can't sit still

Have you been to Africa?

2012-01-03T11:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've been home in Utah for four months, surprise! But this last summer I spent my time tucked away in Eastern Africa leading a team of 30 volunteers in development/humanitarian projects with my kick butt co-director, Suzanne Whitehead. We performed a numerous of projects and good-deeds but what the Ugandans taught us will stay with us for eternity. Watch this movie clip I made in summarization of our projects and experiences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pL2Pb1DkjI&context=C3b9ee50ADOEgsToPDskLa4ia5Ui9cGAhXyLfT7YZl

This one time...in Russia

2011-04-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here is our four-month experience from September to December in a matter of five minutes, but if you care to see what happened every day in St. Petersburg, look here.

dear green island: you are beautiful

2010-07-19T05:04:00.000-07:00

As our last vacation together in Taiwan, Amy, Brandon, Susan, Megan, and I headed to the south eastern region of Taiwan.

We left bright and early at 5:30 Sunday morning, as check out time was 7AM anyway, because the new teachers were coming. We were startled by our train heading south when we thought the train route would go to the most northern regions first and then head south. Nonetheless, we figured it out and we were off on our 5 hour journey to get us to our first stop:

Taitung

Taitung was actually a relatively dull city with only a few spare beaches and some lousy street shops.

We seemed to make the time pass just fine though.

Next stop: Green Island

It's nice to feel wanted or at least know Susan's wanted.

We had 3 scooters between the 5 of us and we spent many hours just circling the small scenic island.

Ocean view breakfasts

We snorkeled for a few hours one morning but have no pictures to prove it.

We climbed through some really muddy swamps and improvised a movie about a king lizard (the swamp was obviously not fascinating enough to keep us entertained).

We saw the historic prisons and encampments where inmates were kept. It used especially during the White Terror period.

We took ridiculous photos in the themed shops.

We went hiking (climbed stairs) through the center of the island.

We did some laying out but most of the laying/floating was either done in the ocean or in our air conditioned room during the peak hours of the day.

We normally do these things when we watch the sun set over Taiwan, but our most favorite thing was to wake up bright and early to watch the sun's rays beam over the morning east horizon.

Here are some of the pictures from our early mornings on Green Island:

We're standing in one of the only three saltwater hot springs in the entire world.

Green Island was definitely a splendid way to end my time with some of my best friends. I'll miss them!

the finale

2010-07-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

I'll miss you Berhan! You were absolutely wonderful. Thank you for the memories.

Basic Reading class: You seemed all too eager to see me go. I'm only hoping you didn't truly mean it and are now praying to have me back.

Anyway, I enjoyed teaching you all and miss you!

Oh, Enrichment: You could be fun but a little much when all you wanted to do was have/make fun. I don't blame any of you though; you shouldn't be forced to be in English class till 7PM.

So, you might have been a handful but maybe one day we'll be able to actually effectively communicate to each other.

My little kindergarten kiddies: How you reminded me of the innocence and purity of childhood and how precious the time is. You taught me patience and endurance while exemplifying unconditional love.

Eason

These little girls are around age 4 but they are already fashion divas and they pose like so.

Little dwarfs colorfully dressed up to do their graduation dance.

Carol just kills me.

I miss Tristan and all his many stories.

Cute little piggies.

Monica grew on me during the semester and she became my hardest working dancer.

Trouble kids

Cooper calls me Miss Cupcake!

I miss these little guys a lot.

My co-teachers: What an amazing group of people who inspired me to work hard and enjoy every minute of Taiwan.

I miss my buds but hope to cherish our friendship and memories together forever.

down south

2010-06-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Being a resident in the middle of Taiwan (Taichung, Feng Yuan), I was told I must visit the southern regions of Taiwan to experience a change of pace and to see some beautiful sites, and that I did!

KAOHSIUNG

Amy and I departed on a rainy Saturday morning at 6:30AM to head to Kaohsiung. We planned to meet up with a couchsurfer who would be hosting us for one night in her city. We were excited when Christina (our host) and her friend wanted to tour around the city with us.

They took us to a beautiful college which sat on a small hill overlooking the Taiwan Strait.

We then zipped to Chichin Island on a quick ferry ride.

We picked out our lunch from this array of fresh seafood (some even alive) just outside the restaurant.

I touched the ocean for the first time while on the island. Brandon met up with us and we all slept, read our books, and watched surfers while lounging on these rock slabs.

We smacked down on this ice, ice cream and fruit dish, and we finished our dinner off with chocolate popcorn.

We absolutely fell in love with The Love River back on mainland Taiwan as we took an hour ferry ride through the entire port.

KENTING

The next morning was a complete downpour but we were determined to take the two hour bus south to Kenting.

We had a rainy first day but it was endurable as we made a tour on our scooters down the most southern roads in Taiwan. Stunning scenery kept us captivated as the lush mountains were on one side and the sandy beaches on the other.

Our first stop on our ride was this gigantic rock in the ocean. Brandon felt the need to cliff jump just as non-Taiwanese tourists have most likely done before him.

We made it to the most southern point of the island where the downpour stopped just in time for some photos.

Squinty-eyed, big smile and peace signs hunched over the most southern Taiwan plaque.

Our scooter ride led us up the east coast of Taiwan where the empty country roads and cliff views of the oceans made the scenery unbelievable.

We had a few small dinners that night. One of them being at this famous Thai restaurant where all the guests sat outside under small pavilions.

And no town stop is complete without checking out it's night market. We shopped the Kenting streets (after realizing it's like everywhere else) where we found this incredibly unusual large ceramic woman.

The next day, Brandon left early to make it back to teach while Amy and I hiked around Kenting National Park all morning long.

The coral gorges were full of crabs and lizards a plenty.

We made for some relaxing at the beach and it's at this spot that I dropped my camera in the sand and it hasn't worked again since.

Later that day we met up with Jamy, a couchsurfer, in Wu Chuan which is just 20 minutes north of Kenting. We had a wonderful night, without a camera, as he took us to five or so west coast beaches, dined with us at some of his favorite places, and then gave us a history tour of his town.

That night we slept at his place on his spare wood bed.

The next morning the sun was out and shining. It was the perfect day to hit up snorkeling and a boat ride in the ocean that included a banana raft ride.

