Thursday- Finding Spot

It was a cold and windy day in Hohhot!! We couldn't do much because of the weather, but we wanted to make sure we saw her finding spot since this was our last day. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to the hotel where Hannah was found on February 25, 2010. We knew the general location and once we got close we asked a man on the street where it was (our guide had written it down in Mandarin.) It is directly next door to the train station and it is a very busy area! It seems like a nice hotel, much better than we were expecting. We took pictures out front and then went inside to check it out. We showed the people working the desk her finding ad so they wouldn't ask us why we were there. They seemed confused by it, but let us take pictures and walk around. Hannah was found in a bathroom and sure enough there was one small bathroom off the side of the lobby. That makes sense- if she was found in a room, there would have been a name associated with it. The hallway with the bathroom was dark, dirty and small. The door was actually locked so we couldn't get into the bathroom, but we took a picture right outside of it. It is a crazy feeling being in the same spot where her birth mother last held her. I just can't explain it. Hannah was very unsettled while we were there. She was estimated to be 5 months old when she was found, so there is no way she remembers it. Part of me wonders though if she can sense that this was not a good place for her. She clung to me and would not get down. She would not sit in the stroller AT ALL and just wanted me to hold her. That made picture taking a little difficult, but that is OK. I am glad we went... and I am glad that this time Hannah had a mommy with her that will never leave her.

 

Rick decided it would be fun to take a motorcycle/cab/piece of junk/hand built thingy back to the hotel room. I have never felt so unsafe in my entire life. I think this guy built it in his backyard with a lawn mower motor and put up a few board to hold everything together. It shook like crazy when you were in it and at every stoplight he cut off the engine. It was crazy!!! Have you ever seen drivers in China? They are crazy! If someone had hit us we would've been smashed for sure. Rick and I decided to get out a few blocks from our hotel. We were too embarrased to ride this thing into our hotel. The guy kept looking back at Hannah like he just couldn't figure out why these white people had this Chinese baby. He saw me wipe her nose with a tissue and motioned for me to give it to him. I thought maybe he had a little garbage bag... but he just tossed it out the window and started laughing. It was pretty funny.

 

We had lunch at pizza hut and played in the room all day since it was too cold to go out. Rick went to the store to get yogurt and noodles for dinner. Hannah has been much easier to put to bed lately. She curls up next to me and holds my hands until she falls asleep, which takes about 5 minutes. I love the way she is starting to trust me more and more. She is attaching to me quickly but really doesn't want anything to do with Rick. We figured out that if he is not near her when she is changed, she won't scream. We thought maybe if just I give her a shower she wouldn't scream... but we were wrong! She is terrified of the water. Not sure what we will do about that when we get home!

 

Tomorrow morning we leave for Guangzhou and we are ready! We have 6 nights there and then HOME!! We will meet up with 8 other families from our agency. It will be nice to have people to talk to and more things to do. 

 

The Wangfu hotel where Hannah was found.

We are guessing she was found behind this door. It was locked, so we couldn't get into the bathroom. This was in a tiny, dark hallway off the lobby of the hotel.

Rick inside the homemade cab.

Here I am outside of the cab. This picture makes it look nice.

Hannah was enjoying her bowl of noodles on the bed! She even smiled for me when I asked her.