of adopting have contacted us asking to get pictures for them. So with the help of the nannies we were able to do that--so parents, be ready for lots of pictures! :)

One little girl who is being adopted didn't want anything to do with us. Anytime we would touch her she'd cry (I'm sure she'd never seen anyone like us). I tried to move her away from one kid who was on her back kicking, and out came the water works. I just sat her on the floor and rubbed her back for the longest time. I'm sure she hated it, but she eventually stopped crying, and we sat there together. Feeding time came, and I had the privilege to feed her the congee they had for her. This little girl scarfed down a HUGE bowl of this stuff. She got to the point where she was used to me and would actually look at me with a pleasant face... Not like she was about to burst out crying. By the time we had to leave, she was fairly happy. I got up to go and she started looking all around the room for me. I thought, what a great break through. She's getting out of her comfort zone and she's not scared anymore. It'll hopefully make her adoption that much easier.

We went to the market to get some water, our wonderful juices we found last year, and the amazing peanut butter and chocolate oreos. We're pretty stoked about those.

We ate lunch at the hotel, and it was very good. I sat at a table with a lovely bunch of girls and we had a grand old time. I love our team so much:) at the end they brought out our steamed bread and SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK. We've had the bread on this trip before, but up until that point no one knew what it was. Elyssa and I were over joyed. It was the one food that I was dying to have. (For those of you who went last year... I bet you're jealous reading this;)) it was a big hit with the rest of our team as well.

After lunch we had a little time to go back to our rooms and chill. I wrote a little bit and Elyssa blogged. By the time we were done with that it was time to leave.

Back at the orphanage we got to see the older kids. As I walked into the doors I wasn't sure whether I wanted to see my little guy (I named him Will last trip) who I fell in love with or not. I was nervous he wouldn't remember... But all was excited to see him. But then, if he wasn't there I assumed he would have been adopted, which would have been great for him.

I walked in, scanned the room, and he was gone.

My heart sank.

Then I thought that maybe he had been adopted. Someone yelled to me, "megan! You're on their wall!" They still had the picture frames they made last year, and I'm in Will's picture.

I just about wanted to cry.

I walked over and looked around. Charlie--you're still up there with your little guy. And Deena, you're with a bunch of kids :)

I pointed to the picture and asked if Will was still there. I wasn't sure in my heart if I wanted him to be adopted, or here. I'll admit... My greed took over for a minute and I wanted him to bee there... Just somewhere else in the building so I could see him. I just miss him so much.

The nanny said he's at school, so that's why he's not here. So... Will I see him? Hopefully. They said on Saturday he will be there... So hopefully that's true. I need to see that boy.

I recognized all of the faces in that room from last year except for maybe two. Its sad to see all those kids who are so precious, just another great kid, who haven't been adopted yet. They're still here...

One woman, Christy, shared an amazing point tonight. She said at one point she was playing with a little girl and she asked how old the girl was. She's 8. She told us tonight, "I have a son whose 8. And to see that... Its just like, your life... Its just so different." Isn't that the truth? It wasn't the kids faults or problems who brought them here, it was just the circumstances in which they were born into. Its not their fault. They don't deserve it. No one does.

Anyways we pulled out the crafts that Art for the Nations sent us and played. We had lots of glue and cotton balls and glitter. Evvvverywhere. I was helping the crazy girl of the bunch, who is hilarious--i remember her from last year, and she just kept on squirting out blobs of glue and pouring pounds of glitter on and it playing with it. HA. When I helped her we kept joking around about it and she just laughed her head off. She's got the cutest smile that just spread like wildfire. I love it so much.

I love them all.

Mom and dad, you wanna adopt again. Pleeeeeaaaaase???

Anyhow, the time went really short and it was time to leave. I'm afraid the time with the older kids will be too short for me. Hah we'll see though.

Because of issues with the language barrier, we have been assigned a new guide. Her name is Fang, but she told us to call her Fun. We all keep saying now, "we can't go anywhere until we have Fun!" Haha, I know, we're all so cheesy.

We went to eat dinner at a dumpling restaurant. I'm not one to complain about the sights and smells of China, but when we walked in it smelt almost like puke. Legit. That's one of the worst smells ever. But once we got halfway up the steps, it began to smell a tiny bit better--just like the restroom. Hahahah.

We ate really well tonight. Probably the best meal so far. Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. :)

After dinner we met for devotions, singing, and prayer. we invited Fun to join us, and I'm not sure what she thought. We'll see if she continues to come.

I just finished my shower. It was gross to get in with the hot water and being able to smell yourself. It was just the smell of baby sweat/pee and my sweet together, and it grossed me out. Haha. I was happy to be clean.

Now I'm typing out this super long post on my blackberry, and my poor fingers are killing me. Haha. So I'm going to go sleep some.

Please keep praying;)