Here we are outfitted in our gear. At the beach, we were given lifejackets, a life preserver and a lifeguard just so we could snorkel in the 4-5 ft. deep water. We saw some great coral and a variety of fish in all different shapes and colors. Out of just the six or seven times I've been before, I think this was some of the best snorkeling I've done.

After a refreshing morning, we made some empty stomachs very happy with this Thai food.

We then did a whole lot of this until we had to pack our bags and head back to 'real life' in Feng Yuan.

me speak-a chinese-a

2010-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Donghai Daxue (Univeristy) has unique architecture designed from the Qing Dynasty period

I've been studying at Donghai University in Taichung, Taiwan for 4 months now and I can't believe it's time to say goodbye. Susan and I have had (good) memories: missing/barely making transportation; dedicating 5 hours every Thursday (3 hours for bus and train rides, 2 hours for class); our teacher telling us that 'he's too kind' (in Chinese) b/c he tells us we speak well (in essence, we don't speak as well as he gives us credit for).

Susan and I soaking in all the Chinese we can in class with Lin Laoshi (Lin teacher).

Susan and I are the only students during our 2 hour class. In February, we decided we'd focus on learning how to speak Mandarin rather than be overwhelmed by reading and writing characters. One of the tricky parts about the language is that it's written language (traditional characters) has no phonetic equivalence. So, you can't look at a character and sound out a word. This is one of the reasons why Taiwanese and Chinese students spend many hours in school, because they have an unbelievable amount of characters to memorize. It even comes down to the stroke order of the character. My students complain about being teased if they write their characters with the wrong strokes.

The University was founded by Methodists missionaries in 1955 (which is unique because most Taiwanese are Buddhists/Daoists). The beautiful Luce Memorial Chapel, designed by the noted architect I.M. Pei, lies in the middle of campus.

This language is challenging! To help, Taiwan has developed a national writing system that allows for phonetic pronunciation called ba, pa, ma, fa (looks like this: ㄅㄆㄇㄈ). Yep, I didn't learn that either but my fellow Donghai colleagues, Amy and Whitney, did and they enjoy it. I chose to learn pīnyīn, which is used in Taiwan and China. This is the phonetic spelling of the sounded word but this still isn't easy. For example: the pīnyīn letter x (which is used often) sounds like the English "ch" as in "church", but without the "t"-sound at the beginning. It's pronounced with the tip of the tongue close to or touching the back of the upper front teeth. All of the words have a difficult Roman phonetic spelling, which is different from what English speakers are used to.

And goodness, I haven't even talked about tones yet! All I have to say is that's the hardest factor about speaking Mandarin. You can have the word right but if you say it with the wrong intonation (tone), the locals do not understand.

It's interesting to be a small part of the campus life in Taiwan.

I've had a great time trying to speak to the Taiwanese people. Of course there have been some slips while out on the streets like: saying pee instead of thank you, I want dumplings instead of I want sleep, or a curse word instead of the verb 'to look'. But, I've appreciated the locals patience to listen and try to understand; they are special people!

Donghai's architecture looks similar to Japanese style because of the Qing Dynasty's influence.

It feels like I am just starting to get the hang of Mandarin just as my time is coming to an end. I hope to use it again someday, but for now, my next goal will be mastering the Slavic language, Russian!

More photos of my beautiful campus in Taichung, Taiwan:

跆拳道 tái quán dào

2010-05-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

跆拳道 tái quán dào Tae Kwon Do

A quick background on the sport: Taekwondo originated in Korea and currently stands as their national sport. With loose translation, it means "the way of the foot and fist" or "the way of kicking and punching." The sport highly emphasizes kicking techniques, which distinguishes it from other martial arts. The Koreans think the leg is the longest and strongest weapon and historically they thought the hands were too valuable to be used in combat.

I've been studying Tae Kwon Do in Feng Yuan, Taiwan just over two months now. Susan and I take class with children ranging from ages 7 to 18 for 4.5 hours 3x a week (we're just so blessed to always be around children). We've had a great time learning different forms and kicks, and harassing the Taiwanese students, but one of the most humorous parts of class is the language barrier between us and our coaches.

We tested in front of judges a few weeks ago in hopes we could earn our yellow belt. It can be a bit confusing to be given directions in Chinese, but we felt confident with the test. In fact after performing a series of kicks and forms, our coaches had Bai Die (Susan) and Shi Lian Yin (me) stand up and be recognized in front of 50+ students. We're only assuming and hoping he said positive things but it's always hard to tell without knowing Mandarin.

It was just the other day that we finally were able to tie our yellow belts around our white uniforms.

Now that we have those, we are seemingly never satisfied and are now hoping to earn our blue belts before we leave in a month.

air-popped

2010-05-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

I remember that air popper we had around our kitchen when I was young, but as soon as my mother and sisters found their true love (microwave popcorn), who knows where that device disappeared to.

Well, in the depths of this Taiwanese school some air-poppers have been discovered. Some of the teachers started using them and I thought I'd give it a try. Low and behold, I have fallen in love with this inexpensive snack not only because I am living on a meager wage but also because air-popped popcorn is nutritionally sound.

As most people know: plain popcorn and slightly seasoned popcorn are both low in calories (approximately 30 calories for three cups). Since I've forgotten from my college nutrition classes, I wanted to research what popcorn offers besides the low calories.

Well, USDA is always encouraging us to get more whole grain foods; popcorn is one of those! Popcorn is a great choice of a carbohydrate serving while also being high in fiber. Americans rarely get enough of the recommended amount of fiber in their diets (20-35g).

Popcorn makes up one serving of the starches recommended by the American Dietetic Association, and you might be surprised to know that it's serving size fairly generous. Three cups of popped popcorn is the equivalent of one slice of bread, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, and one cup of cereal. I don't know about you but I think three cups of food sounds better than just one.

So, if you don't have an air-popper (it's okay to admit that you do) popping kernels is easy to do on the stove. Just make sure you have a pot with a lid, a few tbsp. of healthy oils and kernels.

May the healthy popping begin!

for all you chocolate cake lovers

2010-05-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

More birthdays = trying new recipes

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

After finally finding cake mixes in Taiwan, I've been excited to use one of the cake doctor's recipes. This recipe book is a guide to making any ordinary cake into an extraordinary cake! (The author probably uses that tag line somewhere but I don't care to find it. )

CAKE:

I sort of followed this recipe and it was delicious but many substitutions had to be made.

