The Grass Gave a Standing Ovation

Being the over-packer that I am, I was amazed to find I could fit everything in here.

We set out for the weekend this past Thursday with only our backpacks in tow. I felt like a real traveler by this point. After a high speed rail, a train, and I'm not sure how many buses later, we arrived in Taipei! The weather was overcast with a light rain. With the intense humidity down in Tainan, the weather up north turned out to be perfect. First stop was the National Palace Museum.

This was a particularly neat museum to visit! We were packed in like sardines with lots of Chinese people, but it only added to the experience. Apparently the museum has a great deal of artifacts that only 1% is on display at a time. This is pretty remarkable considering we spent a couple hours in it delving into all three levels of it. After the museum our travels led us a shrine where the changing of the guard occurs every hour. Our instructor used to be in the Navy so I think he really enjoyed being there. The shrine and the idea of it is similar to Arlington in the U.S.

The two lines you see leading up to the shrine are created from the polish of the shoes as the changing of the guard occurs. It was not placed there before to ensure they walked in a straight line, which was what I thought it was prior to learning this.

Apparently I have a small obsession with trees whenever my camera is in hand as you will come to see later on in this post. So just ignore that fact and look at how amazing this tree really is!

Loved the door

After spending a short time there we walked, and walked, and walked. Taipei receives SO much rain every year, making for picturesque walk throughout the city. Of course we were trying to find the train station (because all we ever do these days is ride on trains), but I didn't mind when I got to look at all this.

The palm trees were intermixed among larger trees

(The red growth that happens to be hanging in front of me in EVERY picture is actually my purse, just in case you wanted to know what was hogging the center of attention in every picture featuring me. I'm working on posing better.) I don't know about you, but I have never seen a wall so green and mossy before. It stretched down the entire street like this.

Yeah I know, another tree. 500 more to go.

I literally felt like I was in the middle of a jungle at times. The lush environment, with low hanging clouds along the mountains made me feel like King Kong was going to come barreling down the hillside at any moment. The various shades of green enveloped you and you couldn't help but think the grass gave a standing ovation with every rain drop. With every step of our picturesque voyage, things kept getting better and better. Next stop on the map: Chelsea's very first hostel. I was ecstatic to finally get to experience this and let me tell you, it was one of a kind. We finally arrived to our destination...

 

 What happened next was truly amazing. Have you ever seen so much leopard in your life?? Everything, I repeat, EVERYTHING was covered in leopard. Even the outline of the TV in the living room was leopard print.  

My bed- pay close attention to all the detail... we even have leopard print on the walls

My bed again

This is what we looked like when we would crawl into our beds.

Many of the girls seemed overwhelmed by the copious amounts of leopard that we were confined to, but I personally thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a 10 bunk bed room that was three stories high.... all leopard. I thought it was so much fun sleeping all together like that. The beds were all stacked in weird ways with some of the beds tucked away in random corners. I felt like girls were popping out of no where in that room because it housed so many of us. We all looked forward to coming home and sleeping in our leopard thrones, complete with rock hard mattresses. Needless to say, I still slept like baby. In the end, I decided I wouldn't mind having a small room in my future home dedicated to being leopard-i-fied.

Our second, and last, day in Taipei we woke up early and headed out to visit the famous Taipei 101. This building used to be the tallest one in the world, until the building in Dubai (not sure of the name of it off hand) was built and surpassed it. The elevator ride to the highest viewing point, the 89th floor, took about 40 seconds to complete. On the way up and the way back down, you had to continuously pop your ears whilst staring up at the glistening stars on the roof of the elevator in place for dramatic effect. It blew my mind to see an elevator travel so quickly and smoothly.

From the bottom

This is the the inside side of the elevator. It shows your speed and how many floors you have traveled.

The humidity is really taking a toll :)

From the top

The greenery still astounds me. It is so beautiful!

On the 88th floor, you can see the wind damper in the building. Taipei 101 is one of few buildings that has this central damper. Pretty unique! I will let the pictures do the talking.

