Day Seven - Babies and Out on the Town

Today we played with babies all morning. These children are so special and excited for time with visitors. One baby cries every time I put her down! Mom spent time this afternoon working on scrapbooks that are prepared for babies and given to the adoptive family after the adoption. It is such a gift that pictures are taken every month of these babies so the adoptive family can have glimpses into the child’s time at New Hope.

New Hope is located out in the country even though it is in the Beijing area. (Picture of New Hope below.) There are sheep in the field across from the entrance. There is a village about half a mile down the road so we walked there. People were walking or on bicycles or scooters. We see a few cars out here. It is easy to buy things because the Chinese clerk will add numbers on a calculator and show us. We then give them that amount of yuan. One US dollar is about six Chinese yuan.

Late afternoon we went to the market where international residents shop for groceries. It is interesting to see all that is available to people. Some of the brands are Chinese but there are several brands we recognize from our grocery stores. I bought a fun hat with lots of bright color stripes!

On the drive home, we saw two fire trucks with lights on and sirens blaring. The trucks were not driving very fast so, we passed them on the interstate! Mom and Mr. Rob said they have never seen fire trucks in China. Mr. Rob has lived here for many years! People say the emergency vehicles do not drive fast here and people do not pull over to let them get by quickly!

It's been a great day with special friends who volunteer here and with the babies!