-Chocolate cake mix: I had to use the only vanilla cake mix we could find in Taiwan. I added a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and a few extra tablespoons of sugar as a substitute.

-Sour cream: I had to use vanilla yogurt (can't find plain yogurt) because sour cream is ridiculously expensive in Taiwan.

-Instant chocolate pudding: I had to use non-instant egg custard pudding and added cocoa powder to make it chocolate.

FILLING:

Getting some tips from Martha, I made a buttercream filling for the center by following this recipe.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

I had to picky about which of the many online chocolate glazes I could choose from because of my lack of ingredients (cocoa powder and confectioner's sugar). But I lucked out because this recipe made a glaze that is similar to my mother's infamous boston cream pie chocolate glaze (a favorite).

A happy pseudo-birthday to Erin and Amy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This is one decadent cake recipe. But after looking at the pictures and celebrating the birthday of a peanut butter lover, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try this cake.

CAKE:

This cake gave me a few minor headaches in the wee hours of the morning. The batter is very runny and it never really set up well. The three separate cake layers stuck to the pan and all inverted when placed on a plate. It was my roommate Sunny who saved the 'look' by suggesting I serve the cake on a frisbee.

FROSTING:

The recipe calls for a lot of cream cheese and we don't have the budget to buy more than 8 oz. I ended up trying to compensate with more peanut butter. The frosting ended up looking like cookie dough (I in fact had too much of this 'frosting' so I added flour and made some candy pb cookies with the extra). To moisten the pb frosting, I added a cup of vanilla yogurt and a few tbsp. of milk.

GLAZE:

Looking at this cake you can already tell it's going to have a lot of flavor. I only did 1/2 of the amount of glaze that it called for because I only wanted it for decorating. Of course like all the others, I had to do all sorts of substituting to make up for the lack of ingredients.

-Semisweet chocolate chips: (the closest place to find those is 45 min. away at Costco), so I had to use their waxy, less flavorful chocolate baking chunks.

-Corn syrup: I substituted with liquid fructose flavoring.

-Half and half: I used this substitution recipe.

With all of these adaptions it didn't quite turn out like the original images. My glaze was more of a shell around the cake.

In aggregate, the cake was delicious but very intense. It needs ice cream or milk. It had a nice blend of different consistencies between the moist cake, creamy frosting and crisp shell. Peanut butter cups would have been nice to decorate with but when you don't have them, snicker bar chunks taste great too.

A happy 23rd birthday for our one and only Brandon!

I have to admit I am looking forward to baking with normal ingredients when I live a normal life.

365

2010-05-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

Snapping a photo every single day for 365 days was definitely not my original idea. But how many times do we actually do things that have never been done before? not many.

So, here is to the next 365 days entering my 25th year of life. check it out @http://notmyoriginalidea.blogspot.com.

up north

2010-05-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

A trip up north to Taipei and surrounding areas has been on my list to do for quite some time (yes, vacations and the planning of them are often on my list to do, but you'd do the same if you were here).

I used the handy networking system couchsurfing to find Susan and me free places to stay while up in the capital. This was basically the only detail of our trip that was arranged; everything else was going to be finalized and configured as we went.

Just 45 min. south of Taipei, we visited the Wulai scenic park.

We didn't expect our transportation to the scenic area to be these small child-like trains.

The majestic images we saw in our guide books look a little different than the rather unsubstantial falls I'm in front of.

We took a short tram ride up and over the waterfall to the top of the mountain. Of course, just like any other mountain top, there are activities awaiting (mini amusement park rides, hotel, unused swimming pool, 'lost boy' in neverland activities, etc.)

Susan and I took our own sweet time to do as we pleased at the top of Wulai.

Cute Asian kids wearing matching outfits

Finding more waterfalls in this overdeveloped 'natural area'

After Wulai, we were able to meet up with our local Feng Yuan friend Lily in her college town Sanxia just outside of Taipei. We spent the night climbing up a mountain looking at fireflies.

We also climbed up one of the biggest Buddhist temples along the mountain, seeing this famous 60 ft. statue as we made our ascent.

Susan, Lily and I are at the top of the temple overlooking the entire Taipei city valley.

Just giving the Taipei 101 (world's 2nd tallest building) a small pinch

The next day Lily gave us a tour of her National Taipei University campus.

Then we shopped till we dropped. (shopping seriously wears me out more than a full day of exercising)

We tried on hats, clothes, and accessories.

The antique Sanxia village was perfect for finding the souvenirs we've been needing.

Who knows why, but I was the only one who walked away with a purchased hat.

That evening we met up with some more friends- Taiwanese and Japanese, ate Korean food, and talked about Thailand and southeast Asia. After dinner, my brain was slightly muddled to where my current geographical location was.

This photo was with our last couchsurfing host. She made for one interesting night.

Thank you Taipei county for keeping us entertained.

you just never know

2010-05-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

I've come to appreciate the perception of Taiwanese randomness and spontaneity. Without even putting my self in unusual circumstances (ok, discounting the fact that I'm living on an Asian island), the Taiwanese will surprise me with what I still consider to be adventitious. My time on this island has never seemed mundane and this could correlate with the quirky things that are constantly occurring. Because I have lived in other countries and experienced other's cultures, I hope to not be ethnocentric or close-minded in regards to finding unusual things.

My plain point is this is a peculiar culture but I ABSOLUTELY love it.

Just a small sample luckily caught on camera (not in chronological order):

Themed Restaurants:

The Modern Toilet in Taichung

Sitting on toilet seats at a bathtub table, eating our ice cream from a mini squatter.

Processions:

This long procession was caught from my balcony window.

In Taipei, this loud and grandiose birthday procession for a Daoist God distracted us from our street shopping.

Exercise:

A natural hiking trail is an anomaly around here, they prefer staircases.

Hiking usually leads to a random physical activity at the summit (ie. weighted hula hoops).

Cute Apparel:

The only word to describe this is and most things here: cute

Bows are everywhere in Taiwan: on t-shirts, earrings, bags, headbands and apparently hair itself has adapted.

I am a sucker for some of that 'cute' stuff too. Just like this random local who paired her outfit with the white bunny.

Unplanned Events:

Upon visiting the famous Chiang Kai-Shek memorial building, we didn't expect there to be an earth day celebration where we tasted vegan foods from all over the world.

Or when we decided to get Cold Stone Ice Cream in Taichung and across the street a book fair offered free self-portrait sketches.

