Day 5

Dear Cora, You have shown me the true Cora today. A day on the town and playing in the garden has shown me exactly what you can do and how happy you are. You love everything about life and seem to get all the attention that you want from everyone you meet. I believe you have a special gift to touch the hearts of everyone you meet, even if they are not ready for it. I have also learned that you can outrun me with no effort!

Today is a free day. We get to sleep in, play in the bath, and spend the day as we wish until Sophie calls us. We eat in the room, play in the garden area, walk around the hotel, and go to McDonalds. Every child has to love McDonalds, nope. Cora does not want to eat but does not want to throw it away so we take it home. Cheryl and I decided that it would be so nice just to sit back and enjoy the day in the garden and eat chocolate so we look for a market. 7/11? There is a 7/11 in China. It is not quite like ours but is always nice to see something familiar to us. We decide on Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Cora loved the garden and running around. We had workers ask if we needed anything but they stayed to watch her. She kept going to the fountain and wanted to play in the water; finally I gave in and started to play in the water with her. If only I could explain to you the looks on the faces of those watching us. Soon there were many more workers gathered to watch Cora play. There was an Englishman that was trying very hard to work on documents and talk on the phone. I kept apologizing to him for our behavior and Cora soon figured out how much I was worried. She decided that he was her new target. She was soaking wet. Documents plus leather brief case plus wet child equals disaster! Of course Cora touches his heart and he starts watching and laughing at her. Every time we ran into him for the rest of the day he had to wave, smile, and ask how she was doing. My ice cream melted during this adventure but Cora still wanted hers. I tried to get her to sit on the swing and eat but she had a different plan. She walked the garden looking at everything and ate.

Today was a great day but we have to pack and get ready for our flight to Guangzhou. Cora helped pack by unpacking everything I put in. Finally getting the top closed we kept her from emptying it by letting her climb on it. We are all tired and even little Cora feel to sleep quickly on the floor after another bath.

Day 4

Dear Cora, We are so amazed to see how smart you are. You are so eager for us to understand you. To hear new English words every day! You want to be a part of everything. Pointing at things and talking to me as if I can understand it all. We have walked around the garden in the hotel many times looking for something… it turned out to be a bird. You wanted to hear him sing. There are so many “firsts” ahead of you.

Today we were invited to visit the orphanage but decided against it. We all agree that it would be very hard for Cora.  The adjustment is not going as smooth as we had hoped. We do not want to set things back to the beginning.

We decided to visit Cora’s finding spot. This turned out to be much more emotional for me than I thought. This is a private matter that we will not share.

After our visit, we toured different areas of Ningbo so we could get a feel of what it would be like to live here. We walked downtown to see the shops and markets. This is where the workers that commute to the factories or someone who lives locally would shop. We walked through a park called Moon Lake (or West Lake). It was more beautiful than we could imagine. There were small islands with connecting bridges, flower gardens, and great examples of Chinese architecture. The hardest parts of trying to enjoy the sites are the stares. They start staring when they see two white women with a Chinese baby, then when we get closer they see that Cora is disabled. They talk, stare, some will pull aside our translator to talk, and some will talk right in front of us as if Cora cannot understand.  She understands every word and is soon ready to go. Food always makes her feel better so Sofia talks her into going to lunch. We chose a casual restaurant close to the park. Cora was acting out quite a bit by the time we arrived and was seated. She was keeping the people beside us busy worrying about what she was doing. We were seated by a window. Soon there were people gathering, and then lining up. We are learning that people are either not used to seeing disabilities or are just rude. We took our time eating lunch and then went back to the hotel.

The bathtub is our saving grace. Cora starts getting upset as soon as we enter the room. We can just ask her if she wants a bath and she instantly gets excited. I will sit as long as she is willing just so I can see her laugh and play.  This is my favorite part of the day.

Sophie came back later to help us finish up some paperwork. She is going to take the train back to Hangzhou so we can enjoy the day with Cora tomorrow instead of taking the train and having another long hard day. Sophie is so good to us. She stayed and translated the letter the Ayias wrote for Cora, one to us, and asked Cora some questions that we wanted to know about how she was doing and if there was anything we could do to help her or make her happy. The answer always seems to be candy!