a little zoo and a bicycle built for two (part 1)

Every Sunday, there's opportunity for a quick, inexpensive adventure. It's so wonderful! Today my friend and I took a quick train ride to Hsinchu (about 25 minutes) where we met up with a few Taiwanese guys who she knows. After eating some lunch in a temple market, we checked out the Hsinchu Zoo, the "Oldest and Smallest Public Zoo of Taiwan," according to its website (haha)! Check it out; the English translations are good for a few giggles:
http://zoo.e-tobe.com/eng/

The admission fee was about 30 cents, so I didn't have extremely high expectations. But it turned out to be really cute and the animals were great! It seems like zoo animals are always pretty low-energy and unexcitable (okay, that's not a word), but these ones were truly interactive with their guests! An ape lurched angrily at us, hopping on all fours toward the fence. Monkeys swung from their vines, launching themselves at the glass whenever someone walked by. The loud smack of their body hitting the barrier nearly gave us a heart attack! Deer stuck their noses through the fence, grabbing mouthfuls of our pants. Malaysian Sun Bears stood on their hind legs, looking up at us from their cave. Orangutans "begged," holding out one upturned palm until people threw chunks of guava at them, which they lazily picked out of the grass. A small squirrel-type creature that resided with the orangutans got a little too close to said guava, and the larger orangutan just picked the thing up by his tail and tossed him! Two tigers swam in their pond, cooling off. People threw guava to them, too, and they pawed at it like picky housecats but wouldn't eat it. A Bambi-deer (no, that's not its Latin name) attacked a little boy who was taunting it, sending the boy tumbling backward--I caught his head before it went down. A hippo swam right up to the edge of it's fence in front of us and looked us in the eye for a few seconds (as we hurriedly pulled out our cameras for a close up of his ugly mug) and then snapped his mouth wide open! He kept it open for a minute or so--as though he knew we wanted a picture! And of course, there was a random karaoke stage and an old man crooning in Taiwanese, putting on quite a show for his audience of three. And all that for NT$10. Not bad at all! Here are some pictures...

With our Hsinchu tour guides, Daniel and Harlick (?)
Dad, this is for you! They had an Angora goat and plenty of roosters. I felt right at home!
The psychotic monkey swinging around his cage...

This girl kept saying "Ohh Bambi! Oh Bambi" to this deer, and trying to pet him. He tolerated it for a while but then her little brother got a bit too close. Have you ever seen a deer attack? This is what a ticked-off deer looks like. Note the flattened ears and aggresive stance.

Exhibit C: A "Pea-Fowl" as it was called on the sign, along with a Formosan Deer. Living in harmony, apparently...The English signage in this country is an endless source of entertainment for me...
And my favorite...

Malaysian Sun-Bear waiting for guava to be thrown at him...
A colorful magpie--the official Hsinchu City Bird!About as close as I care to be to a hippopotamus...

He obligingly showed off his pie-hole so we could take pictures.We were treated to a rousing karaoke performance in Taiwanese (different than Mandarin) by a lovely man...


I hope you've enjoyed these! I have to go to bed but will continue tomorrow... pictures of a bike ride along the coast!

last weekend--Maokong Gondola

Last weekend I went to the Maokong Gondola near Taipei. You can take a cable car up the mountainside and see where tea is grown. There are teahouses everywhere you look, nice trails for walking, and some beautiful temples. It was refreshing to be closer to nature and see some green!


Here is what the "gondolas" look like. Good thing I left my fear of heights on the zip line in Costa Rica! Compared to that, this 20-minute ride was no big deal!

Me, Helen, and Kyle in the gondola...


A sign for one of the many tea shops. We came back here later... it sounded pretty good, despite the incorrect English!

A little mountain stream that we cooled off in...

A big thunderstorm hit during the afternoon so we waited it out in an information center...

Heading out again after the rain!
"Well View, Well Tea, Well Food" shop...

A spot of tea, Taiwan-style...

Some hot tea on a hot afternoon... notice I'm sweating profusely, but it still tasted amazing. So cool that it was grown on the same mountain where I drank it!




The sunset from the gondola, on our way back down...

We got off at the Zhinan Temple to have a look around...
Helen and I by the "Statue of Aloving Mother" (that's what it said on the sign)

And this would be the "Pavillion for Belaxation," according to the sign! We belaxed for a little while...

Dusk falling on Taipei...

Zhinan Temple

A good end to a good day... the lights of Taipei were beautiful. See Taipei 101 to the right?

"you go, and do likewise."

Some things are unspeakably sad. There are things that I see that my mind cannot even wrap itself around; ways people live that I can't begin to comprehend. I've seen many sad things in many places--things that make me say "God, WHY?" Things that I will never understand.

