We began the day, like each of the following days, with individual quiet times and breakfast at a small little restaurant called Beautiful and Breakfast, which is a restaurant chain in Taiwan. They don’t serve up “American” food – unless you count fried eggs. Probably the favorite dish or at least the one I heard called out most was “French toast.” Once again, much different than that of the US (is French toast American?). This concoction contains a soft breading, ham, and cheese fried around egg mix – very yummy.
After breakfast, we journeyed together to one of Taiwan’s many temples. In the city we were staying in alone, there are estimated to be about 2,000 temples. 50,000 reside here. That’s kind of like having a Quick Trip station or Walgreen’s around every corner here in St. Louis. Sacrifices are made at all of these temples to try to appease the many “gods” and to keep promises. They also visit these temples in hopes of “saving” their ancestors in the afterlife. Our lead missionary Wes gave this example: a couple may wish to have a son. So, they come to the temple and ask that a certain god will give them a son. In the chance that they have a son, in return, a chicken would be given once a month for years to come. Other examples could include sickness, crops, etc. So, on the off-chance that these things happen, they must continually bring these sacrifices. Sounds a bit monotonous, no? That’s why I’m so thankful that I have a God that I can ask for things, but a Sacrifice was already made for me.
Our next stop after our “temple tour” was a Christian kindergarten/ church. This is a quaint-little segment of buildings with a shrimp farm located to the side, the view hidden from the road. Inside, we congregated on wooden pews, sang praises led by Wes’ guitar, and planned out our week of teaching and praying. One of the cutest (I’m not sure if this is the appropriate term for this or not) items located at the church was (forgive me) the toilets. Since it was designed for a kindergarten, the toilets were super-small. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it sure was funny to see the ever-wisecracking Doug sit down on one. Priceless
It’s pretty clear and immediately noticeable that traffic in Taiwan is a little nutty… and you need to be a little nutty to drive in it. Traffic lights serve as nice decorations as many of the drivers seem to forget that red isn’t the color for go. Though there are many vehicles passing each other on two way streets with a no passing line in the middle, there are equally many (if not more) riders of mopeds and bikes. And these modes of transportation also serve as a free-for-all in the mess of Taiwanese traffic.
The rest of the day was spent unpacking and visiting local areas. One little grocery store close by was Veggie Boy. At this quaint little shop were such items as chicken or seaweed flavored Pringles®, dried fish and peanuts, fresh-grown fruit, etc. Also a team “favorite” was the internet café were for about a US dollar you could use the internet for a half hour – and have a complementary Coke product. It was mysteriously closed mid-week, however, to the dismay of many who were communicating with family in the States.
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