Now that Ivy's English is improving after being home two whole months, I thought I'd ask her a couple of questions about her life in China. What was it like? Who were your friends? Were you happy? Did anyone love you? Did you take baths or showers? Were you afraid? Ivy told me that she slept with Ma Pei. I'm not sure if that happened recently, since quite a few of the girls her age had been adopted, or if she always slept with Ma Pei. She also said that she showered, never took baths. Now I know why she always wants a bath. When I asked her if anyone loved Ivy, her replied was quite sad, "A little bit." Did Ivy love anyone? Again, "A little bit." Since she thoroughly enjoys ice cream cones, we asked her about having this treat. She just shook her head and said no as she licked her delicious vanilla cone after dinner.
Then I brought up adoption. Were you happy to be adopted? She had a very sour look on her face. She said she was afraid. I asked her about the package I had sent to her. She looked a bit confused on that one. I knew she had received it because she had the photo album. Then I showed her this picture:
"Did you get any of the gifts we sent you? The candy, card, necklace, doll, shirt, panda bear?" She shook her head no again, as she knit her brows together. I don't understand why the orphanage would only give her the pictures, not the other things in the package. Maybe her fear would not have been so strong if she had more from us than just a picture album. After a while, I asked her if she was glad I went to China to get her. She sweetly looked up at me, smiled and said, "Yes." She did not want to go back to China.
