I'm Not Ready to Say Goodbye

I'm just not ready to leave Chenzhou tomorrow.

 

It's hard to believe that I will have to have all my goodbyes said in less than 24 hours.

 

I don't want to do it.

 

I'm not ready to say goodbye to the crazy driving in Chenzhou and the experiences we have simply trying to cross the street.

 

I'm not ready to say goodbye to the hard bed that I have slept on for the past week…well that is except for the 2 nights I slept on the floor in Megan and Charlie's room.

 

I'm not ready to say goodbye to the steamed bread at every meal.

 

I'm not ready to say goodbye to our guide, Fawn.

 

I'm not ready to say goodbye to my team in just a few short days.

 

And most importantly, I'm not ready to say goodbye to the nannies and kids…AT ALL.

 

I want to take a quick vacation back in America for 2 weeks and then transport myself back to Chenzhou.

 

I have grown to love these kids so much over the past 3 years and I can't believe that it is time for another goodbye tomorrow.

 

I am going to miss every single one of them dearly.

 

But I am especially going to miss…

            

            Li You,

            

            Mr. Ren,

            

            Ms. Wang,

 

            Liz (one of the baby nannies),

 

            Ray's sweet kisses,

 

            John's giggles,

 

            Emmy's sweet smiles (she just came the night before last…I will write more later             about her, too tired now),

 

            Xing Xing's laughs as she bounces on her horse,

 

            Collin's hugs…

 

Ok, I could go on and on, I am going to miss every single one of them.

 

Tomorrow is going to be tough.

 

Today was tough just thinking about it.

 

I'm glad we at least get to have a party with them tomorrow from 3-4 and we have some songs for them & they have some for us.

 

That will be exciting and hopefully cheer us up a little bit.

 

Regardless, tomorrow will have lots of tears, I'm sure…but hopefully it's just a temporary goodbye and more of a see you later.

 

I am going to start saving money now for next year, because I truly can't imagine not coming back to see them again.

 

Please pray for us tomorrow as we say goodbye to some amazing kids and nannies that we have all grown to love so much.

 

xoxo,

Lys

 

 

This is the day that never ends...

Have you ever had one of those projects in kindergarten like flat Stanley or in my case a stuffed bear that got sent home with a different kid each week. During that week they were supposed to go everywhere with the bear and write a journal everyday from the bear’s perspective telling what he was doing and what life was like in this families house.

Well, I’m not a stuffed bear –although Megan seems to think I look like one—but today I will be bringing you this blog entry from MY perspective. My name is Annie Chase. If you’ve been reading regularly then you’ve heard about me. And if you’re my family then, “surprise! You found me!” its good to know you’ve been reading even though I haven’t been writing.

Last night I slept like a baby. Best night of sleep I’ve gotten on this trip. My morning started at 6:15. Makenna was still sleeping so I got on the computer to check email and see if anyone was on Skype. A few minutes later I heard a faint tapping at the door. Karla had come to get her hair done. I feel like I have “clients” every morning hahaha! People wanting their hair done and at night wanting massages and stories. I like entertaining though so I don’t mind. After doing Karla and molly’s hair I got to Skype a bit with my family before we headed out for the day.

Breakfast.

We are ALL sick of breakfast.

Need I say anymore? All we want is a bowl of cereal or a chicken biscuit from chik-fil-a.

Today is a special day for us because one of the nannies found us a government church to go to. In China, there are still secret underground churches where Christians can meet and talk freely together about Christ as long as they meet secretly. But there are also government churches controlled by China where they can sing and preach and meet freely without fear however they are tightly controlled by the government and can’t go very deep at all. They are told what they can and cannot say so that nothing will spread and the people still will not know much at all about Christ. So we walked to the church with fawn our translator and one of the nannies from the orphanage. We tried to sit in the back but they moved us to the front rows! Looking around they have crosses, a pulpit, a piano, etc. But we also looked up and saw cameras and wondered if they are government cameras.

They sang for a long time at the beginning and handed us Chinese songbooks so we could “sing along.” Thankfully I’m a musician and above the Chinese characters were numbers that described the tune so at least I had that going for me. I found once I got the tune down that if I looked at their mouths I could do a good enough job imitating the sounds too to get by.

The entire service was in mandarin without any translation so we don’t really know what was said or how deep they did go but we spent the time reading or enjoying hearing the mandarin. Afterwards we took lots of pictures with the members before finally starting our walk over to the orphanage.

            Today one of my dreams came true. As we walked from the church to the orphanage we saw some older men sitting on chairs outside their shop playing the Erhu. (The Erhu is sometimes referred to as a Chinese violin or 2-string Chinese fiddle.  It is a bowed Chinese instrument used in ensembles or played as a solo instrument.)

I LOVE those things so I stopped to listen and smiled at the men. Everyone else walked on and I took some pictures. Quickly the men asked me if I would like to sit down with them? Everyone else was gone, it was just me and I knew how to get to the orphanage from there so I stopped and sat with them to listen. I tried to explain to them that I play the violin and I think they understood because they asked me if I would like to play. I was SO EXCITED!!!!!! After totally messing it up the first time they showed me how to hold my bow hand and where to bow on the box. It was hard for me to figure out the pressure on the string and note intervals but I was so happy to have gotten the chance to sit with some Chinese men and play music.

