We had a big day today! First we went shopping to get some clothes and shoes to take to the kids at Christa Lan's orphanage. We went to the wholesale district of Guangzhou and it was absolutely unbelievable! There were a ton of shops on the street level, but then you went inside and up all these escalators and the shops went on for blocks and blocks. Karen Hash, you would have LOVED it!! Erin was really happy we were able to find High School Musical underwear to take to the girls!
After the big shopping spree, we boarded the bus and headed to the orphanage. When we arrived, we were greeted by the lady in charge of international adoptions who brought Christa Lan to us the day we met her. She began to show us around when suddenly a large group of young mentally challenged children saw us and ran up to us to greet us. One adorable little boy grabbed my dad's hand and seemed so happy to see him. My dad got really choked up and we all started crying. They seemed so happy just to see someone new. It was really heartbreaking.
We were taken into the building where Christa Lan lived and saw all the kids eating lunch. They each had rice, meat, and veggies mixed in a stainless steel bowl. They were happy to see her and called her by name. We were able to meet her main nanny who was the sweetest woman in the world. She cried and talked to her a lot in Chinese. She seemed very happy that she had a forever family, but very sad to say good bye. We hugged a lot and thanked her profusely. We were also able to visit her classroom sponsored by Half the Sky. We received some of her art work and some early pictures. Her teachers obviously loved her too, and they told us she was very smart. The best thing about the orphanage visit was seeing Christa Lan go to each of her teachers and nannies, but then she wanted to come back to be held by me as soon as they were done talking to her. She wouldn't play on the orphanage playground with her sisters because she wanted me to hold her. I'm taking this to mean she is forming a strong attachment to us, and she has made her decision that family life beats the alternative. We had all been worried the orphanage visit would be really hard on her, but we were all very relieved to see she was happy to be with us.
After the orphanage we went to the Chen Clan Temple Square where Christa Lan was found at nine months of age. The temple was built by a wealthy family in the 1890's and is filled with beautiful ivory carvings and antiques.
This afternoon Christa Lan and I went on a long stroller ride all over Shamian Island. She has started testing her boundaries with temper tantrums, but we're working through it like we did with Jaiden. She comes out of them a little quicker than Jaiden did, and she has the most hilarious laugh of anyone I have ever met! She really knows how to use humor to turn things around, and I think that quality will serve her well in life.
We finished the evening watching a light show to music over the Pearl River. The weather has been absolutely perfect. Thanks for following our Third Great Adventure!
