Volleyball and mosquitoes

I joined Bei Da's volleyball team. We meet on Monday and Friday mornings from 7 to 8. Today I woke up at 5:30 to get ready to go. I was walking to school when it started misting, however, it was very light, not enough to cause me to pull out my umbrella. By the time I reached the school gate, it had increased to a full drizzle. I was waiting around for the team captains with some other girls when the rain stopped. We moved out to the nets and started to warm up. It began to mist again and we moved back. I was disappointed and surprised that we were seeking cover from such a pitiful amount of rain, but I didn't complain and started to warm up under the awning with the rest of the team. Beside us were pretty gardens, from which vines grow up the side of the school. We were doing partner drills when I slapped a mosquito on my leg. My partner, Athena, asked if I was okay. This made me stop and look down. My legs were already covered in bites. And, now that I was looking I could squish a new mosquito by the second. The other girls began to look at their own limbs, however for whatever reason mosquitos here find me incredibly tasty! My teammates began to smack the mosquitos as they landed on me! I looked at my partner and whined: "I can't do this." I asked her if it would be alright if I went home and got itch medicine. (she's one of the captains) I looked back down at the bumps and black and brown smears covering my legs an said "nope, "I picked up my bags and walked home. Luckily, my family has this Japanese solution for bug bites that works like magic. By the time I got back to school, only a few bites were bothering me.

(The nice thing about the rain is it cleaned the insects' bodies off) 

Weekend in Tainan!!

We drove to Tainan to drop Sophia off at her university. She goes to a very specialized art school. We spent the night in guest housing and enjoyed the lovely nearby attractions! We started by visiting the largest Budah in Taiwan. Ghost month is just ending so there were rows and rows of food set out for the hungry ghosts. It was beautiful and very informational. I learned a lot about the story of the Budah. On Sunday we went to the Chimei Museum. I enjoyed the impressive collection of art and history very much. The displays ranged from fossils and meteorites to sculptures and paintings. There was even an impressive collection of ancient armor and weapons from around the world. The surprising thing about the museum is that it is privately owned! I'm going to miss Sophia very much, but I know she'll do amazing things at her school! The following is a crap ton of photos of me trying to capture the awesomeness of it all:

More yummy unknown ice cream😋 (Does anyone know the English name of this fruit?)

This stripped tent in front of the temple was full of tables of food for the hungry ghosts

They're water chestnuts!

Yummy sweet soup

 

Sanxia Old Street

My friend, Sandy, from school, invited me to go with her and her sister to Sanxia Old Street. It was two rows of amazing old buildings that were filled with street vendors. It was a lot of fun herl sister, Racheal was really nice. We also went with one of Racheal's classmates who was really good at English but was very shy. They were asking me questions about America. When I began to explain American politics Nes said that they study American politics in school! I was very impressed. it was a fun night, they're good friends.

Is it a bean burrito? Is it hummus and pita? No, it's ice cream!! Crushed peanuts, cilantro, and ice cream wrapped in a thin wheat tortilla proved to be very tasty!!   

All through the flavor of stinky tofu is good, the smell makes it very unappetizing and hard to eat

Me trying my first Winter melon tea

As it turns out, pigs blood cake is not cake. Its rice and seasoning soaked in pigs blood. This was my first pig's blood cake and it was pretty good.  

Pig's Blood Cake stall