One thing is for sure about Taiwan- you just never know what you'll find. That's why it is a requisite to leave the house with a camera and an open mind.

sun + moon = lake

2010-04-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Brandon and I recently escaped for a weekend whirl at Sun Moon Lake. We went with no plans or expectations and ended our trip feeling completely elated because it went so well.

Taking off mid-day Saturday, we took a few train rides along the beautiful countryside. Who wouldn't be tempted to take a picture of themselves on the train ride? We certainly did. But we always enjoy how the Taiwanese are willing to set up their tripods, even when there are capable photographers amongst them.

After the train ride to Shueili, we were then to take a shuttle up to Sun Moon Lake. After finding the cashier (below) at the shuttle station fast asleep, we learned from a local that we missed the shuttle and the next wouldn't arrive for another 2 hours.

Lack of an itinerary allows for spontaneity. For the 2 hour wait, we were able to soak up some rays by a large river eating juicy watermelon and reading our books.

Well, we didn't arrive in Sun Moon Lake till late and we didn't know what was in store for us. After finding the bike shops closed and the camp grounds overcrowded, we decided to venture off on foot and find our own area to set up camp.

After walking around the windy mountain roads for maybe 30-40 minutes searching for a trail to lead us somewhere, we were stopped by a Taiwanese woman in her car. We interpreted her frenzied Chinese to mean that it was dangerous for us to continue walking in the dark . She relentlessly refused that we leave her presence unless she took us to our destination. OUR DESTINATION? We didn't have one. Soon enough, Brandon was pointing to a random trailhead on the map he was carrying.

Our saving grace (aka. Tiffany- of whom doesn't like her English name because it resembles 'expensive') drove us for merely 15-20 minutes in the opposite direction we were originally headed. She understood our intentions to camp and we were impressed with her willingness to drop us off at this trailhead when the signs posted NO CAMPING.

The long trail (it was really a long staircase) led down to the water with a small outlook platform and a lighthouse. Only being disrupted once by a group of people (who might have been on to us with their many questions) Brandon and I had each other, the many spiders, toads and the beautiful lake to ourselves for the evening.

We set up camp and were never discovered...at least we don't think so (we heard someone fishing or doing something close to us in the middle of the night). In the morning, we may or may not have 'fallen' into the water. It's ILLEGAL to swim at Sun Moon except for one national day a year.

Since a 2 hour cycling workout was on our triathlon training schedule anyway, we found it appropriate to bike entirely around the massive lake. Windy hills and roads with picture taking and hiking up to temples ended up being more like a 4 hour bike ride.

So, we ended up only riding on a few paths where they posted NO BIKES ALLOWED. And dipping into the lake water again only seemed like the most logical thing to do when there's always a chance of heat exhaustion from cycling in the hot sun.

We finished our adventure Sunday night at Sun Moon Lake's nominated best Chinese restaurant (people were being turned down left and right but we're lucky enough to squeeze our way in). We watched the sunset through the fog and then headed home.

Thank you Sun Moon for letting us bend your rules and get away with it all!

In the Classroom

2010-04-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

After the hard work is finished... the books are read, the sound pronunciation tests are finished, the writing is done, my students do a variety of activities so they have the opportunity to speak as much English as possible.

The Kinders

The Kindergarten classes are the exception to this. They of course just get to have fun all morning long but they must speak English. They go through four rotations (I teach 2 classes and Callie teaches 2 classes).

They get to: 1. eat food 2. read and talk about a book 3. make an art project 4. bounce around in a padded room and call it PE

Frank after he made his peanut butter and jelly cookie cutter sandwich

I still love reading those Berenstain Bear books

Sometimes it's hard not to just squeeze Robbie; he's so fun to have in class

For PE, I have been teaching these kids how to dance. (sorry for the shaky camera...they still need me to do the dance with them)

Carol and Monica were caught spontaneously blowing out the candles of Jay's birthday cake hat.

The Trouble Makers
(just my older students)

My other two classes (9-10 year olds) had fun doing some 'spring time' activities. Since most students are not Christian, they don't understand the connection between Christ, Easter eggs and bunnies...oh wait, do any of us know? Nonetheless, they didn't object nor ask why they were on a hunt to find candy-filled plastic eggs (why would they? it's sugar!)

Sharon's obviously about to pounce upon another egg finding

No deluxe egg decorating kits here! It's all about the vinegar, water and food coloring

Did you know if you write your name with white crayon on the egg- the dye will not color that area?

Anyway, I just LOVE these kids!

3.14 (just a belated pie day)

2010-04-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sweets in Taiwan just really don't hit the sweet tooth spot, so I guess that is why we keep attempting the culinary art of baking.

So everyone apprised me about how to save the pie crusts from shrinking after it was baked and 1/2 of it's original size.

I love banana cream pie and enjoyed this recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 bananas, sliced

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.

Banana cream & mulberry baked pies were just what us teachers needed at the end of the week.

Lost Boys in Never Neverland

2010-04-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

A group of English co-teachers and Taiwanese co-workers went camping a few weekends ago and boy, were we in for something new.

Some of the unexpected results:

1. The Taiwanese don't really utilize the park; everyone camps within a few feet of each other under small pavilions. Our group was loud, but the engagement party next to us, involving 20+ Taiwanese, also had their fair share of noise.

2. It's apparent that most Taiwanese aren't connoisseurs of the great outdoors, but bringing a suitcase for an overnight trip? come on.

3. Supposedly the camping fee included frozen meats delivered in a box. The box also came with the supplies needed for starting the fire, bags of charcoal, a grilling rack, and more.

4. Just in case you can't figure out the frozen goody box or handle sleeping on the groomed dirt, there are hotels and restaurants at the top of the campsite.

5. A bee keeper providing us fresh honey

6. Jurassic Park playground

7. Astroturf sledding

8. Zipline swings

9. Suspension bridges

10. Tightrope walking

11. Well manicured flower gardens

12. Firefly parks

And that is why I felt like one of the Lost Boys in never Neverland.

Training in Feng Yuan

2010-04-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

As you might know, I've willingly signed myself up for an Olympic Triathlon the weekend of June 12 & 13. I have been assiduously training with my co-teacher Brandon for nearly two months already (just a few more to go).
The race will be the following:

1.5 km swim, 40 km ride & 10 km run
(.93/24.8/6.2 miles)

So, training on top of everything we're already doing can be a little hectic (doing each event 2x a week and sometimes 2x in one day for 1-2 hours each). But Feng Yuan, Taiwan has graciously provided us the perfect training grounds for our preparation. We are a little spoiled as you will see below.

