Buddha's Birthday

Wow, what a day. It is after midnight and it has been a packed day. I woke up at 6 to be ready for our 6:30 hike at monkey mountain. The hiking team: me, Jill, Adidas and Sunny (my host family), Becca, Judy and Ortho (Becca's host family. Yesterday Becca and I decided to give Mrs. Adidas an English name since we cannot get hers right. Jill said her mom would like it and she did. We named her Sunny because she is always happy and smiling and makes everyone around her happy. Even though there is a lack of communication due to the language barrier we have bonded. (Becca has become and adopted host daughter and our families have done just about everything together.) Sunny walked around all day telling all the Rotarians and their wives her new English name.

Okay, so back to the awesome day. About 5 minutes into the hike we ran into our first set of monkeys. Some of them not more than 10 feet away. They were eating the fruit from trees. When we got to the top of the "mountain" of course there is temple and a town. (They call it the mountain because it is an uphill hike through nature. It was almost like walking through a jungle). So we stop and have a snack (tomatoes, pineapple and bell fruit) and then check out the temple. Then we learn it is Buddha's birthday (they all called it God's birthday) and there is to be a big celebration. Down the road comes a big parade with firecrackers, worshipers, people inflicting bodily harm to themselves (because their body will not be hurt because God is in them), and huge walking Buddhas. This was a cultural experience that no one could have planned for. Our host families did not even know that the celebration was going to happen - we all thought we were just going on a 2 hour hike (not a 7 hour adventure). The streets were filled with street vendors and I tried some sugar cane juice, almond juice, purple yams, guava, etc. Luckily Becca had brought her camera on the hike so we have pictures of it all. Unfortunately, I am in my exercise clothes and had woken up about 5 minutes before we had to get in the car this morning so I didn't want to be in pictures. Everyone wanted the Americans to get their photos taken with them so we got some great shots of the procession - they even let us put on some of the dancing doll like costumes. On the way down the mountain we found a banana tree and picked some bananas to eat.

After we got back and showered Sunny asked me if I was tired and wanted. I said no (thinking I would just pack and write in my journal about the morning since it was my understanding that we were going to rest a while) and somewhere in the translation between me, Jill and Sunny things got twisted. (Jill's English is pretty good but we don't always understand everything the other person says). Sunny and Adidas thought I wanted to go outside again and play. So we were off. First, to Adidas' factory to show Becca their company, then to Medicine's house (he makes some type of ointment for mosquito bites) for a visit, then to a nylon fabric knitting factory (the factory supplies the material to Adidas to dye which is the sent to be made into clothes or shoes. The nylon string is knitted into fabric and it is hard to explain the process). Then we were off to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. But the night is not over - we all head down town for the women to get photos taken in this Japanese photo machine. It makes instant photos but allows you to add embellishments to the pictures before they are printed. Rola (a girl we met on the first day in this new town) came and met us for the photos. It was a lot of fun. Then we went and checked out Rola's family's store. The last stop was the night market. We got there about 10 pm. There were lots of street vendors lining the streets selling just about anything one could ever want.

There is no way to put into words what I saw and felt today. It was such an interesting day full of Taiwan culture and religion. Becca and I kept looking at each other and asking did I just see that or did that really happen. I'm glad that Becca's host family and mine are such good friends so that we could share the experiences together. I feel like I have known Becca forever and that we will be life long friends.