From China 04/01

It's too late to try and see if my internet connection has changed in Guangzhou or not. If my electronics are in use these boys will not sleep. So I have about 10 minutes to sum up the last two days. Saturday in Aiden's home town was fabulous. I am so glad we made the trip. We were able to visit his orphanage and find his exact finding spot. We were not able to do that for Ty or Nathan and it was a special experience. 

Aiden's home town is still a little village. The north side of the village has boomed and has high rise apartments. But they are the only tall buildings in the city. His 'orphanage' is the only other multi level building around. 

This is the hospital where Aiden's orphanage is.

At the entrance. The sign on the left of the 3 is the orphanage sign. The others have to do with the hospital.

I put orphanage in air quotations because it is not a stand alone building. He literally lived in the hospital. As we walked in the entrance and were moving toward the elevator we had to stand aside for a gurney being wheeled in by EMTs. His orphanage was one wing of one floor in a hospital that by American standards would be considered small. I am aware that we did not see the whole orphanage. They told us directly they did not want me to see the children with severe special needs (like CP) so we did not go into that side of the floor. But even if what we saw was 1/4 of the orphanage it was tiny. The whole tour took about 15 minutes. 

Aiden's room. Two beds. That is so bizarre for a Chinese orphanage. There were other bedrooms on the hall. But seriously, tiny in comparison to Nathan and Ty's living conditions.

The 'school' room. We also saw play rooms, therapy rooms, kitchen, and bathrooms. All tiny.

We were allowed to play with the children from Aiden's group for another 20 minutes or so. They ranged in age from 3-17 and there were less than 20 of them. When I say tiny I mean tiny. 

As we were playing with the children I noticed a boy off to the side playing mostly by himself. There were two other little lovies with down syndrome at his table, but they weren't playing much. This little guy was talking to my guide and building with his legos with great determination. The staff immediately asked if I knew anyone who would adopt him. They were eager to tell me about his abilities. Most of the children in the room had significant cognitive delays and it was obvious the staff felt this little guy was out of place. He spoke clearly. He counted for us. He answered questions. And the picture I snapped of him quickly does not do his little grin justice. 

In this photo he looks like he has Down Syndrome or FAS. But interacting with me I would not have assumed either. He does have malformed outer ears. But he heard, spoke and interacted in a way that indicated he can hear. I have no idea what his file says or what his actual needs are. But he would do amazing in a family.

I played and interacted with him for several minutes. He was happy for the attention and willingly shared with me, made eye contact and interacted. I felt bad for the other little ones at his table who were obviously eager to impress and get the attention of the staff as well. But they were adamant that I recognize the abilities of this little fellow and please share his photo. I wonder if someone out there might see his picture. How I wish they could all have families.

After visiting the orphanage we went to look for Aiden's finding spot. His abandonment certificate was unusually detailed and we were able to find the exact location. He was left under a tree and by the description we found the only possible tree. We took pictures and video for him for later. 

After our visits we went to lunch. All 5 of us ate for less than $15 and we had enough food left to feed at least 3 more adults. 

Sunday (today) was travel to Guangzhou. Aiden was so incredibly excited to fly. I can't wait to add the video and pictures to this post later. Last night I told him "after we sleep we fly." He asked all evening if it was time to sleep yet? Could he go to bed? This morning he kept asking when we fly. "Airplane" was the sign of the day. 

Everything about travel was smooth. Nathan has perked up a bit now that we are away from Aiden's fawning groupies. When we arrived our guide offered to take us to dinner and showed us how to get to the park. The park is huge and amazing. We had a great time. 

When Aiden was brought to us the staff explained that he did not initiate conversation. He understood what was said to him and would repeat anything you asked him to. He could give one word answers to questions but he "didn't speak much." For our first two days together that seemed accurate. Today a switch has flipped. He realizes I want to communicate with him and will stop long enough to listen. Now he won't stop talking and tapping me and pointing to things and signing. Today Aiden has figured out that I will respond if he says, "mama."  It is the dang cutest thing. Before he would grunt loudly until I looked at him. It only took about 3 times of refusing eye contact until he said 'mama' for him to figure it out. He would grunt and I would say, "mama," then he would repeat it and I would immediately look and smile and say 'what?' in Chinese. Once the lightbulb came on I heard my name no less than 30 times over the next hour. He loved having this power over me. Lesson learned. In fact, as I typed this he quietly said my name to show me his new high score on the iPad game he is playing. 

After my blog post I took Aiden to the shower. This was the first time he had seen a bathtub. He was ecstatic and asked for a bath. I happily obliged and enjoyed one of the best bath times I can remember. He was so happy!

This has been a great day. Time to turn the lights off and enjoy some sleep. Goodnight from Guangzhou!