The Feng Yuan Bike Path

Only 15 minutes on bike from our school, lays the nicely paved bike path that stretches for nearly 12 miles in one direction.

The bike path is not crowded in the early morning weekdays when I often frequent. Come Saturday and Sunday, the path hosts rollerblading CRAM schools (shown above), Taiwanese cyclist clubs, families and friends renting single and tandem bicycles, and runners/fast walkers of all shapes and sizes;
it can wear anyone out (baby boy completely exhausted)!

The Diore Swimming Pool

Only a 15 minute bike ride away, this sparkly clean pool has plenty of lap pools and isn't crowded during my lunch break.

I haven't seen this part available yet. Even though the kids are in school, don't they realize adults want to play too?!

The reward after a long swim is spending time using a few of the 15-20 different jets.

I've got new running shoes (they are a men's shoe because the women's section doesn't come bigger than a size 8). Now, all I need to find is a generous female cyclist to let me exchange my rusty old mountain bike for her shiny thin-tire bike for maybe a few training sessions and the race.

Maybe I am my mother's daughter

2010-03-30T03:17:00.000-07:00

My mother is notoriously known for her baking. She can improvise, mimic and create all sorts of delicious baked goods. Well after the first cake I made in Taiwan, I somehow convinced my current roommates that I am skilled in the culinary art just like my mama smith and they have all requested I make them homemade cakes for their birthdays.

Building the cakes and designing them are 1/2 the fun (I'm sure you know the other 1/2). Too bad you can't taste them, but I'll give you my 9 judge's (roomies) verdicts on the recipes.

Susan's Carrot Cake: 1st Place

Recipe:

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups finely shredded carrots
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs

Grease and lightly flour 2- 9” round pans. In a mixer bowl combine the first 6 ingredients. Add next 3 ingredients, beating with electric mixer till combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Turn into pans. Bake in a 325 degree oven 40 minutes for the round pans.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese
3 to 4 cups powder sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Milk

Erin's Banana Cake: 2nd Place

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons soda
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3)

Mix and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar
One 8 ounce cream cheese
1 cube butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

(I used hazelnut chocolate spread & cream cheese frosting between the layers and on top. Ferro Rocher's chocolate & bananas were also used for decorating. Creating 4 layers made this cake a little too dense; 2 layers would have worked much better.)

Sunny's Ice Cream Cake: 3rd Place

Recipe:

Start at least one day before you need to serve the cake.
Take the ice cream out of the freezer and allow to thaw for 20-30 minutes.
Mix Vanilla ice cream with 4-5 Oreos. (1.5 quarts will fill a 9" cake pan).
Line the round cake pan with plastic wrap. (chill the pan prior if possible)
Fill the pan with softened ice cream
Cover with plastic wrap, then foil. Place it in the freezer overnight to re-harden.
Bake your favorite white cake recipe at least 6 hours before serving. The cake must be cool before proceeding.
Assemble the cake by layering it above & below the ice cream with whip cream, chocolate syrup and bananas.
Decorate quickly with whip cream, Oreos & chocolate syrup.
Place in freezer for 3 hours so it can set.
Remove from freezer 15-20 minutes before serving time.

Megan's White Layered Cake: 4th Place

Recipe:

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
4 egg whites

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter, milk and 1 tsp. vanilla & mix (batter will be thick). Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Then add the unbeaten egg whites and beat for 2 more minutes.

Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes. After cool, decorate with vanilla frosting and whip cream.

The Indigenous Asian Cherry Blossoms

2010-03-30T02:49:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago a group of us (3 teachers, our friend Kevin and his 'gym' friend) headed to Alishan National Scenic Area. Taking off early Saturday morning we expected to arrive at our destination by car in a few hours...well it took 5 hours (after many wrong turns- even narrowly escaping the complete entrance onto a freeway from the off-ramp).

After winding around the mountain to the top for the last 1.5 hours, we made it to the Alishan town and scenic parks to look at the cherry blossoms.

I usually don't mind taking pictures with the locals but I especially don't mind when the locals are cute guys with cute glasses.

Our group from L to R: Me, Kevin's 'gym friend' who doesn't speak a lick of English, Kevin, Whit & Susan

Our Dearest Sir Muffin Poo Two

2010-03-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

April 1995-March 2010

Thanks for being born to Nitzi Poo with your family (litter) of five in 1995. You made an eight year old, puppy lover's dreams come true.

You were the perfect fit for our family! You're fun loving personality helped counteract your ornery mother. You loved belly rubs, sunshine, and food.

Thank you for your ability to endure so many things: bi-weekly wagon rides down Lostwood; weekly (okay, not always) dog washes followed by extensive blow-drying maintenance and scissor haircuts around the eyes; long drawn out walks that resulted in carrying you home; getting dressed up in doll clothes; performing tricks after tricks just to get an off-brand dog biscuit; sled rides; being carried like a teddy bear; being fed diet dog food most of your life; obediently listening to the infamous song "cages dogs, cages"; being stuffed in a dog cage with your mother for countless hours; being a good sport about the relentless teasing.

You are probably happier than ever! I miss and love you. I can't wait to see you and Nitzi again.

The Cat's Out of the Bag

2010-03-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Someone out there leaked vital information: I will pretty much do anything! Or am I completely transparent to configure that it even happens cross-culturally?

It apparently didn't take the director of the school, Francis, too long to figure that one out.

For my first introduction to most of my student's parents, I was on stage acting like Francis' estranged Taiwanese twin sister. For this lucky opportunity to stun and awe the parents during the student's Chinese New Year program, I not only had apparent hygienic issues (ratted hair and lipstick practically to my ears) but I also appeared to be quite the airhead that feels inspired to express myself freely through spastic dancing.

Francis' envisioned plan for this scene of the program was to have the entire audience laughing hysterically at my expense. But I have to say, it's not too hard to get the Taiwanese giggling or flushed when I am just at a restaurant casually moving my head to a fun Chinese song. (If you understand the principle of 'losing face' in Asia, you'll understand that they never put themselves in these types of situations.)

I think there were some good laughs (I was too into the movement to keenly listen) so how about you be the judge.