When I finally got to the orphanage my little girl Alex was walking toward her room. I jumped at the opportunity to get through to her earlier in the day and was ecstatic when she let me pick her up after BARELY any time today. All that patience throughout the week is finally paying off!! But it wasn’t long before Leah found me AND hope AND Gracie. I was so worried they would ruin everything I had going with Alex but I knew that Leah would need some extra attention today because yesterday I was working with her on obedience and teaching her that she’s not in charge of me to just drag me wherever she pleases and force me to carry her. Then I left her to go to McDonalds with Shannon to pick up happy meals for the kids. I made sure to tell her that I was leaving but would be back before I left but with such a stressful day for them due to inspections she was running low and needed some one on one time with me.

            I got into the room with all the older kids and Shannon warned me that when they had walked in, Leah has been sitting at the end of the table after having just thrown up all over herself.

            I looked down at Leah and sat down with her. Alex on my lap and Leah snuggled up next to me. Poor girl. There were tears in her eyes and my high energy, loud, demanding, possessive, very tough emotionally, little girl was so calm and quiet. She just wanted to be held and loved. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for a 7 year old girl to have just thrown up and want to lay down and get some extra love and care but instead be cleaned up and alone like nothing even happened.  I tried to get her some air from the fan but one of the nannies started saying something to her and she began to cry again and nuzzled her head further into my shoulder. It was so sweet and I absolutely cherished the chance to be there for her when she was so vulnerable and needy. What an odd day. Before I knew it, it was time to go and out we headed to lunch.

             

            After a quick break we walked back to the orphanage, picking up a cake for a girls birthday and doing laundry along the way. The nanny brought Alex out to me and we picked up where we left off. She’s finally getting a little faster at warming up to me. Oh how I love this little girl. The nanny said she does smile sometimes but it just takes her a LONG TIME to warm up to strangers. Today we did make some progress though. Instead of her just clinging to me and dazing out we did get some good playing in. I joked with the nanny that I should get married tomorrow to a Chinese guy, start the paper work this next week and move to china so I could adopt Alex. I can’t believe how much I love this sad little kid.

Dinner at KFC was quite an affair. We felt like Justin Beiber as everyone in the building stared at us and some kids giggled wildly and got all flustered. It took us forever to get everything ordered and ready, which gave the kids plenty of time to come up to us and practice saying “hello” in English. They are so cute!

I feel like today has just gone on forever! Earlier today this rat came running out of the bushes and ran between fawns feet and across the grass. We’ve joked about it ever since but we all feel like that was days ago!

After dinner we got on a public bus with one of the nannies from the orphanage (new experience for us) to go to one of her friend’s shops at the night market. He has colorful stones he carves words onto and makes them into necklaces and bracelets. The nanny gave each of us a necklace with a black stone that said love on one side and friendship on the other as a gift. We loved them so much that we went back to get more for our friends and family.

            Today has felt like the longest day so far. We woke up later but we jam packed the day FULL of activity. Most of our down time was taken away and the time we did have we spent in my room typing together in silence. That’s pretty much my day. I left out quite a few details from our afternoon and all the things I did with Alex because I’m eager to play with Megan’s hair in the hopes that it will help me fall asleep again tonight.

Good night everyone!

Home

No, I'm not home yet…but I kind of wish I was.

 

I miss my family.

 

I miss my friends.

 

I miss my bed.

 

I miss familiar things.

 

I miss American food…especially Chick Fil A.

 

But I feel so guilty for missing these things.

 

These kids don't have a family.

 

They don't have a mom or a dad or a soft bed to sleep in at night.

 

They only have each other and the nannies (which are amazing but it obviously just isn't the same).

 

Their crazy survival of the fittest…or meanest…is what they are familiar with and is all they know.

 

So yeah, I miss home lots but I know when I'm home I'll miss these kids even more.

 

I long and wish and pray that one day they will all have forever families…

 

But until then I will cherish the days I have with them and be one of the closest things they have to a family.

 

So when it comes down to it, home is great and I would be lying if I said I didn't miss it…but I truly feel guilty because I am so incredibly blessed.

 

Please pray for us as we are now over half way through our trip and only have 3 more days with the kids.

 

Also please continue to pray for Amy that she will feel better. She wasn't feeling well the past 2 days so pray that she fully recovers & please pray that the rest of us stay healthy and safe as well.

 

We are going to a Chinese church this morning with Li You. She volunteered to take us to it even thought she has never been before. Please pray that it goes well…I don't know if we'll understand anything because it will probably be in Chinese but it will definitely be fascinating to see & maybe it will open some doors for us to talk more to the nannies.

 

Will update later and let you know how our day went and try to post a few pictures! xoxo

Survival of the Fittest

Shannon and I were talking about this earlier while we were in the older kids' room…it truly is survival of the fittest at the orphanage a lot of time; not all of the time and with all of them, but a lot of the time it is. There are about 15-17 of them and they all have to fight for the attention, nothing stands in their way, including each other.

It's so sad to see how a lot of them act toward each other and toward us.

They hit.

They slap.

They are bruised and cut and scraped.

And they just laugh at it if they hurt one another.

I know they just want attention, but it breaks my heart how they think they have to act.

