Monday, to Maoming and back

The trip to the orphanage was priceless. Kelsey, Lorna and I left at 7am w/ our guide Mr Peter and a driver in a Buick. There are a lot of cars here in Guangzhou and most of the drivers have had their licenses for less than 5 years. They all pretty much suck at driving and every taxi ride leaves you believing that if there is a god, this is his idea of comedy. We knew it was going to take us 5 hrs to drive to the orphanage in Maoming and were as ready as we could be for the ride w/ food, water, videos for Lorna and a pillow for her to nap with. After 2 hrs of driving we had only made it 17 miles out of Guangzhou and I was thinking that this was a bad idea. The super highway was closed for construction for a ten mile stretch and everyone had to wind their way off the highway, through small towns, to get linked back up w/ the super highway. Once we were on that road the ride went smoothly except for the moronic drivers that brake when they pass, drift from lane to lane for no reason, and think that anyone can drive.

We arrived in Maoming around 1pm and went to the park where Lucy was found when she was a few days old. It was a small people's park and we wandered through it and took some photos. We have heard from many folks that this will be very important to her as she gets older. We then headed to a small place for lunch because the orphanage was closed from 12- 2:30 so the kids could eat and nap.

We made it to the orphanage at 2:30 and visited w/ the director and the other woman that brought Lucy to Guangzhou when we first met her. They toured us around the place and answered our questions: " She was friends w/ everyone. She made the other kids happy. She plays hard. She eats w/a spoon. She is a good sleeper". The orphanage has 300 or so kids there

at a time. It is one of two orphanages in Maoming. Lucy, as a special needs kid because of her heart, stayed in a different part from the non-special needs kids. This part is supported by the Half The Sky Foundation and they do a lot to help these kids. The overall mood of the orphanage was more upbeat that I expected and most of the kids seemed pretty happy. We met two twin girls that need a home and my first thought was "we can take two more." We are holding off for now! I shot a bunch of videos for Lucy of the place, the teachers, and all of her friends. We will definitely stay connected w/ this place and we will bring her back here when she is older.

It was pretty scary to be driving back from Maoming and get the text from Anni that she was taking Kai to the hospital. I was at least an hr away and there was nothing I could do. He had two different IV/ drips that he sat through and you could see his color come back. The movie of him is from the hospital w/him feeling better and sucking a lollipop. He seems great today.

Lucy continues to open up more and more every day. She hardly spoke at all the first three days; now she talks a lot. She is picking up English fast and knows all of our names and some other words as well. She is cute as hell and her smile will melt your heart. Can't wait for you to meet her.

Life was great before we left for Guangzhou and it is even better now.