Journey to Juan - Day 7 {Orphanage visit}

Friday, May 4th~

Juan slept all night again! She woke up with a dry diaper so after her bottle, I decided to sit her on the little potty they gave us. I think she thought it was a toy at first but then I told her to pee in mandarin and she peed immediately. I put her in the little tub while I showered which she seemed to like.  We went down for breakfast and then Facetimed with Tracee's family and then the little girls at home. It's Beilyn's Gotcha day!! 4 years since we were here in Nanchang meeting that spicy little girl. ♥ She is so fun to talk to on FT. She is so animated!

The girls love the slushy juice machine at breakfast! Today, Brynna tried apple & grape combined. So yummy!

Isn't she the cutest?!

Miss Mattinglee meeting Juan.

Bria always has great bedhead. lol

Happy Gotcha Day, Beilyn AnnaKai!

She was showing off after breakfast. Taking steps and acting silly.

The girls tried some of the snacks they picked out yesterday.

These pizza crackers were yummy!

Little sugar was ready for a nap. She's sooo sweet.

My view while I was trying to blog. *Trying* being the key word because I just kept staring at her.
Those eyelashes and perfect little lips. 💗💗💗

She scratches her head and rubs her eyes as a soothing mechanism.

She's realizing she hit the jackpot in the sister department.

Juan slept for about 2 hours. Then we decided to check out this little plaza about a block from our hotel.  We never ventured that direction when we were here for the other girls so we didn't even know it was there, but we can see it from our hotel window this time.  It always looks lively and busy, but we weren't quite prepared for what we saw! haha! It was a whole new level of China that we hadn't experienced before. We typically don't mind the stares but this time was a bit uncomfortable so we didn't stay long. I'm guessing we were staring even more though! There were vendors selling everything from knife sharpeners to false teeth. There were people playing card games, getting their ears cleaned out, getting massages, and even getting shots?!  A woman had her pants down showing her dark pink underwear as she got a shot in her thigh...all with crowds of people mulling around the plaza, like it was no big deal. There is so little privacy in China. It was quite an expereince!

A man getting his ears cleaned out. There were multiple "stations" like this around the circle.

I love seeing the mix of old and new in China. Just a quick walk back to our hotel brings such fun sights...

A bike carrying a load of bikes. The scaffolding is all bamboo.

This just says China to me. Meat on a stick, hard-boiled eggs, and corn. 💕

Our home away from home, Galactic Classic International Hotel

Getting her all squeaky clean to visit her foster family

Our guide met us in the lobby at 2pm. Our first stop was the porcelain market. Jiangxi province is known for their porcelain, especially the blue & white porcelain. I have gotten a tea set for each of my Jiangxi girls. It was fun letting the big girls help me pick a set for Juan.

Braylee bought a porcelain bracelet. A special gift from the birth place of her little sisters.♥

Then we drove to Juan's finding spot, the location where her family left her to be found. Abandoning healthy babies due to the One Child Policy is not causing the orphan crisis in China now. It's the lack of accessible, affordable healthcare that often forces parents to make the heartbreaking decision to leave their child in hopes of providing them a healthy future with the medical care they desperately need. The medical care must be paid upfront which means many families simple can't afford to care for a child with special needs, especially a child like Juan who would have died if she hadn't received surgery soon after being found.

She was found in an underpass walkway. Her birth family left her in a place that was safe from the elements and busy enough that she would be found quickly. It's just a short walk from the orphanage and a police station is on the street level above the underpass. Some Americans carelessly claim these babies aren't wanted and just tossed aside, but it's obvious to me they wanted her to be found. I have no doubt that her parents loved her very much. Nine months they anticipated her arrival, only to have to make the unselfish choice of choosing hope for her just days after she was born. It's almost more than my heart can bear.

The underpass was clean but noisy with lots of pedestrians and mopeds. Alex saved the location in google maps so that hopefully one day we can bring Juan back here.  Walking where her first family walked...imagining a tiny five pound baby waiting...it's sacred ground and overwhelming to walk through those moments. My eyes tried to take everything in while my mind wandered... Does her birth family live nearby? Did they travel from several hours away to leave her closer to the orphanage? Did they wait and watch until someone found her? Answers we will likely never know. My prayer is her birth family feels a supernatural peace that she is safe and loved. So very loved.

We went around the corner to the orphanage. Some of it looked exactly as I remembered but they recently built a new building so some of it has changed since we visited in 2014. As we walked up to the entrance, a girl came walking towards us. She said hi to Juan and asked to get a photo with us. She looked familiar to me, but it wasn't until after we left that I realized she was the girl in the pictures we received on Saturday from my friend. Our guide told us she is around 21 and was an orphan who aged out of the system. She now lives and works there, making crafts in the area where the older people with disabilities live. My girls really struggled with the idea that she will never have parents.

The photo from 4/28. Juan with her foster mom and the young girl on the right.

There was a large banner by the gate. The girls spotted Beilyn right away!

Orphanage gate- It says, "Nanchang City Children's Welfare Home."

Juan's nanny came out to see us.
She's the one who cared for Juan during the day, like being at daycare.

Then we finally met her amazing foster mom, Hongying!
She has been so kind to send us photos and videos while we were waiting to pick up Juan.

She took us to her apartment so we could see where Juan has been living. We found out Juan moved in with them (from the baby room at the orphanage) in December.  Their apartment is on the street in front of the orphanage. It was very spacious and clean with lots of toys and bright colors. We loved seeing familiar sights- the chair she pushed around in a video, the table where her birthday cake pictures were taken, the keyboard she was playing, etc. The foster mom told us again how much they love Juan and that her husband was especially sad to see her leave their home. She said he hasn't slept well the last two nights. We are so grateful for the love they showed our sweet girl.

She slept in the same room as her foster parents.

Then we walked over to visit Beilyn's foster family! They had moved to the bottom right apartment.

As we entered, foster dad showed us photos of Beilyn (and Brielle) they have on their wall. 💗

The foster mom pulled out an album we had sent a few years ago.
As Mrs. Li opened it, I wished so badly that I could explain to them that only God could have orchestrated that moment. That we would meet again exactly 4 years later. Mrs. Li, standing between me and foster mom here... the same woman who took Beilyn from her foster mom and placed her in my arms on May 4, 2014.  Now, holding the photo from Gotcha day of us with her and our guide Shirley. Really let that sink in. 7,000 miles apart and yet we were all together again on Beilyn's Gotcha Day to thank them for loving our special girl. I wish Beilyn could have been there too!

Looking at new pictures of Beilyn on my phone. 💕

We gave them a gift and told them how much we love Beilyn.
These foster families are such special people.

As we were walking back to the van, Juan's foster mom asked us to wait because her husband was arriving home from work and he wanted to see Juan one more time. I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to meet him and he could say goodbye. He had such a gentle demeanor. 

We were at the orphanage for two hours but it went by so quickly. Some families aren't allowed to visit the orphanages or meet the foster families so I'm thankful we had the opportunity but still so many unanswered questions... It's such a strange feeling when leaving an orphanage. Such a heavy heart. The rest of the day was pretty quiet and low key. We walked down to KFC for dinner and took a relaxing walk before going back to the hotel.

Our hotel is so pretty at night.