We still have jet lag, though it isn’t as bad as yesterday. We eat a similar breakfast to that of the day before and meet Grace in the lobby at 9:00 to start our day. We pick up Megan at the orphanage and then go straight to see the social worker. The purpose of this meeting is for her to feel comfortable that Megan is going to a good home. We also learn a little bit more about Megan’s birth parents than we had known. We knew that the birth mother was 23 when Megan was born, and we had always assumed that Megan was the birth mother’s only child. However, we learn today that Megan is the birth mother’s fourth child and the third with her second husband. The second marriage failed before Megan was born, and the birth parents couldn’t afford to keep her as single parents. We learn this happens all too frequently. There is another little boy in the orphanage with a very similar situation. Every orphan has his/her own story. The government is very helpful though. Children are not abandoned in Taiwan. When the birth parents are not able to care for their children, they contact the social worker who arranges for the child to be placed with a foster family or orphanage. Grace explains that Taiwan has 6 certified orphanages, of which Ms. Kau’s facility is the smallest. The maximum number of children she can have at any one time is 10 children. With Megan leaving, there will be space for one more.
After leaving the social worker’s office, we return to the orphanage to play with the babies and wait for Ms Kau who will join us for lunch today. We eat a delicious lunch at a Japanese restaurant. For those of you who might be wondering why there is so much Japanese food, Japan occupied Taiwan for 50 years and had a significant influence on the island. Megan ate even more today than she did yesterday. I have never seen a one year old eat so much. She already has something in common with her big brother, Andrew who also has a healthy appetite. For being a restaurant novice, she has truly embraced the dining out experience. Of course, with such a full tummy, Megan falls asleep immediately in the car.
We say good-bye to Ms. Kau after lunch and pick up train tickets for tomorrow’s trip to Taipei. After picking up the train tickets, we are free to do some shopping. The first stop is a tea shop where we sample some Jasmine tea. I buy some tea, and we move on to one of the department stores to look at children’s clothes. We can’t resist some of the adorable little girl outfits by local brands we have never heard of. Megan is going to be one well dressed little girl. Megan seems very happy sitting in her stroller soaking up all the new sights and sounds of her first shopping spree. I think I finally have my little shopper!
After shopping, we head for Seafood Island which is a short ferry ride from Kaohsiung. The scooters occupy the first floor, so we go up to the second floor to sit down and enjoy the view of the harbor. Five minutes later we arrive, and Grace leads us to her favorite restaurant. The seafood is all on display in front of the restaurant, and we walk outside to select our dinner. It doesn’t get much fresher than this. Megan enjoys her meal of rice, noodles and fish. I, myself, thoroughly enjoy the fried cuttle fish. I don’t think I can get this back at home.
After leaving the social worker’s office, we return to the orphanage to play with the babies and wait for Ms Kau who will join us for lunch today. We eat a delicious lunch at a Japanese restaurant. For those of you who might be wondering why there is so much Japanese food, Japan occupied Taiwan for 50 years and had a significant influence on the island. Megan ate even more today than she did yesterday. I have never seen a one year old eat so much. She already has something in common with her big brother, Andrew who also has a healthy appetite. For being a restaurant novice, she has truly embraced the dining out experience. Of course, with such a full tummy, Megan falls asleep immediately in the car.
We say good-bye to Ms. Kau after lunch and pick up train tickets for tomorrow’s trip to Taipei. After picking up the train tickets, we are free to do some shopping. The first stop is a tea shop where we sample some Jasmine tea. I buy some tea, and we move on to one of the department stores to look at children’s clothes. We can’t resist some of the adorable little girl outfits by local brands we have never heard of. Megan is going to be one well dressed little girl. Megan seems very happy sitting in her stroller soaking up all the new sights and sounds of her first shopping spree. I think I finally have my little shopper!
After shopping, we head for Seafood Island which is a short ferry ride from Kaohsiung. The scooters occupy the first floor, so we go up to the second floor to sit down and enjoy the view of the harbor. Five minutes later we arrive, and Grace leads us to her favorite restaurant. The seafood is all on display in front of the restaurant, and we walk outside to select our dinner. It doesn’t get much fresher than this. Megan enjoys her meal of rice, noodles and fish. I, myself, thoroughly enjoy the fried cuttle fish. I don’t think I can get this back at home.
After dinner, Grace takes us back to the hotel. We stop to buy Pampers and formula containers so that Megan will have enough pre-measured formula to last us the more than 24 hour trip home to Florida.
Once back at the hotel, Megan is obviously very tired. She has had a very full day and has spent more time out of the orphanage setting than she has ever done before. First we say good-bye to Grace without whose help we never would have been able to manage. She has been the most wonderful translator, helper, tour guide, driver and so much more. We have thoroughly enjoyed the last few days we have spent with her. She has a heart of gold, and she cares so much about the children in the orphanage. She tells us that she often visits the orphanage to help out Ms. Kau when she is short handed. After Grace leaves, we give Megan a quick bath, and this is the first time she has cried for more than few moments. She refuses to sit down, so I wash her quickly while she stands. She calms down immediately when I take her out, dry her off and put on her pajamas. She is fascinated with the box from the diaper ointment tube and refuses to let go so we put her to bed with it. The orphanage has loaned us a crib for the night, and she sits contently in it playing with the box. I hand her a small teddy bear to play with, but true to baby protocol she is more interested in the box. She falls asleep easily and only once wakes up crying for a few minutes when I move her crib. We keep expecting her to start crying when she realizes she is alone with us without the familiar surroundings of the orphanage, Ms. Kau and the nannies, but she seems very comfortable with us. We think she knows she is finally going home. Tomorrow we are traveling to Taipei where we will be for the next few days.
Once back at the hotel, Megan is obviously very tired. She has had a very full day and has spent more time out of the orphanage setting than she has ever done before. First we say good-bye to Grace without whose help we never would have been able to manage. She has been the most wonderful translator, helper, tour guide, driver and so much more. We have thoroughly enjoyed the last few days we have spent with her. She has a heart of gold, and she cares so much about the children in the orphanage. She tells us that she often visits the orphanage to help out Ms. Kau when she is short handed. After Grace leaves, we give Megan a quick bath, and this is the first time she has cried for more than few moments. She refuses to sit down, so I wash her quickly while she stands. She calms down immediately when I take her out, dry her off and put on her pajamas. She is fascinated with the box from the diaper ointment tube and refuses to let go so we put her to bed with it. The orphanage has loaned us a crib for the night, and she sits contently in it playing with the box. I hand her a small teddy bear to play with, but true to baby protocol she is more interested in the box. She falls asleep easily and only once wakes up crying for a few minutes when I move her crib. We keep expecting her to start crying when she realizes she is alone with us without the familiar surroundings of the orphanage, Ms. Kau and the nannies, but she seems very comfortable with us. We think she knows she is finally going home. Tomorrow we are traveling to Taipei where we will be for the next few days.
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