From Grandpa Kent and Grammy Fran

Today (April 2) was the trip to the orphanage in Wuxi. Wuxi is about 80 miles East of Nanjing a trip which took us about three hours in a tour bus built for the smaller Chinese people. I had hoped when we left the city the pollution would subside some but it actually got worse! I was hoping I could see some of the countryside but due to the horrible pollution the visibility on each side of the road was severely limited. Folks I want you to know that the low, low prices we enjoy at our local Wal-Marts are being supplied at the expense of these people’s lungs. The haze you see in our pictures is not fog. It is pollution. OK, enough editorializing and onto the orphanage or the Wuxi Social Welfare Center. The facility was very modern and clean with beautiful grounds. Half is an orphanage and the other half is for “old people.” We toured the parts where the children from our group came from. When we got to Elizabeth’s area her care givers came out and gathered around her. I have included a picture of two of them holding her. They were sad to see her go but happy to know she now had a family. Elizabeth went over to them but went right back to Rachel with no fuss, she seems to know that Rachel and David are her family now. I gave each of the care givers a big hug and thanked them for giving her such good care. These are very special people and the separation must be hard on them. When we arrived back at the hotel little Elizabeth just opened up laughing and playing as if she had broken her bonds with the people at the orphanage and now was fully ready to accept her new life. My only problem with the orphanage was when I looked into a room and saw two rows of maybe 50 little children sleeping. I wanted to scoop them up and put them in my back pack and take them all home with me.

Tonight’s restaurant report. We had another fabulous meal fully with no English on the menu. I have learned how to say: “Hello, My name is Kent” along with a few other Chinese words which have made the waitresses laugh one so hard she almost stopped breathing. But I think they appreciate me trying. Tonight the waitress wanted me to say each item in English after we figured out what we had ordered. She loved it when I said “spinach” so now I wonder what “spinach” means in Chinese?

Tomorrow we tour Nanjing.

Kent and Fran