I respect the nannies so, so much.

Obviously I could sit there and think about so many things I could fix and change to make it better for the kids, but they already have so much to put up with.

I do wish they would at least try to teach them that they don't need to hit and fight but I guess the kids need to in their minds to get the attention that they so desperately want.

When 11:30 comes around we are all just so exhausted and tired and ready to leave.

We just need a break.

We're exhausted and tired.

But the nannies don't get a break. Ever.

Don't get me wrong, we all LOVE the kids so much, but it is truly exhausting to be in charge of so many hyper kids for 3 ½ hours.

My respect for the nannies increases more and more everyday.

With that being said, the break in the middle of our day is a great way for us to settle down and then we get to spend time with the babies in the afternoon. Our day is always enjoyable and something new happens everyday. It's always an adventure. 

One For the Storybook

Dinner tonight definitely did not go the way we expected.

We were taken to a very nice hotel with a private room and huge table with the biggest lazy susan I have ever seen.

There were 8 men that were there and Mr. Ren’s wife, which was one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. Her and Mr. Ren are precious together.

This will be my best try to explain our dinner in a few words, because quite honestly it was such an unexpected night that I will never forget. Please feel free to ask me more about it when I get home…right now I think I am just still in shock from it all.

Here are a few sentences that sum up the dinner:

Interesting food that we didn’t eat a lot of, including pigeon, snail, raw salmon, sea cucumber, and many many more interesting dishes and specialties of Chenzhou.

Introductions by the men including their love for the “Mimi Hot & LBJ” aka Miami Heat and Lebron James.

Everyone being served wine, including all of us younger girls.

Our favorite part of the meal, the chicken soup at the beginning, it tasted just like home.

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of toasts and cheers from the men with their wine.

They had at least 6 glasses each…oh and I forgot to mention, they drove us home too.

Oh, and our driver was talking on the phone, texting, blaring the music, singing, and dancing. It was a very interesting and quite honestly scary ride back to the hotel.

Megan looks like Miranda Cosgrove and is famous. She also has very big, beautiful eyes.

Annie is “interesting” and they love her smile.

They also made toasts to Annie and professed their love to her and her beauty.

We took a big group picture, and lets just say some of them were a little too close to Makenna and I.

We were offered to join them to go to karaoke, but we politely declined.

Us younger girls are now all in one room blogging, eating birthday cake oreos, and thinking about what has happened this past night.

It was definitely one for the storybook. 

A Not-So-Giggly John

This afternoon we headed to the orphanage and went upstairs to the baby play room.

I got a pleasant surprise when I saw John in there since he usually isn’t in that room anymore. Well at least I thought it was pleasant until Amy told me that he had been crying.

It breaks my heart to see him sad and teary eyed & I kind of just wanted to cry with him.

I ended up walking around and rocking him for a while until he calmed down a little bit.

He was so cranky and sleepy but he just kept fighting his tiredness and would cry if I ever put him down.

Later on he walked a little with my help and even let out a few smiles, but it was very brief and the tears came not long after.

Oh, how it breaks my heart to see him like that. He has gotten so intolerant to pain and I get so scared that he’s going to hurt himself and not do anything about it even if it hurts. He has gotten so good at soothing himself and I just hope and pray that one day he may have a family to love on him like he truly deserves.

Until then, I will love on him as much as I possibly can.

My goal is for him to be walking much more by the time I leave…and hopefully I will succeed.

He truly is a very smart kid and I know he has a lot of potential.

Please continue to pray for John as well as all of the other children.

I love them all so much and my heart breaks for them and how most of them have grown up and how they are living now. 

I love these kids so much.

I love these kids so much.

I can't even think about leaving them in less than a week.

Thankfully I don't have to leave them now and I am going to savor every moment with them that I can. 

Our morning was pretty normal. Breakfast and then we headed to the orphanage at about 7:50. We started with the older kids and took them outside like we yesterday. We decided that working with the older kids was best in the morning because that's when it is the coolest and we can go outside for a little bit and it is also when we have the most energy. The afternoons are mostly spent in the baby playroom upstairs, which is very nice since it is air-conditioned!

We brought balloons for the kids to play with & Annie even made some fun animals, hats, swords etc. They really seemed to like the balloons, until they popped…then they got a little bit scared. We also brought some more of the chalk out and drew with that on the sidewalk.

Earlier in the morning we decided it would be best to take shifts of 2 to go upstairs and spend time with the other babies that are usually upstairs by themselves (John included). When it was my time to go upstairs I was pretty excited to see John since I hadn't seen him all morning. He has been getting so close to stand up and walk on his own, but since he is blind his balance is off and he really has to trust that someone is there to help him. I started walking around the room with him while he held my fingers. He is starting to go really fast and I finally decided that I would try to set him on the ground and help him get up. At first I let him hold my fingers and walk the couple of steps toward me but a couple of minutes later he was getting the hang of it and started to do it…ON HIS OWN. I was so excited! Even if it was only a couple of steps. He seemed to love it and would stand up, walk a few steps to me and then fall into my arms and giggle. I wanted to cry because I was just so happy. It seems to me that sometimes the nannies give up on him and some of the other kids because of their special needs. I know they truly do care for them, but there are so many kids, I know it's hard on them. I'm just so happy that I was able to be there for some of John's first couple of steps by himself. Hopefully he will be able to walk even more by the time we have to go. I did get a video, even though he didn't walk very far in it and wanted to hold my hand for some of it; I will try to post it though if the internet will let me.

