Rain, Temples and Humidity

Saturday:

So, no night market yesterday as a result of frequent torrential downpours of short duration. Oh well, I still got to ride on a motorscooter (but this time to Ja-Le-Fu, Carrefour = the French version of Wal-mart that seems to be ubiquitous in Asia). My friend D picked me up at my dorm on her motorscooter and we went to her family's house. They took me along to go shopping. It was quite an adventure. Their household consists of her mother, eldest sister, twin sister, twin sister's husband, twin sister's child, eldest sister's 2 children, other sister living in Taipei's daughter, one more child whose origins I am unsure of, and a cousin from Indonesia. Most of us got into their car (tight squeeze, no kidding) and drove to the Carrefour. It was very crowded and crazy but fun all the same. We went back to their house and a few of us went out to dinner. D's twin sister's husband's brother owns a very unique Egyptian restaurant here, complete with belly dancers and pictures of Florence, Italy on the walls. :) It was fun and our rice was served in carefully crafted pyramids. My camera died, or otherwise I definitely would have posted a photo of that.


Sunday

Today, I was not sure what I was going to do other than maybe wander around Changhua by myself and explore. However, when I was eating my morning mango over the sink, I struck up a conversation with another girl who was getting her breakfast. She invited me to go out with her and a couple of friends to Lu Kang, a town full of ancient temples and houses. I happily accepted and we ended up meeting her boyfriend there, who is a native of the place and gave us a very nice tour. I wish I could describe to you exactly how hot and humid it is here; those of you who have been to Alabama (or live there now) probably have some idea what I'm talking about. As soon as I step out of the house, I start sweating buckets.

Afterwards, we went to a unique cafe made of an out-of-commission bus on the hills overlooking the city and I drank fresh watermelon juice, which is a popular drink here. The weather had turned a little cooler and more humid (I didn't think it was possible); we saw a storm rolling in from the distance. The rain hit us a few minutes later.

The final stop of the evening was at a Belgian cafe that served waffles, Chimay, fries and sandwiches. They had a better selection of Belgian beer than we do in Alabama. RV would have been impressed.

Overall, a much more exciting day than I had anticipated.

This coming week, I am still on the Hospice Ward.