the distance is quite simply much to far for me to row; it seems farther than ever before.

thanks everybody for keeping in touch!  it means a lot to be so far away from home and still hear from you!  we're taking a bit of a breather this morning after a busy sunday and monday.  ashley and anna are gonna go to the grocery store and then we'll go in service from 3 to 5.  this is the last day of anna's vacation from school, so she has classes during the week from 12 to 2 starting again tomorrow.

Shilin Night Market

sunday morning we went to our first meeting with anna's chinese congregation.  their kingdom hall is really tiny (they're looking for a new place), and it was packed.  a lot of people introduced themselves; it seems like a really friendly hall.  after the meeting, we got some lunch and then i went with one of the pioneers on a study she has with a young girl.  then i met up with anna and ashley and we met the group for service from 3 to 5.  it was a pretty intense afternoon, since the sister i was paired with didn't speak much english and she wanted me to do all the doors.  i didn't really mind, except that all the doors have intercoms for each apartment, and they're really stressful because i have no idea what people are saying back.  the sister i was with on saturday would listen and jump in, but the sister i was with on sunday was standing like 10 feet away and not paying any attention!  after about the 4th building (and each building has about 6 apartments), i just started praying, and then we were immediately buzzed in to the next few buildings.  so then, i could just knock on the doors and talk face-to-face.  much better!

sunday night we went with some local friends from the hall to the shilin night market.  big mistake!  not really, but here's some pictures that might give you an idea of how incredibly, ridiculously, overwhelmingly crowded this place was.  it's this outdoor market, where they sell clothes and shoes and jewelry and food.  tons of stuff.  we started out getting this shaved rice milk ice - kind of like ice cream.  the green one is green tea flavored and, as you can see, they chose to get it with red beans.  i tried it because anna lyingly said they were kind of sweet. that was a lie, and she knew it was a lie.  i made a face i haven't made since i was like 3.  the one we got was peanut butter with sesame.  it was really, really good.







so after a busy first 2 days, we planned a day of luxury.  yesterday morning we slept in a little and then got some breakfast.  this place near anna's is called JSP - which stands for Just Start a Powerful day - and they serve this breakfast thing that's like a thin rice pancake/crepe, with egg, bacon, and cheese inside.  and it comes with this really good sauce to dip it in.  it's amazing.  we've gone there twice already.  after breakfast we headed to taipei main with anna's roommate, megumi, and a sister from the states, melissa, and met up with charlie and took the bus to these hot springs, which are about an hour bus ride outside the city.  the bus ride was really cool because that was the first time we'd been out of the city.  it was kind of a chilly, rainy day - perfect for the hot springs - so the mountains were misty and foggy.  so beautiful.

i'm not really sure how to describe the hot springs.  it's like a hotel/resort kind of place mixed with a public pool atmosphere almost.  it's semi-outside - like a huge covered patio.  and in the ground are about a dozen different kinds of hot springs.  there's charcoal, sulfer, rose, tea, milk.  there's a little pool with fish - you stick your feet in and the fish nibble at any dry skin.  there are 4 steam rooms - my favorite - lavender, eucalyptus, mint, and chinese herbs.  and then there's a separate area for water massage - just like a big, heated swimming pool with all different types of jets and shower heads for massage.  in that room, there are two small pools beside each other - the pool with the hottest water and the pool with the coldest water.  allegedly, hopping from cold to hot is good for circulation.  we all took one turn, but that was enough.  the cold pool is about 40 degrees and the hot pool was about 70.  to finish up the evening, there's an area of heated granite or marble tile that you lay on.  anna and i passed out for about half and hour.  by then, it was time to go back to the city.  the day was so relaxing and our skin felt amazing afterward.

Shilin Night Market

well, i'm gonna get ready and we're gonna get some lunch and get ready for the rest of the day.