Testing

Now that I think about it, I remember that  no one ever said that this would be easy.  Much about this is hard.  I know . . . .I should have realized this before hand.  I did, but I didn't know exactly how hard until we got invested fully here in China.  Yesterday was a hard day with the drive to Wenzhou- crazy driving and bumby roads and a bunch of people in a van who really don't know each other.  Levi was fine until the last 30 minutes or so when he laid on the floor of the van looking completely terrified and completly stiff.  Then we got to the hotel room and he just sobbed when I sat him down on the bed.  I sobbed too.  I feel like he wonders when he is going back to the orphanage -- still home as far as he's concerned, I'm sure.  At this point it would probably be more comforting to him than those weird white people who talk funny.  The poor little guy is stressed and so am I!  Micah is just a rock as usual and I am so thankful for that. 

 

We got a few smiles last night as he threw all of the stacking cups on the floor one by one and attempted to say "uh- oh" (we think) which sounded like "wa-woah" while laughinig at me picking them all up.  He slept well last night in his crib and then in our bed.  He is still asleep attempting to rock himself back when he wakes up a bit.  He rocks himself from side to side to get to sleep and to comfort himself.  Though we can't know, we assume it's a product of orphanage life.  It won't be the last one we notice.

 

On a lighter note, the experience of Wenzhou itself has been interesting.  It is the roughly the size of NYC of course and we are told that the people here have lots of money.  Our hotel has over 50 floors and is sort of swanky and sort of dirty all at the same time.  The men and women are dressed to the nines and it seems like a neverending party on the street.  At 1:15 am our doorbell kept ringing ( all of the hotel rooms have doorbells) and I finally got up and opened it in my underwear and found a girl standing there asking me questions in Chinese.  I just said "please stop".  This is the first time I have stayed at a hotel where the bedside stand has condoms on it for your convience.  Hmm.  Didn't need those.

 

Today it is off to apply for Levi's passport, visit the orphanage, see his 'finding' place, and have lunch with the orphanage director.  The Civil Affairs officer asked us not to visit the orphanage due to H1N1 but the orphanage director asked us if we would come and our guide said it would be fine.   Micah will go in the orphanage for short visit and I will stay in the van with Levi.  I just don't want to subject him to that.  I think it could make matters worse.

 

I absolutly love all of the encouraging emails while we are in this oh-so-foreign place.  They mean so much more than you can probably appreciate.  I am praying for encouragement and God is using you.

 

Tomorrow we get to hang out with John and Cristi so I am looking forward to that.