After a little while in the baby room playing with John and some of the other babies, including a sweet little girl that just wouldn't stop smiling and mimicking me; Charlie and Karla came up to switch with us.

The older kids were now inside in the downstairs classroom and had just finished getting their faces painted. We decided to start a simple craft with construction paper, cotton balls, colored pom-poms, and some glue. We all had a glue bottle and would just dab some on the paper so that the kids could stick the cotton balls and pom-poms on the paper. It was so simple, but they loved it and it kept them calm for a little while, which was a nice break for us.

Eventually that craft ended because we ran out of cotton balls and pom-poms and we just decided to let the kids color some and play with their (not so well kept & clean) toys.

I got to sit with Xing Xing, the 6-year old little girl that I talked about the other day. She has really warmed up to me and I just sit on one of the chairs while she bounces on a bouncy horse. She has some autism tendencies but bouncing on the horse really seems to calm her down; she can't stop smiling and laughing while she was on it.

At around 11 we decided to head back upstairs and some of the other girls stayed downstairs to clean up and clean some of their toys because they were so dirty.

Another family came today to visit the orphanage. They had a little 11-year old girl that came with them that was adopted from Chenzhou when she was a baby. It was cool to have been able to see 3 kids now that were adopted from the orphanage. We spent a little time talking to them and then played with the kids until 11:30.

After we left we went to a Laundromat to see how much it would be to do laundry there vs. the hotel. Less than $1 for each item and then we can pick them up the next day…we will definitely be bringing our laundry there later. We ended up eating at the hotel for lunch and then some people went to the store, but Megan and I stayed back to catch up on blogging and look through pictures.

Later tonight, the man director, Mr. Ren and his friends are taking us out to dinner because they are so interested in what we have done for the orphanage. They are supposedly the head of the youth in the communist party or something like that…from what it seems like they are very important and are interested in what we are doing and think it is really neat. So please pray that later tonight when they pick us up and take us to dinner that everything will go smoothly and maybe we will even have a chance to share some things with them.

Will try to blog later about our afternoon with the babies and our dinner with Mr. Ren and his friends!

Crazy Kids, Birthday Cake Oreos, & Unexpected Visitors Part 2

Our second half of the day was spent with the babies. We were there from 3:00-5:30 and we decided that it would be best to be with the babies and give the older kids a break…well maybe it was just more that WE needed a break from them. They are so crazy this year, but just as precious as ever.

While we were in the baby room they brought in quite a few new babies that we haven't seen yet, so that was exciting that we got to see some new faces J. Two of the girls that were there last year are still at the orphanage, but Shannon has talked to the mom and family that is planning on adopting them both. They are so sweet, but sadly one of them is walking all by herself and the other one still cannot sit up by herself. It's sad to see that one is so much further along then the other, but I'm sure once they are both home they will be much better and closer developed.

I also got to sit and lay with Shawn's baby boy from last year that she called Siu. He is so precious and loves to cuddle. However, later we figured out when his bottle came and he refused it that he was really hot and I'm pretty sure he had a fever. Hopefully he will be feeling better today and maybe I'll be able to see him again!

When we were in the baby room we got to meet 3 families that had come back to China with their adopted daughters so that they could visit and see where they lived when they were younger. It was really cool to see the 2 girls that were from Chenzhou interact and play with the babies and older children. Their parents were so sweet and one of the moms had one of the most interesting stories…She is Chinese and grew up in China but when she was 25 she was allowed to go to the states to be an exchange visitor and help teach at some schools. While she was there, the Tiananmen Square Massacre happened and she was too scared to go back for multiple reasons. She ended up being able to stay and she met her husband in the states. They got married and eventually, 11 years later, she finally went back to China as an American citizen and got to see her friends. She now goes back almost every year and is the mom to one of the girls who was adopted from Chenzhou 9 years ago.

As we finished feeding the babies, we realized that it was already 5:30 and had to go back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and decided that we would go to the dumpling place across the street that we really liked last year. It wasn't nearly as good as we remembered, but we still had some very good food!...Including two plates of steamed bread and 3 bowls of condensed milk, our favorite. J

After dinner we all went back to Shannon's room to have our devotion that Molly led. We listened to some music and played a game of hot potato. A couple of minutes later we got an unexpected knock on our door.

We all looked to the door and to our surprise, it was the orphanage directors! They had come to ask us to help some of the older kids get tuition for school. Four of the boys had gone to public school at the beginning of last year but didn't like it because they got made fun of for their special needs. So, half way through last year's school year they asked for sponsorships so that the boys could go to a private school that happens to be in the old orphanage behind the new one. People from all over the US ended up helping and the boys got to finish their school year at the new private school where they like it a lot and are some of the top boys in the school.

So, the orphanage directors came to ask us to help them find sponsors for the boys again this year and maybe even the girls. It is a little less than $600 for each kid to attend the school and have everything paid for. I'm not sure exactly how to sign up etc. but please pray for these children to find sponsors and maybe even you are interested. Once I find out more information I will be sure to share, but that is all I know for now.

