Heading to the Grasslands,day 3 Hohhot

Good morning! It is 6 am here and we leave on the bus in one hour with 10 or 11 kids from the orphanage to go to the Grasslands in Inner Mongolia. This is the area where Chinese come to vacation, and our guide tells us it is a very desirable place, and that the children will have these memories for years to come. The director really is pleased we are going, and I am looking forward to learning more about the Mongolian culture. Hohhot seems busier than Beijing, although it only has 5 million people. But, again, the people are KIND, no matter where we are...the supermarket, restaurants, the square in front of ur hotel, the market. They look out for one another and us. I love the way the Chinese use simple resources as well. Everything is not plastic, and everything is used. Every job is cherished. I love looking out on the square, as there are always people just out there reading, walking, playing games, or even pool. It is an openness I do not feel in most major American cities.
As I was falling asleep, I realized how the children respond differently to Westerners than Chinese people coming into the orphanage. They run towards us, but barely look up when other groups come in. They seem to sense just from the two trips in the last 2 years that we are different,and that we are there to play and to love them. They KNOW. I am also amazed at how much these children can do when given the opportunity. They have been discounted, but when we sat down with them to do a pretty detailed craft of glueing and pasting, they did it so quickly, and most of them did it with a pattern (it reminded me of your patterns Ben!). One girl even looked at the sample pattern on the paper and copied it onto her frame. Another boy looked at a snail I had made from clay, and then took this block of clay out , rolled it, and then formed a snail all from watching me. Given the slightest nudge, they really have great potential. Just as we do, given the slightest nudge from above, have found pleasure and love for these children. We heard from the team leader last year who so wisely stated, they are not the handicapped ones, but we are. Thank you for your post, Judy. I will pass that along to the team this morning.
Tomorrow we are back at the orphanage, and Friday we will have a big birthday party for them. Friday afternoon 5 of us head to Xi'an to Starfish. Thank you for your prayers, and for your continued support for us and most importantly for the children. They are so special.

Love,

Eve