I'm in Taiwan

But not as a missionary, I'm visiting my sister, Tanya, who has been here for 2 years now teaching English as a second language. Since so many people wanted to know what I would be doing, I'll record it here on my blog. And I like writing about my experiences, so this is great for me!

I have to admit, I never had a desire to visit any country in the Orient, but when your sister lives in one of those countries, it's too great an opportunity to pass up. And now I am here.
Even before I finally flew into Taipei, I wanted to sleep. I just can't sleep for more than 20 consecutive minutes on planes. Once the sleep had been remedied, at Tanya's lovely 9th story apartment with an amazing view of the sunrise through a wall of slightly dirty ceiling to knee high level windows (I watched the sunrise over the mountains today since jet lag had me up at 4 am), I devoured the Lonely Planet guide to Taiwan. All the stops I want to take I have mapped out on my metro map of Taipei and today I went to the beautiful suburb of Danshui. (Tanya's apartment is in Zhuwei, which is the 3rd stop from the top of the red line. The very top of the red line is Danshui. I know, metro map isn't readable, but now you know where we are in relation to the city.)
Because Tanya still has to work while I am here, I will be exploring on my own during the day and then meeting up with her at night. Last night we went out for Indian food with her friend Tanya. I thought it was funny too that she is friends with another Tanya. :)

Anywho, I spent many good hours in Danshui. Walked the riverside walk, visited historic Fort San Domingo, saw the Longshan Temple and the Fuyou Temple, and now that I'm reading the guide, realized I wanted to see the Yinshan Temple too, but missed it. Ah well, I can always go back. Even had lunch at a riverside restaurant- a lovely pumpkin cream soup with a latte. :) The waiters were so cute about serving me and using their English. (Thankfully the menu had English translations. In fact, most everything in Taipei has an English translation :)

The "morning" market was still in full swing after my lunch, so I walked all over that and just absorbed the atmosphere, and made a few purchases. I forgot how much I love open markets like that! I didn't barter though. All the items have clearly marked prices and in El Salvador, when there are no prices indicated, this means bartering is okay, but when there is a price on the item, that's the price, no bartering allowed. And I couldn't take my cue from other conversations because I have no idea what is being said. Very bothersome. I'll ask Tanya to show me the ropes of bartering here. I did come across some Spanish speakers, didn't speak to them, but it was cool to understand something being said around me. :)

Yea, I love this city so far.