Juju (China Part 6)

Oh, Juju. Where do I even begin? She was the one who challenged me the most during the week, but she was also the most rewarding in the time we had together.

Bless her, I don't think I'd be happy either if some foreigner was treating me with lice shampoo. I had to keep reminding myself it was for her own good. And she ended up cooperating like a champ.

She was very wary of me in the beginning, so I tried to limit the pictures. Does this face look like one that wants to be disturbed while eating? I got the hint. 

 She did seem to enjoy crafts after a while.

Her relationship with Mona was the coolest thing to watch.

While she and I took longer to bond, she took to Mona much faster, which was humbling to have to accept. Mona is absolutely wonderful, but part of me was a little jealous to have Juju prefer her over our own family. I quickly got over that though when Juju opened up to Mona and began to enjoy herself more.

Turns out, that was just the encouragement she needed to come out of her shell.

 Apparently, Juju is a little bit boy crazy. She had a crush on Mick the translator. Look at that face!

Juju also loved to play with Mona's hair every chance she got.

See, she's a little shy even to the most welcoming of foreigners.

But we finally got her to open up some. Please notice Natalie's Alpha Gam sunglasses she snatched at some point and toted around all week.

She really enjoyed James coming and tucking her in, even if she was a little shy.

Juju was a constant reminder of how my own unwillingness to trust the Father's plan out of fear only holds me back. 

While Juju was working on her communication skills, her smiles and laughs were the most rewarding sights and sounds I have ever seen and heard.

Even though I don't understand the process of pairing orphans and volunteers, I know that our pairing was no accident.

After that first difficult day, I knew she needed love and hope more than any child at camp.

She taught me the patience of Job and the importance of being brave and jumping in the water, both literally and figuratively.

Sweet Juju, I hope the week impacted you more than I'll ever know. 

Winnie (China Part 5)

Here's where I run into a problem on these posts.

Some of the days run together. Not just that, but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all had similar schedules.

Hindsight: I should have been a lot more disciplined in journaling. Scribbling out a few sentences was the best I could do.

Regardless, instead of showing you each of those days individually, I want to give you a greater grasp of the whole picture.

What better way than to share with you each of my precious kiddos?

Since she was first off the bus and always the first one ready to go, I'll start with Winnie.

To put it simply, this child has captured my heart.

Look at that sass.

Winnie is always full of laughter and smiles.

And she has quite a precious singing voice.

 She captured the hearts of everyone at camp. She and Jenna had a special bond, too. I loved watching Winnie try to mimmic Jenna's facial expressions.

Winnie also loved craft time.

Winnie's portrait of the two of us and then her picture of me. Please notice how big my feet are in both of those. Good eye, kid.

 She was quite the concentrated artist.

 Those sweet, excited squeals made my heart melt.

 What a girly girl. The hair. The makeup. The jewelry. Totes rocking it.

 Sweet little giggles.

 Snuggling at bedtime.

 And she is quite the voracious eater.

I love this child so very much. She blessed my time at camp tremendously. She was so funny in her encouragement to Juju trying to entice her to hurry along to mealtime because she was hungry. 

She had a mind of her own, and when it was time to do something, she would scoot herself along on her walker. 

When she was amused, her whole body seemed to cry out in a fit of giggles. 

She is such a sweet little cuddler, and I would just feel her melt into me when she got sleepy. 

She is smart as a whip, and frequently sung me songs and recited poetry she learned in school. She could also count to 50 in English. I'd say that's quite a feat since I could barely utter seven things in Mandarin by the time I got home. (I counted. 7 was generous.) She also frequently said, "Thank you" in English accompanied by a huge smile.

When she got weary, I would carry her. What a picture. Isn't that what my Father does for me? 

Wo Ai Ni, my sweet Winnie.

Fake Chinese Doughnuts (China Part 4)

After a short's night sleep on a Hello Kitty comforter, we woke up ready for our campers.

Pal, let me just be super vulnerable here.

Monday was not my best day.

I didn't expect a luxurious bed. I didn't expect decent food. I didn't even expect for my orphans to instantly love me. Shoot, I didn't expect to have orphanS... just one.

For all of my expectations, or lack thereof, nothing could have prepared me for Monday.

The pictures are few and far between because, like I said, Monday was not my best.