The wind damper held up by such massive cords.

Later that evening, we got the opportunity to go to the Taipei LDS temple. It was beautiful and felt so good to be there. Taipei is your typical city environment, full of traffic and people. I love how you can be walking along busy streets with tall buildings and then turn a corner and suddenly the temple is right there in front of you. This is exactly what we saw after turning the corner.

After sleeping in our favorite leopard den that night, we caught a train to Hualien. We only had one day here and spent most of our time in the Toroko Gorge. Remember when I said that everything else, especially in Taipei, was so beautiful? Well, those things do not even compare to the beauty found in the Toroko Gorge. It was breathtaking! Hualien has actually been my most favorite place here thus far.

This was taken at the visitors center in the gorge, which was the first stop on our tour.

I LOVED the stone path. I want one.

We had to wear hard helmets for a portion of the journey. You know, just in case of rock slides. If this didn't set off a small state of worry, then I don't know what else will.

I could stare at this water all day. Isn't it beautiful?

These are the tunnels our bus would go through. It's a little surreal to be traveling through a huge mountain.

On one of the short hikes.

King Kong's terrain

Off to the right was one of the temples. I don't have any pictures of it though. Apparently, the greenery was much more interesting to me.

Orchids grow out of the trees are here. Love it!

Someone said this was a shrine, but I'm not sure if it really was. It was 286 steps from the bottom where our bus dropped us off, to the top of the "shrine". Atop this was the highest point in the gorge we ever reached. The view was spectacular.

View from the top

View from the top again

I feel like these pictures do not do justice. The entire canyon is made out of granite and marble. All the rocks you see in the pictures are not just ordinary rocks. They too are mostly marble. I've decided that Hualien should be on everyone's bucket list.

Our trip ended with a 5.5 hour train ride (we love trains), 2.5 hours of it we got to stand in the cattle corral with other passengers who were not able to get seats. I didn't mind this because it is all part of the experience and makes for some great memories.

Sorry if this post seems short and choppy. There was so much to write about and not nearly enough time to do it all. Hopefully you were still able to experience some of it with me. Life is great and I am loving what I am doing here! Tomorrow through the rest of the weekend we will be in Kenting, the southern part of Taiwan known for the sun and ocean. The beach will be my company for the next few days, definitely my happy spot. This is what it looked like from our train ride home last weekend:

Cant wait!

Mother's Day from Taiwan

Happy Mother's Day Mom! 

This Sunday we attended church up in Hualien (located on the eastern side of Taiwan). I wish I was able to spend it at home with my mom and the other wonderful women in my life, but even being thousands of miles away, my thoughts did not stray from the immense gratitude I have for these wonderful examples in my life. During church today, the young men were passing out flowers and handmade cards that read, "Mother, I love you" or "Happy Mother's Day," to all of the mothers in attendance. They were even sweet enough to give all of us BYU girls the gifts as well. So on this mother's day, I wish to give my mom a special picture from Taiwan. Mom, the card and flowers in this picture are for you (courtesy of the young men in Taiwan), even though they wont be making it back in to the States in a few weeks.

Without my mom, I would not be the person I am today. She has taught me so much and I hope one day I can be half the person she is. There are so many characteristics and qualities that I love about my mom, in fact there are about 12 of them that tie for first place; however, one of the things I love most about her is her unconditional charity and kindness towards everyone. Her example radiates and everyone around her knows that she cares. I have been lucky to be a recipient of this and am so grateful for her and all that she does. Mom, you are an amazing and beautiful woman! I love you!

Cups and Needles
Yesterday we got the opportunity to learn about and experience some traditional Chinese medicine. This included acupuncture and cupping. I LOVED IT! I was pretty nervous for it all, but none of it hurt so I had a good experience.