They ended up staying for an hour or so and we talked about many things that they needed and what we were planning. By the end we were all exhausted, but we were happy we got a lot of our questions asked and we are excited to see what is to come in these kids' futures.

That's all for now…I will hopefully post again tonight! xoxo

Crazy Kids, Birthday Cake Oreos, & Unexpected Visitors Part 1

Our first full day in Chenzhou was definitely a good day. Our morning started off at around 6:30 and we had breakfast at 7:15 in our hotel. They have a Cantonese breakfast where they have carts with food and you pick and choose what you would like and then put it at our table with the lazy susan, like everywhere else, and you pick and choose what you want. We had some yummy pot sticker type things, sticky rice, fried noodles, as well as some other dumplings and stuffed breads…and of course, our favorite, steamed bread, sadly no sweet condensed milk at breakfast though.

After breakfast we headed to the orphanage and started our day with the older kids. They were very, very hyper yesterday when we saw them so we thought we would take them outside to allow them to let out some energy. We had chalk, bubbles, and beach balls for them to play with. Skye, the older girl with CP was the most responsive I have ever seen her. She would lift her head up, look and smile at me, and even stood up from her chair and walked really fast when Li You brought out some watermelon for them. I remember from last year that she absolutely loved the bubbles, so when she saw that we had more she instantly lit up. I sat with her for quite awhile and just let her blow some of the bubbles, she seemed so happy.

Later Molly and I went upstairs to get some waters and decided to stop by the room where John, Al (little 3 year old boy who had a cleft lip repaired), and some other little babies were all alone. We had noticed that these 6 would usually be left in that room on their own or sometimes with all of the older kids being crazy and trying to mess with them. It's really sad to see how they are just left there a lot of the time while 2 nannies are in the baby playroom with 5-6 babies max. I just don't understand why John and the other 5 are on their own or with the older kids when they clearly are too small. I am planning to find out and see if we can at least keep them away from the older kids because they are just too rough with them and the poor babies have scratches and bruises all over them. While we were in that room Molly and I decided that we would try to stretch some of the babies legs. Two of them are just so tiny and their legs are starting to get stiff so I definitely think the stretching helped them and one of them was smiling the whole time, she loved it.

Once it started to warm up a bit more and the sun came out we decided to take the kids inside to their downstairs classroom and do some coloring. Most of the kids really enjoyed it, especially one of the older girls that has a problem with her legs and walks on all fours or with her walker most of the time. She is definitely an artist!

While everyone else was coloring I noticed Xing Xing (Shen Shen) all on her own in the corner. She has been returned twice to the orphanage sadly, and she is very shy. We think she might have some type of autism because she is 7 now and still doesn't talk. She also has a slight limp and doesn't bend her right knee, but she manages to get around just fine. She is super sweet even though she is shy and I just couldn't help but to go sit by her for awhile. I met her for the first time 2 years ago and she has come out of her shell more every time but she is still very, very small and quiet. I showed her one of the bounce horses by her and she got on and started bouncing with the music we were playing, she definitely liked the music and I think it calmed her down. She started laughing and smiling and I couldn't help not to laugh with her, she is such a sweetheart.

After the kids got tired of coloring we decided to pull out the stickers and tattoos they seemed to love them! However, after awhile I was getting exhausted and there seemed to be too many people downstairs with the older kids so I decided to go upstairs with Annie and see the other babies. I went in to see John and the little babies. John was his usual giggling self and even had some corn to eat and then later play with the leftover cob, he was seeming to enjoy himself…just laughing at everything and waiting for me to throw him back and put him upside down. The nannies came in not long after and started to feed them so we headed back downstairs and helped put on hair bows for all the older girls, they absolutely adored them, it was precious. Before we knew it, it was 11:30 and we said our goodbyes and said we would see them soon!

We started walking back to the hotel and decided that we would eat at the place the orphanage directors took us the past 2 years since it was so yummy and it was on the way. During our lunch there was a huge birthday party going on in the room next to us for a man who had just turned 70. It was pretty fascinating to see how they celebrate birthdays in China, even though it was really loud and smoky from all of the cigarettes. At lunch we had a bunch of really delicious dishes, including cauliflower in a really tasty sauce as well as our favorite from last year at the restaurant, fried banana. It is in a big pile and it's banana that has been fried in a sugary caramel breading, it's served hot and is very hard to take some from the plate, but it is so worth it.

Once lunch was over we all headed back to the hotel to take naps, blog (which I obviously didn't do then), and just talk in each others rooms. Annie, Charlie, Megan, Makenna, and I all went into Charlie and Megan's room and just talked and looked at pictures until we had to go back. We also discovered birthday cake oreos which are so delicious…but supposedly they had these in the states for oreo's birthday and I just never knew. I will definitely be bringing back some just in case we don't still have them at home.

This blog is getting really long…so thanks to those who actually got this far J & if not and you are just reading this, it is a ok. Thanks for at least reading some of it! I will post the other half of our day later today when we get back from our morning session at the orphanage. Until then, I am off to breakfast and love on some kids! 

Exhausted.

