Visit to Fuzhou

Hi everyone! Today we went to Fuzhou to see Brynn's finding spot and to see the orphanage in person, at least the outside since I knew we would not be allowed outside. It was a 2 hour drive and Brynn was the greatest passenger. She slept for about 1 hour of the trip there. I think her new found interest in feeding herself cereal snacks helped (every other time we eat I have to feed her... she will pick up what she wants, show me, put it back down and then expect me to feed it to her! :)). On the return trip she learned how to use a sippy cup, something she was unwilling to try yesterday.

Overall there were less tears today, though she still called for MaMa all day and seems on the brink of a breakdown at any time. Tonight was the only really hard cry and nothing comforts her. No hitting tonight; just a foot stomping tantrum made worse by the fact that tonight she wanted to stand up to fall asleep and I woudn't let her. I was told on Monday that she cries every night before she goes to sleep so it is hard to tell how much more extreme this is than typical. She is still far from happy but she does want me to hold her a lot so I take that as a sign she trusts me at least a little. I still haven't improved on the hairstyling however... :)

Today about 1/2 way to the orphanage our guide called the director to tell him we were on the way and when she hung up, she told me that the foster family was waiting for us there. The guide and I had discussed earlier that I was concerned this would happen and that I felt bad for the grieving family but I thought it was better to not go through the goodbyes again. She said that maybe we should skip the orphanage and that the family had waited there yesterday too and the director thought they would be waiting all week (they knew from conversations on the day we all met that we planned to come out at some point this week). Well we did end up going to the orphanage and our guide got out and looked around to see if she saw the family. She didn't but I was still a bit nervous the whole time we were there. We never saw them so I don't know if they were asked to leave by staff or if they just happened to miss us but I was relieved that it all went well. We then went to see Brynn's finding location outside a local police station.

The director in the pictures joined us for lunch. What a challenge for me!!! All the food is on a "lazy susan" in the middle of the table and you have to use chopsticks to get the food to your plate and then to your mouth. I am chopstick challenged enough but added to that was having a two year old in my lap who insisted on holding a glass with water in it, which she would periodically put pieces of dropped rice into, and the fact that we were watched by almost everybody in the restaurant (did I mention that I even had my picture taken in Walmart the other day with a man's baby? It is funny all the attention you get here for not being Chinese. Of course I can't tell what is being said but it seems to be more curiousity than anything else). Anyway, I left the restaurant wet and was starving a few hours later! I did manage to feed Brynn with the chopsticks so I know my skills are improving and at least I provided my tablemates with a humorous lunch hour! :)

Thank you again to everyone for your supportive comments (I can't read the blog but they get e-mailed to me automatically) and suggestions. What a nice way to end the day!

Until tomorrow, Kate