It's a new year!!

Shi Nien Cuai La! Happy New Year! Happy Chinese New Year!!

The past few months have been filled with activities, new developments in my life and many festivities. I'll try to be brief and use as many pictures as possible. Sorry if they are not in chronological order.

This is our pretty much private beach in Kaohsiung. It's usually empty and it has become a weekly activity to go and just chill.

I had to leave my high schoolers and all of my classes threw me a goodbye party and gave me cards and cakes. I miss them.

We went to Toroko National Park on the East Coast for a weekend. Beautiful place!

The East Coast of the island is amazing! Green mountains, blue skies, jade hunting rivers, clean ocean!

Christmas Time!!!!

We ate dinner, watched movies and had a sleep over at our place. The next morning we played jenga, went to the mall, and ate lots and lots of good food!!Me and Anya were Courtney's and Ben's dates for their school's Christmas party! So fun!

Got a motorcycle as my Christmas present to myself! His name is Dylan and I have enjoyed driving it a lot!

I also got a new job! I work with kindergardners now, full time (22 hours a week). Love them. These are from the day we went to the museum.

This is Peacock Class - Big class (5-6 year olds)

This is Rabbit Class (Middle Class - 4 year olds)
Dragon Class (Babies - 2-3 year olds)

This is from my School's Chinese New Year party. All of the Chinese teachers danced to really cheesy music wearing super short skirts while the English teachers drummed tamborines and maracas.

These are my coworkers from Walton School (the other branch) dancing to YMCA by the Village People. Uh-mazing!

Chinese New Year Break!!
I am currently enjoying my week long vacation from work and loving it! My friend Jenna came to visit from China so for the first part of the week we both set out to explore the southern part of Taiwan.
2 girls+1 motorcycle+tent and sleeping bags= ramdom and crazy!!

This is the beach where we camped the first night. Our second night we camped at a random orchard in the middle of nowhere, and the third night in an empty junior high where we met up with some friends.

Cool field on the way back

We were supposed to cross the island east-west through the Southern Cross Island highway, a beautiful drive. We were surprised when after driving on it for about an hour we made a pit stop at a hotel and they told us the road was closed ahead. yup... we had to go back! We were soaked and freezing, so we decided to stay at the hotel for the night and enjoy the hot springs in the misty day in the middle of the gorge. So beautiful! Wish I had taken pictures. This is us after a good night of sleep on a BED! We are happy and this time prepared for the rain!

A minor accident. Oops.

This road was crazy! Super curvy, up and down hill, one lane for two ways! SCARY but super fun!

I'll try to keep updating the blog more often. Life happens very fast! I can't believe I've been gone for more than 7 months now!! Love you all!

Catching up with the craziness!!!

Too much to tell!! Life in Taiwan is going fast! There's always something to do and I love it!! I'll try to summarize and still give you the full effect of awesomeness and ridicule.

- ShauLiuoSho = Little Island. Beautiful place, first camping trip in Taiwan, great food, Taiwanese babies, snorkeling, jellyfish attack!, weird marine species... AWESOMENESS!!

Here we are. Six girls on scooters and motorcycles on our way to adventure. Don't tell, but we got lost on both the way there and back!!

This guy let us pet really cool animals: Blue and Green Sea stars, a huge red slug thing... cool stuff!!

- Aida! my roommate's mom, came to visit! I had known for a week before she surprised Anna! As you can imagine, it was a hard week. The Babbaganoush has never felt as hommie as when she was here = great food, clean house, motherly touch, fun, fun, fun!

Aida cooked for us and Anya had her tutoring class over for dinner. We ate, played games and learn the moves to the famous "Sorry, Sorry" song by Super Junior! It's hot stuff in Taiwan!

- During her stay here we went to DongGang for a boat burning celebration that only happens every 3 years. The event went from 2am until 6am or so. The ceremony started at the temple followed by a parade towards the ocean transfering the boat and all its parts and ended with the burning after long hours of waiting.

Where the ceremony got started! Lots of colors, sounds, smells and people!

The burning boat!

- Weekend of hell: 1. Helmet got stolen, 2. Fell down and hurt myself pretty bad, 3. Helga, my scooter got stolen, 4. I was asked to find a new job. Reasons why I'm not sad anymore about any of this: 1. got a cooler helmet, 2. I fall all the time. the only thing special about this one is that I have a cool story to tell now. 3. I got my scooter back!! The police found Helga close to my house and now it's back and running! 4. now that I don't have this one job, it seems that I can get an even better job where my friends work. Also, I wasn't fired because I'm a bad teacher - just politics.

