Rain

The rainy season has started. This means incredible storms every afternoon. Today the lightning was right above our building, which was kind of terrifying. I'm not used to seeing the flash of light and hearing the deafening crash of thunder at the same time. It's a little disorienting. Devin and I both learned really quickly that we can't go anywhere without umbrellas. We have both been caught in downpours and have had to walk home in flashflood rains.
Otherwise, we've both been in a bit of a funk. Not that we're sad at all, but we still don't know that many people, and we've both quickly realized that our work contracts are not all we imagined them to be, which has been pretty frustrating. I'm considered a 'full time' teacher, but have only been given 7 working hours per week. Because I'm full time, it may be problematic to add a second job, as I'm contractually obligated to prioritize our first, visa-sponsoring employer. Boy I wish I would have known that before signing. I have a second offer, and I could start teaching the day after tomorrow, so I hope that I'm not punished when I break the news....
We did go to a tango night over the weekend, which was put on by my friend Che. Neither of us danced, but we had the opportunity to meet some more locals, who all happened to be awesome. But we're still short on the friends, which makes our weekends pretty uneventful. We're working on it, but it seems to be a slow process.

finally... some apartment photos

We have enough furniture to no longer be sitting on the floor all of the time, plus we took the time to tidy up, so check out my photo page for some pics of the place. Now all we need is some art for the walls....

For the record

There is a vegetarian restaurant down the street from us, that happens to be some of the best food I've eaten here so far. We've only been there twice, and I had the same thing both times, but Devin got different dishes, which I happily tried and loved. I was going to be adventurous the second time we went, but what I had the first time was a cure-all for anything, and I was feeling a little under the weather. It was a noodle soup with a sesame oil broth that had like 1/2 lb. of ginger in it, plus tons of vegetables and exotic mushrooms, and the best darn fake meat I've ever eaten. Vegetarians don't really eat onions or garlic here, which is kind of a downer, but the food is wonderful regardless.
*Bonus: No Guts Guaranteed!*

Also, we both finished our first week of teaching, and it went really well. I am currently teaching 4 classes. Some are really easy to work with, others are a challenge, but it's been really fun so far.

More later....

More photos

I've added to my album for the amusement park. Devin and I had been seeing these empty structures from the street that we wanted to locate, and we discovered yesterday that they were all most likely part of the amusement park at one point. There are 2 that stand out for me, some old temple-looking thing, and what may have been a refreshment stand/viewing tower. Both are gutted and have banyan trees gobbling them up.
It was a great day for exploring. Not only did we locate the mystery structures, but we found a swimming hole and some new amazing Taiwanese friends. Can't say it too many times: I really love this neighborhood!