Temporary Goodbyes

Ok, let me start off by saying we are all alive! No cars or bikes
have hit us or anything we are just all so exhausted! So, I will start
off with what happened yesterday and then move on to today.
Yesterday was pretty normal, we woke up went to breakfast and had all
of our usuals.. plus Lily got us PIGEON EGGS, I passed. Haha, Molly,
Bliss, and Susan said they were pretty good, but those were the only
ones that had the guts to try them. After breakfast we went to the
orphanage and went to the 5th floor where the babies are and where the
older kids play in the morning (so they don't have to waste the one
downstairs and the one upstairs is broken, but it is cooler in the
morning). We played with the babies and toddlers for a little while
and then most of us (except Susan, Katie, and my mom, they were
exchanging money for the orphanage gifts) went to the older kids to
let them dance around. Megan and Charlie made little tutus for all of
them and matching headbands, it was so cute to watch. (They had music
too). They did the Chicken Dance, the Tootie Ta, and some other dances
I don't remember. All of the girls LOVED dressing up and getting to
dance around to the music. When they were finished we had to leave so
they could all take their naps, so we went back to the hotel for
lunch. It was the usual lunch except with some other pork dishes which
were really good! After lunch Susan, my mom, and I all went to the
supermarket to look around while everyone else went and had naps. We
got a bunch of chocolates and cookies (they have peanut butter and
chocolate mixed oreos! DELICIOUS :)) Haha, at about 2:45 we headed
back to the orphanage for the second half of our day. We all went to
the baby room (to cool off & to play with the babies for a little) for
about an hour or so and then went downstairs where some of the group
was painting the little girls' nails. It was precious and so fun to
watch them light up when they saw their nails. :) When it was 5 we had
to leave and we went back to the hotel until dinner. Dinner was at the
KFC across the street from our hotel. I must say it wasn't like the
KFC in America.. haha. Mostly all of the chicken was spicy, and they
even had tacos (no biscuits though). :( However, while we were waiting
for Lily to order our food Megan, Charlie, and I all saw a balloon man
outside of the KFC. Megan and I decided we would get a balloon and
share it. So we got our money and walked out to the guy (who was about
to leave) and chased him down. However, us being ever so smart didn't
think of how we wouldn't be able to ask how much. So, we had to wave
Lily down so we could find out how much it was. It was only 8 Yuan
(about $1.50) and it looked just like Gumby, but blue... so we named
it Gumby. :) After we (Megan, Charlie, and I) all ate our popcorn
chicken and fries we decided we wanted ICE CREAM! :) Haha, it was
soooo good! Anyways after dinner Charlie and I decided to get our own
balloon and we both wanted the balloon that walked.. it had feet and
no helium so it stayed on the ground. She got the pig and I got the
dog, it was quite funny walking through the city getting even more
stares than before. Once we all got to the hotel we all went straight
to sleep (except Katie and my mom, they went to look for our laundry
that never came back). Short story short, it was pretty funny trying
to communicate and say that they didn't have their laundry, haha.
Ok, today was pretty much the same as usual, breakfast at 7:30, leave
at 8:15. This morning we spent a lot of time with the babies, just
playing and rocking them. When we only had about 30 minutes left we
went downstairs and played with the older kids until we had to go.
They just ran, jumped, and played with all of the soccer balls and
toys. They were crazy this morning, it's like they had all just had
Red Bulls! Haha. We came back to the hotel for lunch again and took a
few pictures with the employees. We also gave two of them a dollar
bill and our signatures on it, because they wanted it for a memory, we
all thought it was a pretty cool memory. By the way, during the
morning my imom, Susan, Lily, and some of the directors of the
orphanage went to get the gifts for the orphanage. We ended up being
able to buy them a big air conditioner, and a TV. I think they were
very happy and thankful that we were able to get them something they
needed. Okay, so back on track, at 2:45 we went to the orphanage for
the last time (on this trip) :) and played with the babies for about
an hour. We went downstairs afterwards and they decorated the foam
visors with stick on foam stickers that we brought. They loved
decorating them. Susan also got some of her pictures developed so that
the older kids could have a picture of themselves in their foam
picture frame that they made the other day. We put all of the frames
in a collage sort of thing on their wall so they can always see them.
We also brought face paint and we painted most of their faces. Katie's
secret talent is face painting, haha, she was really good. Some of us
also brought them glow stick bracelets that they wore and thought they
were the coolest things ever! Sadly, we were told that it was 5 and
that we needed to say our goodbyes and take our last group picture out
by the orphanage. It was so hard saying goodbye to all of the precious
ones that we have come to love; however, we all hoped that if we are
fortunate to come back again that most of them will be gone to live
with a family.
For dinner the orphanage directors were taking us out to a restaurant
in the city. The head nanny, and the two oldest kids got to come too.
One was a girl that is 12 and one that is a boy who is 11. They both
have a problem with the left side of their body. However, they have
nothing wrong with their brains and are just the happiest kids ever.
They have gotten one surgery and they have healed and recovered very
well. We just pray that they will find a family soon and be able to be
adopted, because once they turn 14 they can not be adopted anymore.
Anyways, dinner was very good and it was kind of nice to eat somewhere
other than the hotel, even if their steamed bread wasn't as good ;).
We said our goodbyes when we were done with dinner and it was very sad
to know that we won't be able to see their shining faces every morning
and afternoon anymore. Tomorrow we have a 5 hour (very bumpy) bus ride
back to Changsha and then a 2 hour flight to Beijing. The team will be
there for 2 days and then my mom and I are staying another day to do
more sightseeing. Well, I better go pack because we are leaving at 7
tomorrow and I am tired enough as it is! Love you all, and see you soon!