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This weekend I was up in the mountains. Friday night Muoy and I headed to Puli, which is the geographical center of Taiwan, to spend the weekend hiking, paragliding and whatever else came our way. There is a hostel run by foreigners and they also take the guests river hiking, paragliding, kayaking and whatever else they choose to do. Yuri picked us up at the bus stop and we went to the hostel. I felt right at home when we got there. There is a bar and cafe downstairs and about 6 beds upstairs and Yuri lives on the 3rd floor. We had a great time hanging out on Friday and just talking. Saturday we headed out in the morning for a river hike. I wasnt sure what to expect but we certainly were not dissapointed. Thankfully the hiking was not very long. We got to a pool where we could all swim and jump in from the rocks. We hung out there for a while swimming and laying out. It is breathtaking there, the mountains and trees and water. There was no one else but us there. After a while we headed to another place to swim and jump.
This was a little rough getting there and we had to get down some tough rocks. I big step for me, I'm not all about rock climbing. But we made it to the bottom of a waterfall and we could swim in the pool. The guys checked the depth of the water then they started jumping in. I got brave and finally took the plunge, we were jumping from about 30-40 feet. It was increadible and a rush. We finally convinced Muoy to jump too (she doesnt know how to swim) and Yuri pulled her up once she hit the water. I was so excited for her! We chilled and swam then we headed back to go paragliding.
Yuri has been paragliding in Taiwan for 8 years and he has property for camping and a little cottage set up at his spot. It had an amazing view of the entire city. I layed out until it was time to go up. We got suited up and off we went. It was a crazy feeling being up in the air and overlooking the city. Unfoutunatly I ended up getting sick. I apparently suffer from motion sickness and we made it
back to the ground before I puked. ( there is currently a bet on me if I will puke first when we take the ferry to Green Island, bet on me its in the bag, i'm a puker now) So I just chilled the rest of the time, laying out and trying to feel better. Muoy had her trun to go up and they went so far and so high, it was cool. I think I will stick to the ground for now on. Once she came down we had a chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the city. I honestly can say, I could live there, its beautiful, there are so many things to do and the people dont freak out when they see a foreigner! I can see why so many foreigners live here and dont get out to many other places.
We headed back to the hostel to shower and to get ready to go to Yuri's school for school wide performances. He teachers at the school which is a part of Jong Tai Monestary. This monestary is increadible. It looks like it should be in Vegas. It is part of a New Age Buddist
revolution and the building was designed by the same guy who designed Taiepi 101. This monestary has a elementary and junior high school and they are just now opening a high school. It costs students $640,000nt ($20,000usd) a semester for students to attend this school. It is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. It had an right lane pool with hot tubs and an entire exercise facility. They teach Spanish, French, Japanese, and English as second languages or third, fouth and fifth languages. The first graders did a performance in Spanish, the second graders did one in French. It was so much fun to watch the kids and I really enjoyed the school. Its impossible to describe it and do it justice. It is just simply increadible and I would like to work there. So once we felt horrible about our schools we left headed back to the hostel for some salsa dancing. There was an American couple who brought music and we danced, talked and had a great time. It was one of my favorite and most memorible weekends here in Taiwan. It was exactly what I needed.
Today on the way home we met up
with Mare and Jason for lunch in Taichung and after we were finished sweating we all headed home to our AC. I love AC!!!!
Next weekend....Hualien!!!!!
3 weeks til Green Island
31 days of teaching left (maybe less with a personal or sick day thrown in the mix)
45 days til I'm HOME!!!!!
Here are more pics from our adventure!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065611&l=fe33d&id=39101322
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