When you first enter the Chinese Medicine floor, this young man is here to greet you. If you look closely you can see a bunch of lines on him, representing the meridians of the body. The Chinese believe that if you follow these lines it will explain why a person may be having certain symptoms. For example, a person with liver failure will also begin to show signs of jaundice, including yellowing of the eyes. According to the meridians, the eyes are on the same line, or pathway, as the liver, therefore it makes complete sense that the eyes are affected as well. It is interesting to me that the Chinese have had these philosophies for so many years and how it fits into certain parts of our Western medicine.

*You will have to look closely on the following pictures in order to see the acupuncture needles.

I am totally okay with all things needles... that is until they are pointing at me. Hence the fake smile below.

This was one of the main doctors and I was SO glad (and relieved) I had him doing my acupuncture. He was so nice and could tell I was nervous.

Yes, he is putting it in my head and no, it did not hurt. To be honest, I didn't feel it when he put it in or took it out.

Next was the neck:

Look closely at my left shoulder and you will see them

You can see red circles forming around the needles. This indicates tension and means its working (at least that's what I was able to understand from the doctor. The language barrier makes things difficult).

Our time here ended with cupping. Cupping is an ancient Chinese technique where an ointment is placed on the skin, typically in areas of tension, then a suction cup is placed on top. In simple terms, the cup is then suctioned onto the skin via a gun. My goal is to create a hyperemic area (increased blood flow to the area in need), helping to improve symptoms.

This is what it looks like when you take off the cup. Some peoples circles were darker and looked more painful, but this was a completely painless experience for me.

I got it on my lower back. That was my favorite part. It made my back feel SO much better.

Kinda gross I know, but the Chinese are on to something. It has amazing results!

When the cups are fully suctioned, it just feels like your skin is tight but you have no pain. Trust me guys, this is totally worth it! The Chinese have been doing cupping for over 3000 years, and now I understand why. Some people do not find cupping effective, but I was one that did. The end result: 

And this is what my roommate decided to make this out of it. NICK: in case you are reading this... one word: Stegosaurus :)

As I am sure all of you know, I absolutely love Critical Care and working in the Emergency Department. Since this is as close as I can get to it, I figured I should probably take a picture of it. If only I could go learn behind those doors...

 These are what the nursing students wear around here! They were too good of outfits to pass up.

Apparently I have now entered random picture mode, But I just had to include this! Check it out- real Chinese checkers!

And look at this gem that I found. This my friends, would be an old-school ventilator. I could not believe it!

Switching gears again, today was my last day working out in the community. I have become really close to my nurse and am really going to miss her. Her name, "Show-way" (spelled phonetically), has been so kind, sincere, and has taught me so much about Eastern medicine. 

Here we are eating pork liver. It wasn't bad, but I don't think my stomach appreciated it.

This weekend we will be traveling to Taipei and Hualien, so I wont be able to blog for a few days. We will be staying in hostels, which is an experience I am looking forward too!

WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED! THIS POST MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES! (Read at own risk)

This weekend was filled with adventures!

THURSDAY: The day started off with a bang! We got to sleep in! We then spent the next 500 hours working on homework for this course. After many hours, the 12 of us could no longer stand to work on it anymore, so we headed out on the town. We did the usual, stop at about three different places along the way to get different parts of our meals, then walked around and did a little shopping. Everything was pretty calm until sundown hit. We headed off to the Night Market via a taxi ride of death (I seriously hate riding in those taxi's). Night Market's are quite the scene. I think I blogged about it earlier so I will try not to repeat myself. This glorified swap meet is full of food, shopping, and lots of people. They are very popular here in Taiwan so we will probably be hitting up a few more in the next few weeks.

