Rock Lobster

I am absolutely exhausted! Yesterday was an all day field trip around the north of the island. We had to leave at 7 am and I woke up at 6:30 because I had a late night the night before. Our first stop was Yeliu National Park. It was really beautiful. The area was created to protect all of the unique rock formations there. We hiked around (as usual for this trip) including out to an area that our tour guide said none of his groups ever go because it's too long and hot. It was on the leeward side so not only was it 37 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit for those of you keeping track at home) and 85% humidity but there was no wind. The view was beautiful and with all of the stuff that I've been eating (can we say bakery?) I could definitely use the exercise. The water in the lagoon was such a perfect blue. After that we ate lunch in this town that is famous for its seafood. I forgot to take a picture but it was fantastic. We had snails, fried fish in this tangy red sauce, intestine (sounds gross but it's good) and some kind of shellfish that was really good too. After lunch, we rode the bus to the only lighthouse that is open to the public in Taiwan. It's called San Diego because the Spanish used to occupy the northern part of the island. Another very bumpy bus ride later, we arrived at the National Taiwan Art Center. It was sort of like a not very touristy section of Epcot. There was an old style scholar's farm house and a temple that we prayed at. Tony, our tour guide, was friends with one of the artisans that worked at the Center. He went to talk to him but when he saw Ashley he said he had to sculpt her. Everyone absolutely loves her here. She's going back to the Center to pick up her bust next week. Today, we did our own trip to this huge mall called the Living Mall. It's a giant sphere. I'll post a picture of it on WebShots. I bought a pair of Chucks but it is seriously hard to shoe shop here because they have so few things for my huge American feet. While I was shopping, I talked to some people. I still have a long way to go but I am gaining more and more confidence in my abilities. After all, I did get the highest score on the placement exam out of all the first years. Everybody met up again so we could get lunch/dinner together. I had nuo ro mian, beef noodle soup. It was delicious. A group of us really wanted to see Pirates and there was a movie theatre in the mall so we stood in line for a while but a lady came up to us and said that we would get into the 9 or 10 o'clock show at the earliest. That would get us back way past curfew so we decided that wasn't going to work and took the subway over to Westgate again. We shopped around more and tried to see Pirates at the theatre there but again no luck. I had to go pick up my laundry as soon as I got back so I'm going to take a nice long shower and get dressed in some freshly washed and folded clothes. Yippee!