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.

I am an English teacher! Not even joking!

Today was my first official day as an English teacher. The challenge has just begun and I am already exhausted... I went from teaching 3 year olds in the morning to 17 year olds at night - not one is easier than the other, although some are funner.
My first class has 2 students - a little boy named Eric and a little girl name Angel. Yes, I am getting paid to hang out with 2 little kids and I love it! It was challenging to keep them going, but such a fun time. Then, after the fun came the storm - the biggest challenge in the school - third and fourth graders with bad attitudes! Sounds scary? Well, it was! I was told by my only foreign co-worker that getting this class to care would be one of the greatest victories in the school - I call that a challenge! 7 kids that hopefully will care about learning English by the end of the year - it can't be that bad, right? (ok, this is the time when you all send me suggestions and comforting words because I a truly freaking out!)

My last class was my favorite. I have always been scared of teenagers - mexican, american, or any other nationality that I can think of. However, it seems like taiwanese teenagers are not as scary as I thought! This, I learned today. My last class (which, incidentally, ended at 9:00 pm) was doomed to be the worse hour of my day. However, it was the best. I sat down and talked to a 16 and a 17 year old about life, did some reading and laughed a ton! The class is supposed to duplicate by the end of the week (four whole students!), which means that I'll get to have fun with them. Their focus is to pass this one test that the taiwanese government issues twice a year to demonstrate their English ability. It's a big deal, and I now get to be part of these kids lives. I'm excited.

Overall, it was a great day. I am exhausted but so so hopeful. I couldn't help but remember my English teachers in elementary school. Teacher Marlene was my favorite. She was a hippie girl that wore long skirts and thick Dr. Matin boots - oh! she was my hero. And now, many years later, I am that person - minus the Dr. Martin's, or any shoes whatsoever. I am hopeful that someday they will be completely fluent and that their lives will be better because of this little part that I have invested in their lives, and most of all, that I will grow through this experience. I think those two things will make all of this worth it!