Here, in my city, I often see beggars who are disfigured or shrunken, laying on the sidewalks with a cup for spare change. I even saw a woman with large, gaping, liquid-filled sores covering her arms and legs, hunched against the wall of a clean, brightly-lit eyewear shop.

A few nights ago, I got off my bus downtown and began my walk home, when I noticed the aftermath of an accident, in the middle of a busy intersection. Police were waving batons to direct the heavy flow of traffic around a white SUV, which remained in the road where it had smashed a scooter. The scooter was lying on its side in front of the SUV. Pieces of glass and metal shimmered against the dirty street, and two helmets like fragile eggshell halves were rocking gently, upturned on the pavement. The victims had already been taken away--hopefully to the hospital. Policemen were walking around, taking measurements, jotting things down, talking on their phones. What made my stomach twist, though, was the young woman sitting alone on the road, between the SUV and the scooter, surrounded by the broken bits and the empty helmets. She was sobbing into a towel. She wasn't injured, but looked as though she had collapsed--from shock or grief or guilt--depending on how she'd been involved. And she was alone.

Yet what I can't get out of my mind is something that I didn't even see. A few nights ago, my floor-mate got home and was visibly shaken. As a photographer, she'd walked to a nearby night market to get some shots of the special events going on this month (Ghost Month). She said the market was strangely overwhelming--more so than usual. The heavy smell of incense, rolling in thick clouds out of the temple... people in front of the temple murmuring their prayers to the spirits and laying out their offerings of tea, cakes, strange-smelling meat... across from the temple, a brightly lit stage on which girls were dancing without many clothes on... and then, in a sudden commotion, my friend saw a shriveled, old, lame man sitting on the street, begging. And he was chained to a post. There was a metal chain around his ankle and he was locked to a post, stuck in the street, in the night market, where he was more likely to be trampled than to have coins thrown into his cup. My friend remembered being told by a Taiwanese person that many of these homeless beggars are "owned" by gangsters. The gangsters can do with them what they choose, and of course, steal all of their earnings from begging. One can only imagine why this man had been tied up like a dog in the street...

The sudden commotion was caused by a van which was approaching the man in the street. Unable to see him, the driver would have hit the man, except a crowd of people began hitting the sides of the van and trying to stop him. My friend watched this scene in horror. Thankfully, the people were able to stop the van, but at this point, my friend couldn't take it any longer and had to leave.

I cannot stop thinking about this. My heart aches. How can such a thing go on? How can a disabled human being be owned by someone who dehumanizes and degrades them? And why does no one cut his chain and set him free? In a relatively modern city where, just down the road, you can walk into Starbuck's and order an espresso from a kid whose name-tag reads "Coke." A town where you can shop for laptops in bright, clean electronics stores and browse the MAC makeup counter at a monstrous department store before going out for sushi and a movie. I don't know.

It's as though there are two worlds. I guess that is true everywhere, and has always been so. The world of the suffering, and the world for those who are oblivious to the suffering.

Jesus came to mend that rift--to remind us that we are all equally and desperately in need of salvation from our pain. And to teach those of us who think we are separate from The Suffering, that we are not. That the "least" among us are the most important. That the only pure religion is this: to look after orphans and widows and keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

May I be His hands and feet, and oh, that I would not withhold good when it is in my power to act.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (found in Luke 10)

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii (coins) and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

From the Archives 2

From late August, 2006, Chicago

end of august... fading light from a pale sun, the sky looks different, the clouds hang lower. locusts chirp, calling to the other end-of-summer insects, ladybugs and bees swing aimlessly through the dried-up days... the pool is open, but you dont feel like swimming... the sun-dressed laziness of summer is forgotten and you do an inventory of last year's sweaters, anticipating pumpkins and cool air... the tan lines marking the borders of your bikini are barely distinguishable... you trade bronzer for blush when you can't pull off the "sun-kissed" look anymore...

endings... a season is over, butterflies die and there are last words, last looks... you'll be alright soon. your heart will turn gold with the trees.


This autumn, I won't see golden fields or feel a chill at night. That makes me a little bit sad. But hey--I can still pull off "sun-kissed" for several more months!

contest!

Please post your creative captions for this picture. The winner may receive a congratulatory e-mail, or their own bottle of Lux lotion with an attached can of beer.

just a typical saturday.

How did atypical become typical? I've been here just over three months now, and so much has become normal that I have lost some of my wonder and excitement over the things that were so fascinating at first. Maybe some of that is good--it means I'm not just on vacation, I'm not just traveling through--I actually live here. Still, I don't want to forget what makes living in Taiwan special. Here's what I did today. Normal? You decide!

