Our visit to Suixi

What a wonderful day we had visiting Suixi. We met our travel group in the lobby of the China Hotel at 8AM. I was having serious reservations about traveling with Maggie. She was entering Day 3 of her hunger strike. She was so dehydrated her lips were chapped and cracking, and I really thought I should stay home and pump fluids into her. However, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get the history of my daughter and I couldn't deny her that. So, we boarded the bus for our 10AM flight to Zhangjiang.

Frankly, the whole trip to Suixi was a non-event. Maggie loved all the activity. She did great on the bus, plane, bus trip to Suixi. We met the director for a wonderful lunch before going to the orphanage. And guess who decided to eat at lunch? Maggie! We were shocked, but she ate a whole bowl of congee and drank part of a bottle. What a load from my shoulders. By the end of lunch she was laughing and playing...a completely different child.

We arrived at the orphanage around 1:30 or so. I would like to give some glowing description of the building that Maggie spent the first year of her life in, but I just can't. The building was a non-descript 6 story building with barred windows and a stark gate. When we walked in there was a huge bulletin board with lots of pictures that had obviously been sent by parents of girls previously adopted. I know some Suixi families are reading this and you will be glad to know, the orphanage really loves all of the pictures and hangs them up in a large display. I, too enjoyed seeing the faces of all the Suixi sisters who had gone before Maggie.

Just inside the gate is a small courtyard and this is obviously the area the referral pictures are taken. It is a fairly small area and not really designed for a play area. We were led up a flight of stairs to a conference room where there was a spread of fruit and water for us. The director and the management staff met with us and introduced themselves. I can't tell you how happy they were to see the three babies. I had Maggie in a sling so it was a little hard for them to grab her, but the other two girls were quickly in the arms of their form nannies. The kids did not find this confusing in any way and seemed to be enjoying the reunion, frankly. Eventually, one of them got Maggie out of the sling and I could tell she really loved Maggie.

The director and the assistant director then discussed with us the finding location of each girl, the reason they were given their names and any other interesting bits of history. It was wonderful of them to share so much with us. They also gave us a small ceramic goat with Maggie's Chinese name and the date of our visit engraved in it.

The woman who Maggie really responded to was the activity director. When she took over Maggie, she immediately scolded me for underdressing her, then asked me in simple signs if she was eating and drinking. When I said No, they were surprised. She went off and got a bottle and lo and behold, guess who drank her bottle for the first time? I swear Ms. Maggie is a stubborn little thing. Next they took us to the activity room and we let the girls crawl around. The nanny Maggie loved had her up and walking with in seconds of her feet hitting the floor. She never did that for us until we were at Suixi...again, insight into her nature.

We next saw the rooms and the cribs were each girl slept. There are nine rooms with about 14 babies in each room. The cribs are lined up against the walls and in the middle of the room. There was one nanny attending to the needs of the babies in each room. Our girls' names were still on the cribs in many cases and most had new babies moving in. Maggie was not thrilled with seeing the room, so we left.

Since my biggest concern was exactly how to make the bottle my daughter finally drank, I asked if they could demonstrate for me. I think the staff thought I was insane, but they went along. It turns out the formula and the rice cereal we received when we met Maggie was not the formula and rice cereal used in the orphanage. Also, they forgot to mention sugar was added to the broth. No wonder my child wasn't eating! So, they ended up sending us home with full bottles plus bags of formula, rice cereal and sugar.

We left the orphanage about 3:30 and spent some time in Suixi. Our first stop was an open air market. The biggest in town. The most memorable sight was a fashionably dressed young woman, in her boots and skirt, holding a live chicken by the feet in one hand and her purse in the other. We went to a book store to buy maps of the city and we also bought some hand-made mats from Suixi so the girls will always have something from their home town. We also bought some Sugar Cane to munch on in the bus on the way back to Zhangjiang.

We stopped for dinner, again Maggie ate without a problem, and were back at the airport in time to make our 8:30 flight. We made it back to the hotel by 10:30, exhausted. However, what an incredible opportunity. Only four of the twelve families chose to take the trip. I understand completely why so many chose not to go, it was a grueling day for everyone, but I am so glad we did it. I think we were only the third or fourth Westerns to visit Suixi. I know for a fact we were the first group of adoptive families to visit, one other Swedish couple had visited before. We couldn't have asked for a more gracious welcome and I think we all left knowing the staff was doing the best they could for our girls. More on Day 4 later tonight.