As I sit here and type this in my rock hard bed I can barely keep my eyes open. It's 9:15 PM here and we just finished our devotion time which turned into a meeting with the directors. They surprised us around 8 and asked if we could discuss some of the kids that needed help. Long story short, we ended up talking for quite awhile.

I still have not taken a shower today and I can smell myself and it is not a pleasant smell from being with the kids and babies all day long. So, with that being said, I will start my blog of today tonight but will most likely not finish. I have so much to say I just don't have the words to type it right now, let alone the energy. I promise to write some tonight and finish tomorrow after lunch during our break so that I can be back on schedule by tomorrow night!

Sorry again, I can't wait to put everything into words and share it with you. It was a very fun and eventful day for us. Talk to you all soon. xoxo

I Thought Wrong

We arrived in Chenzhou today and Fawn told us that the orphanage director said that we could come this afternoon. We were all so excited and once we got off the bus we went straight to our room and dropped our bags off so that we could go. It was weird how we all (everyone who has gone) remembered exactly how to get there. You could tell that we were all walking as fast as we could to get there sooner.

 Once we arrived we were greeted by the woman orphanage director. She recognized most of us and it was so awesome how our relationships have all formed and grown over the years. Some of us started crying right then as we saw her… but I really thought that I would be ok. I didn't think that I would actually ever cry while I was there, except maybe when we had to say goodbye. She (Ms. Wang, pronounced Wong) took us into the meeting room and we got to all sit down at the table and enjoy watermelon. Fawn then translated for Ms. Wang and we got to talk about all that we have done and how happy that we were back. We talked about setting up interviews for the kids so that we can better advocate and answer questions about them to adoptive parents. After some more talking and figuring out when we would be able to visit (8:00-11:30 & 3:00-5:30) Ms. Wang asked us if we would like to see the kids then. We all immediately got up and went to the elevator to go to the 5^th floor. As we went down the hallway we heard the babies' cries and giggles and as we got further down we were greeted by all of the older kids.

Some of us headed into the baby rooms to see some familiar faces but I immediately saw John on his rocking horse in the big kid room.

My heart dropped.

Last year I truly thought that it might have been the last time I was ever going to see him.

I walked over to him and was bombarded by some of the older kids that recognized us. They were SO CRAZY today and there were some new faces that were just as excited to see us.

My heart was still with John and I just wanted to hold and kiss him.

As I finally got through some of the older kids I got to see John.

He had scratches and bruises all over his face and arms and he was on of the skinniest toddlers in there.

That's when the tears slowly started coming, but I managed to hold it in and see Li You, the head nanny, and say hi and smile. Fawn said that she remembered that John was my little boy and was glad I was back.

I had pretty high hopes for John, I wish I didn't but I just couldn't help it.

I had thought that he would be talking some more and at least doing more babbling than he did last year when he was in the baby room.

I had thought that he would be able to sit and stand up on his own and hopefully walk at least for a little while.

I mean, he is a 3 year old, I didn't think that was too much to hope for…but I thought wrong.

Sadly John still can't stand on his own or walk for that matter, but he can at least sit, for the most part by himself and stand with someone holding his hands. I am definitely thankful for that. He is babbling a little bit more, but still not much.

As I found all of this out and saw that he wouldn't let me hold him, I simply lost it, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer, I had to let them out. This poor boy that is now 3 years old can't do the things that a 3 year old can do.. sure he is blind but he shouldn't be characterized by his disability.

After sitting with Sky, an older girl with cerebral palsy, and holding her hand for awhile I settled down and loved on her. Poor girl just sits on her own all day with her head down. It's so cool to see how she lights up when someone holds her hand.

John finally let me hold him and he started giggling and smiling just like his old self. I missed him so much, and even though I wish the circumstances were different, the only thing I can do is pray for him and pray that a family will adopt him. I did find out that he is on the list, so I will definitely be fighting and advocating for this sweet little boy that stole my heart.

Ok well it is late now and even though I wish I could write more that's all for tonight, I need to sleep since it's almost 10. Up at 6:30 tomorrow! I will try to write again tomorrow night about our first full day at the orphanage.

Love you all!

PS. Hope this somewhat makes sense… it's late & I'm so exhausted, so sorry if it doesn't!

Shanghai Day 2 & Lots of Travelling

Our second day in Shanghai was a lot of fun, definitely my favorite day we were there… because we went shopping ;) We went to the Bund early in the morning but it was just so hot and humid that we were drenched so fast. It was very cool to see all of the architecture though and especially the tower that is so famous.

After we finished at The Bund we got back on the bus and we went to a mall/market that we asked about because some of us really wanted to find some good knock offs! And oh boy, we definitely did. I know some of us were in heaven, including me. It was very similar to the Silk Market in Beijing that we went to the past 2 years so most of us were pretty familiar with the atmosphere. Everywhere you went there were purses, wallets, bags, phone cases, knick-knacks, just about anything you could think of.

 It was the normal process, "Oh, you are very pretty girl, I give you very good price, student morning price." Then they would type in some huge number into their calculator and we would gape at them. They would then ask for us to give them a price then have the same shock we showed them when we typed in a much lower price. In the end almost all of us got close to the deals that we wanted…and probably bought more than we needed. Especially since after we leave Chenzhou we can only have one carry-on per person, and we have to fit all of our belongings in it so that we can take the train to Hong Kong.