Enjoy the pictures and videos:

If the parents went home questioning the credibility of their new son or daughter's English teacher... at least they could go home knowing their kids looked adorable.

Just a Good Old Saturday Outing

2010-03-12T03:59:00.000-08:00

Early last Saturday morning, Susan, Erin (fellow co-teachers) and I all headed out with alacrity for a day trip to a small town south of our local Feng Yuan. The three of us are the minority that don't have to teach on Saturday mornings and believe me, we have no qualms about it!

After some re-planning and a splash of spontaneity after we couldn't see what we originally planned for until later, we went further south and added the town of Ji Ji to our itinerary. It's a quaint town void of the urbanization we see in most places. Cobble stone streets, flora and fauna scenery on the back roads, no electronic machines near or at the train station, and of course with any Taiwan town-friendly people.

On our quick stop to this town, a kind teenager escorted us on the back roads to get us to a beautiful temple that was destroyed in the 1999 Taiwan earthquake.

Random Taiwanese enjoy getting their picture taken with us (in front of the earthquake temple).

We then headed to Ershuei where we planned to see some wild monkeys. We couldn't see them earlier in the day because they were supposedly napping, but they sure were awake when we stopped by.

We had rented these bikes from the "So Funny" bike company for the day and we used them to explore. No matter the town, Taiwan is good for finding yourself some blended Daoist-Buddhist temples.

We found these:

I had Susan snap a photo of me jumping off the stairs. On this particular attempt at a 'jump' photo, she used her skilled knowledge to count to three in Chinese. It caught me off guard and this is the photo that resulted:

After climbing a treacherous hill with our bikes in the hot sun, we entered this beautiful temple. The temple hosts were so sweet to give us the traditional winter drink...steaming hot water. We appeared to look appreciative when we dumped the water in our empty water bottles when they weren't looking.

That night a group of us saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D at the theatre (my 2nd 3D movie in Taiwan). We always listen keenly to the private tutorial we get about their particular and precious 3D glasses....we of course don't understand a thing.

The movie is a Tim Burton production. If you know his style or seen the movie you know the dialogue, acting and cinematography can be a bit wacky. We (us Americans) wonder how the movie was perceived after Chinese translation.

Coming out of an American movie in Taiwan can always be a self-esteem booster; I literally had a line of people that wanted to take a photo with me and a few others in front of the Alice In Wonderland poster boards. Here's a shot we snapped quickly:

An Epic Holiday with the Kuo Family

2010-02-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

The most important days of the year: Chinese New Year Eve and Day. I was able to spend them with my good friend Tricia Kuo's family.

The Kuos are a very modern Taiwanese family; They don't really believe in many of the auspicious things that most other families believe in. But meeting the entire crew and spending the biggest holiday of the year was still quite a treat!

The biggest event: The New Year's Eve Dinner

A few extended family members and friends came to join us. The feast ignited with 'cheers' of Asian vodka, my Sprite, while shouting 新年快樂! xīn nián kuài lè (Happy New Year)!

On the menu:

Giant fish

Jellyfish tentacles

Pig feet

Raw sausage

Meatballs

Red, well mostly pink, meat
Lots of tentacles and parts of sea creatures

A Slew of other things they couldn't translate : )

And yes, I was given everything. I sat quietly drumming my fingers on my lap thinking mind over matter. Supposedly a lot of those foods are eaten to improve your complexion; I am incredulously reviewing that idea while staring at my acne.

Other events from the holiday:

-Red Envelopes with money are handed out to the elders and children. Much to my surprise, I received envelopes from the family!

-Firecrackers

-Tricia taking care of my skin with all her many products.

-Enjoying lunch in view of a beautiful lake.

-Giddy about driving through the mountains

-Visiting historic Chiang Kai-Shek parks and museums all afternoon

Chinese New Year

2010-02-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year!

Just a few of the culture's beliefs revolving around the New Year:

-Lady in Red: Wow, I haven't ever seen so many colors. All these bright colored decorations bring good luck but it is the color red that is considered the ultimate luck bringer.

-Play till Late: Go to sleep past midnight on new year’s eve to ensure your parents will have a longer life.

-"I'll Have Some More, Please": The longer it takes you to eat your new year's eve dinner, the longer your life will be.

-Boom, Pow, Crackle: Set off fire crackers to welcome the new year and to chase away evil spirits.

-Balance the Books: Repay all your debts before the new year. Otherwise, you will be owing others all through the year.

-Dirty Doings: Put your feet up and relax. Certainly the most enjoyable of the Chinese New Year superstitions, sweeping and cleaning is strictly forbidden. The Chinese believe cleaning means you'll sweep all of your good luck out the front door.

-Coming Clean: Preceding the prior, you need to give the house a full spring clean, before putting cleaning tools in the cupboard on New Year's Eve.

The Berhan Chinese New Year Show

The entire Berhan Language Institute put on a new year production. Some results from the show:

Below: The kiddies are performing to the most current popular radio song in Taiwan- groovin the moves from the music video.

Attempt to make this not just a travel blog

2010-01-26T04:22:00.000-08:00

Glancing quickly at my few posts, one would quickly find there is not much variety. I question what I should do to make this not such a travel blog? Well what are good mormon girls my age blogging about? their weekend trips with hubby, their 'new' style of jewelry, their child's dissipated 1st birthday party, their favorite great-grandmother's sugar cookie recipe, and their crafty beyond craft crazies.

Inspired by them, I baked a cake (from scratch- and loved doing it) for our roommate Callie's birthday and I've decided to post about it!

I'll be first to admit this is not an inherited recipe that's been memorized and perfected, it's google.com born. It was such a quick find that I noticed before putting it in the oven that the directions failed to mention how to include one of the listed ingredients.

With a little help from Megan to fluff up the grainy sugar powder (that's how it comes here) frosting, and Brandon as my 2:00 AM baking and music provider sidekick, the cake turned out excellent and everyone enjoyed it (at least that's what I was told)!

It's not nutritious but really delicious. It has the perfect amount of moisture, spice, and sweetness. Give it a try!

