We went to visit Chongqing Children’s Welfare Institute on Friday. It is about an hour drive from the hotel, across the Yangtze River. Chongqing is a gigantic city. Most of the drive looked the same as what we see from our hotel, but as we got closer we drove through some pretty poverty stricken areas. It is such a contrast to see the crumbling old buildings and people sitting in old shacks after walking through the malls with Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and all those fancy designers. The young 20ish people in the city center are all smartly dressed and go out to dinner, to movies, and ice skating in the evening. There are two different worlds here.

At the orphanage we were taken upstairs to the area Kate spent most of her time. They showed us her bed and the playroom. The nannies sit on the floor with the babies for playtime. The ratio is great: One nanny to every three babies. Half the Sky Foundation makes this level of care possible. It is great to see the results of their hard work. We were there before lunch and got to see all the babies playing. They are all so sweet! The staff told us they are all special needs children.

Kate was excited at first to see familiar faces. She ran over to a couple nannies and started showing off her new clothes. Our guide translated for us—Kate said to them, “look at my pretty shirt.” Our new daughter loves sparkles and anything fancy. So cute! But later when we went into the crib room Kate started freaking out; crying, kicking, etc. It took quite a while to calm her down.

We asked about a little 4-year old girl that another family is adopting next month. The family had asked me to check on her if at all possible. The family just got their approval to travel to China, so the staff allowed us to see her. She came downstairs with one of her teachers from the preschool. When she saw us she started crying—she knows her family is coming soon. Her teacher calmed her down by telling her we were not her family, and that we were just checking on her for them. It is so scary to leave everything you’ve ever known, even if it is living in an orphanage with no family.

After the orphanage we drove to the location Kate was found. We will keep that private for Kate to hear first when she gets older, but I can tell you we had the most amazing experience. It is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.