holy. cow.
it is 5:30pm my time, which means it is probably about 3:30am
your time.
i have serious jet lag and want to crawl into bed for the next twelve hours. but let’s just start at the beginning, shall we?
after a tearful goodbye with my eternal companion, i
stumbled drunkedly onto an airplane. i
put on a brave face, but every time i thought about how stupid i was for
leaving him for four weeks, the tears would begin to come, and i would have to
force them down. i kept thinking, “why
am I doing this? what could possess me
to leave the most perfect man in the world for four weeks?” let’s just say, i was an emotional
wreck. and everything seems a little bit
worse when i am tired. and i am really,
really tired.
by the time we arrived in LAX, i was feeling much
better. i had my last meal of real american food at mcdonalds, because i knew i wouldn’t taste french fries for
another seven weeks. [it’s weird, the
things that go through your head when you go away for awhile. {brother sam, beware – there may not be
saracha in peru …}] then we waited for our next plane at the terminal. this is when i became a minority. me and twelve other girls piling onto an
airplane full of chinese and taiwanese people. suddenly i didn’t understand anything the stewardesses{who were all
gorgeous} were saying and i felt too shy to ask for a drink of water{when i finally did ask, i got a glass of hot water – as i was warned would
happen.} (don’t worry, i am now drinking
an ice cold coke zero from the sev. so i’m good.) i then took two tylenol pm
and said bye bye to the world for about eight hours. lovely.
here comes the exciting part – we arrive! we arrived in taiwan and rode a bus to the train
station. while there, i had my first
encounter with real taiwanese food. let
me tell you – walking into that seven eleven was scary! i didn't recognize one single thing! john has told me about many “delicious”
things to eat here, but i didn’t even know where to start. i was completely overwhelmed. so i settled on a steamed meat bun thingy
that turned out pretty good:
sadly, i can’t understand when someone tells me how much
something is. despite all of john’s hard
work drilling numbers into me, i still stare at the cashier with a blank face
for several seconds before i finally figure out what the real price is. does anyone know mandarin for “slower?” because i think if they just spoke a little
bit more slowly, i wouldn’t have to look so dumb! haha. goodness, i am going to have to start counting my steps….
then we chilled for awhile and admired asian babies from
afar. i love asian babies. they are all adorable without exception until
they are about six. from there, i can’t
guarantee that they are quite as cute. we smiled and played with this baby on the high-speed rail:
we admired scenery throughout the train ride. i quickly began to love the rice fields mixed
with five-story buildings, millions of mopeds, colorful signs, and tropical
plants. i am in awe with how different
it is here – how different the taiwanese people’s way of life is. but this place is so much more incredible
than just that.
we were picked up by jane, who is a beautiful nurse at the
hospital where we will be working. she
arranged for our ride to the apartment, showed us around, and even bought us
cookies. she is the epitome of what
people here are like – incredibly and genuinely nice. way nicer than people are in the united states . although i think ya’ll are quite nice, the taiwanese got ya spanked. it kind of
inspires me – i want to be willing to offer up whatever complete strangers need
out of the kindness of my heart. {within
reason, of course – i have yet to see any beggars here, so perhaps that makes
it easier to be giving, knowing that nobody is just seeking handouts?}
i almost got run over by a scooter. {mom – you would fit in perfectly here! everyone drives a scoot. you would dig it.} i have seen a four-person family crammed all
onto one scooter, a feat that i would have thought impossible. and there are lots of “street dogs” running
around. and we saw a dead cat. and there are all kinds of interesting
smells…. and my clothes are literally stuck to my body with sweat. but other than all of that, i love it here. i am exhausted – slaphappy really, and keep
going through ups and downs of – “i should never have come here….” to, “i freaking love this place!”
until tomorrow.....
{the hospital where we will be doing clinicals}
{our apartment building}