 Later that night we decided we just wanted to order pizza from Pizza Hut and eat it in Shannon's room since we had to be up so early the next morning to catch our flight to Changsha. We had planned on just ordering cheese and pepperoni pizza but we later found out when we arrived that our guide had also ordered us seafood. It was not the best smelling pizza I have ever smelt, that was for sure. She also ordered us 2 boxes of a Hawaiian type pizza with sausage, which wasn't that bad by the time we got the guts to try it. In the end it was a successful pizza night and we got to spend time with each other, do a devotion, and just talk about what was to come. I think it was really good for us as a team to bond.

 The next morning…well this morning…as I'm typing it, it seems like it was forever ago. Anyways, our wake up call was at 4:30 and we had to be down in the lobby by 5:15 all packed and ready to go! We hopped on the bus with our breakfast to go and went to go check our bags in. We all brought a large suitcase with donations for the orphanage that we are planning on leaving in Chenzhou and then we all have a carry-on and backpack. Well, this morning Shannon's Walmart duffle bag started to rip, we were scared that when we went on the plane it would break and lose everything. So when we got to the gate she had to pay to saran wrap her whole duffle bag. It was pretty funny looking, but ended up working so that's all that matters.

 So at 7:40 we were off to Changsha on the plane and it took about an hour and a half. When we landed we got our luggage and went to the bus, which took us to a McDonalds at the Changsha train station. We all got our meals and some of us even got oreo mcflurrys and oreo/mocha or caramel mcflurrys, different, but still good!

 After that it was onto the bus for a 4/5 hour bus ride to Chenzhou. Our driver was quite the impatient man, which was ok with us because we got there safely and faster than most people would have. It was definitely a very bumpy drive though. I did manage to catch a quick nap, which I am very thankful for now since I am somehow still awake at 8:45 PM. So that is all for now… hopefully in a few minutes I'll be able to write a little about the short time we were able to spend at the orphanage today.

Thanks for all the prayers.

 Elyssa 

Shanghai Pictures

Yu Yuan Gardens

Day 1 in Shanghai

Today we got to go visit the Yu Gardens and do some shopping around at some local stores and markets. The gardens were really pretty, but it was like a maze going through them and after awhile we were all just so hot we wanted to go. So after we walked around for a little we all did some shopping in the markets. I got some keychains and a phone case and then some of the other girls got some jade. Annie, Charlie, Megan and I also got to sample ice cream at the Coldstone... the mango was amazing! After shopping we went to a famous steamed bun restaurant and got to try a bunch of differently filled buns/dumplings. Our guide, Fawn, had to show us how to eat them first and I'm sure everyone was laughing at us while we tried. You had to grab them with your chopsticks and then make a really small hole, then you have to suck all of the soup out and then you could eat the dumpling and pork or whatever else was in it. It was very amusing to watch all of us try to eat them but we all eventually got the hang of it.

After lunch we did a little bit more shopping at a market nearby and found some little trinkets and then headed back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel around 4 and then had 2 hours to hang out before we had to go to dinner. So, Megan, Charlie, Annie, and I all went into one of the rooms and played cards and I must say it was one of the funniest card games I have ever played. I'm not exactly sure if what we were saying/doing was actually that funny or if all the candy we were eating and the jet lag finally started to hit us. Regardless, towards the end we were all talking in weird accents and couldn't stop laughing!

As much as I love being in Shanghai and seeing all of the sights, I'm just so ready to get on the plane to Changsha and sit on the bus for 5 hours because I know it means I will be that much closer to the Chenzhou orphanage. I can't wait to see how much all of the kids have changed and to see the nannies again. Don't get me wrong, Shanghai is great, but my heart is in Chenzhou and I just can't wait to be back.

It's 8:20 PM here and I'm getting really sleepy as I type this... this post is probably boring, but I figured I would let you all know what we did today even though it wasn't anything crazy! Tomorrow we are planning on going to The Bund which is like a walking area by the river with all the huge skyscrapers and buildings, so that should be fun. Then later we are planning on going to a market that has some good shopping and knock offs! Some of us are also going to try to get a massage later tomorrow, so hopefully that will work out and we will have time! Only like $15 for an hour massage, not too shabby!

Ok, well I'm going to head to bed. Good morning to everyone in the states :)

Timezones & Anticipation

As I sit here and type this it is 4:30 AM, China time. I'm lying in bed because I just can't sleep anymore...a 12 hour time change is quite hard to get used to. I've been up every 3 hours and for the first time of my experiences in China my bed is actually not THAT hard, which is very nice. Also, our room is soooo cold! I am definitely counting our blessings because when we get to Chenzhou the air shuts off a lot at night and you wake up covered in sweat on your rock hard bed. Literally, it's a hard, flat rock; but it's worth it because my kids are right around the corner!

As I'm sure you have already realized, we made it safely to Shanghai. The flight was definitely one of the longest most miserable flights that I have ever been on. It was very crowded and there was not much leg room at all. I had planned to sleep the first 8 hours but even with the help of my Advil PM I only slept about 3-4 hours total. Luckily I did sleep during my 2 1/2 hour flight to Detroit. 

Thank you for all the prayers for safety and health. We all got here in one piece with all of our luggage and as far as I know we are all doing well. 