FRIDAY: My roommates and I got up to go running and ended up joining a Tai Chi (spelling?) class in the middle of some random park. [Side note: it is near impossible to run around here. There are no side walks or trails so you are basically running on the roads right next to all the scooters, or "motorcycles" as they call them here. Running against traffic is like playing chicken with all the scooters.] Anywho, our morning run ended in a nearby park (the only park around here), where a local dancing class was taking place. The group of women allowed us to join for free and welcomed us back for the rest of the month. Dancing to all that Chinese music was quite the workout and was so much fun! Once again, they were all videoing us and taking pictures. They treat us like celebrities. In the afternoon we took a train to go see a guy who makes swords and uses human bones to fuel the fire (I think I mentioned this in my last blog post, so see below). In the evening during our search for dinner, we stumbled upon a meat market. After seeing some pretty grotesque things, my adventure was not over yet. I proceeded to see a poor chicken go from living to un-stuffed in a matter of minutes. It was the most barbaric, horrible, depressing, making-you-want-to-go vegetarian thing I have EVER seen! I will refrain from posting the video of it. As he was hacking at the lifeless creature, I was fortunate enough to receive part of the chicken on me (insert sarcasm in case you couldn't tell).... featured below is chicken blood that was flung onto my arm. My large appetite was completely lost and I ate a plain "dong bing" (it is basically a flaky tortilla) for dinner. I haven't eaten chicken since.

Someone caught my speechless face right after the tragedy happened.

This poor chicken was, two minutes prior, was clucking at me. Little did I know it was begging me to set him free.

Later that night we got to experience the Taiwan movie theater. Our group wanted to see the Avengers. I had no clue what it was, but I went along with it. The movie theater was pretty normal except that it looked like Space Mountain from Disneyland on the inside and all the movies were in English with Chinese subtitles. The popcorn even tasted normal! Once again we had a exhilarating taxi ride home.

Inside the movie theater

We love the adorable Asian kids! They start them driving young.

SATURDAY: Today we headed out to Anping, a train and bus ride away. Anping is famous for the dutch fort located there. [Mini history lesson: The Taiwanese aborigines were originally located in Anping, prior to the Dutch invasion. The Dutch then arrived and wanted to take over Taiwan because of its prime trading routes. So they came in and killed all the deer so they could utilize the trade routes, and the aborigines had to move on to other things. The Dutch built their fort as a place of safety. The Chinese then came in and wanted to take over Taiwan and eventually succeeded when they ran out the Dutch. Taiwan remained under Chinese rule until the Japanese invaded. After Japan lost in WWII, China reclaimed Taiwan, making Taiwan the Republic of China. However, it is interesting because the Taiwanese do not like to be called a part of China.] After visiting the Dutch fort, we walked along the nearby river, famous for dragon races, which is a big rowing race. Some more shopping ensued and then we headed back. Saturday night my roommate and I went for another run and then we all played games and ate ice cream in our dorms.

Across the street from the fort

The picture on the wall features the Dutch fort in its entirety

Background not foreground (I'm looking pretty nasty these days. Gotta love humidity!)

Cool comparison of the armor and weapons between the Dutch and the Chinese

This guy was on our shopping street. Mom, they have them here too! Haha!

SUNDAY: Today was pretty mellow as well. We found our local church and attended Sacrament meeting there. We were fortunate to have headsets and an interpreter there, although her English was not that good so only about half of the meeting was translated for us. It was such an unique experience. I love being able to see members of our church gather together even when we are on the other side of the world. One of the first people we met was Lebron James himself! Well at least that is what he referred to himself as. He is such a cute old man and is having us all over for dinner in a couple weeks. After church I got a wonderful Sunday nap, followed by more homework with the group. Our meals today were heavenly. They consisted of Pizza Hut and Subway. We decided we needed an American food day and let me tell you, it was amazing. The pizza never tasted better, which is saying a lot coming from me. 

Lebron James, Nikki, and I

Nicole and I outside the church

This weekend was relaxing and very enjoyable. It is so much fun to experience life in Tainan. Now that we have been here for a week, I really feel like I know my way around, including where to eat and where to run. I'm practically a native. Clinicals start early again tomorrow and I will continue to work out in the community for this week. I can't wait!

 Just for kicks:

This mom is feeding here baby. This is an action shot, not a stationary bike.