 Here's breakfast. There was a lot of pretending that went on. I had to pretend that whatever was on those cucumbers was balsamic dressing. I had to pretend whatever piece of bread that is on the top right was a fake doughnut. I had to pretend the cake-like substance was pound cake. (Street food was wayyy better.)

Here's our dorm AKA The Castle. We had lots of toilet issues. And by "we" I mean just our room. Typical.

Then the bus pulled up. We were so giddy, the kids could hardly get off the bus. There was lots of announcing, "Everyone, please take three big steps back." I know how parents must feel when their kids get home from camp. 

And then I find out I have two kids, not one like I was expecting. 

Okay, I'm flexible. I can TOTALLY handle giving out some extra love.

So my first one gets off the bus. Precious Winnie. She has to potty. Okay, I'll send the translator with her while I wait for the other. (Hindsight: how did I ever think I could explain what was going on to my second child without a translator?) 

My second child, Juju, is the last one on the bus. Except she won't get off the bus. Long story short, six of us pry her off the doors so the bus can leave. Alrighty, an EGR situation here (Extra Grace Required). I can do this. 

Only this child won't talk to me. She won't let me touch her. She won't even look at me. Thinking maybe she's just a little shy, I try my best to gently coax her into responding to me without hitting me. Thankfully, one of the staff members with excellent Chinese helps me encourage her along.

Unprepared for this response? You betcha.

Now greatly aware of the fact that our family will be moving at our own pace during the week, I embark on getting us on to lunch.

2 1/2 hours later we get there. Juju won't stop crying and wimpering. It was pitiful, really. I had no clue what to do to make it better.

By the time we actually get to lunch, I am in tears. A complete and total wreck. I couldn't fathom how I was supposed to take care of two children who individually needed quite a bit of attention and care as well as form a meaningful relationship with my translator. I was at a loss for what to do for this scared child. Is this how new moms feel when their second child comes along?

 Here's Winnie and my translator, Jane. You can see Juju in the background.

Thankfully another sweet staff member ordered drinks for me and my kids to help with, what we turned into, a long walk back to the dorms. Lesson learned early, juice is the way to my kids' hearts.

We had our family photo taken in our t-shirts, somehow managed to get to the pool with both kids and a staff member to translate (I could dedicate an entire post to the swimming pool/locker room experience), and then immediately turned around for dinner. That was all we did that day because that was all we could manage.

Needless to say, I went back to the room that night after tucking them in and cried some more. I was not expecting this kind of day. I had to ask for extra patience and love because I knew the week was going to be long.  I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. In complete and total honesty, I was ready to go home.

Then I heard:

I don't call the equipped, I equip the called.

I could persevere. What choice did I have? Tuesday was going to be a new day.

See, I told you total lack of photos.

Mulan Signed Up For This (China Part 3)

After my two hour drive to Auburn, our two hour drive to Atlanta, our two hour flight to Detroit, our three hour layover, our twelve hour flight to Beijing, and our twenty minute taxi ride to the hotel, we were finally able to stumble our way into bed after a very exhausting day.

 Due to the thirteen hour time difference, we actually lost a day. We left on Thursday morning and got to Beijing late Friday night/Saturday morning. How that all works is still a mystery to me. But thanks to being heavily medicated on Dramamine, I had no problem adjusting to the time change.

Saturday began our whirwind tour of China.

First, the Great Wall.

 You have no idea how hard it is to climb the Great Wall. Uneven steps. Unbearable heat. Steep inclines. You look down so much you start to get dizzy.

 Clearly, you can't tell how hard it is.

 The other nationalities at camp were very perplexed by our chacos.

 And this is how we got down from the Great Wall. Total Cool Runnings style.

 First legit Chinese meal. And the only time we had dumplings.

 Chopsticks really are difficult to use when you're hungry.

 The tea shop.

 We never could find a good place to stop and get out at the Bird's Nest, so we just drove around it like 20 times.

 Wafujing Street.

After a good night's sleep, we boarded a train for 10 hours to our camp city.

The train station was a cultural experience. We were the ONLY white people there and tons of people stared at us. It was like they were seeing unicorns and telling each other, "They do exist!"

 Once in our sleeper cars we played Pass The Pigs. I always got out like five rolls in.

 You have no clue the body language and charades that took place to get us these noodles.

 And as if a ten hour train ride weren't enough, we got stuck at the train station for an extra hour because there was some mix up on where to pick us up. I was ready to walk to the nearest hotel and call it a night because I was so exhausted. We finally got to camp at 1am. Bless it.