Rob and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary today as we come to the end of our time in Fuzhou. Just one more night in the hotel and then tomorrow we are off to pick up Molly's passport and an evening flight to the mecca of international adoption in China - Guangzhou. Guangzhou is where EVERYONE who is adopting from China will finalize their adoptions and the last leg of the journey. While we are there we will be staying at the famous White Swan Hotel. If you have ever seen a child wearing their China silk dresses sitting on a red couch, odds are those were taken at the White Swan. We will go from being one or two Westerners in a crowd to being surrounded by adoptive families. I wont miss my rock star status! :)
Today we had a great time. We made a trip to another Living Hope Orphanage. This one is located in the same building as the orphanage that Molly was found in front of. Because they were so quick about getting her into foster care, not only did she not recognize the gate she was left in front of just a few years ago, but the orphanage workers didn't recognize her either.
The best news of the day is that I got FOUR single use cameras back from the foster mom that we had sent her a few days after getting the referral for Molly. Rob and I know have a terrific glimpse of where Molly lived and what a terrific foster family she had. I know that has a lot to do with her periods of sadness. Her foster mom and dad have very kind faces and I see in the pictures the happiness that we are just starting to see in Molly over the past few days.
Molly and I are still doing great. She is definitely a mommy's girl right now but I can already tell that my days are numbered. She has gone from not even allowing herself to look at Rob without getting teary to eating fruit right out of his hand. My days of being the top dog are numbered for sure! Molly is the most inquisitive kid I have ever come across. She wants to test everything she touches to the limit - take it apart - figure out how it works - open it - close it - over and over again. She is also extremely neat. She is usually good for using at least two or three napkins for each meal. So unusual for me to see after witnessing the way my boys eat.
At the orphanage they allowed us to visit the children's rooms and donate a notebook, pen, and candy for each of the children. These kids are all older children and the rooms were all very neat and clean. We were able to meet many of the workers and you can tell just by talking to them that they love these kids. One of the young men we walked by appeared to be in his early twenties and Rob and I were both shocked when he walked into a room and in an American accent as clear as ours said "Hey, where are you guys from?". We found out that Jason was a student who was from Maine and had just graduated from college. He was donating three months of his time helping out in the orphanage before he headed back to the states for gradschool. It was a nice surprise running into him. We also met the lady who took those wonderful pictures of Molly in the soccer uniform that we have shown anyone that would give us the time of day..another full circle moment!
After the orphanage we finalized a little more paperwork and then headed to a wonderful spot where we could learn a little more about the Fujian people. We visited a Tao Temple and got a few wonderful shots of Molly playing with some flowers. We passed by some students taking a class who were all excited about practicing their "hello's" and a young girl shouted at us "USA is best at everything!".
The people here have been very sweet. You can tell that there is a lot of pride here. I found the people of Beijing to be a little more closed off....perhaps still recovering from the Olympics. But the people of this city have been wonderful and I look forward to bringing Molly back here when she is older to visit her home city.
We wrapped up the day with lunch at Pizza Hut and was surprised to find that the Pizza is exactly as you would find in the states. Rob, Kathryn, Molly, and I ordered "The American Special" Can you guess what that is? Pepperoni Pizza! Pretty funny! Molly had a moment that she allowed Rob to hand feed her cantelope which is HUGE progress and gives us a small glimpse of the future!
Back to the hotel for a nap. This has been the only sad times I see with Molly...and she tends to have some nightmares while she sleeps but is quickly comforted once I sit with her and hold her.
We will spend the rest of the day around the hotel and get everything ready for our trip to Guangzhou tomorrow. It has been a great time here but this mother of three is ready to move on to the final step and get my family back together!
I have been having trouble with facebook so I am unable to upload any photos there so I will post my favorites from today here on the blog!
The only thing missing from the Guangzhou leg will be our trusty feisty guide Kathryn - clearly one of the most interesting women I have ever met! We will truly miss her and hope we can keep in touch.
On to Guangzhou!
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