Rainy day in
Nanchang
Hello!!! We woke up
today to heavy rainfall. The first rainfall we
have seen in China!!! This wasn't good news since
we had official appointments this morning. This
means 11 families with 12 babies getting on and
off the bus. IN THE RAIN!!!
This morning we went
to pick up all of the babies Chinese passports.
This was the result of the tons of paperwork that
had been completed earlier in the week. To be
honest, our wonderful agency CCAI took care of 90%
of the paperwork. We just had to fill out and
sign a couple of documents. We were called up one
by one to receive the passports. When we arrived
at the office there was already a group of
families waiting for their passports. They had
been waiting 45 minutes. We all sat down and
within 5 minutes our group was called up. The
other group gave us darting looks. We all
realized that this kind of service was the benefit
of going with our agency. CCAI has knowledgeable
representatives that know the adoption process
inside and out. After we received the passports
we came back to the hotel. One parent from each
family had to attend a meeting with James to
discuss the paperwork needed for Guangzhou (gwan-joe).
During this meeting we were given our daughter's
abandonment certificates and a photocopy of their
finding ads. In China, once a child is found
abandoned, they are taken into the orphanage
system and the Chinese Government places an ad in
the local newspaper announcing the child's
abandonment. Families have 2 months to come and
claim the child. If no one comes the child is
considered abandoned and they are then available
for adoption. Child abandonment is illegal in
China so there are serious repercussions for those
who are caught abandoning their children. We
asked James what happens if a family DOES answer
an abandonment ad. We wanted to know what
punishment they would receive for abandoning their
child. James said that this rarely happens. We
were all surprised to see that all of the babies
from Yingtan City appeared in the same paper on
the same day. Their photos were even in the same
rows!!! Kiah, Riley, Grace and Sabrina have "been
together" all along!!! They were all born around
the same date and abandoned around the same time.
It was painful to read the full information about
Kiah's abandonment and discovery. We are so
greatly and blessed to have her!!! We THANK GOD
every day!!!
Since it is raining we
laid low in the hotel room watching "The Breakfast
Club" on the HBO Channel. Kiah and Brandon then
took a nap. When nap time was over we decided to
brave the weather and pick up the film we had
dropped off for developing. We were anxious to
see what pictures Kiah's foster mother had taken.
We received about 12 of the 24 exposures on the
camera. All of the pictures were taken the same
day at the same time. We were hoping for pictures
of all of the family members as well. We are
happy to have this little glimpse into her life
before we arrived for her. Her foster family
loved her very much. However, they did not have
much money so their lives were hard. It is hard
to see pictures of Kiah in dirty clothes in a
house with a dirt floor and no screens on the
windows. Kiah had a vacant look in her eyes in
most of the pictures. This was very hard for us
to see as Jacob had a similar look when we picked
him up from the orphanage. I really thought we
would not see this since it was so obvious that
Kiah was in a loving family. It is amazing the
changes that this little girl has been though in
less than a week. New family, new living
conditions, new food, new clothes, new schedule.
She is coming through it all with a smile on her
face!!!
After we picked up the
photos we decided to stop at KFC for an ice
cream. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel in
the pouring rain. Thank goodness our hotel
provides free umbrellas to its guests!!! Kiah had
a bottle then took another short nap. We then met
Julie Orta and her daughter Sabrina and Courtney
and Dean Milton and their daughter Gracie in the
lobby. Sabrina and Grace are 2 of Kiah's Yingtan
sisters. We trudged back through the rain to the
Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is considered an upscale
restaurant here in China!!! We had a great dinner
then headed back to the hotel. After a bath and a
bottle, Kiah was off to sleep!!!
Tomorrow we are
supposed to be going to a park and the Porcelin
Factory. We think that this park is the one
featured in the National Geographic DVD called The
Lost Girls of China. Tomorrow is our last full
day in Nanchang. We leave on Sunday morning for
Guangzhou. We will then be reunited with the
other CCAI groups that have been all over China
picking up their children. We are all staying at
the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou.
We can't wait to come
home!!! Jake and Katelyn, continue to be good for
Gram. We will be home soon. Like Katelyn says..
Only one more Sunday!!! LOVE YOU BOTH!!!
Katelyn, good luck in
your cheerleading competition on Saturday!!!
GO BATTLEFIELD BOBCAT
JV CHEERLEADERS!!!
Wish we could be there
to cheer you all on!!! We know you will do
great!!!
Love to all,
-Nicole, Brandon and
Kiah!!!
