In China
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Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Today started early for Allison and I! We were awake by 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. Not sure if it is jet lag or what. After breakfast, our guide, Michael, met us in the lobby to take Allison to the finding spot about 3-4 hours way at the Wanzhou SWI. I asked him to explain to Nicole that he was taking Allison somewhere so she could take some pictures. He told her he would bring jie jie (big sister) back and that she would sleep at the hotel with her tonight. Nicole seemed relieved. Since it was a rainy cool day, we stayed inside. We played a variety of games, did some crafts and watched a couple of movies. Overall, she did really well. When Allison got back, we met her at the elevator. Nicole was so excited to see her! Tomorrow morning, we are scheduled to go to the zoo. They have pandas, so we are excited about that. However, it has been rainy today. Not sure about tomorrow. After Nicole's bath this evening, she was tired and practically put herself to bed at 7:45. About the orphanage visit: It took about 3.5 hours to get to Wanzhou. Chongqing is a very mountainous region and I saw a lot of it today! In every valley between the mountains, you could see small villages with people working in the rice fields. I will be forever impressed with the work ethic of the Chinese people. It didn't matter that it was raining, they were still out working in the fields. Wanzhou is a port city along the Yangtze River and is very industrial. It is home to about 2 million people. They are building tons of new buildings. New soccer and swimming stadiums were just completed. Once we reached the orphanage, the director (we met her on Monday) met us and gave us a brief tour. She showed me the room where Nicole had spent her first few days at the orphanage before being transferred to Harmony Home and explained that Nicole was found at the entrance of the SWI gate. She answered any questions I had and allowed me to take photos of the inside of the orphanage. The orphanage has about 60 children and I was able to meet the birth-5 year olds (all special needs). The 4 and 5 year olds were very happy to see someone new and used the one English word they know and said "Hi". It was obvious to me that the director really cared for the children. When the children saw her coming, they ran to her and wanted to be picked up. She was very affectionate with them. When she brought Nicole to Mom on Monday, she asked Mom to send pictures of Nicole as she grows up! Mom assured her we will email her photos! I have been to multiple orphanages and for some reason this one was emotionally hard for me. I feel very blessed to have Nicole as my sister and I have seen her blossom just in the 48 hours she has been with us. But, I also feel immense sadness knowing that these children will go to bed without having a parent to tuck them in. Today I came face to face with the reality that there is brokenness in this world that only God can heal!

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