Day 3 It's "GOTCHA" Day

Sunday, August 29, 2010

We packed up and left the hotel at 8:30 am and headed to the airport. We are going to fly from Beijing to Xi An. Mary helped us get checked in at the airport. Since Kevin and I were foreigners on board, when we went through the security check they took us to the side and searched us over more than I had expected. They made us put our passports on the conveyor belt with our carry-on. It was a very uneasy feeling knowing that they could take our passports right now and what could we do. We made it through okay. We boarded the plane and landed in Xi An at 1:00 pm and our guide Lily picked us up at the airport at 1:30 p.m. To our surprise, they came in a very small car and we have a lot of luggage. We ended up having to put some luggage in the back seat and Lily road in the back seat with me and Kevin sat up front with our driver.

On the way to the hotel, Lily told us that the director of the orphanage called and our plans had been changed. The nannies were suppose to bring Olivia to the hotel to give to us, but instead the director told Lily that she was to bring us to his office. We were thinking that his office was at the orphanage, but it wasn't. Lily took us to an old building downtown with no air conditioner to wait to see the director. His office was on the third floor and when we got off of the elevator there were a lot of people standing in the hall, all waiting for the director. We had to stand in the hall for about a half an hour then we went in an office. There we waited another half hour.

One of the other guides told Lily that he had heard that Olivia was on the elevator and on her way up. In just a few minutes the door opened up and the nannies started walking in with the babies. Olivia was the last one to come in. Olivia came walking through the door holding her nannies hand. She didn't know what was going on, but the nanny was carrying the photo album that I had sent her back in February with our pictures in it.  She was telling Olivia that this was mama and baba, but when the nannie picked Olivia up and told her that this was mama and baba again she started crying immediately. The nannie showed her our picture and pointed to our faces to match to the pictures and Olivia even called the pictures mama and baba, but the nannie put her in my lap and she was not having nothing to do with us. She was so distraught that she couldn't even fix her eyes on the nannie or anyone in the room. After a half an hour ordeal, they told us that we had to leave and get her picture taken. In the meantime, Lily sent the driver downstairs to get her something to eat so that she would calm down. He came back with a bag of BBQ chips. This really helped. She ate chips then the nannie asked her if she would give her (the nannie) a chip and she did. Olivia was very happy to share her chips with the nannie. Then the nannie asked her to give Kevin a chip and me a chip. She had to think about it and then in her own time she gave us both a chip. She was still sobbing the whole time she was eating her chips. She lit up a little when she gave one of the orphans, her friend, a handful of chips. Then she went around the room giving all the women a chip and calling them mama.

We left the directors office and headed downtown to get her pictures. She got out of the car okay and even walked inside holding my hand. We went up two flight of stairsand there were the people that we had just seen at the directors office. Their children seemed to be doing okay only a few minutes after they had gotten them. When we went in to sit down to have our pictures made, she started in again crying, having a BIG fit. We got up and let another family get their pictures made. One of the guides came over to me and told that its okay. The more she cries means the more she will love you. She settled down a little bit, but when we sat down to have our pictures made she cried in all of them.

After that we came back to the hotel, I gave her a sippy cup with some water in it and a snack bowl with some gold fish in it. She ate and drank it all. She was really quiet the rest of the night. The orphanage gave us a photo album with pictures of her and her friends in it. When we opened it up to look at the pictures, Olivia opened up and started talking up a storm. To our surprise by 9:00 pm, she was a lot better and even decided to sit in my lap. We went to bed around 10. I laid down on the bed and she crawled up beside of me on the bed and laid down and was asleep in no time. She slept all night long.