World, Here I Come!

I had a pretty fun weekend, filled with lots of going out. It was one of the first weekends in a long time that I've done so much. I feel free, I don't need crutches, wheelchair, or umbrella to go out. Though I have to rest if I walk to much and I still feel some discomfort. I finally feel like I can sort of get back to normal life! This will be further compounded tomorrow when I go to buy a bike!! I've been itching for more freedom of mobility, and not having to rely on taxis or else be limited to where I can go by how far I can walk. On Thursday, my doctor said there's just a little bit of bone that still needs to grow back and that I can ride a bike, as long as I go slow, and in his favorite phrase (he says it every time I go) "Just don't fall down."

Last night I went out for dinner with one of my adult students Pauline, who is just a couple of years older than me. After dinner she asked if I wanted to go to a market "just on the other side of the tunnel." By this she meant the tunnel that runs for 13 km on the way from Yilan to Taipei. The night was still young, so I decided sure, why not. We drove about 50 minutes but found the market was starting to close down for the night. We still got to see and try a couple of things, and had lots of time to chat in the meantime.

Today I went to church where I've been teaching on Wednesday nights. I really enjoy the people there, and in the afternoon some of us decided to go check out the aboriginal festival that was taking place in Yilan sports park. What was originally just going to take a look turned into 3 hours! It was fun, though hot! I think it got up to 30 or higher today!

The walkway around the park was lined with stands selling aboriginal food and handicrafts. At the end was a stage where groups from different tribes performed dances,

Su-Wan showing a beaded bracelet. Notice the vendor in the background displaying a large amount of her merchandise.
A stand selling pork and some kind of small game bird. The man was really friendly and gave me some free samples. He made me promise to go back to Canada and tell everyone how delicious his pork is. He also invited me behind the counter for a picture!
It's the year of the pig, and there are pet pigs everywhere! This poor little piggy got picked up by every third or fourth kid who passed by.

Fried flying fish. (Try saying that 5 times fast)

Click on the picture to enlarge. This is some kind of hen maybe. It looks like a miniature chicken.

And finally, a whole pig on a spit. For a few dollars, they will carve some meat off for you. I opted not to try this one. The open eye was a little too freaky.