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Monday,
September 10, 2007
Today was the big day. Seven of us (including Cici) piled into
an older model Toyota van for the journey down to Yangxi. The
trip down took a little over three hours as we encountered one
accident and some highway repairs. We arrived in Yangxi around
11:45 a.m. and Cici needed to call the SWI for directions while
we waited at a large intersection. Next thing we know, a young
girl from the local middle school jumps in our van to show us
the way.
We recognized the SWI from photos we had seen on the Yangxi
Yahoo Group site. We thought it was on a main road but now
understand why DHL had so much trouble delivering our care
package (that Lilia never received). We were greeted by fresh
fruit and bottled water and spent 10-15 minutes asking
questions. Lilia went readily to the SWI official, enjoying her
familiar voice and touch. We were then taken upstairs to the
nursery, but were not allowed to take photos inside. Again, we
had seen photos of the wood-bottomed cribs, but seeing so many
babies actually there with bad head boils was very emotional.
Lance held Lilia the entire time. I watched her surveying the
room with a strange expression on her face. When we went to the
lanai where the babies are allowed to play in the mornings, the
official put Lilia on her favorite toy. Again, Lilia seemed
contemplative. The visit for Lilia went textbook, as once we got
downstairs, Lilia would no longer go to the SWI official. This
was our goal – providing Lilia, as young as she is, a chance to
say her final farewell to the SWI.
We then piled into the van to locate our daughters’ finding
spots. Lilia’s spot was last, and I got a bit emotional there,
thinking about Lilia’s birth mom. We said a short prayer for her
there.
By this point in the day, Luke started asking for milk, which we
had not brought with us. We stopped at a local market to get
Luke a box of milk, took the orphanage official back to the SWI,
had another bathroom break and left about 1:40 p.m. for the
journey back to the big city of Guangzhou. This was a long,
emotional day, but the trip was well worth it for all of us.
Luke and Lilia were great little travelers. I think even Luke
sensed how important this journey was for his family.
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The main road into Yangxi was a muddy, two lane (being generous
here) dirt road. You would never imagine this road took you into
a city of 500,000 people in an area slightly larger than Hong
Kong.
This is the girl who jumped in our van at a very busy
intersection to show us the way to the SWI. She was rewarded
with two bananas. She waited around until she got them.
Representatives of the three HIC families adopting from Yangxi
with the orphanage official in front of the SWI main entrance. I
am having a hard time smiling as Dolores is way down the road
photographing a water buffalo roaming loose. |