2/3 c. butter
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 c. milk
3 eggs
1 tblsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

*Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. Add the flour mixture slowly (dry) to the wet. Bake for the 30 minutes @ 350 F. Top with your favorite frosting recipe. (I made a buttercream vanilla frosting, baked two cakes separately and placed strawberry jam between the layers, garnished with chocolate shavings, syrup and strawberries)

Feng-Yuan, Taiwan Night Market

2010-01-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Downtown Feng-Yuan

2010-01-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Meet The Kids

2010-01-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427119600607515954" />

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427119258469049954" />

Only some things I’ll never understand

2010-01-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

They have no “sense” here. Oh I am sorry, I meant to say “cents”. Their money consists of only dollars. It gets confusing but at least there’s no sales tax to worry about!

Maintaining open windows at all times (and refusing to close them) of an all cement building with no central heating (that’s our house and school) in 30° F winter weather. BRRR! I don’t understand.

Cram schools replacing parents, i.e. Lego Cram School. Come on! Just hang out with the kid and teach him how to build his own lego land.

Don’t know what a Cram school is? Well, the Taiwanese, and many other nationalities from Asia, believe they should send their children to all sorts of “cram” schools in order to compete against other talented Asian children. A parent often works for many hours a day to afford their children’s (usually 2 kids max) academic education. Therefore, students in Taiwan are often attending a plethora of different schools until very late in the evening.

Instead of “there’s an app for that”,

In Taiwan I prefer “there’s a Cram school for that”.

When you try and carry a tune in Chinese, You can’t really sing pretty and make complete sense of what you are saying. It’s a tonal language.

Since when was putting your entire family on one scooter intelligent?

I have incredulous thoughts about the police driving BMWs. Do they really deserve those vehicles when they are only involved with high-speed freeway chases?

The acrid smell of ‘stinky tofu’ or ‘thousand-year old egg’ would and should deter anyone and everyone. Why did I not realize that before hand?

Is it necessary to think:
bad things will happen to you if you write in red ink?
And does the number four really sound like death in Chinese? –Aha! That could be the reason why they placed the American residents on the fourth floor.

And what is with that pinky fingernail? -huh, wisdom for the family?

Or how about that fountain of mole hairs?

Drinking warm or hot water during the cold winters could actually be somewhat logical.

The whiter the skin, the better! If only everyone could universally agree that was true than I would believe it too. I am sporting the natural skin color this winter season, not that you can ever tell but I usually don’t do that.

Well if I were in love I would like both… Taiwanese don’t usually say they love each other like Americans do. They show their love by their actions.

Much to my chagrin, live turtles and fish are played with for a night market game and children’s wrists are wacked with disciplinary sticks in school.

scooter scooter scooter scooter scooter, scooter, scooter, bus, scooter, scooter, scooter, oh a car, scooter, scooter, scooter, an American on a rusty bike (me), scooter, scooter, train, scooter, scooter, scooter, scooter

Did you ever think cleaning up your own dine-out table was a pain? Well, in Taiwan you must separate all foods, plastics, papers, etc. into five or so different garbage cans before you leave the area.

On the subject of garbage! How bout that musical garbage truck that we first mistook for the ice cream man. Boy were we disappointed.

No need for wit, just be extremely silly and you’ll get them rolling for quite some time.

If you know me well enough, you know that I wish all toilets were replaced with these squat toilets.

Mom, you would love this. The swimming pools here have over 30 different spa pools in one room with different jets for almost every part of the body. You name it they’ve got a jet for it… and I mean anything.

Instead of a glass of water the drink accompaniment is usually soup.

Women here will do anything to avoid muscle definition on their legs.

Did you know tofu, taro, and other vegetables could resemble so many different types of meat? Taste, look, color, you wouldn’t believe what they could make at the many vegetarian restaurants dotting the streets.

Ummm…I can’t be for certain but did I see that the third level of McDonalds has a floor dedicated for merely studying and nibbling on food?

In aggregate, this is a very short list of the observations I've noticed in my 2 1/2 weeks. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Still on an island far from you

2009-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to be project lead over adobe stoves and women’s groups. The women’s groups have always been an interest to me because I find it very important to empower the women here. The Fijian and Indo-Fijian women have been somewhat emancipated from their traditional subordinate lifestyles, but many still suffer. For many women they have enjoyed taking a break from their daily rituals but some still find it hard to escape their many responsibilities. For those that come to listen, the lesson’s focus on all aspects of health (spiritual, mental, physical, emotional and intellectual). Last week I was excited teach one of our women’s group a lesson about physical activity and end it with aerobics. My American counterparts loved the workout but unfortunately only one Fijian was able to enjoy it too, which seemed arbitrary to the excitement the Fijians had the prior week. So, we are attempting the lesson again this week in hope it’s successful!

The stoves involve a lot of manual labor and we hope the Fijians are willing to work hard every time we come. The Fijians are in charge of getting clay from the river bed, sand, banana stock and rebar. We provide them a frame and a chimney for the smoke to escape. Both of those items can be made or paid for by the locals when we can’t provide it after we leave.

We have a lot of stoves to build, hopefully just oversee, before we leave in 2 ½ weeks. Our hope is to educate as many villagers about the process of making adobe stoves, which will one day lead to the abolishment of all open fires in Fiji. Okay, that probably won’t be happening any time soon or ever, but we are making improvements in at least some individuals or family’s lives. We had a reminder from our country director last night that we, as volunteers, can’t walk away frustrated because it is so difficult to see the change we are making. I may never see any result from the hard work we’ve done but hopefully we’ve planted a seed that will soon start to blossom.

This last weekend I planned a vacation trip with the new volunteers to whitewater river raft the Upper Navua River which has been nominated, as so our tour guide says, as one of the most beautiful river rafting trips in the world. I am not going to lie and I will probably have to just show you pictures, but the narrow canyon river was shrouded in lush rainforest fed by countless waterfalls. Supposedly, you can just watch the movie Anaconda to see what we experienced. And then you will also understand why we never wanted to fall out of the raft.

We spent the rest of our weekend in the capital Suva where we visited the Fijian museum (gotta love the fact that cannibalism only ended a little over 100 years ago, luckily only a few Fijians have asked, but not acted upon, about eating me). After being complimented a thousand times as a business tactic, we contributed to the Fijian economy by walking out of the local handicraft market with things we (or the people we give them to) will probably never use. We finished the evening by partying with Indians as we watched a real Bollywood movie. If you haven’t seen one of these movies, I highly recommend you see (a good) one. You, like me, might be lucky enough to pick up some new dance moves. Unlike me, the Indians were inhibited to be doing these moves as they walked out of the theatre. Remind me to show you when I get home : )

I'm in Fiji kids!

