5
Location: Baotou
This morning we woke up and headed to the apartment for breakfast (I had toast with Nutella and a really really good nectarine). After that, we went to the orphanage to spend our second day with the kids. Since most we all had been introduced to the children the day before, we all had our ones who we were especially excited to see (they are all so cute, though). Half the group went upstairs with the toddlers and the other half with the babies. All the toddlers have so much energy and love going down the little slide on the playset. Also, the Little Flower director came into one of the rooms and had all the kids sing “Twinkle Tinkle Little Star” and “The Wheels on the Bus” (with all the hand motions, of course). Lily, the director, then took pictures, and a few of us were lucky enough to get solo pictures with the babies. Next time hopefully we can get some pictures of the other half of the group since we aren’t allowed to take any pictures ourselves. Another group of us also sang Disney songs to all the kids. It seems like some of the kids are already getting more comfortable with us since yesterday. Then, Grace and I went back to the apartment to make grilled cheeses for everybody for lunch. I made my grilled cheeses in a wok, which was quite the experience. We were also able to teach Christine, one of our leaders, the art of the grilled cheese- she’s now a pro. Although the Chinese food that we’ve had has been really good, it was so nice having some comfort food for lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the orphanage to spend time with more of the kids. I was with the babies this time, and one of the little boys fell asleep in my lap, which was so, so adorable. After we had some free time to go out, so some of us went to find some more Chinese snacks. I got some more of these really good gummies, and Lucy bought Peppa Pig lollipops for the group. Peppa Pig has been really popular here- all the way from snacks, to calendars, to fans with her face on them. I also introduced some of the group to Anomia, which we are still getting the hang of. At dinner, we had tons of dumplings and ear-shaped mushrooms (I think they are called ‘wood ear’ mushrooms), and on our way back saw a beautiful rainbow. After that, we walked back to the hotel to have some time where we could call home.