Return Trip - Days 9 and 10: Huainan City

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Hey it's Hannah. Sorry I didn't write the last time when I said I would. Anyways, today I went to my orphanage and I saw these cute little babies. We bought them cookies, candy and toys. I was supposed to see my nanny today but she wasn't working today. I was bummed but it all seemed to work out . They only found my nanny, not my friends nanny's. We met the director of my orphanage. He was really nice but he didn't speak English so our tour guide (male) (name:Jeff) had to translate the RAPID SENTENCES REALLY FAST IN CHINESE. We went to lunch with Jeff and our bus driver, and the director of the orphanage. It was really fun there. We ate a lot of spicy foods like the meatballs, and this REALLY good platter it's cucumbers with special sauce on them YUMMMMMMMY! We bought a washing machine for the orphanage to wash all of their clothes. I felt so good to know that I'm helping the children there. My mom wanted to adopt a little girl in a light blue jacket. I don't know if she's adoptable, I don't want there to be another girl in the family - trust me they get feisty when they are teenagers. There was this little boy sitting on a bucket (potty) looking all depressed. I wanted to give him a big hug. That's all I have for today. write back tomorrow -Hannah

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Spent the day yesterday traveling to Hefei and resting – no travel glitches and no scheduled outings. Ate dinner at the rotating restaurant on the 29^th floor of the hotel – great views of Hefei at night. Today we took the 2-hour drive north to Huainan City. It was a much different drive and much different city than when we were there 8 years ago. The highway has been rebuilt and is mainly traveled by car – we saw very few tractors on the roads and didn’t see a single bike or person walking on the highway. In fact, there is dramatically fewer bikes in all parts of China that we have visited in the past week , but more cars and more traffic. Nonetheless, the driving is just as crazy: stop lights are more like suggestions than rules, drivers still beep their horns and pull into oncoming traffic to get around slow drivers, and pedestrians still mix in with vehicles on the local roads. Huainan City is also in the midst of a building frenzy – there were multiple sites of 10-20 new high-rise apartment buildings in various stages of construction.

Three of our families visited the orphanage in Huainan City where the girls spent the first 18 months of their lives. They met the director, Mr. Zou, who has been there for 23 years, and then had a chance to walk around the orphanage, meet the kids, and see the children’s’ rooms, the preschool classroom, and the playground. The girls had raised money back in the US and used it to buy gifts for the children (currently about 60 children remain there) and to buy a new washing machine for the orphanage.

We then went to an outdoor market and were clearly the main point of interest. Apparently Americans with Chinese daughters are not the normal clientele at the marketplace. We were followed around, watched continuously, and pulled aside to take selfies with the market venders. It was vey odd having a paparazzi. Ended the day back in the rotating restaurant - Hannah has developed a taste for fish cooked with their heads still on.

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Photos

Hefei at night

Entrance to Huainan City orphanage

At the entrance

Bags of hot peppers for sale in the market

Nothing left but bones and fish head