I taught for three hours this morning. I have a new class on Saturdays of intelligent and talkative jr. high-school-age students. One of their new words was "cork," so I drew a picture first of a wine bottle and explained that a cork is what you put in the top part of the bottle to keep the air out--to get them to guess the meaning without using Chinese. Later, I asked them where corks come from. A boy in the back row called out, "from alcohol!" It's fun to have some older students--while the teeny-weeny ones are cute, it's harder to get to know them because they can't say much in English. A typical encounter goes like this:

Elly: Hi, Sammy, how are you?
Sammy: I'mfinethankyouandyou? (this auto-pilot answer, which the kids are taught on Day 1 of their English education has somehow become one word, exhaled as quickly as possible in order to bypass a potentially nerve-wracking convo with their foreign teacher. At this point, the child giggles and scurries away)

So I think I'll enjoy getting to see some personalities shine through, with older kids who are more confident with their English and less shy.

After classes, my friend Helen and I ride on her scooter to the Ikea in the next suburb--about 20 minutes away. At every stop light we are stared at unabashedly, our blonde hair flying in wild ponytails out from under our helmets. Other scooters inch closer and closer while waiting for the light, curious about what kind of heads are beneath the visored helmets, sprouting mysterious yellow locks. One man and his wife are obviously conferring about our nationality as they eye us from three scooters away. I happen to make eye contact and the man calls out, "FRANCE?" We shake our helmets no. "AMERICA?" I give him a thumbs-up and the light turns green. We lose sight of them in the bob-and-weave of traffic, but later they zip by us again, honking their horn and waving enthusiastically.

At Ikea, I pick out some stuff for my new room (I moved to the 6th floor dorm--it's fabulous compared to my 4th floor dwelling!). I'll post some pictures after it's cleaned up a bit. We had a fabulous Ikea-lunch--smoked salmon, bread and jam, a spinach-sprout-wrap, salad, amazing coffee. It took us about ten minutes to situate all our loot on the scooter but we managed. We drove back to Jhongli under a broiling sun, a huge bag of pillows stuffed between us. The air was humid and thick with the smell of incense--as this month is the Spirit's Holiday, everywhere you look there are tables laid out with fruit, tea, candles, cookies, and other offerings to appease the wandering ghosts and keep them out of mischief. I love how the ancient and modern blend effortlessly here--Ikea and Starbuck's lined up next to the ghost-offering-tables... an old man walking by a Lexus dealership wearing his hand-woven banana-leaf sun-hat, just as though he were walking through a rice field 500 years ago.

When we got home, I did some cleaning. There's a storage room on my new floor that I decided will be my yoga-room. It has honey-colored wood floors and Japanese-style sliding screen doors. I had to wash the floor and shove some suitcases and boxes to the corners, but it will work. It's important to be in a somewhat peaceful and inspiring space when you practice yoga. I lit some candles and lemongrass oil and opened the window. Dusk fell as I sweat through my practice, and outside a baby wailed, fireworks exploded (for the ghost's holiday, I think--but they don't seem to need much of a reason here!), and the garbage truck sang its loud, melancholy chorus as it turtle-crawled through the streets, alerting people to run outside with their trash bags and toss them into the truck (it's like an ice-cream truck, only... not).

After yoga, I watched some of the Olympics (commentary in Chinese! Someone tell me what I'm missing, please?) and wandered down the street to buy some vegetables, tofu, and a power strip. I sauteed the tofu in Japanese dressing and ate it with a tomato. Soon I'll talk to my mom on Skype, read "The Alchemist," and fall asleep in my new comfy-cute Ikea bedding.

It was a good day, but a normal day.

Normal is good.

From the Archives, part 1

Tonight I was "cleaning up" files on my computer, and I came across some good stuff... this is from two years ago, when I was a nanny in Chicago. I tried to write down the funny things that happened and the cute stuff that the kids said--especially the little boy. I miss him so much...

August 6, 2006

Tonight I was reading “My World” to S. (it's one of his favorites, by Margaret Wise Brown--more famous for "Goodnight, Moon"). At the end of the book he pointed to the father bunny in the picture and said, “That’s you, Elly!” I explained, “Nooo, I can’t be a daddy. Little boys grow up to be men who can be daddies, and girls grow up to be women who can be mommies.” S. said, “Then you’re the mommy.” I said, “No, I can’t be the mommy because I don’t have any babies yet.” He looked at me like I was completely crazy and said, “Elly, I’m your baby!”

I wonder who reads him his bedtime stories now...