- Said goodbye to my favorite class. I will miss them.

Joe, My favorite! He always knows the answer. Sam, a bit of a whiner. Vivian and Angel are twins but oh! So different. Vivian will be a famous artist some day.

- Celebrated the ridiculous Halloween holiday with cool friends, awesome costumes and lots and lots of dancing!!

The Newsy. The Russian Spy. Frida Kahlo. Emo Dude. Dirty Mexican. Gypsie Queen

I am happy here. Things are not what I expected. But at the end, What did I really expect? I wanted an adventure, something different, an experience to remember. This, I am getting. Remember me over here and write from time to time.

Much love!

Scooting my way away.

Last week I had my first scooter accident. I freaked out! Nothing serious, but never pretty. I've been meaning to write about it... you know, how the other scooter crossed my path and made me loose control, and how I impressively jumped off the scoot right on time to land on my feet and escape victoriously with only an ugly bruise on my upper right thigh. It was going to be an awesome entry. However, only in a weeks time I have an even better story to top that first one: My second scooter accident!!

Yes! It can happen twice! and in my case, the second time was worse. I was peacefully driving to my high school job when this guy comes out of an underground parking lot to the side of the road and thinks it's a good idea to make faces and the car coming behind him instead of looking at the road, where, oblivious, was I. So, with no time to break or get out of the way, the car crashed on my scooter and there I go to the floor, being dragged by inertia under my scooter, rubbing my right leg all over the pavement. The pavement was ok... my scooter was a little damaged... but the scrape on my leg says it was not a pretty accident! But it's ok. Hopefully this one will be the last. But... doesn't the alchemist say that if something happens once, it will not happen again. But if it does happen again, then it will certainly happen a third time? Oh! No! Lets hope he was wrong!

Anyway, other than a bruised and very scrapped right leg, life here in Kaohsiung is still awesome. Last week Team Armenia (our team) rocked the Charity Olympics, which featured sports such as Limbo, put the head on the cockroach, frisbee golf and pillow fighting. It was a hot and sweaty day, but most definitely fun.
Our team being INTENSE!! and my and Anya doing the Limbo!!
This weekend was also very fun. We needed to get out of the city for a while, so we decided to ride on our scoots and Anthony's new motorcycle and drive to Kenting, an awesome beach town on the very south of Taiwan. The drive there was beautiful and the town brought to us a glance of our former lives in OB, San Diego... peaceful, chill and salty. We swam, we tanned, we walked, shopped and ate... pretty perfect!

This is our hotel room. We got a sweet deal for sharing the 6 person room. Good thing we are good friends!
We also saw some cool natural fires in the middle of the mountains. It's weird! They just kinda burn, forever. We think there's natural gases coming from underground and when ignited, they just burn... maybe? Not sure, but pretty cool nonetheless. And of course, what do you do if you have eternal fires burning? A natural phenomenon? Taiwanese make popcorn! And not just any popcorn, but jiggle corn!!

Love from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Everyday wonders

It's September and I've been here for almost two months now. Life has taken its course and even though it is still exciting and different, now it's just life. My heart doesn't race as hard as it used to everytime I see a toddler and a dog riding a scooter with mom and dad. Although I was still highly impressed this past weekend when I saw a family of five riding in one little scoot - yeah, that's my record so far. However, it feels good to be more like a local just living and working and having fun.

I have left my first school and I am now teaching at two other places. One of them is right across the street from The Babbaganoush, our home, and it's a small school where I am the only English teacher. It's a bit of pressure, and I'm still getting used to the new dynamic, but I like it so far. The second job is at a public high school. It's a bit of a drive there, but oh so worth it! It reminds me on junior high in Mexico - dirty buildings, smelly teenagers, chalk boards, classes of 38+ kids - pretty fun. Their first questions are always: "Where are you from?" "Do you have a boyfriend" and "Do you like stinky tofu". Some of them are also fascinated by my nose ring and one of them asked me "how many kilograms you are". Translated: "how much do you weight" - I guess I am significantly larger than the average taiwanese 16 year old - obviously! The big classes are challenging, but I really enjoy it. I never thought I would feel comfortable teaching older kids, but it has actually been better than little ones. I am now mildly terrified of young children.

