Datong SWI and Yungang Grottoes

Today started with an EARLY drive 3 1/2 hours north to Datong City, the place where Ben was born. We enjoyed the rush-hour ride through Taiyuan, looking at ALL the people riding their bikes around town and kids going to their elementary school (looking very much like American kids- kiss mom, put on backpack, find friends, etc.)

The road to Datong is mostly in a valley between 2 mountain ranges. The haze in the air (read: pollution) made the morning views quite spectacular. Jay went a little crazy with pictures out the window but we are now both glad that we have them to help us remember just what it was like. We went through China's longest tunnel (which, just 3 years ago, cut the drive from Taiyuan to Datong from 9 hours to 3 1/2!), saw parts of the older section of the Great Wall, saw an ancient battlefield, and learned alot about the "Rules of the Road" here in China. There is almost nothing in between the 2 cities other than mountains and farms and we were entranced by the rows and rows of funny looking trees and random side-of-the-road-in-the-middle-of-nowhere sculptures. Ben was being really good, laughing and playing, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

When we arrived at the orphanage (Datong SWI) we were ushered into a beautifully decorated room where we met with the director of the orphanage. He is a really nice and gentle man and we are so pleased to have met him. We talked for a while about the people that I know that he had met before. He was surprised at how many other adopters I knew and told our guide that Ben was lucky to have such a friendly mother :)

After our audience with the director we were taken to the place where the children live. Because of all the pictures I had seen I expected it to be a really big building with big rooms. I was very wrong and everything seemed very tiny. I was especially surprised when they took us into the playroom as that was alot smaller than I imagined it to be. As soon as I walked in I saw Ben's friend Tyler. He is the last of the 4 Dillon "Brothers" to go home. I ran over to him and gave him a big hug. I then asked if it was okay to touch the children- backwards?! The nannies said that it was okay to touch them and Jay and I started a giant love fest. Ben was taken away to be doted upon by his favorite nannies and Jay and I starting playing and hugging all the kids. It really did melt our hearts. Jay was playing peak-a-boo with several energetic boys and I was giving hugs to the little ones in the walkers. Two of the boys were really interested in our camera so we let them take a few photos (they didn't turn out so good!!!). We stayed quite a bit longer than we were "supposed" to and it is an experience that we will never forget. It broke my heart to say goodbye to the children and to the room where our Ben spent most of his first 2 years.

Next week the children at the orphanage will be moving into a brand new building. The staff are VERY proud of it and insisted that we take some pictures after crossing the "construction line." We are not sure why it made a big difference to them as we only actually moved about 3 feet closer to the building but it was so important to them that we obliged.

Next we were ushered into the director's private dining room for lunch. Well, "lunch" may be the biggest understatement of the year- it was an honest to goodness feast! Without our knowledge our guide had called them ahead of time and told them about my condition and when the food was brought out they proudly told me that it was almost all gluten free!!! They had even made me some corn cakes that are old school, old fashioned home cookin! We absolutely stuffed ourselves! I actually felt embarrassed to leave that much food on the table! I wish we had a doggie bag since there was enough wonderful food to feed us for the rest of the trip. We got to meet an older girl who was working in the dining room. She had been abandoned at the orphanage as a baby and she had a cleft lip like Ben (but it has been repaired). She is now too old to be adopted (she is probably 14 or 15 years old) and she seemed sad when they were telling me her story. I told my guide to tell her that she is a very beautiful girl. I have a feeling that no one had ever told her that before. I think I will remember her forever.

We said a reluctant but grateful goodbye to Datong SWI and we headed to the Yungang Grottoes, a World Heritage Site located in Datong City. If anyone is making the trip up to Datong, I highly recommend stopping there. It only takes about an hour and it is well worth the time. The grottoes are about 1500 years old and contain over 50,000 delicately carved Buddhas. Some of the caves are just spectacular and each tells a different story about the ancient history of Shanxi Province. This province is 5000 years old- compare that to America's 200 and it blows you away!

Today was a day that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. I am (slowly!) uploading the photos to shutterfly so if they are not there when you look then check back later.

Tomorrow we are off to the ancient city of Pingyao for site seeing and shopping :)

ps- Ben learned how to wave bye-bye. Too cute!