2009-07-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

I have been on the island Viti Levu, Fiji in the South Pacific for almost two weeks now. I live on the main island where the capital Suva is, but my team is doing work in a small town on the other side of the island. The town is called Tavua District. This town is made up of Indo-Fijian people and Fijians.

The Indians were brought here in the late 1800s as indentured servants. Fortunately that ended in the early 1900s. Wearing their customary Indian dress, they currently compose nearly half of the population, earn 70 percent of the income and pay 80 percent of the taxes. Even though these Indo-Fijians are primarily a driven group of people they still suffer in a few different ways. They are only allowed to lease lands from the Fijians and do not have the opportunity for any ownership. Also, the Indo-Fijian women are often subject to domestic violence.

The indigenous Fijians, who are the nicest group of people you will ever meet, make up the other half of the population. Their hut and tin like houses make up many villages that surround the town we live in. The different villages are composed of 50 to 400 people led by a hereditary chief. They grow most of their own food in village gardens. They hardly import much here! But when these people attempt to set up a business, they are often stifled by the demands of relatives and friends. Their Fijian customs of claiming favors or giving of what little they have, has made it difficult for them to compete with the many Indo-Fijian business owners.

A bit of the Fijian culture still resembles Great Britain because they were under their control until 1970. Queen Elizabeth is represented on the dollar bills and coins, they play net-ball and cricket in the schools, and their English is similar to Great Britain’s.

As I am new to Fiji and came in the middle of the summer, I am not a project lead yet. For example, last year in El Salvador I was project lead over English teaching, girl’s dance classes, and rural health classes. This last week I had the opportunity to teach six health lessons during the week because the project leads were out of town. I absolutely love teaching health but there are many girls out here who have interest in that field. We’ll have to see!
Our group is doing some great things out here though. We have built adobe stoves in many villages. We have taught them how to do it and they have started to build their own. These stoves are great because the women don’t have to cook over an open fire where the rising smoke destroys their eyes and lungs.

We are also teaching square foot gardening. This principle allows the Fijians to utilize a small area in their backyard that provides them healthy food at a cheap price.

We also tutor kids in the schools and help them improve their English. (English is the prevalent language spoke between the Fijians and Indo-Fijians, and is necessary for everything).

Anyway, that will be it for now! I can’t bore you too much especially because there are no visually stimulating photos. (But seriously not my fault! All the volunteers have had issues uploading pictures on these internet café computers. Lots to look at when I get home…look forward to it.)

PS. I went skydiving my first weekend here. (We have Saturday and Sunday off). It was intense! I went tandem so I had a “professional/stranger” attached to my back, which he may or may not have been a little high. 12,000 feet high- 45 second fall towards the islands was one of the most exhilarating experiences ever. I tried to tell my instructor those feelings. He furthered to tell me that deciding to be a virgin till I was married was the worst decision I could ever make. I didn’t really try to convince him otherwise because we were having this conversation about 6,000 feet above the ocean.

PSS. My house is covered in ants and small, medium and giant size cockroaches…much worse then last year.

Mexican-Canadian Collision

2009-03-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I planned with my foreign exchange roommates to drive up to Vancouver, Canada to visit some of Belen's "English speaking" Mexican friends. Not a problem right? We had all of their paperwork including: visas, foreign exchange documents, even a permission slip from Peggy Earl explaining they would be traveling with me.

We set out for our adventure Wednesday around noon; the Mexi (Belen) in the passenger seat, the Taiwanese (Tricia) chillin in the back. We arrived at the border in no time, it was great! 4.5 hours, record timing! Too good to be true. The Canadian security guard's hideous grimace could no doubt make anyone feel hostile. He interrogated our lives with many questions and slapped down the fact that we were not going to Canada that day because the Taiwanese didn't have a Canadian Visa. What the? No one else needed one, why her? And we were seriously a half hour from our destination: (

The rest of the evening we spent hours driving between cities trying to find internet to see if the Canadian Visa was attainable within the next 24 hours; sadly our answer was no. We play a thousand scenarios on what to do next, meanwhile with nowhere to go. Dave and Peggy are gracious enough to help us find a hotel. We spend the night and decide that we will drive 2 hours to Seattle the next morning. Tricia had graciously decided to hitch a ride/day trip with an Earl family friend to take her back home to Moses Lake.

Belen and I drive up North again for three hours for a second shot at getting through the border. We totally have this one under control, we are thinking. Bam! We get stuck with some security lady who looks like she hasn't smiled in years. Okay, seriously did someone write terrorist on our foreheads? Because she didn't believe the fact that all we wanted to do was see Canada! ( So we didn't really want them to know about the people we were seeing in Canada because we didn't want a thousand questions asked...not doing that again) But I think she thought I was kidnapping a Mexican and we were running away together to live illegally in Vancouver.

We were sent inside the official building again, just like the day before, and they questioned us together and separately for roughly 10 minutes each (it could have been shorter, but it felt like a mill years). Trying to match our stories up? Who knows? We finally made it through after they did a full inspection of my vehicle. Ha, but didn't catch the carrots I hid under my seat!

So that fiasco consumed the first 32 hours of the trip, how wonderful! What was the result? The beginning of my getaway vaca. landed me with wasted money on gas, miles, hotel and was finished with a weekend of hanging out with Mexicans! Belen and I saw a little bit of Vancouver. But I had a hard time remembering what country I was in! English was spoken sometimes, but rarely (and no I was not speaking Spanish all weekend. I was speaking broken Spanglish. Oh so fun!)

What sort of things did we do? Oh that's right we ate at Mexican restaurants, went clubbing...loved the idea of that until I realized we were going to a Latin club, and we just chilled a lot at their apartment listening to Spanish music.

Oh, how I love stories like this one! I enjoyed myself in the end and I really enjoy the Latin culture, so it worked out great. And of course, Belen and I were stopped at the border for 45 minutes for "random inspection" at the U.S. border to top it off!

The first and hopefully not the last

2009-03-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

Whitney is venturing into the blogging world. Why does she feel a need to write about herself? She is just a 22 year old girl who spends her days thinking about what color her hair will be next, what vacation is around the corner and what food she is anticipating to consume. Her thoughts are clearly confined to her own selfish life, but she wants to give more. Give more to her friends and family that are always giving to her. So here it goes, the first and hopefully not the last blog post.