This is close to the same temple where Molly and I experienced hell. On Buddha's backside, we met a large group of people doing ballroom dancing in the open air. It was quite romantic to watch and made me want to take it up again. 
I can't seem to get enough of these hilarious translations! Check out www.engrish.com for more fun Asian sayings.
Thomas, a friend, teeing off on a beautifully scenic hole. 
Thomas and his wife. notice the long sleeves on both of them. His wife took off her gigantic sun-blocking visor for the picture. One thing's certain...these folks ain't dyin' of skin cancer. Reminds me of my grandpa hess---the only tan part of his body were his hands. 
This is my caddy. Yes, I had a caddy. That's a first for me. She undressed a bit for the photo, too. Her pink whatever it is was closely tied around her face, making her look like she was wearing hijab with a hat. It was nice to have a caddy. She would point out to me where I should hit my putt every time and give me yardage estimates that seemed to be accurate. I beat everyone, so she must have known something.
I am eating the menu. Each vertical line represents a separate dish that was served at an engagement lunch this afternoon. The dish pictured below only counts as one dish. Notice it has about 5 different foods on it. We had loads of fancy seafood. I guess the wedding feast is even bigger. I am amazed every day at how much these people can eat, given they are so small. The set-up is pretty clever--tradition has it that each guest leaves a certain amount of money for the couple in a red envelope. The better you know the couple, the more money you leave. This pays for the feast and leaves the couple with a little dough in their pockets. I just thought the whole thing was a bit excessive, but then, so is my body hair.
As we stepped over the rickety wooden bridge, it suddenly gave way, allowing us to freefall for no more than a foot. It was enough, though, to elicit sharp cries from my traveling partner, Molly. This marked our symbolic entrance to hell, found within a local temple. It functioned much more like a haunted house than a temple to me, but was definitely worthwhile. Grotesque statues put in motion the various punishments that one would receive for various sins while ghosts and headless corpses randomly flew from the ceiling. Molly wonders if the widespread usage of these punishments as threats to children in efforts to get them to behave only serves to make Taiwanese people more judgemental. 
The paths people walk sometimes shock me. I met an extremely attractive white dude en route to Beijing who spoke impeccable Chinese (not that I could tell impeccable from atrocious). He just finished recording a 100 episode Chinese soap opera series, in which he plays a lead role. His path started when he served a Chinese speaking Mormon mission. Who would have thought he would end up where he is? Benji Battelle (if you are looking for some eye candy on facebook)
A friend I met at the top of a mountain in Yang Ming Shan Nat'l Park. He's following a popular Taiwanese tradition of yelling to the universe from a tall mountain peak, announching who he is and what his deepest hopes and dreams are.
The World Trade Center memorial...it was quite stirring...the thousand paper cranes were made as a tribute to peace a la Sadako Sasaki.
Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. While waiting in line I was guaranteed a place in heaven by a man with rainbow hair, a guitar and a huge smile. He asked if I'd ever kissed a black person. I says, "Yeah, but does that mean you're still offering?" I laid a big wet one on him and he then granted me a place in paradise. It was cool to see the story of immigration told so well in the Ellis Island museum.
Biked around Central Park. I was baffled by how huge this park was and no longer felt like I was in a city of 8.4 million people. The John Lennon memorial was RAD. A couple adoring fans were lining it with yellow and white flowers while another devotee was singing Imagine in the background. My sister, Paci and I seemed to be the only ones who were impressed. The rest of the family stood around looking at the word, "IMAGINE" engraved in fancy stone and commented disappointingly, "We came here for this? I could've just written that on a piece of paper."
Had a techno-glow-stick dance party late one night in the apartment. Chief and Paci decorated themselves and we all said, "Wow!"
Went to a Yankees game. A-ROD (A Ridiculously Overpaid Dink) was supposed to hit his 6ooth homerun, but instead the Blue Jays hit 600 homeruns themselves...or 4. I was reminded of how boring baseball really is. We had to exert ourselves to make it fun, hence the ponytail. Also, price-gouged, unhealthy stadium food is always a treat. How can 45,000 people come together to watch guys try to hit a ball with a stick, but a couple thousand people can't convene to watch a broadway production?
Probably my favorite part of the whole trip was seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway. My Dad, older sister and I have always been huge fans of the movie and since Paci is a nanny herself she also felt a connection to the story. We bought tickets the day of the show because they're significantly cheaper, however, we didn't sit together. We joyfully reunited outside the theater on Times Square with a crazy celebratory jump hug. We were all way stoked about the show. The songs are still in my head. Have you taken your spoonful of sugar today?
Dunia and her brother who loved getting raspberries (not the fruit) from me. Dunia is a calm, sweet girl who is content with very little.
This little guy would give me a huge hug and kiss every day. We took this picture after a huge cous-cous meal eaten with our hands. He insisted that I walk him home every day. We shared ice cream on the curb one of the days.
Sumia and I had some great times at the beach. She was quite distraught when I left on Friday.
Buddis was really annoying at first, but somehow we became really good buddies.
Staff and Mona, whom I called Mona Lisa. One of my favorite moments was teaching her relaxation for a week as she was stressin about upcoming tests.
Fatima (far right) was intimidated by water that went over her head until we spent some time together doing swimming lessons at the beach. I have a large scratch on my cheek as evidence of her fear, displayed in a frantic scramble to grab onto anything that wasn't water.
l to r youssef, hechem (from previous cous-cous celine dion post), marouan, break dance man and ammin. We had a lot of good times together.
Marouan and I could not seem to stop hugging each other and crying as we said goodbye on Friday. We had a blast during the world cup going to cafes, ordering cokes and watching the games together. Somehow we were always cheering for opposite teams, which made the anticipatory banter for the next game even more exciting. He has a gift with drumming and making people smile with his goofy antics. We shared many laughs together as he entertained the kids on the guitar, which he used more as a drum than anything else. It's a miracle that we got as close as we did because he speaks zero French and I speak zero Arabic. Somehow we always understood each other, though. He was definitely the hardest to leave.
I could never remember this guy's name, so I just called him sadiki (friend). He did the same with me. For a 9 yr. old he can dance like a champ.
Omar's mom is deaf and mute and I think that's the reason he's such a clown. His gestures are always exaggerated and he can contour his face into unbelievable expressions. He has an adorable raspy voice that makes him sound like an old man who's smoked a few too many. We played a lot of soccer together on the beach and I buried him a lot in the sand.
Asmaa (left) is the first kid I talked to at Amesip. She was very warm on my first day, inviting me to play soccer with her. Her name was easy for me to remember and so we became friends very quickly. As the kids were singing a farewell song to me yesterday about how much they loved me and didn't want me to go, it was making eye contact with her that sent the message straight to my marrow. Arabic names are so hard for me and I felt like a doofus asking over and over, so i don't remember the girl's name on the right. She hardly ever spoke, but would smile a lot when I'd talk to her.
Asmaa (far right) speaks a fair amount of French and a little bit of English. She is a bright girl whose favorite English phrase is, "Oh My God!"
Sara (right) gave me a kiss every day. She liked to play with my hair and dress me up like a girl.
Fatima is holding the guitar. She's another one that insisted upon me walking her home every day.
Sharaf Deen is my chubby 6 yr. old host brother obsessed with Ben 10 and Tom and Jerry. I've spent some quality time with him laying on the couch watching cartoons and imitating super heroes. He is quite the creative soul and I would regularly give him my gutiar and be entertained for hours by his mix of songs in Arabic, French and English.
