Across the Yellow River

Yesterday was a wonderful day, but a hard day and an emotional day.

To get Steven's passport, we needed to travel to his city of residence. It was a three hour drive, across the Yellow River and through miles of farm land, to the city of Puyang where Steven was found and where the orphanage that cared for him is located.

There is one other family in our group adopting from the Puyang orphanage, so they made the long journey with us where their new little boy. None of the kids were thrilled about the trip, and their poor little Samson was especially unhappy. Thankfully, ours kids mostly ate snacks and napped. It was a long day for them.

Fortunately, the orphanage directors had started our passport paperwork two days before, after we picked up Steven. So, we really only had to show up and get his picture taken. We had been instructed to provide gifts to the passport officials. As soon as we put our set of American-made lotions and soaps on the counter, the passport official's face lit up. He didn't even check our paperwork. We were in and out.

The two orphanage directors came to the passport office to assist with the paperwork, and invited us not only to visit the orphanage, but to have lunch as well. It was a really kind offer. We know from others in the group that not everyone got permission to see the orphanage, and certainly no one else got invited to lunch.

This is the director that brought Steven to us on Gotcha Day. 

Steven was happy to see both directors

and gave lots of hugs.

It was clear from the get-go that these orphanage directors really, really loved the two boys. They were so grateful they were being adopted and so loving in their manner toward us.

As we arrived at the orphanage, some of the older children came running out calling for Jun Yu. They were so excited to see him and especially excited to see his sisters. They smiled and hugged him and told him he had "Jia Jia" now.

We were taken on a tour. We met Steven's nanny and saw his room. The orphanage broke our hearts, but for once, Melinda did not cry. These kind people are doing the best they can with the resources they have - they did not deserve us getting weepy on them.

The Puyang Social Welfare Institute is gated in, with a large playground in the front. The building is a  large square with a courtyard in the middle. There are a couple dozen doors on two floors, and behind each door, about a dozen kids from what we could tell. It is a very nice facility, but there are so many children with not enough nannies to go around. So many children that need homes.

Steven's nanny was overjoyed to see him, and showed us his old bed - in a small room with several other cribs. They were filled with little ones, some napping, some chattering, others just starting into space. She rushed around, trying to help them all at once.

The front gate of the institute.

The living areas as you come in
from the courtyard and playground.

A view from inside the building. Steven's
room is on the bottom, almost immediately to the left
when you walk in.

This sweet woman cared for Steven the 

first few month of his life, and we are so grateful. 

These two sweethearts were so exited to see Jun Yu
and meet his older sisters. They came running out to see us
and stayed in the courtyard to wave goodbye as we drove away.

After touring the orphanage, we went to lunch at a buffet in Puyang. Puyang is a HUGE city, though by China standards it's pretty average sized. There were many beautiful parks and trees as we drove around, but we were most impressed by the gigantic roses in bloom at almost every street corner.

The directors treated us to lunch at a local restaurant. The buffet was the best food we've had since coming to China, it truly was. There was everything from spaghetti and chicken nuggets to starfish and chocolate covered tomatoes. If we weren't taking care of three young children, we probably would have been more daring in our selections. But, we didn't want to risk incapacitation this trip. 

After the lunch, we had one more stop. The directors took us to Steven's discovery spot. It was a hard stop.  Jun Yu was left on the doorstep of the government Civic Welfare Office. Arriving there, the tears finally came. It was sobering, knowing that here was the site of a tragedy. A family was broken, a child was left alone... and yet, the journey of life continues and that's not where the story ends. Here we are, ready to turn the page and write a new chapter.

Puyang's Civic Welfare Office 

We have a couple of rest days now while we wait for the passport to be issued, then it's off to Guangzhou to get Steven's visa.