After church on Sunday, March 12th, we all took a four hour train to Anhui. With our adoption paperwork approved for travel, the orphanage needed us to come to submit documentation for her passport. We spent the night in a hotel about an hour and a half from the orphanage. That night we watched the youth Face to Face with President Eyring and Elder Holland. We were especially touched by their comments about prayer. At 7:00am the next morning a driver picked us up. Mia seemed so excited.
It was a cold and rainy day. Once we arrived at the orphanage, Mia didn’t want John to put her down. She was so quiet and scared and wouldn’t talk to anyone. The orphanage was quiet and clean. We went into two of the bedrooms where she had lived. We only saw a few other kids, all apparently with special needs.
We were able to meet several of the Ayi’s that took care of Mia when she was growing up. The Ayi’s wanted to hug her and they all combed through her hair with their fingers. They spoke Chinese saying things like “Zanmei you are so beautiful!” “You are all grown up.” “Your legs are so skinny. Do you eat?” “Is this your mom and dad?” One of them was in tears as she talked to Mia. John thanked each of them for how kind they had been to Mia. Most of them simply replied, “Of course. This is what we are supposed to do.” John told one of them, “Mia has fond memories of being here…it seems that you helped her be very happy.” She replied, “We are even more happy to see her with you. You will give her a good life!”
I knew this visit would be all we would have of Mia’s first five years of life. I wanted the Ayis to tell me more details about her but they wouldn't. I wanted to have a sit down parent/teacher conference but they weren’t interested in giving any details to John — they would just smile and nod. All we got from them is that Mia was talkative. They weren't interested in talking to us about her the care she received there or her cerebral palsy.
We missed Emma and wished she could be there with us. We face-timed her while we were there but the connection was unstable, so we sent her some pictures via WeChat.
We were only there about twenty minutes when our contact at the orphanage rushed us out to handle the passport documentation. We drove to a local police bureau where she got her picture taken. Thankfully they let us jump to the front of the line rather than waiting with the rest of the people. In China we often experience what you might describe as reverse discrimination where they give us special privileges because we are foreigners. The officers were so excited to practice their English and take Mia’s picture.
Then we went to a small shop, to get her pictures taken…again. Why? No clue. We just do what they tell us to.
Finally, we went to a larger public safety bureau where the documents were officially stamped and submitted. There were a lot of locals doing things at this location, many of whom were intrigued to see Mia together with our family. It was so baffling to them that foreigners could have a Chinese daughter. It’s always a bit surprising how they will just stare at us for several minutes.
The driver then took us back the 1.5 hour drive to catch the train to Shanghai. We were grateful that we could document a little bit of Mia’s history. We are sure when she’s older she will appreciate the videos and pictures we took from this day. One of the sweetest moments for me was riding in the car with our contact and confirming with her that Mia’s birth parents likely lived around here. It’s hard to imagine the day she was born, as well as how and why she was taken to the orphanage.
In two weeks we travel again to complete the final paperwork in Hefei and then go to Guangzhou for her US visa. Over Christmas I remember wondering if it was possible that we could complete everything by spring break. I feel like the desires of my heart were known and honored to make our preparations for repatriation a little easier. I wonder if we had extra help from the other side of the veil to get everything in place.
Waiting in the crowded train station.
Thankfully the train was comfortable.
Mia’s orphanage - where she spent the first five years of her life.
One of Mia’s rooms (they eat, sleep, play, watch tv, change, bathe…everything in this room).
This Ayi was in tears when seeing Mia again.
Mia didn’t say anything. She didn’t even want to see the other kids.
These sweet ladies took such good care of Mia. They remembered her fondly.
This is the Ayi that took Mia to Shanghai for her surgery followup appointment. I remember meeting her at the Shanghai healing home on Dec 11, 2015.
John trying to make Mia as comfortable as possible as we visit three different government facilities.
Processing Mia’s paperwork for a Chinese Passport so we can fly to get her American passport next month.
