D83 -- Hello Mendoza/Broders!

Mr. Huchun and Joe picked us up at 7 am to take us to the airport. We tried to take a cab but they wouldn't hear of it. They showed us such generous hospitality the whole time we were in Seoul!

Our flight to Taipei was uneventful, and we were excited to see my aunt Margaret and her daughter Lili waiting outside immigration for us. Her husband Damon works for Dell Computers and he took a two-year position in Taiwan. He, Margaret, Liliana, and their other daughter Emma have been living in Taipei for about nine months now. We've been looking forward to visiting them for months.

The drive into the city was interesting. There were a lot of rice paddies on the outskirts of town, but once we got further into Taipei the scenery changed from a mix of buildings and paddies to buildings one on top of the other. Taipei is densely populated; it has more people per square meter than New York City! We got back to their apartment just in time for lunch – take-away dumplings and pot stickers from a place around the corner. The best thing about the meal was the dipping sauces. There was soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and some spicy chilies on the table that we could each mix in whatever amounts we wanted in our own little bowls. Delicious! The downside to the meal was that everything had pork in it – even the veggie pot stickers. Ever since I learned about Trichinosis in 7th grade I've tried to steer away from pork, other than the occasional ham sandwich or piece of bacon. It just gives me the heebeejeebies. I gotta say, though, they were tasty!

After lunch we went to pick up Emma from a sleepover, and then headed to a nearby trail where there are often wild monkeys. It was fairly cool and misty, but luckily not raining. We walked up a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of stairs to get to a walking trail up on a hill. We saw a sign about the monkeys, which warned us to be careful if we saw any that stared at us with “jumping” eyebrows or with a tail that's straight up. If you encounter one you are supposed to avoid eye contact and walk around them. We walked for about 20 minutes, but didn't see any monkeys and when the trail joined with a road we decided to turn back. I was walking with Margaret and the girls, while the guys were up ahead. About halfway back along the trail Thomas and Damon stopped suddenly. Turns out there were two very big monkeys right on the trail in front of them. We looked around and there were lots of them in the trees. It was so cool to see them. However, unlike the laid-back koalas in Australia, I couldn't just stare in fascination at the monkeys that were near us for fear they would feel threatened and start with the jumping eyebrows bit. And who knows where that would lead! We did get to observe some that were farther away. It's amazing how they just run and jump through the trees. Sometimes it seems they just fall and then grab onto any random branch. I can really see where the phrase “monkeying around” comes from. Unfortunately it was late in the afternoon and the light was low, so these were the only two monkeys I got pictures of...

-Elva