Hengxian

Today we traveled to the city of Hengxian, to see and experience Lily's birthplace.  I will never, ever find the words to express how special this day was for us all.  How inadequate this blog is.

We hired a driver and traveled with Hannah about 2 hours outside of Nanning.  The first thing I should tell you is that this was a small city, by Chinese standards.  In my mind, I anticipated a small, rural village.  It was a town of a mere half a million.

We passed fields of sugar cane, woven with rice fields and Jasmine.  (Hengxian, or Heng County, is known for its fragrant jasmine tea and it is delicious!).  Oxen grazed by the highway.  We walked through the open market bursting at the seams with fresh produce, herbs and spices, motorbikes; a cacophony of sounds and smells, and curious stares.

We visited Lily's "finding place".  If you are familiar with China/one-child policy/adoption issues, you will understand what this means.  The details will be for Lily to share someday, if she chooses.

Then we arrived at the "kindergarten".  This is where Lily lived from age 2 until now.  It's a regular school, but also a place where some of the children live 24 hours a day.  We were so very graciously greeted, and so kindly treated.  I am humbled and grateful for the experience.

It was clean and brightly decorated.  The children were so lovingly tended to.  We met her teacher, her 34 (3-year-old) classmates, a precious 6-year-old buddy from the same baby orphanage, and the main caregiver among others.

This day was mainly for Lily---closure.  Loving, encouraging words.  A celebration.  A thousand photos (mostly with Nathan and Faya-- are you tired of hearing about the blond children?! We are...).  What a blessing for me.  I never could have imagined such tender emotion from the caregivers.

We Americans think we have it all figured out.  Halfway around the world, political and cultural differences aside, the human heart is the same.

Lily and her friends:

Lily's classmates