Well, we arrived at the orphanage early (7:00) and were allowed in at 7:30. There were 3 staff members, me, my private guide Angela, and Emma, the WACAP guide. We started with the paperwork when entered Miss Hua, HuiYang! She knew who I was instantly but was afraid to go to me. She hung back a bit until I got her little backpack out and showed her some of the things inside. That helped. ;o) The first thing I noticed was that they BUTCHERED her hair!!! It looked like a 3 year old cut it!! I was horrified. The second thing I noticed about her was how FAT she was! And sure enough, she had a big bag of candy with her (I'm assuming a goodbye gift) and boy, was she all about that candy!! It was hard to do the paperwork with her in the room but we got it done. I was concerned because there was no medical information given to me, no equipment, no info on how to do the "everyday procedure" needed after her September surgery. Nothing. :o( She was obviously well loved and very well cared for there. Except for the haircut. lol
Arriving at the orphanage.
She was really nervous!
"Nice to meet you. I'm your mother."
"Well, you don't look TOO evil..."
Signing papers.
Mother and daughter. <3
With the orphanage staff. They were protective of her and I could tell they really cared a lot about her.
Saying goodbye to the only home she has known.
The street sign.
We left to go get a photo for the paperwork(?), then to the Civil Affairs Office. She was good in the car, but very hot (she was HEAVILY layered) and did go to sleep for a short time. She woke WIDE up at the Civil Affairs Office, though! My goodness, she talked to and charmed EVERYONE! Everyone was indulging her so much and waiting on her hand and foot and she got a little spoiled and became quite the brat!
Helping herself to the office supplies on the officer's desk. They loaded her up with candy (she helped herself to a large bag of chocolate on the desk and the officer let her have it!) to keep her happy.
Eventually, we made it back to the hotel room and Angela left,and she threw a fit! She bawled and threw herself on the floor and even screamed! I, at that point, told her NO and she did quit the tantrum, but would not let me near her. That was fine. I put some essential oils in the diffuser and left her alone. I found some Chinese cartoons and it was quiet for awhile. I can't remember what made her happy again, but she soon decided she liked me and was very sweet and loving. :o)
She was in to EVERYTHING, and I mean everything!! She wouldn't stop moving!! Picking this up, picking that up, putting this here, putting that there, etc. It drove me nuts! What a BUNCH of nervous energy! I had a hard time settling her down. She simply would not listen! I tried scowling at her, saying "NO" but she simply laughed at me and grabbed a pile of money to play with. With that, I picked her up, and put her in a time out by the door of the hotel room, indicating a time out. THAT got her attention! She cried and cried and cried and REALLY was sad! 30 seconds later, I couldn't take any more and I called her to me. She fell into my arms, crying "Mama! Mama!" and I used the translator on my phone to reiterate what she'd done wrong and tell her I forgave her. Thank you, SuperNanny, for the tips! LOL After that episode, it was night and day difference. She was calm, she was happy, she was obedient, etc. She just needed reassurance that I was in charge and that she understood that I was her mama, for real. She did have another incident where she got very upset and emotional around bedtime and it was obvious she was quite homesick. Fortunately, she came to me for comfort and she hugged me an stroked my arm and laid on the bed with me. It was so sad, but also so sweet that she accepted my comforting, and even sought it out! She slept soundly all night and woke up, rarin' to go again!
This morning, we took our time getting ready, and had her first shower. She was afraid of the shower, and almost wouldn't get in, but she did. She did most of the work herself, and I knew she felt better afterwards. We facetimed with Mom, then Reese, and she ate some fruit that I'd bought the day before on the street and we headed out.
I wanted to go to JingShan Park, which is directly behind the Forbidden City, and Trip Advisor gave it #7 out of 1581 Things to do in Beijing! I figured we'd better go, and it was only a couple of blocks away! It was built in 1179 during the Jin Dynasty. I found it easily and it was great! Lots of people walking around, lots of groups dancing and doing tai chi, some elderly men played ancient instruments, little kids danced and played around the adults. What a happy place! No one was self-conscious, no one cared what anyone thought. It was like the biggest Guilt-Free Zone on the planet! I loved it!
This elderly woman was enjoying spinning this ribbon to music playing. She was completely unashamed! :o)
Entrance to the park. Entrance fee was 2RMB, or about $0.30. ;o)
We had such a good time!!
Yang and I climbed 500 or so steps (not kidding) up the top of the hill to Beijing's highest point. At the very top was a temple with a huge statue of Buddha inside! It was all covered in gold, and I must admit, quite beautiful. People were kow-towing in front of it, and lots of people had left offerings of food and flowers. There was music in the background - a sort of chant - and it was really very amazing. Yang was quite taken with it and really liked looking in there. Neither of us went into the temple itself, just stood in the doorway, looking in. I did not want to enter it. It was enough to observe from the window and the doorway. Spiritually, I felt wrong about entering such a pagan place. I offered up a prayer for all of the lost souls who prayed there, that they would find Jesus, and we left. On a really cool note, as we left, Yang looked back at the Buddha, waved and said, "Bye bye! Bye bye!" and I had to think, "Yep! Say bye-bye! You'll never have to live under this influence again! Buddhism is not going to be one of the forces in your life, so yes! Say bye-bye!" It was so cool. We walked around a bit more, enjoying such a wonderful, beautiful park, and went back to the hotel.
The view from the Temple on the top of the hill. What you are seeing is the back end of the Forbidden City. If you can see further, you would see Tienanmen Square. It was very hazy, but I thought the haze made it look even more pretty.
The Buddhist Temple
Wow!!! Loved it!!!
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