When we were first matched with the girls we sent a package to the orphanage with two stuffed animals, a photo album of us, our house, and Maggie and we also put in two disposable cameras. The photos are being developed, so we are excited to have photos of the girls where they were living before and possibly of their foster mom.
Although the transition would be difficult for anyone, I believe the love they got there must have helped them be able to bond well. It is so nice to have them more comfortable with us. Of course, there are also plenty of moments where they act like we are the most terrible people in the world. For now that comes at predictable times, but surely they will soon learn the power of doing that in public.
It has not been without bumps, but we have been incredibly fortunate so far.
Here is Fen with a smile.
Here is Mei looking quite happy.
Today (Thursday) Evelyn brought us to another beautiful park and a Buddhist temple. In this photo we are standing on a bridge in the park. The weather was beautiful and the girls were happy to be outside for an excursion, as were we.
This is the front of the Buddhist temple. It was first built 1,600 years ago. The colors are vibrant.
Most of the photos I took are with my other camera. The temple has many Buddhas in different sections of the temple, which has one chamber after another going back, so you can walk through one to get to another.
I was thankful to have Evelyn to give us some of the history and help us avoid anything that would be inadvertently disrespectful. I only wanted to be intentionally offensive.
In the main area of the temple where there is a beautiful standing bronze Buddha, which has been recently gilded with gold, you can make special requests to the Buddha. As is the practice, we wrote out our wish which, of course, is for Mei and Fen to have health and happiness in their new family and for their biological family to be at peace. I hope somehow their biological family could know they are going to be well care for and loved. I am sure the loss of these precious girls must be something they will carry with them always.
There was a little place for people to feed fish. As you can see, the fish are piled up trying to get the food. The water is pretty dirty, so it doesn't seem like a wonderful existence.
In the park we came across this pavilion where two men were playing erhus and a woman was singing in a traditional operatic style.
Here are Stacey, Evelyn and Fen.
In the park we saw a number of older men practicing calligraphy. The man in the baseball cap holding something green was doing it here. They use water, so by the time he had gotten to where he was when I took the photo, the first characters he wrote had already begun to evaporate and disappear. According to Evelyn, few people in the younger generations practice calligraphy.
This park and many others are filled with people dancing and exercising. There are places where they have music for either ballroom or group dancing. Obviously, this was ballroom style. Even on a Thursday morning the park was very busy with lots of people, especially retirees.
Another group of women give us advice/opinions. The woman in the blue sweater has on a sequin dress and took a break from her ballroom dancing to check us out.
This is a typical reaction to seeing us. The woman is pointing at Fen. Maybe saying how beautiful, pointing out there are twins, or commenting that we should have their legs covered. We had a sizable crowd around us at one point today. I took photos with our other camera and some video. Should be nice to show the girls someday how much people were interested in them and wished them well.
Update from Thursday, June 13
We had another very nice day today. In the morning Evelyn took us to another park where we walked around for a long time. It was a great place to people-watch and to get a sense of some cultural differences. You can tell that people here are much more comfortable with shared space versus our desire for individual space.
Tomorrow is our last day in Nanchang. Just a minute ago Stacey and I realized it has been a full week since we met the girls. I don't know if it feels like a short or long time. It has been really hard to keep track of time here since our schedules are so completely different. Probably the best way to describe it would be a blur.
Although we have been very lucky to be staying at a great hotel and in a very comfortable environment, it is nice to have this leg of the trip coming to an end. I think we are all anxious to get home (Mei and Fen may think this is our home) soon, but tomorrow afternoon we will fly to Guangzhou to complete the process at the U.S. Consulate there. Before we depart Nanchang tomorrow, we will receive their Chinese passports, which will serve as their travel documents for this trip.
As we have spent time here in Nanchang, we have thought about ways in which we can help the girls get a sense of what their birthplace was like. Although it will take a lot of imagination when they are ready, we have taken lots of photos. We also received photos today that include images of their foster mother and father. It is clear that there was a lot of affection from them to the girls. Including Mei and Fen, the couple has fostered 24 children who have all been adopted.
Hopefully the girls will have some appreciation for this place, even though they will not have the experience of growing up here or being part of the culture.
On a more concrete note, I think I am beginning to relax a little as child/children management is becoming a little clearer. Even though it has just been a week, it makes it easier to imagine the future.
I have to go to bed, so I will stop writing now, but I will say that there are very few days that I would consider very good that started with someone pooping on my bare foot. In fact, today might be the only one (so far).
No comments:
Post a Comment