It was another beautiful day in Hefei, and by beautiful, I mean, it wasn’t raining or snowing. We can technically see the sun as it tries to shine through the clouds, fog and haze, but that’s the best it’s been able to do all week. Being out and about is a lot easier when there’s no precipitation though, so I was happy to see the storm we’ve had the last two days had moved through.
Our guide had a present for us when we met this morning, Matteo’s Chinese passport! That’s all we’ve been waiting on since we finalized his adoption on Tuesday. He and Kiera will receive their U.S. visas in Guangzhou and then will fly home on their Chinese passports. Although their passports won’t expire until 2019, they become invalid once we land in Seattle, because at that point, they will become American citizens. Sadly, U.S. and Chinese laws don’t allow them to have dual citizenship.
Our first stop this morning was the Anhui Healing Home, which is run by the organization Love Without Boundaries. This is the American organization that sponsored Matteo’s surgery and his care while he was with his foster family. That we could even visit the healing home I had found out completely by chance. As we were waiting for our plane to Seattle, I was checking Facebook and happened to see a message in our Hefei group from another mom with a child from Anhui about contacting the healing home for a visit. Before we boarded I typed a note to the e-mail address one of my Facebook contacts had provided, and by the time we landed in Seattle, I had received an e-mail back from one of the stateside directors at Love Without Boundaries saying that she’d check with the home’s manager. (The woman I was corresponding with even knew our son and said he has the most beautiful eyes.)
When I think of a “healing home” I think of a medical center. In fact, the healing home was an apartment in a residential building in Hefei. We drove around in circles trying to find it because neither our driver or guide had ever been there before and all the apartment buildings looked alike and were tucked in a neighborhood off the main roadway and down a narrow alley. The building looked grungy on the outside and even grungier on the inside. We rode up the elevator with a man who complained that he didn’t like the healing home because the children were too noisy.
However, when we walked through the doorway of the healing home, we walked into a large, clean apartment. The home manager was a gentle, friendly-looking man who spoke English. He led us to a room where the nannies were playing with the babies. They were all so happy. The healing home cares for up to 10 babies at any time and prepares them for surgery (many need to simply grow to a weight safe enough for surgery) and cares for them during their recovery.
Like our son at the time, these children have no families (only one child had been matched with a family and the rest may not have files prepared or even be eligible for international adoption) to provide them the extra care and attention their special needs require. So it was very special to meet the nanny who had cared for Matteo when he lived at the healing home. She even still had a video of him on her phone. The director explained that any time he had anything medical-related performed, she accompanied him. It’s comforting to know that even when we didn’t yet know Matteo existed, this woman was there to comfort him. Meeting her reaffirms my belief that every child deserves someone to look after him or her.
Visiting the healing home also reminded of how much loss Matteo has already endured. They told me that when he was discharged from the healing home, his foster mother reported how much he missed his nanny at first. And we know how much he misses his foster mother now that he’s with his third set of caregivers. Thankfully we are permanent.
After the healing home, we visited the Memorial Temple of Lord Bao, also located in Hefei. Although this had been a person’s home and is not an actual temple, it still had the same tranquility we found in the Buddhist temples we’ve visited on this trip.
We walked the grounds and I stopped to look at a display. There were lots of tourists like ourselves and I saw one couple taking a picture of a display. Suddenly the woman motioned to her husband to snap a picture in my direction. I then realized she wanted to get a picture of me! Instead of letting her take the picture on the sly, I went right up to her and threw my arm around her and smiled big for the camera. They both thought it was great. If Chris had been equally as amused, I would have asked him to get a picture with my own camera of me with the random Chinese woman who wanted my picture.
As hard as it is to believe, white people are a novelty in China, especially in places like Hefei that has few foreigners. I’ve heard plenty of stories of families being stopped in China by people wanting their picture taken with them. This is the first time it’s happened to us, probably because we have a few characteristics that help us blend in, even if minimally, with the crowds – we’re short and we aren’t blonds or red-heads.
After I had my picture taken, they noticed Matteo and had a lot of questions. We’ve had a couple people try to ask us about him before, but never when our guide was with us, so the best we could do was hug him and make it clear he’s our son. This time our guide was able to explain that we’re American and Matteo is our adopted Chinese son. They were very happy for us and clearly thought Matteo was adorable.
After our sightseeing, it was back to the hotel for lunch and then a nap. Chris ran out while Matteo was sleeping to buy a new suitcase. We started packing tonight because we leave for the airport early tomorrow morning. Next stop, Guangzhou!
At dinner that night we saw a little bit of Oliver in Matteo. This guy is shy and reserved, so when a little boy ran up to him in the mall and tried to hold his hand, Matteo was caught off-guard. The boy babbled away with him in Chinese and instead of engaging him, Matteo kept his grip on Chris' hand and tried ever so slowly slinking behind his dad. He was probably hoping the other boy would lose sight of him and just go away.the whole interaction was a classic Oliver move from when he was Matteo's age.
At dinner that night we saw a little bit of Oliver in Matteo. This guy is shy and reserved, so when a little boy ran up to him in the mall and tried to hold his hand, Matteo was caught off-guard. The boy babbled away with him in Chinese and instead of engaging him, Matteo kept his grip on Chris' hand and tried ever so slowly slinking behind his dad. He was probably hoping the other boy would lose sight of him and just go away.the whole interaction was a classic Oliver move from when he was Matteo's age.
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