I never see money on the ground. With busted up knees and feet, I have to keep my eyes towards the ground as to avoid uneven pavement else I will go crashing to the ground. As the AARP age less than two years way, a busted hip becomes a growing concern. With a constant scan of the ground happening, not only do I rarely step in gum or doggy poop, but in the States, am always picking up loose change and the occasional bill. Am a true believer in the 'find a penny' superstition and think it's the reason I've made it this far. But here, have never seen a single coin of any denomination. The smallest is a 1 dollar coin, which equates to about 3.5 cents. Are the Taiwanese much more guarded with their money, or are the Americans far more careless with theirs?
Birds are a creature that I feel you should see a lot more of in such a tropical environment. While you see them, you don't see a lot of them. I have previously speculated that the reason for that is they become the daily special at the multitude of crispy chicken stands, but that is probably just another racist stereotype coming out. And I don't think they have crows here...at least I haven't noticed one and have not been woken up by their horrible caws once. The relative absence of birds then translates into a complete lack of bird poop on the car. I made a note in my book on Wednesday to add this to my post this week, and what happens when I'm driving around yesterday? Huge dump right on the front window.
I've written previously about all of the stray dogs around town. Last year, we were amazed at not only how many there were, but how well behaved and smart they were. The number of them is always attributed to dog owners tiring of their animals and kicking them out into the street, which probably accounts for their proper training. When we returned from the States in August, we immediately noticed they were nowhere to be seen. We at first speculated that since it was so hot, that they were simply beating the heat in the shade. When the kids went back to school, they heard from their chums that there was an outbreak of rabies and the local authorities had rounded them all up. Further conversations confirm such an outbreak, but not that there has been a mass round-up (and possible slaughter) of the little guys. Kinda makes me sad thinking about it and totally pissed at the horrible creatures that abandon their pets.
Another rarity around town is seeing a panhandler. I was hit up the other day (guy said he was Indonesian and needed bus money), and it struck me that this was only the second time I've been asked for change. Since I look like I don't speak the language, they might not feel like hitting me up is worth it, however, I've never seen someone looking for change at an intersection nor homeless people pushing their belongings in shopping carts. I only hope the authorities don't have the same policy with them as they do the stray dogs.
While I don't see many homeless sleeping in alleyways or under bridges, you see a lot of people sleeping just about everywhere. The Ikea is a popular spot...they even take off their shoes and climb right in between the sheets of the demo beds. Park benches, tables at Starbucks, anywhere they can catch 40 winks is fair game. The 7-11 is a popular place for food...while they do have the rotating hot dog machine, they also have the steaming troughs of tofu and other nasty smelling treats. Since it is a lunch place, most 7E's typically have seating. Saw this lady totally zonked at one the other day. Shoes off, plastic bag as a blanket, totally snoring away. Totally envious
You do see many waterfalls. Unsurprising as the terrain is rugged and geologically recent, and there is frequent heavy rainfall (typhoon blowing through this weekend for instance), rapid erosion is prevalent throughout the island. Betty signed up for a tour of some local waterfalls an hour outside of TPE last week, but her boss was in town and could not go, so I went in her place. Truly spectacular Wufengqi waterfalls in Yilan County.
As an added bonus, this site is also the location of the only Asian Marian Apparition. I didn't know what that was...but basically is an appearance of the Virgin Mary. Quite an extensive vetting process to be confirmed as a true apparition, and the one at WufengQi has been neither approved or denied (most are denied), but is in a No Decision status.
Story goes that in 1980, nine men were hiking in the area and became lost in the fog in very rugged terrain. Unable to make it out on their own and fearing for their lives, the Virgin Mary appeared to them and led them to safety. What made it more incredible was that the men were all Buddhists...they have since converted to Christianity.
Finally, something I don't see anymore is actual history on the History Channel. Just looked at today's offerings and we get an hour of Storage Wars, an hour of Duck Dynasty, an hour of Counting Cars, and then the rest of the day features a Pawn Stars marathon. I love me some Storage Wars...Dave is a butthole of course, but Darrell, Barry, Jarrod and Brandi feel like good friends...but what happened to a good Civil War documentary?
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