I'm a pro at this whole Taiwan thing.
nbd.
Well...okay...so not really, but life is getting easier!
The MRT and I are really good friends after today, and I feel like I was everywhere.
Days here seem to be 100 hours long, but I think once we start classes they will seem way shorter.
Today was a hoot.
I went to Mass this morning.
There were beautiful mosaics on the walls
Freakin' awesome. Klaudia went with me so I wasn't alone, and we flagged down a taxi, rode on the brown MRT, ate tasty pastries and then went to church!
Mass was really neat. We went to the English service, so (obviously) everything was in English, but it was still quite the experience. The priest gave an amazing homily about having faith and trusting in God no matter what, and he even said, "Jesus said, 'I am not ghost, I am ghostbustah!'" which I fully believe is true... :)
I am really surprised that church is so far away from campus. I'm so used to having a church nearby, but pretty much everything takes a good walk to get to here so maybe that's why.
Once we ventured back to the dorm, Dayna and I decided to explore Gongguan exit which is by National Taiwan University. We found another tasty pastry shop (I am enjoying the pastries if you haven't noticed) and a Starbucks.
Then the storm hit.
Holy.bananas.
It rains antelope and pandas here.
No lie.
At camp, we say, "It's rainin' siiiiideways" well, here I'd say, "it's rainin' all around ways"...crazy. And people just keep going like it's not torrentially downpouring on them.
ay carumba.
Because of the rain and lack of free wifi, Dayna and I were able to brainstorm ideas for our class tomorrow whilst eating assortments of breads and drinking Chinese Starbucks. I'm pretty excited for tomorrow. I feel pretty good about class because I think I'll just go into camp mode. (See, another thing camp has prepared me for!)
Supper finally rolled around and I coerced Dayna into going to eat with me.
Food is a problem here.
I did not expect it to be a problem.
If you know anything about me, you know that I am NOT a picky eater, but when you see dogs (living...don't worry!) sitting on food counters and strangely shaped meat laying in uncooled or heated piles, it's hard to work up an appetite.
I wasn't lying about the dogs. Anyone hungry?
Anyway, we walked down to an area where Dayna had seen a noodle shop earlier in the day, and we found an actual restaurant.That doesn't happen often.
They have drinks, chairs, tables, AND food.
Beautiful.
Plus, the workers wore uniforms. Me likey.
As we waited in line, we realized how handy it would be to know what the characters for chicken, beef and pork would be. Luckily, on the wall there were pictures of cows, pigs and chickens so we played a little matching game to find out what was what.
We paid $200 and got two drinks, two bowls of rice and pork or beef, and two bowls of kimchi.
nice. (200NT equals out to about 7 American dollars)
I have never tasted such tasty food...in Taiwan.
We're definitely going back.
On our walk back, we got sidetracked by the night market.
Taipei is quite the happening place after the sun goes down.
Dayna found a pretty great shirt that says, "I (heart) Girl" on both sides and has the male sign several times.
As we walked around the night market, I realized another reason why I like Taipei.
It smells just like the state fair. serious.
The dorms smell just like the dorms at state fair (pig poop smell and everything)
The smells outside are very similar to the strip of food vendors by the beef barns (poop and food, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of going to the state fair)
So, pretty much what I'm saying is that Taipei smells like poop, but it's okay 'cause the smells bring back memories of hiding fiber glass cows and eating immense amounts of fried food.
Tomorrow, we start class.
That, too, will be a fantastic adventure.
Until then...
With love from Taiwan,
Lauren.
A little slice of peace right next to the crazy streets of Taipei
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