Big weekend

Let me just say, this weekend was better than the last one.  A lot better.  Thursday and Friday I went to Zhunan for a training session, and found out that we would be meeting every Wednesday, which makes me feel a lot better.  I figured once we were in our cities, we'd never see each other again.  After Friday's meeting, a couple of us went to dinner, and to RT Mart, which was awesome.  I spent Friday and Saturday nights at Peggy's, and slept on an actual mattress.  Saturday morning we got up and Peggy, Thomas and I took a train to Taichung.  Crowded was not the word for this train.  Every seat was filled, every handle taken.  Peggy ended up hanging onto Thomas, because she was too short to get to the bar.  We met Linda at the station, and walked through the open air market.  What an experience.  Every kind of meat, fruit, vegetable, spice, etc., it was there.  We walked for awhile in some pretty hot temps, then stopped to look at a fabulous temple.  We had planned to go to the Confucius shrine, and stopped for lunch.  It turned out to be the best pizza in Taiwan.  We attempted several times to meet with Ashley, but she had trouble getting directions from the station.  We also attempted to get directions, but to the Taiwanese, a "ten minute walk" means at least three miles.  We ended up getting caught in a downpour, and hailing a cab to Sogo, a mall with 18 floors and hundreds of shops.  We did eventually meet up with Ashley there.  Dinner was at a Thai place, I really hope someday I'll be able to order a meal without using the picture menu.  We caught the train back to Peggy's and went to bed.  Oh, not so fast.  At 10:46 I was just about to fall asleep when my bed started to shake.  It went on for maybe 30 seconds, and I ran into the living room to see if anyone else had felt it.  They slept through it, but according to http://www.cwb.gov.tw/eng/ it was a 4.4 on the Richter scale.  Not something I want to happen again, but now I can say I have survived an earthquake.  Sunday morning (see, it was a big weekend) and went to the old Shanyi station.  It was a lot bigger than what we thought, because the Hakka Tung Flower festival was going on.  We walked up and down the street, through all the little shops, on the abandoned tracks, and the tunnel.  There were bats.  Lots of them.  We had lunch at one of the little restaurants.  No English menu or pictures, this time we reverted to farm animal noises.  Not a joke.  After lunch we took a cab back to Peggy's, and then onto the train.  Thomas and I took the same train to Miaoli City, but I had to continue to Zhunan and switch lines to Tongxiao.  So I had to get off the train, get another ticket, find the platform, get on the right train and off at the right stop.  Which I did.  Small victories.

Pantou Elementary School, site of our professional development

At Sogo.  I need to bring home a Chinese Jelly Jar

Slightly crowded morning train

Taichung

Matsu Temple

Old Sanyi Train station

Your crew today will consist of Thomas and Peggy...

So far in Taiwan, I've walked by myself, walked in the dark, and eaten street vendor food.   Today I can add played on RR tracks to that list.  What a rebel.

Nothing is better than Coke in a class bottle.  Except Pepsi.  I miss Pepsi.