I have kept 2 of my classes at the first school. One of them is a small class of 8 older students preparing for the Enlglish test provided by the government. They are my favorite. I've gotten to know them pretty well by now and I find them so interesting and loving and cute. It will be sad to leave them, which i will unfortunately have to do because I do not qualify for an ARC (Alien Resident Card) because of my mexicanness and this one school is not willing to risk having me without one... i know! The trials of the Latinos follow me to Taiwan. But it's ok, I'm not the only one who can't get an ARC in this country and as long as I have a job, it will all be ok.

Besides work, living here is awesome. Going to the beach, water spa before class, walking around the Love River, hiking literally surrounded by monkeys, eating great food, riding on scooters, parties, friends - bottom line, it's a great place to be. Here are some pictures of these past few weeks.

This is part of a festival that has lasted about a week. They set up tents outside and people just come, pray, sing and burn incense and yellow pieces of paper and offer food to one of their gods. From what I understand as my students explained it, they do it as a prayer for prosperity.
This is up one of the mountains 10 minutes from our apartment. Mostly old people climb it - some of them barefoot. It seems like a place to hang out with friends, pray and even do some stretching exercises.

These are some of the residents at Monkey Mountain. They hang out and walk next to you. One of them almost attacked me and we have been warned not to take anything crunchy (bags, food, drinks) because they will jump you and take it! Not even joking!Oh! The Love River. Bike riders, food, pretty cafes - beautiful place.My Anya - roommate, friend, sister.
What's left of the Kaohsiung World Games '09 decorations. They used to be everywhere!
The beach after the typhoon. Trees just floated and now are stranded on the beaches. It's a beautiful sight. It smells like wet wood and ocean, the sounds the hollow logs make when they are hit by the waves make it seem unreal - it reminds me of something like a dinasour's graveyard. Taiwan has mostly recovered after the typhoon, but things like this remind you of the damage that was done.
This is our group out having Thai food for dinner celebrating Cooper visiting. He's Anya's friend from high school and our first visitor from our former lives - it was good to share our Taiwanese world with someone else.

So, come visit!
More to come later. I'll try to not dissapear for too long.
Much love.

After the storm

Well, as many of you know, the Typhoon Marakot hit Taiwan this past weekend. This is not the first one that Taiwan sees, but it was certainly the first one for us. This is a picture from our balcony on the 15th floor. The white fuzz is not fog, it's rain.
Thursday night we were told about it by our schools and were told not to go to work. "Slumber Party!" we all thought. So Ben, Courtney, Anthony and Danielle all prepared a night bag and came over to the Babbaganoush for what we thought would be a night and day of fun. We didn't think that a day would become three days and three nights of staying in because of the non-stop rain and crazy wind! So the cabin lock-down started Thursday night, accompanied by wonderful Jack Bauer (24 fans, you understand), lots of food, whisteling of wind, ratteling of windows and wet shoes. At the beginning for us, it was just a time to hang out and have fun. By the third day though, we realize how bad it was. On a trip to the grocery store we saw some of the destruction: trees on the ground, the sign of the store on the floor, rain inside of the market.

The good thing is that apparently we are in a good area of Taiwan - the South's got it better than the north. I was looking at some news websites this morning and attention is finally being paid at the disaster! There's docens of deaths and hundreds of people missing. Now we realize that we survived a Natural Disaster.The storm is over now, but there are still a lot of people suffering from the aftermath of this. Hopefully help will come to restore our fellow Taiwanese citizens since this is our home now.

The skies cleared out right on time for me to renew my visa. I had to do my first ever visa run this weekend, so Sunday I flew to Macau, Republica of China. It wasn't the most fun ever, but it was interesting to see a new place and a different culture that is only 1 hour and 30 minutes away from here.

Macau is oficially Portuguese territory on loan to China, or something like that. It's a complicated govermnent history, but the point is that it looks like a mix of a Colonial Mexican town, with portuguese and chinese writing everywhere and Las Vegas... yes, Vegas!

Here are a few pictures of my trip to Macau. Random city, but so beautiful.
The Casinos! These people take seriously their gambling and their shopping. Pure Tourism.
The main plaza where people just go sit, talk and eat next the fountain. Oh yes, and shop.

These are some of the ruins of Sao Paolo. I mastered the timer in my camera for these ones.