Our wake up call should come in about 3 hours at 7:30 so that we can get up, eat breakfast together, and then head out to go sightseeing and tour Shanghai. 

I'm really excited to see Shanghai, it's so beautiful with all the lights and architecture & definitely different from going to Beijing like we have the past 2 years. 

Please pray that the rain and storms hold off for at least some of the day and that we can get our touring in. Please also continue to pray for safety and health as we travel in China. Lastly, pray that we can be used in an amazing way when we get to Chenzhou and that they would be very open to us and ask a lot of questions about why we are how we are. 

This trip is definitely going to be a life-changing trip. I can already tell that there are great things to come just by having some of the conversations we've had on the busses and planes. I love my team and can't wait to get to know the other 9 ladies more as the trip goes on; I can already tell we are going to become very close. 

Thanks again for the prayers and support, I love & miss you all. 

-Lys 

Is It Saturday Yet?

I'm so ready to be back.

Everything about China makes me want to go back year after year.

the food,

the smells,

the sights,

the culture,

the sounds,

and most importantly, the people…

especially the orphans and nannies that I have been able to build relationships with over the past 2 years.

I can’t wait for it to be Saturday so that I am finally in China after a long 18 hours of sitting on a plane; however, I’m more excited for it to be the 11^th -17^th so that I can spend almost the whole day at the Chenzhou orphanage that I have so grown to love.

I can’t wait to hear the sweet giggles from Chen Shu Wen (John), my little blind baby boy that I have grown so close to over the past 2 years. He will be 3 years old and I can’t wait to see how much he has grown and changed.

I can’t wait to see Li You, the head nanny at Chenzhou, as well as all the other nannies and directors that I have grown so fond of.

In just a few more days I will be in China... and if you can’t tell already, I cannot wait to be there.

Please continue to pray for the health and safety of our team as we travel and stay in China.

Thank you for all the prayers and support, it means so much to me. 

Li You, the head nanny at Chenzhou

John :)

A God Thing

As most of you probably already know, I have been to China the past 2 years to be the hands and feet of Jesus in orphanages there. The first year I went with my mom, not knowing anyone, and then last year I went back on my own with one of my friends, Megan, that also went the first year. Those 4 weeks in China have been some of the best weeks of my life. They definitely had their ups and downs but in the end it was truly amazing to travel to China and love on the people and orphans there.

This past year was a very busy one for me… I went to England with my family and I also went on a school/mission trip to Costa Rica. With this being said, I didn’t think that I would be able to go back to China, let alone that God was calling me back to go. I knew that China would always have a special place in my heart, but I felt like God was telling me to stay here this year and pray and support the team instead…all until the end of May, a little over a month until the trip.

At the end of May, I felt like I was really being called by God to go back…this year! I prayed a lot about it and then eventually I talked to my parents and asked them to pray about it too. The money was the biggest issue at the time and I wasn’t sure how I would raise over $4000 in about a month; however, I knew that God would provide if it was in his will, and He sure did! I am now finishing up last minute things for my trip and preparing to leave Friday morning. I can’t believe that I am going for the 3^rd year in a row, and more importantly I cannot believe how God has provided almost all of the money for my trip. It is truly a God thing.

Thank you so so so much to everyone who has prayed and supported me while I have been preparing for my trip, I can never thank you enough.

Also, as some of you may know… blogging while I’m in China is one of the hardest things for me. It’s not that I don’t want to blog, because I definitely do. It’s the fact that I have SO much to say and so many thoughts going through my head that it is just so hard to type it out and put it into words. However, I am really going to try my best to blog as much as possible this year, because I love reading through my past posts and I know people would like to hear how the trip is going. With that being said, the 12 hour time change from Florida to China is very tolling and I become very exhausted, so no judging my grammar or spelling on any of my posts…half of the time I don’t even have the energy to read back through it.

I leave Friday morning at noon and arrive in Detroit, MI, one hour before my flight to Shanghai leaves. Please pray that my flight from Orlando is not delayed and that I will have plenty of time to get to my next flight and meet up with my team.

Thank you all again, I love you and will miss you while I’m gone, but please feel free to email me while I am there. All social networking is blocked in China, including Facebook and Twitter, so email or an occasional text will be the best way to reach me or just say hi! Also if you have my Skype feel free to Skype me or if you don’t have it message me and I’ll give it to you. It’s sometimes hard with the time change, but I occasionally am able to talk!

Here is my itinerary while in China:

Friday, July 6: Depart Orlando at 12:00 & arrive in Detroit to meet up with the team and then board our 15 hour flight to Shanghai at 3:45.

Saturday, July 7: Arrive in Shanghai at 6:40 PM and check-in to our hotel.

Sunday/ Monday, July 8-9: Tour Shanghai and possibly visit an orphanage in Shanghai.

Tuesday, July 10: Travel to Chenzhou. 1-2 hour flight and then a 5-hour bus ride.

July, 11-17: Chenzhou Orphanage Days.

Wednesday, July 18: Travel to Hong Kong on the bullet train and then by bus.

Thursday, July 19: Tour Hong Kong.

Friday, July 20: Travel back to Orlando. Leave Hong Kong at 10:25 AM (10:25 PM July 19 EST) and arrive back in Orlando late Friday night.