A visit to YiLing village...

Today was considered a "free day" for us on our schedule. At this point, we're really just hanging out in Nanning until Laney's passport is complete. We'll leave on Saturday, so for the rest of the week we have time to ourselves. Our guide, Michael, is wonderful and he gave us a list of optional tours we could choose if we wanted things to do. Things like museums, the zoo, a local temple/pagoda, etc. We decided we would really like to spend some time in a more rural section of Guangxi.

YiLing village is located about 30 kilometers from Nanning. We had breakfast at the hotel and then our driver picked us up and we all went to the village. The drive was beautiful...lush fields of rice and crops, with a backdrop of towering, jagged limestone hills. When we arrived at the village, it was quickly apparent that this was a far more rural and poor region. The local people are of the Zhuang minority (we are fairly certain Laney is Zhuang...) and they are primarily farmers. Michael said, "If Laney were to have remained in China, this would have been her life more than likely...far harder and more burden-laden than she will experience as an American citizen." Indeed, everywhere we looked women were tending the fields, carrying huge barrels of water (balanced on their shoulders by a long piece of wood), washing clothes on the rocks, etc. We walked through the village and the children came running...from everywhere! Mostly boys, but a few girls as well. We had brought a lot of candy and they were all so sweet and excited to get a piece. They all wanted to pat Laney and say hello. She enjoyed watching them. We also brought gifts for the elderly people as well. I had gathered up all the extra shampoos/conditioners/lotions and soaps the hotel has given us and we gave those away. They seemed pleased and wanted to hold my hand and kept talking to me in their local dialect. Our guide doesn't speak it, but then they would launch into Mandarin and he could interpret.

It was beautiful to see the children laughing and playing games, but the life here is hard. We saw very filthy conditions...human excrement near food areas, chemical sprayers from the fields being washed out in the community well, one little boy with a terrible gash on his head and burns on his legs and no apparent ointment or medical treatment. It was hard to see, but also good. More than once, Troy and I looked at each other, silently understanding that we will come back. This place has given us our daughter, but we will work hard to give back as well. Our family is now knit to China in a deep way. There is no way to see this place and the beauty that is here, and not want to help the people who are in need.

I became overwhelmed and was nearly in tears as we stood by some statuary near the center of the village ("town square") and the children began singing for us. Their voices were so lovely!

On a funny note, I was terribly amused at one point during the visit. We had been talking to as many people as we could (via our interpreter) and taking video and pictures. There was a group of women (wearing the traditional pointed, straw hats) washing their clothes by the river. Suddenly I noticed one of them take a cell phone out of her pocket. She was smiling and pointing it at Troy & I...as she was snapping our picture! It cracked me up. What a funny moment.

The day was fascinating, but the weather is very hot and humid and when we returned to the hotel, Laney was tired and ready for a nap ~ as were we! We all took it easy this afternoon and then had an early dinner.

After our meal, we popped outside and noticed the temperature had dropped some. The humidity was still very high (note: Nanning is almost exactly the same longitude & latitude as Cuba...hot and humid almost all year long), but we decided to go for along walk through the park and around the lake. If I haven't already mentioned it, I will now. Everyone stares at us here. And I do mean everywhere. Troy has nearly caused three bicycle accidents already. At 6'5", blond hair (shaved short) and his black sunglasses, he definitely stands out. We've had people ask us if he is a basketball player, a movie star (that cracked us up!) or my bodyguard. How funny! And then, once they've overcome the shock of his height, their eyes shift to our faces and then Laney's Chinese face and they become all confused. It's interesting.

Tonight, we had a young couple with their little boy stop and talk to us in the park. (Side note: the one child policy is very evident here. Everywhere you look you see families with one child...almost always a boy.). The husband spoke excellent English and was excited to talk with us. He said, "We have never seen you at the park before. Do you live around here?" We thought that was pretty funny! We said no, that we are from the U.S. He pointed to Laney and said, "Who does she belong to?" We explained that we were adopting her. He asked where she was from and we told him Guiping. He looked confused and said, "How can you adopt her?" We said, "Well, she has no parents." The man and his wife started nodding and said, "Oh orphan." Yes, we said. Then he continued, "How would you ever find out about one little orphan girl in Guiping when you're all the way in Missouri?"

It suddenly dawned on us that many people here, even the educated and middle-class, do not really understand what is going on in their own country with the international adoption program. They have no idea that these children are not all living in orphanages their entire lives...that some, a small percentage but still a segment, are leaving China and joining forever families all over the world. We explained to the couple that we hired an agency. They immediately asked us, "Do you have children of your own already?" We said yes, we have three. They were stunned. "What a large family! Why do you want to add a Chinese baby?" they asked. We tried to explain that we love China and have extra love in our hearts for more children, and we want to provide that love to Laney...who would have been left here alone otherwise. They understood...I think, but they still thought it was extraordinary ~ as though they had never thought of this happening before. It was all very interesting to us. We said goodbye and walked back to the hotel.

Laney is asleep now in her crib. She continues to amaze us with how well she is doing. She had one crying jag this afternoon, but I just let her grieve and held her and hugged her tightly. Then she perked up and was back to smiling. She is definitely more attached to me at the moment, but she loves to have Daddy swing her in the air and carry her around. We can't wait for her to meet her new siblings. She is going to have so much fun playing with them. We've taken TONS of video, but also a few small video clips that we're working on uploading to a page we can link here to the blog. Check back tomorrow and we may have that solved. I so want you all to hear Laney's laugh. It's adorable.

Here are a few pictures from our day in YiLing and after. Tomorrow we have an easy day planned, but do have a date with our guide for shopping at a local department store and Pizza Hut for lunch. The Pizza Hut was actually his idea. He loves it. Isn't that funny? (Smile)