This day was quite exciting! The anticipation of (finally!) going to Maria's Big House was overflowing, we were all so excited to go there! After months of hearing about it and especially after the Grand Opening, we all could not wait to go. Our anticipation grew as we arrived in the city of Luoyang, for some reason, it seems a lot smoggier than Beijing, possibly because of the cleaning in Beijing before the Olympics. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast after leaving the train station and our anticipation grew even more (although the squatty potty that read "American Standard" tied us over for a while). All I can remember was pulling up to a place that was dirty and smoggy. Maria's is surrounded on both sides by a prison (the Chinese version of rehab) and a widows/homeless. In the front, a 12-story building that is going to be the new orphanage is being constructed. Through the gray buildings and smog, we could see bits and pieces of the clouds-on-blue-sky building of Maria's Big House, it truly is a ray of hope! I am sure that all of the passers-by wonder why there is a building painted like the blue sky. After getting settled in our new home for a few days, we were given a tour of all six stories. We were also warned about the elevators, called "evil" by the previous teams... and for good reason (it closes even if a person is between the doors)! Our group especially liked the roof, on an "unsmoggy" day you can see for miles! It is especially beautiful at night looking at the city of Luoyang. We cleaned ourselves up and ate lunch (the food at MBHOH is way better than cafeteria food in the U.S.) before going on our own to visit the children on the many floors (at the time there were kids only on the 3rd and 4th floors but as we were leaving a few children were moved up to the 5th) of Maria's Big House (click here to learn about the floor plans).
My first impression of the children at Maria's was that they are "sicker" or "more special needs" than the children at Hope Healing Home. There isn't as much running around and shouting as there is at Hope. But this doesn't mean that it isn't that there isn't happiness! The first room that I went in was on the 3rd floor but the ayis were getting the kids ready for a nap so I went in the other 3rd floor room. And I never left this room!
It was my little buddy, Roger's, room! I was playing with a few little girls on a mat in one of the corners, when an ayi laid Roger on the mat right next to us. He just laid there for a few minutes before I decided to pick him up and play with him. At first it is quite hard to pick up a child with cerebral palsy, but I got the hang of it. He basically is a 4-year old baby, he cannot lift his legs and arms very well or pick up his head. I set him on my lap and steadied him, he loved it! When the ayis came to give the other little girls a bath and a nap, I spent some alone time with Roger. I figured out how to pick him up and carry him, I showed him the paintings of the animals on the walls (he especially liked the monkeys... and the monkey sounds I made), his laughter and smiles said it all! He would lay his head on my shoulder as I walked around the room and enjoyed the basketball stickers (he's a little too manly for butterfly ones...) that I let him have. The ayis also enjoyed them... and put them on all of the babies foreheads! He also enjoyed playing "airplane" where I set him on my shins and raised my legs up in the air moving them back and forth. He especially enjoyed "turbulence"! It was awesome to see him so happy, his little smile shone like a light! After three or four hours, I had to leave him to go eat dinner but I told him that I would be sure and come back tomorrow!
