3/22/12

Phew!! We made it back from our day trip in one piece! It took us over 3 hours to get there. Our driver got lost in Violet’s city and had to ask a guy on a scooter how to get there. That didn’t work so he asked another guy on a different scooter and this guy actually drove there so we could follow him!

Violet’s old city was quite nice – there was nice landscaping and a lovely park. They hadn’t taken down their New Year’s red lanterns so there were trees filled with the lanterns. I loved that. The buildings on the main streets were in nice shape.

Her orphanage ended up being a place for the elderly as well as for children. There were only 40 children there – all under the age of 9. Half of the children, we were told, have special needs. The children live on the 3^rd and 4^th floor. Violet was on the 4^th. We were not allowed to walk into her room b/c the children had the flu, but I was able to poke my camera in the door and take a picture of her room.

There were older kids who were walking around and trying to get our attention. The building was in disrepair. There were a lot of nannies, though, and they seemed very happy to see Violet! They were touching her and laughing and talking to her. That was the one nice thing about it. Overall, it was a small and drab place, though.

Kathy said the city was known for one particular thing – cutlery (knives in particular.) We decided we didn’t care to buy any, but we saw the billboards all over for various knives. One said, “Good Wife Knives”… hmmmm…

The way home was the most adventurous part. I got car sick and puked in a tissue box. Ken got the driver to pull over so I could finish outside on the edge of the highway. Then, a bit later, Violet peed all over my lap. (The Chinese Huggies just aren’t the same as American in regards to capacity, apparently.) Then, we went over a huge bump and some bar under Ken’s seat snapped. Ugh. We felt beaten up by the time we finally arrived back at the hotel 8 hours after we left in the morning. However, I am still glad we made the trip. I want to be able to tell Violet as much as we can about her life here in China before she became a Henrikson.

Tomorrow is an unscheduled day. Yay!